A bishop is an ordained In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is undergoing the process of ordination, is sometimes or consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups. Such consecrated persons, places, things, even topics for member of the Christian clergy Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term ultimately comes from the Greek "κλῆρος" - klēros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "inheritance" who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Roman Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with more than a billion members. The Church's leader is the Pope who holds supreme authority in concert with the College of Bishops of which he is the head. A communion of the Western church and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic churches (called, Eastern Orthodox The Orthodox Church, also officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church [note 1] and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, asserts that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles almost 2,000 years ago. The Church is composed of several self-governing ecclesial bodies, each, Oriental Orthodox Oriental Orthodoxy refers to the faith of those Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus. They rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon . Hence, these Oriental Orthodox Churches are also called Old Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East The Assyrian Church of the East, officially the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, is an ancient Christian church currently centered in Chicago, Illinois, United States, but with most members in Mesopotamia. One of the modern churches that claim continuity with the historical Patriarchate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon – the Church of, in the Independent Catholic Churches Independent Catholic churches are Catholic congregations that are not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church or any other churches whose sacraments are recognized by the Roman Catholic Church . Virtually all groups in the Independent Catholic movement claim to have valid apostolic succession for their bishops. Bishops in Independent Catholic, and in the Anglican Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. Anglicanism forms one of the principal traditions of Christianity, together with Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Orthodoxy churches, bishops claim Apostolic succession Apostolic succession is a doctrine, held by some Christian denominations, which asserts that the chosen successors (properly ordained bishops) of the Twelve Apostles, from the first century to the present day, have inherited the spiritual, ecclesiastical and sacramental authority, power, and responsibility that were conferred upon them by the, a direct historical lineage dating back to the original Twelve Apostles In Christianity, the Apostles were missionaries among the leaders in the Early Church and, in the Epistle to the Hebrews,[3:1] Jesus Christ himself. The term was also used, especially by the Gospel of Luke, for "the Twelve," Jesus' inner circle of disciples (students). They were, according to the Acts of the Apostles and Christian. Within these churches, bishops can ordain clergy including other bishops. Some Protestant Protestantism is one of the four major divisions within Christianity together with the Eastern Orthodox churches, the Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Roman Catholic Church. The term is most closely tied to those groups that separated from the Catholic Church in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation churches including the Lutheran Lutheranism is a theological movement to reform Christianity with the teaching of justification by grace through faith alone. Lutheranism identifies with the theology confessed in the Augsburg Confession and the other writings compiled in the Book of Concord. Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology and Methodist Methodism is a movement of Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement in the Anglican Communion. His younger brother Charles was instrumental in writing much of the churches have bishops serving similar functions as well, though not always understood to be within Apostolic succession Apostolic succession is a doctrine, held by some Christian denominations, which asserts that the chosen successors (properly ordained bishops) of the Twelve Apostles, from the first century to the present day, have inherited the spiritual, ecclesiastical and sacramental authority, power, and responsibility that were conferred upon them by the in the same way.
The office of bishop was already quite distinct from that of the catholic The word catholic is derived from the Greek adjective καθολικός (katholikos), meaning "universal". The word derives from the Greek phrase καθόλο (kath'holou) meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general" and is a combination of the Greek words κατά meaning "about& order priest A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their office or position is the priesthood, a term which may also apply to such persons collectively in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch Ignatius of Antioch (ca. 35 or 50-between 98 and 117) was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop and Patriarch of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology. Important topics addressed in (died c. 107), and by the middle of the second century The second century of Christianity was largely the time of the Apostolic Fathers who were the students of the apostles of Jesus, though there is some overlap as John the Apostle may have survived into the second century and Clement of Rome for example lived in the end of the first century all the chief centres of Christianity Early Christianity— commonly known as the Christianity of the roughly three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus (c.30) and the First Council of Nicaea (325)— spread gradually both within the Roman Empire and beyond. At first, this development was closely connected to centres of Hebrew faith. The first followers of Jesus were Jews, just were headed by bishops, a form of organization that remained universal until the Protestant Reformation The Protestant Reformation was the European Christian reform movement that established Protestantism as a constituent branch of contemporary Christianity. It began in 1517 when Martin Luther published The Ninety-Five Theses, and concluded in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia that ended one hundred and thirty-one years of consecutive European.[1]
Contents
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History
The earliest organization of the Christian churches Christian Church and church (Greek kyriakon , "thing belonging to the Lord"; also ekklesia (ἐκκλησία) (Latinized as ecclesia, "assembly") are used to denote both a Christian association of people and a place of worship. In the phenomenological sense there are many such associations of people that call themselves in Jerusalem For Christians, Jerusalem's place in the life of Jesus and the Acts of the Apostles gives it great importance, in addition to its place in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible was similar to that of Jewish Judaism is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people. Judaism, originating in the Hebrew Bible and explored in later texts such as the Talmud, is considered by Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship God developed with the Children of Israel. According to traditional Rabbinic Judaism, God revealed synagogues A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. (it might also be of interest that the word when broken down could mean, "learning together" (syn - gr. together and aghoghei gr. learning or training), which were governed by a council of elders (Greek Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical ancient Greek literature and the New Testament of: πρεσβύτεροι presbyteroi). In Acts The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age. The author is traditionally identified as Luke the Evangelist 11:30 and 15:22, we see this collegiate system of government in Jerusalem, and, in Acts 14:23, the Apostle Paul Paul of Tarsus, also called Saint Paul, Paul the Apostle, or the Apostle Paul, (Ancient Greek: Σαούλ , Σαῦλος (Saulos), and Παῦλος (Paulos); Latin: Paulus or Paullus; Hebrew: שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi (Saul of Tarsus) (c. 5 - c. 67), was a Jew who called himself the "Apostle to the Gentiles". According to ordains elders An elder in Christianity is a person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility in a Christian group. In some Christian traditions (e.g., Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, Methodism) an elder is a clergy person who usually serves a local church or churches and who has been ordained to a in the churches he founded.
Presbyters Presbyter in the New Testament refers to a leader in local Christian congregations, then a synonym of episkopos . In modern usage, it is distinct from bishop and synonymous with priest, pastor, elder, or minister in various Christian denominations were apparently identical to overseers (ἐπίσκοποι episkopoi, i.e., bishops), as in Acts 20:17, Titus The Epistle of Paul to Titus, usually referred to simply as Titus, is one of the three Pastoral Epistles , traditionally attributed to Saint Paul, and is part of the New Testament. It describes the requirements and duties of elders and bishops 1:5,7 and 1 Peter The First Epistle of Peter, usually referred to simply as First Peter and often written 1 Peter, is a book of the New Testament. It has traditionally been held to have been written by Saint Peter the apostle during his time as bishop of Rome or Bishop of Antioch, though neither title is used in the epistle. The letter is addressed to various 5:1.[2][3] The earliest writings of the Apostolic Fathers The Apostolic Fathers are a small number of Early Christian authors who lived and wrote in the second half of the 1st century and the first half of the 2nd century. They are acknowledged as leaders in the early church, although their writings were not included in the New Testament. They include St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St, the Didache The Didache is the common name of a brief early Christian treatise (dated by most scholars to the late first/early second century). “The Didache of the Twelve Apostles” had been written and widely disseminated by about the year 100, and became increasingly important in the second and third Christian centuries. It is an anonymous work not and the First Epistle of Clement for example, show the church recognized two local church offices—elders (interchangeable term with overseer) and deacon Deacon is a role in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. In many traditions, the diaconate, the term for a deacon's office, is a clerical office; in others, it is for laity.
A sixth-century image Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo (November 13, 354 – August 28, 430), also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, or St. Austin was Bishop of Hippo Regius. He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province. His writings were very influential in the development of Western Christianity, bishop of Hippo Regius Hippo Regius is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba, Algeria. Under this name, it was a major city in Roman Africa, hosting several early Christian councils, and was the home of the philosopher and theologian Augustine of Hippo. In even earlier days, the city was a royal residence for Numidian kings.The beginnings of a single ruling bishop can perhaps be traced to the offices occupied by Timothy and Titus in the New Testament. We are told that Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus Early Christianity— commonly known as the Christianity of the roughly three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus (c.30) and the First Council of Nicaea (325)— spread gradually both within the Roman Empire and beyond. At first, this development was closely connected to centres of Hebrew faith. The first followers of Jesus were Jews, just and Titus in Crete Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km2 (3,219 sq mi). Crete is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece and covers the same area as the Greek region of Crete from before the 1987 administrative reform. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage to oversee the local church (1 Tim. 1:3 and Titus 1:5). Paul commands them to ordain presbyters/bishops and to exercise general oversight, telling Titus to "rebuke with all authority" (Titus 2:15).
Various Christian communities would have had a group of presbyter-bishops functioning as leaders of the local church. Eventually this evolved into a monarchical episcopacy in certain cities.[4] The monarchical episcopacy probably developed in other churches in Christianity before it took shape in Rome. For example, it has been conjectured that Antioch Early Christianity— commonly known as the Christianity of the roughly three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus (c.30) and the First Council of Nicaea (325)— spread gradually both within the Roman Empire and beyond. At first, this development was closely connected to centres of Hebrew faith. The first followers of Jesus were Jews, just may have been one of the first Christian communities to have adopted such a structure.[4] The emergence of a single bishop in Rome probably did not arise until the middle of the second century. Linus The earliest witness is Irenaeus, who in about the year 180 wrote:"The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate." The Oxford Dictionary of Popes interprets Irenaeus as saying that Linus was the first bishop of Rome. Linus is presented by Jerome as ", Cletus Pope Saint Anacletus , probably identical with Pope Cletus, was the third Roman Pope (after St. Peter and St. Linus) and Clement Pope Saint Clement I , also known as Saint Clement of Rome (in Latin, Clemens Romanus), is listed from an early date as a Bishop of Rome. He was the first Apostolic Father of the Church were probably prominent presbyter-bishops but not necessarily monarchical bishops.[5] Eventually, Rome followed the example of other Christian communities and structured itself after the model of the empire with one presbyter bishop in charge ..."[6] The organizational structure subsequently evolved into the present form of one bishop supported by a college of presbyters.[4]
It is certain that the office of bishop and presbyter were clearly distinguished by the second century The second century of Christianity was largely the time of the Apostolic Fathers who were the students of the apostles of Jesus, though there is some overlap as John the Apostle may have survived into the second century and Clement of Rome for example lived in the end of the first century, as the church was facing the dual pressures of persecution and internal schism, resulting in three distinct local offices: bishop, elder (presbyter) and deacon. This is best seen in the 2nd century writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch Ignatius of Antioch (ca. 35 or 50-between 98 and 117) was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop and Patriarch of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology. Important topics addressed in.
The bishop was understood mainly as the president of the council of presbyters, and so the bishop came to be distinguished both in honor and in prerogative from the presbyters, who were seen as deriving their authority by means of delegation from the bishop. Each Episcopal see An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral. The seat is also called the bishop's throne, especially in the Eastern Orthodox Church had its own bishop and his presence was necessary to consecrate any gathering of the church.
Eventually, as Christendom Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity. This community numbers in the billions of people of the world population, and is spread across many different nations and ethnic groups connected only by faith in Christ and observance of the grew, individual congregations no longer were served directly by a bishop. The bishop in a large city (the Metropolitan bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital) would appoint a presbyter to pastor the flock in each congregation, acting as his delegate.
The Apostolic Fathers
Around the end of the first century The earliest followers of Jesus composed an apocalyptic, Second Temple, Jewish sect, which historians refer to as Jewish Christianity. The Apostles and others following the Great Commission's decree to spread the teachings of Jesus to "all nations," had great success spreading the religion to gentiles, with Cornelius the Centurion, the church's organization becomes clearer in historical documents. In the works of the Apostolic Fathers The Apostolic Fathers are a small number of Early Christian authors who lived and wrote in the second half of the 1st century and the first half of the 2nd century. They are acknowledged as leaders in the early church, although their writings were not included in the New Testament. They include St. Clement of Rome, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St, and Ignatius of Antioch in particular, the role of the episkopos, or bishop, became more important or, rather, already was very important and being clearly defined.
"Plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 6:1. "your godly bishop" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 2:1. "the bishop presiding after the likeness of God and the presbyters after the likeness of the council of the Apostles, with the deacons also who are most dear to me, having been entrusted with the diaconate of Jesus Christ" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 6:1. "Therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, [being united with Him], either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and the presbyters." — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 7:1. "Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was to the Father [according to the flesh], and as the Apostles were to Christ and to the Father, that there may be union both of flesh and of spirit." — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 13:2. "In like manner let all men respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, even as they should respect the bishop as being a type of the Father and the presbyters as the council of God and as the college of Apostles. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church." — Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallesians 3:1. "follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery as the Apostles; and to the deacons pay respect, as to God's commandment" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 8:1. "He that honoureth the bishop is honoured of God; he that doeth aught without the knowledge of the bishop rendereth service to the devil" — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 9:1.
— Lightfoot translation.
It is clear that, by this period, a single bishop was expected to lead the church in each centre of Christian mission, supported by a council of presbyters (a distinct and subordinate position at least by this time) with a pool of deacons. As the Church continued to expand, new churches in important cities gained their own bishop. Churches in the regions outside an important city were served by Chorbishop, an official rank of bishops. However, soon, presbyters and deacons were sent from bishop of a city church. Graudually priests replaced the chorbishops. Thus, in time, the bishop changed from being the leader of a single church confined to an urban area to being the leader of the churches of a given geographical area.[7]
Clement of Alexandria (end of the 2nd century) writes about the ordination of a certain Zachæus as bishop by the imposition of Simon Peter Bar-Jonah's hands. The words bishop and ordination are used in their technical meaning by the same Clement of Alexandria.[8] The bishops in the 2nd century are defined also as the only clergy to whom the ordination to priesthood (presbyterate) and diaconate is entrusted: "a priest (presbyter) lays on hands, but does not ordain." (cheirothetei ou cheirotonei[9])
At the beginning of the 3rd century, Hippolytus of Rome describes another feature of the ministry of a bishop, which is that of the "Spiritum primatus sacerdotii habere potestatem dimittere peccata": the primate of sacrificial priesthood and the power to forgive sins.[10]
Bishops and civil government
The efficient organization of the Roman Empire became the template for the organisation of the church in the fourth century, particularly after Constantine's Edict of Milan. As the church moved from the shadows of privacy into the public forum it acquired land for churches, burials and clergy. In 391, Theodosius I decreed that any land that had been confiscated from the church by Roman authorities be returned.
The most usual term for the geographic area of a bishop's authority and ministry, the diocese, began as part of the structure of the Roman Empire under Diocletian. As Roman authority began to fail in the western portion of the empire, the church took over much of the civil administration. This can be clearly seen in the ministry of two popes: Pope Leo I in the fifth century, and Pope Gregory I in the sixth century. Both of these men were statesmen and public administrators in addition to their role as Christian pastors, teachers and leaders. In the Eastern churches, latifundia entailed to a bishop's see were much less common, the state power did not collapse the way it did in the West, and thus the tendency of bishops acquiring secular power was much weaker than in the West. However, the role of Western bishops as civil authorities, often called prince bishops, continued throughout much of the Middle Ages.
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Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:31:15 GMT+00:00
freed: Vatican afp vatican city chinese Bishop Giulio Jia Zhiguo, who was arrested last year after holding a meeting on the state of the Roman Catholic Church in China, ... Bishop Dowling's Talk Removed from Website America Magazine (subscription) (blog) What I believe Boston Globe A Fear-Based Church America Magazine (subscription) (blog) U.S. Catholic magazine (blog) - America Magazine (subscription) (blog)
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The artists and writers included in this series represent diverse perspectives generations and voices in contemporary art The first two volumes in the series have just arrived Participation edited by Claire Bishop looks at the phenomenon of participation in art that has been both prevalent and contested since the 1990s Artists have increasingly sought to create
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On And On by Stephen Bishop Lyrics: Down in Jamaica They got lots of pretty women Steal your money Then they break your heart Lonesome Sue, she ... youtube.com.
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Bishop. Joe Vasquez of Austin is urging local public health officials to cease funding abortions. The managers of Central Health, which provides public health services in the Austin area, voted unanimously in December to spend $45000 on ...
