Ignatius in the first
quarter of the second century, while a few carry it further back to the close of
the first, when St. John still lived in Ephesus.
I. For the apostolic origin of episcopacy the following points may be made:
(1) The position of James, who evidently stood at the head of the church at Jerusalem,
163
62
and is called bishop, at least in the pseudo-Clementine literature, and in fact supreme bishop of the
whole church.
164
63 This instance, however, stands quite alone, and does not warrant an inference
in regard to the entire church.
(2) The office of the assistants and delegates of the apostles, like Timothy, Titus, Silas,
Epaphroditus, Luke, Mark, who had a sort of supervision of several churches and congregational
officers, and in a measure represented the apostles in special missions. But, in any case, these were
not limited, at least during the life of the apostles, each to a particular diocese; they were itinerant
evangelists and legates of the apostles; only the doubtful tradition of a later day assigns them distinct
bishoprics. If bishops at all, they were missionary bishops.
(3) The angels of the seven churches of Asia,
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64
who, if regarded as individuals, look very
like the later bishops, and indicate a monarchical shaping of the church government in the days of
John. But, apart from the various interpretations of the Apocalyptic
, that office appears not
co-ordinate with the apostolate of John,
but subordinate to it, and was no more than a congregational
superintendency.
(4) The testimony of Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of John, in his seven (or three) epistles
from the beginning of the second century (even according to the shorter Syriac version), presupposes
the episcopate, in distinction from the presbyterate, as already existing, though as a new institution,
yet in its growth.
(5) The statement of Clement of Alexandria,
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65
that John instituted bishops after his return
from Patmos; and the accounts of Irenaeus,
167
66 Tertullian,
168
67 Eusebius,
169
68 and Jerome,
170
69
that the same apostle nominated and ordained Polycarp (with whom Irenaeus was personally
acquainted) bishop of Smyrna.
(6) The uncertain tradition in Eusebius, who derived it probably from Hegesippus, that the
surviving apostles and disciples of the apostles, soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, elected
Symeon, the son of Klopas and a cousin of Jesus, bishop of that city and successor of James. But
this arrangement at best was merely local, and not general.
171
70
163
Acts 15:13; 21:18. Comp. vol. I. 264 sqq.
164
Ἐπίσκοπος έπισκόπων.
165
Rev. 1:20. For the different views see vol. I. 497
166
Quis dives salvus, c. 42.
167
Adv.Haer. III. 3
168
De PraescR.C. 32
169
H. E.III. 36
170
Catal. sub Polyc
171
H. E. III. 11. Comp. the fragment of Hegesippus, in IV. 22. Lightfoot (Philippians p. 202) remarks against Rothe’s inference:
"The account of Hegesippus confines the object of this gathering to the appointment of a successor of St. James. If its deliberations
had exerted that vast and permanent influence on the future of the church which Rothe’s theory supposes, it is scarcely possible
that this early historian should have been ignorant of the fact, or knowing it should have passed it over in silence."
86
Philip Schaff
History of the Christian Church, Volume II: Ante-Nicene
Christianity. A.D. 100-325.
(7) The tradition of the churches of Antioch and Rome, which trace their line of bishops
back to apostolic institution, and kept the record of an unbroken succession.
(8) A passage in the second of the Pfaff Fragments of Irenaeus, which speaks of "second
ordinances of the apostles" (
). Rothe understands by these the institution of the
episcopate. But aside from the doubtful genuineness of the Fragments, these words are at all events
of unsettled interpretation, and, according to the connection, relate not to the government of the
church at all, but to the celebration of the eucharist.
(9) Equally uncertain is the conclusion drawn from an obscure passage in the Epistle of
Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, which admits of different interpretations.
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71
The apostles,
it is said, foreseeing the future controversy about the name of the episcopal office, appointed bishops
and deacons, and afterwards made the disposition,
173
72 that when they should fall asleep, other
approved men should follow them in office. Rothe refers "they" and "them" to the apostles as the
main subject. But these words naturally refer to the congregational officers just before mentioned,
and in this case the "other approved men" are not successors of the apostles, but of the
presbyter-bishops and deacons.
174
73
This view is sustained by the connection. The difficulty in the
Corinthian congregation was a rebellion, not against a single bishop, but against a number of
presbyter-bishops, and Clement reminds them that the apostles instituted this office not only for
the first generation, but provided for a permanent succession, and that the officers were appointed
for life, and could therefore not be deposed so long as they discharged their duties. Hence he goes
on to say, immediately after the disputed passage in chapter 44: "Wherefore we think that those
cannot justly be thrown out of their ministry who were appointed either by them (the apostles), or
afterwards by other eminent men, with the consent of the whole congregation; and who have with
all lowliness and innocency ministered to the flock of Christ, in peace, and without self-interest,
and were for a long time commended by all."
172
Ad Corinth. c. 44:
Οἱ ἀπόστολοι ἡμων ἔγνωσαν διὰ τοῦ κυρίουἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὅτι ἔρις ἔσται ἐπὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος τῆς
ἐπισκοπῆς . Διὰ ταύτην οὖ́ν τὴν αἰτίαν πρόγνωσιν εἰληφότες τελείαν κατέστησαν τοὺς προειρημένους καὶ μεταξὺ ἐπινομὴν
(or
ἐπιμονὴν) ἔδωκαν, ὅπως , ἐὰν κοιμηθῶσιν, διαδέξωνται ἕτεροι δεδοκιμασμένοι ἄνδρες τὴν λειτουργίαν αὐτῶν. " Our
apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife over the name of the bishop’s office [i.e., the office of
the ministry, in general; Comp. Acts 1:20; Sept. Num. 4:16; Ps. 109:8; 2 Chr. 23:18]. For this cause, therefore, having complete
foreknowledge, they appointed the aforesaid persons [i.e., presbyter-bishops and deacons; Comp. c. 42 and 57], and afterwards
they made the disposition [or provided a continuance, if we read with Lightfoot
ἐπιμονήν.], that if these should fall asleep, other
approved men should succeed to their ministration."
173
The reading is obscure and disputed. The Alexandrian MS. reads:
ἐπινομήν, the Constantinopolitan: ἐπιδομήν (both have
E I-OMHN). The former word is rare (from or from
νέμω or fromνόμος) is not found in the dictionaries; and hence various
emendations have been proposed, as
άπονομήν (Junius), ἐπιδοχήν (Bryennios), ἐπιβολήν (von Gebhardt and Harnack), ἐπιμονήν
(Bunsen, Lightfoot),
ἐπιτροπήν (Hilgenfeld), ἐπιλογήν, ἐπινομίαν, ἐπιστολήν, ἐπιταγήν, ἔτι νόμον. Rothe (Anfänge, p. 374)
ingeniously translates
ἐπινομήν " testamentary disposition" (testamentarische Verfügung =ἐπινομίς ,an after-enactment, a
codicil), and identifies it with the
δεύτεραι διατάξεις of the fragment of Irenaeus. But this is rejected by the latest editors as
untenable. Lightfoot (with Bunsen) reads
ἐπιμονήν, permanence (not "life-tenure," as Bunsen rendered it). The drift of the
passage, however, does not so much depend upon the meaning of this word as upon the question whether the apostles, or the
congregational officers are the grammatical subjects of the following verb,
κοιμηθῶσιν.
174
See also Gebhardt and Harnack (presbyteri et diaconi illi, quos apostoli ipsi constituerunt), the Roman Catholic editor Funk
("
κοιμηθῶσιν, sc. episcopi et diaconi de quorum successione Clemens agit"), and Bishop Lightfoot ("the first generation of
presbyters appointed by the apostles themselves"). (Comp. also on this whole passage Lightfoot, Philippians, p. 203, where he
refutes Rothe’s interpretation; Baur Ursprung des Episcopats, p. 53; Ewald, Gesch. des Volkes Israel, VII. 300; Ritschl, Altkath.
K. 358 and 413, and Ilgenfeld, Apost. Väter, 70.
87
Philip Schaff
History of the Christian Church, Volume II: Ante-Nicene
Christianity. A.D. 100-325.