A church dictionary

by Walter Farquhar Hook

The doctrine of Scripture, as it relates to the office of bishop, may be briefly stated thus:—As the Lord Jesus Christ was sent by the Father, so were the apostles sent by him. “As my Father hath sent me,” he says soon after his resurrection, “even so send I you.” Now, how had the Father sent him? He had sent him to act as his supreme minister on earth; as such to appoint under him subordinate ministers, and, to do what he then did when his work on earth was done, to hand on his commission to others. The apostles, in like manner, were sent by Christ to act as his chief ministers in the Church, to appoint subordinate ministers under them, and then, as he had done, to hand on their commission to others. And on this commission, after our Lord had ascended up on high, the apostles proceeded to act. They formed their converts into Churches: these Churches consisted of baptized believers, to officiate among whom subordinate ministers, priests, and deacons were ordained; while the apostle who formed any particular Church exercised over it episcopal superintendence, either holding an occasional visitation, by sending for the clergy to meet him, (as St. Paul summoned to Miletus the clergy of Ephesus,) or else transmitting to them those pastoral addresses, which, under the name of Epistles, form so important a portion of Holy Scripture. At length, however, it became necessary for the apostles to proceed yet further, and to do as their Lord had empowered them to do, to hand on their commission to others, that at their own death the governors of the Church might not be extinct. Of this we have an instance in Titus, who was placed in Crete by St. Paul, to act as chief pastor or bishop; and another in Timothy, who was in like manner set over the Church of Ephesus. And when Timothy was thus appointed to the office of chief pastor, he was associated with St. Paul, who, in writing to the Philippians, commences his salutation thus: “Paul and Timotheus to the servants of Jesus Christ who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” Now we have here the three orders of the ministry clearly alluded to. The title of bishop is, doubtless, given to the second order: but it is not for words, but for things, that we are to contend. Titles may be changed, while offices remain; so senators exist, though they are not now of necessity old men; and most absurd would it be to contend that, when we speak of the emperor Constantine, we can mean that Constantine held no other office than that held under the Roman republic, because we find Cicero also saluted as emperor. So stood the matter in the first age of the gospel, when the chief pastors of the Church were generally designated apostles or angels, i. e. messengers sent by God himself. In the next century, the office remaining, the designation of those who held it was changed, the title of Apostle was confined to the Twelve, including St. Paul; and the chief pastors who succeeded them were thenceforth called bishops, the subordinate ministers being styled priests and deacons. For when the name of bishop was given to those who had that oversight of presbyters, which presbyters had of their flocks, it would have been manifestly inconvenient, and calculated to engender confusion, to continue the episcopal name to the second order. And thus we see, as Christ was sent by the Father, so he sent the apostles; as the apostles were sent by Christ, so did they send the first race of bishops; as the first race of bishops was sent by the apostles, so they sent the second race of bishops, the second the third, and so down to our present bishops, who thus trace their spiritual descent from St. Peter and St. Paul, and prove their Divine authority to govern the Churches over which they are canonically appointed to preside.

The three orders of the ministry in the New Testament stand thus: 1st order, Apostle. 2nd order, Bishop, Presbyter, or Elder. 3rd order, Deacon. Afterwards, the office remaining the same, there was a change in the title, and the ministers of Christ were designated thus: 1st order, Bishop, formerly Apostle. 2nd order, Presbyter or Elder. 3rd order, Deacon.

The offices of an apostle and a bishop are thus distinguished by the learned Barrow: “The apostleship is an extraordinary office, charged with instruction and government of the whole world; but episcopacy is an ordinary standing charge affixed to one place, and requiring a special attendance there.”—See Consecration of Bishops.

The judgment of the Church of England with respect to the primitive existence of the episcopal order is this: “It is evident unto all men diligently reading Holy Scripture and ancient authors, that from the apostles’ time there have been these orders of ministers in Christ’s Church,—Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.”—Preface to the Ordination Service.

BISHOPS’ BIBLE. (See Bible.)

BISHOPS, ELECTION OF. When cities were at first converted to Christianity, the bishops were elected by the clergy and people: for it was then thought convenient that the laity, as well as the clergy, should concur in the election, that he who was to have the inspection of them all might come in by general consent.

But as the number of Christians increased, this was found to be inconvenient; for tumults were raised, and sometimes murders committed, at such popular elections. To prevent such disorders, the emperors, being then Christians, reserved the election of bishops to themselves; but the bishop of Rome, when he had obtained supremacy in the Western Church, was unwilling that the bishops should have any dependence upon princes; and therefore brought it about that the canons in cathedral churches should have the election of their bishops, which elections were usually confirmed at Rome.

But princes had still some power in those elections; and in England we read, that, in the Saxon times, all ecclesiastical dignities were conferred by the king in parliament.

From these circumstances arose the long controversy about the right of investiture, a point conceded, so far as our Church is concerned, by Henry I., who only reserved the ceremony of homage to himself from the bishops in respect of temporalities. King John afterwards granted his charter, by common consent of the barons, that the bishops should be eligible by the chapter, though the right of the Crown in former times was acknowledged. This was afterwards confirmed by several acts of parliament. This election by the chapter was to be a free election, but founded upon the king’s congé d’ élire: it was afterwards to have the royal assent; and the newly-elected bishop was not to have his temporalities assigned until he had sworn allegiance to the king; but it was agreed, that confirmation and consecration should be in the power of the pope, so that foreign potentate gained in effect the disposal of all the bishoprics in England.

But the pope was not content with this power of confirmation and consecration; he would oftentimes collate to the bishoprics himself: hence, by the statute of the 26 Edward III. sec. 6, it was enacted as follows, viz. The free elections of archbishops, bishops, and all other dignities and benefices elective in England, shall hold from henceforth in the manner as they were granted by the king’s progenitors, and the ancestors of other lords, founders of the said dignities and other benefices. And in case that reservation, collation, or provision be made by the court of Rome, of any archbishopric, bishopric, dignity, or other benefice, in disturbance of the free elections aforesaid, the king shall have for that time the collations to the archbishoprics and other dignities elective which be of his advowry, such as his progenitors had before that free election was granted; since that the election was first granted by the king’s progenitors upon a certain form and condition, as to demand licence of the king to choose, and after the election to have his royal assent, and not in other manner; which conditions not kept, the thing ought by reason to resort to its first nature.