PUT THE WHOLE SYSTEM BESIDE THE NEW TESTAMENT
WHAT DID CHRIST ACTUALLY ESTABLISH?
We have traveled a long way.
We began in the New Testament.
Then we followed the evidence through the early church, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Cyprian, Constantine, Nicaea, Leo, Gregory, and the medieval papacy.
We watched church leadership develop.
Now it is time to come back to where we started.
THE TEXT.
Not:
What have I always believed?
Not:
What does my church practice?
Not:
What did Christians do 500 years later?
The question is:
WHAT DID CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES ESTABLISH?
Let's put the evidence side by side.
1. APOSTLES
The New Testament certainly has apostles.
Jesus selected the Twelve.
— Luke 6:13
They were witnesses of His resurrection.
— Acts 1:21–22
Paul was personally called by Christ and saw the risen Lord.
— 1 Corinthians 9:1
The apostles possessed a unique foundational role.
Paul describes the household of God as:
“built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”
— Ephesians 2:20
Notice the picture.
A foundation is laid.
You do not continually lay another foundation on every floor of a building.
The apostles' teaching continues.
The question we examined earlier was whether their unique apostolic office continues.
The New Testament clearly commands succession of apostolic teaching.
“What you have heard from me... entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
— 2 Timothy 2:2
2. ELDERS
Elders are plainly in the New Testament.
Paul and Barnabas:
“appointed elders for them in every church.”
— Acts 14:23
Paul called for:
“the elders of the church”
at Ephesus.
— Acts 20:17
Titus was told:
“appoint elders in every town.”
— Titus 1:5
Peter addressed:
“the elders among you.”
— 1 Peter 5:1
The word is plural again and again.
The New Testament pattern is local churches with elders.
3. BISHOPS
Bishops are also plainly biblical.
The Greek word is episkopos.
It means an overseer.
But here is where our historical study becomes important.
In the New Testament:
AN ELDER IS A BISHOP.
Paul called the elders of Ephesus and told those same men that the Holy Spirit had made them overseers.
— Acts 20:17, 28
Titus was told to appoint elders.
Then Paul explained:
“For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach.”
— Titus 1:5–7
Paul did not change subjects.
He was describing the same office.
So the word bishop is biblical.
But the later office of one bishop standing above the elders is the development we traced after the apostolic period.
That distinction is essential.
4. PASTORS
Pastors are biblical too.
The word means shepherds.
Peter told the elders:
“shepherd the flock of God that is among you.”
— 1 Peter 5:2
Paul told the Ephesian elders that God had made them overseers:
“to care for”
or
“to shepherd”
the church of God.
— Acts 20:28
So again we encounter the same group of men.
ELDERS
describes their maturity or position.
OVERSEERS/BISHOPS
describes their responsibility.
SHEPHERDS/PASTORS
describes their work.
Three words.
Not necessarily three offices.
5. DEACONS
Deacons are also found in the New Testament.
Paul addressed:
“all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons.”
— Philippians 1:1
Qualifications for deacons appear in:
— 1 Timothy 3:8–13
So when we look at an ordinary local congregation in the New Testament, the structure is remarkably simple.
SAINTS
with
OVERSEERS
and
DEACONS.
That is Paul's own description in Philippians 1:1.
6. WHAT ABOUT PRIESTS?
Here we must be careful.
The New Testament certainly talks about priests.
But does it create a special Christian clergy called priests who stand between ordinary Christians and God?
Peter tells Christians:
“you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood.”
— 1 Peter 2:5
Then:
“you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood.”
— 1 Peter 2:9
John writes that Christ:
“made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.”
— Revelation 1:6
The New Testament picture is striking.
GOD'S PEOPLE ARE A PRIESTHOOD.
And above them stands one great High Priest:
JESUS CHRIST.
Hebrews says:
“We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.”
— Hebrews 4:14
So where does the New Testament establish another sacrificial priesthood within the church?
That question deserves an answer from the text.
7. WHAT ABOUT A DIOCESE?
The later church developed geographical territories called dioceses.
A bishop exercised authority over churches within his territory.
But look again at Acts.
Paul tells Titus:
“appoint elders in every town.”
— Titus 1:5
Paul and Barnabas appointed:
“elders for them in every church.”
— Acts 14:23
We do not find one bishop governing all the congregations of a large geographical territory.
That structure developed later.
8. WHAT ABOUT A METROPOLITAN?
By the fourth century, bishops of major provincial cities had recognized authority or precedence among other bishops.
Nicaea refers explicitly to the metropolitan.
That is historical fact.
But it is not a New Testament office.
Search Acts.
Search the letters.
Search the pastoral epistles.
Where is the metropolitan?
We do not find him.
9. WHAT ABOUT AN ARCHBISHOP?
The title and office developed as church administration became increasingly organized.
An archbishop could stand above other bishops or occupy an especially important see.
Again:
The question is not whether archbishops have existed for centuries.
They certainly have.
The question is:
WHERE DID THE APOSTLES ESTABLISH THE OFFICE?
That is harder to answer from the New Testament.
10. WHAT ABOUT PATRIARCHS?
As certain great cities became especially important, their bishops gained extraordinary prestige and jurisdiction.
Rome.
Constantinople.
Alexandria.
Antioch.
Jerusalem.
Eventually these great episcopal centers became associated with patriarchs.
That is an important part of church history.
But where do we find a patriarch governing churches in the New Testament?
We do not.
The title reflects a later stage of church organization.
11. WHAT ABOUT CARDINALS?
Cardinals became especially important in the western church.
Eventually the College of Cardinals acquired the responsibility for electing the pope.
Again, this is historically understandable.
A worldwide institution requires some method of selecting its chief officer.
But where is the College of Cardinals in the New Testament?
Where are the qualifications for a cardinal?
Where do the apostles tell cardinals to elect Peter's successor?
There is no such passage.
The office belongs to later church history.
12. WHAT ABOUT THE POPE?
Now we reach the top of the developed western hierarchy.
The Roman Catholic Church understands the pope as the successor of Peter and as possessing a unique responsibility for the universal church.
Our historical study has shown that Rome became important very early.
We should not deny that.
Peter was important.
We should not deny that either.
The Roman church was influential.
Its bishops increasingly appealed to Peter.
Leo I made strong Petrine claims.
The medieval papacy expanded those claims dramatically.
But after following all that history, we must return to the original question:
WHERE DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT SAY PETER'S APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY WOULD PASS TO A SUCCESSION OF BISHOPS IN ROME?
Peter never says it.
Paul never says it.
Acts never says it.
No New Testament letter instructs Christians to submit to the bishop of Rome as the earthly head of the universal church.
That does not erase the later history.
It simply identifies it as later history.
13. PUT THE TWO STRUCTURES SIDE BY SIDE
WHAT WE CAN READ IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
CHRIST
Chief Shepherd
Head of the church
↓
APOSTLES
Christ's chosen witnesses
Foundation of the church
↓
LOCAL CHURCHES
with
ELDERS / BISHOPS / SHEPHERDS
and
DEACONS
and
ALL CHRISTIANS AS GOD'S HOLY PRIESTHOOD
Now compare the structure that developed historically:
POPE
↓
CARDINALS
↓
PATRIARCHS / MAJOR ARCHBISHOPS
↓
ARCHBISHOPS / METROPOLITANS
↓
DIOCESAN BISHOPS
↓
PRIESTS
↓
DEACONS
↓
LAITY
The second structure did not appear all at once.
That has been the point of this entire series.
WE WATCHED IT DEVELOP.
14. THE QUESTION IS NOT WHETHER THE LATER SYSTEM IS OLD
It is old.
Very old.
Some parts of it are more than 1,500 years old.
That deserves historical respect.
But age alone does not establish apostolic authority.
Jesus confronted traditions that were old.
He asked whether tradition had displaced God's command.
— Mark 7:1–13
So the question cannot simply be:
How old is this practice?
The question must be:
WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
A practice can be ancient and still be later than the apostles.
15. NOR SHOULD WE ASSUME EVERY CHANGE WAS MADE FOR BAD REASONS
This has been important throughout our study.
The early church faced real problems.
False teachers threatened congregations.
Persecution created disorder.
Churches needed cooperation.
Disputes needed resolution.
Christians wanted unity.
Strong leadership often seemed to provide solutions.
One bishop could promote unity.
Regional bishops could coordinate churches.
Councils could address widespread controversies.
A respected Roman bishop could mediate disputes.
An organized hierarchy could provide stability.
We do not need to accuse everyone involved of seeking power.
Some probably did.
Others almost certainly believed they were protecting Christ's church.
But good motives do not settle the question of biblical authority.
THE TEXT STILL HAS TO BE ASKED.
16. AND THIS IS NOT JUST A CATHOLIC QUESTION
It would be easy to finish this study by pointing at Rome.
That would miss the larger lesson.
Every church tradition needs to ask the same questions.
Churches of Christ.
Baptists.
Methodists.
Lutherans.
Presbyterians.
Anglicans.
Orthodox churches.
Independent churches.
Community churches.
Every one of us can inherit traditions.
Every one of us can continue practices simply because:
“That is how we have always done it.”
Every one of us can give a preacher, board, eldership, convention, institution, or tradition more authority than the text gives it.
So this study is not:
THEIR TRADITIONS VERSUS OUR TRADITIONS.
It is:
EVERY TRADITION BESIDE THE TEXT.
Including ours.
17. THE CHURCH STILL HAS A HEAD
Paul says Christ is:
“the head of the body, the church.”
— Colossians 1:18
God:
“put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.”
— Ephesians 1:22
The church does not need to find another head.
It already has one.
CHRIST.
And Peter himself pointed elders toward:
“the chief Shepherd.”
— 1 Peter 5:4
There is no vacancy in that office.
18. THE CHURCH STILL HAS ITS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY
The apostles died.
But their teaching did not disappear.
We have it.
John said:
“What you heard from the beginning”
should
“abide in you.”
— 1 John 2:24
Jude told Christians to contend for:
“the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”
— Jude 3
Paul told Timothy to preserve the sound words he had heard.
— 2 Timothy 1:13
So Christians do not need living apostles in order to have apostolic teaching.
WE HAVE THEIR WORDS.
The question is whether we will remain with them.
19. THAT IS WHY THIS STUDY MATTERS
We have not spent eleven studies examining ancient church offices merely to win an argument about history.
The question is much closer to home.
WHO HAS AUTHORITY OVER YOUR FAITH?
A preacher?
An elder?
A bishop?
A council?
A denomination?
A tradition?
A pope?
Or Christ speaking through the apostolic message?
Human leaders have responsibilities.
Christians should respect faithful leaders.
Hebrews says:
“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls.”
— Hebrews 13:17
But every human leader remains under Christ.
No elder becomes the Chief Shepherd.
No teacher becomes the truth.
No bishop becomes Christ.
No tradition becomes Scripture.
20. SO WHERE DID THE BISHOP COME FROM?
We can finally answer the historical question with greater precision.
The bishop did not come from nowhere.
The word is in the New Testament.
The office is in the New Testament.
But in the New Testament:
THE BISHOP WAS AN ELDER.
What developed later was something different:
one bishop above the elders,
then:
bishops with wider territorial authority,
then:
metropolitans and major episcopal centers,
then:
patriarchal structures,
and in the West:
increasing Roman primacy and eventually the medieval papacy.
The word remained.
THE OFFICE CHANGED.
That may be the single most important historical fact in this entire study.
READ IT FOR YOURSELF
Acts 14:23
Acts 20:17–32
Philippians 1:1
Titus 1:5–9
1 Timothy 3:1–13
2 Timothy 1:13–14
2 Timothy 2:2
1 Peter 2:4–10
1 Peter 5:1–4
Ephesians 1:20–23
Ephesians 2:19–22
Colossians 1:15–20
Hebrews 4:14–16
Jude 3
Then go back through the historical documents we have examined throughout this series.
Do not be afraid of church history.
Study it.
It helps us see when things changed.
But do not let later history rewrite the earlier text.
READ THE TEXT FIRST.
Then read the history.
Then ask:
What did Jesus establish?
What did the apostles teach?
What appeared afterward?
And what am I following today?
That last question is the one each of us must answer for ourselves.
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.