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Bishop (Ecclesiastical functionary)

an ecclesiastical functionary in the apostolical churches. The term presbyteros was borrowed from the synagogue; etymologically it implied that, as a rule, the person so designated was pretty well advanced in life, while episkopos, borrowed from the polity of the Grecian states, pointed to the duty incumbent on him of overseeing the church. The qualifications of a New Testament bishop are given at length by St. Paul (1 Tim. iii: 1-7; Titus 1:7-9).

In the post-apostolic period a bishop was a church functionary superior to, BISHOP BISHOP and ruling over, the elders or presbyters. ops in Great Britain, the bishop of the presbyters. ops in Great Britain, shop for the stance, up to 1878 having the title of Bishop of Nicopolis.

At the deliberations held by the presbyters of Philippi, of Miletus, or other Christian churches, in all probability, one of their number was voted into the chair. Times of persecution bring the strongest to the front, and that strong man would, at nearly every crisis, preside over his fellows. A distinctive appellation was required to discriminate him from his colleagues, and gradually he monopolized the term episkopos overseer or bishop, leaving the humbler designation of presbyteroi presbyters or elders, to his former equals.

In modern times, and in England, a bishop is a spiritual overseer ranking beneath an archbishop, and above the priests or presbyters and deacons of his diocese, but his jurisdiction is territorial, not personal. Before a bishop can be consecrated he must be 30 years of age.

The Established Church of England is Episcopal, and of its 40 bishops (1920) 24 sit in the House of Lords. They are technically called lords spiritual, but are not considered peers of the realm; they are only lords of Parliament, nor is their dignity hereditary. They rank in precedence below viscounts and above barons. Their style is the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of -, and they are addressed as My Lord. Among the spiritual duties which they discharge are the confirmation of young people prior to their partaking of the communion, the ordination of priests and deacons, the consecration of churches and of burial grounds, the institution or collation to vacant churches, with a general superintendence of morals and doctrine of the clergy.

In the United States a bishop is the highest dignitary, the chief pastor, in the Greek Catholic and Protestant Episcopal Churches. These bishops generally claim to be successors of the apostles. In the Methodist Episcopal, and other evangelical Churches, the office of the bishop is maintained, but with less of formal dignity and without any claim to apostolic succession. All Catholic bishops claim direct apostolic succession.

Bishops in partibus infidelium (in parts occupied by the infidels), in the Roman Catholic Church, are bishops consecrated in succession to those who were the actual bishops in places where Christianity has become extinct, or almost so, through the spread of Mohammedanism, as in Syria, Asia Minor, and the N. coast of Africa. Such titles are given to missionary bishops in countries imperfectly Christianized, Christianized, and were formerly given to the Roman Catholic bish- Suffragan bishops are bishops consecrated to assist other bishops in discharging the duties of their dioceses, though any bishop is a suffragan in relation to his archbishop.