This text was copied from Wikipedia on 25 September 2016 at 3:26AM.

Church authority in ceremonies is often represented by a mitre as headdress.
The chair (cathedra) of the Pope in the Basilica of St. John Lateran represents his authority.

An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. (The word "bishop" derives, via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term *ebiscopus/*biscopus, from the Ancient Greek επίσκοπος epískopos meaning "overseer".) It is the structure used by many of the major Christian Churches and denominations, such as the Roman Catholic, Eastern (e.g. Eastern Orthodox), Anglican and Lutheran churches or denominations, and other churches founded independently from these lineages.

Churches with an episcopal polity are governed by bishops, practicing their authorities in the dioceses and conferences or synods. Their leadership is both sacramental and constitutional; as well as performing ordinations, confirmations, and consecrations, the bishop supervises the clergy within a local jurisdiction and is the representative both to secular structures and within the hierarchy of the church. Bishops are considered to derive their authority from an unbroken, personal apostolic succession from the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. Bishops with such authority are known as the historical episcopate. Churches with this type of government usually believe that the Church requires episcopal government as described in the New Testament (see First Timothy 3 and Second Timothy 1) In some systems, bishops may be subject to higher-ranking bishops (variously called archbishops, metropolitans, and/or patriarchs, depending upon the tradition). They also meet in councils or synods. These gatherings, subject to presidency by higher ranking bishops, usually make important decisions, though the synod or council may also be purely advisory.


Overview of episcopal churches

The government of a bishop is typically symbolized by a cathedral church, such as the bishops's see at Chartres Cathedral.




Using these definitions, examples of specific episcopal churches include:



Before the Great Schism


Shortly after the Roman Emperor Constantine I legalized Christianity in 321, he also constructed an elaborate second capital of the Roman Empire located at Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople, in 324. The single Roman Empire was divided between these two autonomous administrative centers, Roman and Constantinopolitan, West and East, Latin speaking and Greek speaking. This remained the status quo through the fourth century. A deep chasm developed between the East and West, becoming critical around 350, known as the Aryan, or Nicene controversy. The Eastern Christian Churches were thought by Constantine to believe against the Trinity; that Christ was lesser than God. Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, France, believed that the Eastern Church should be given the opportunity to, at least, be educated on the subject. Constantine, in his wisdom, and upset by disagreement, banished Hilary to the East. Hilary perfected his Greek language skills while in exile, and determined the great divide between Rome and the East was actually not a disagreement at all, and was merely a linguistic ignorance on the part of his Latin speaking contemporaries. This truth became known in the West, though some differences lingered. Hilary of Poitiers later became St. Hilary, Doctor of the Church, for exposing the true Christian beliefs of the Eastern Church. Many of Hilary's writings were lost to time.



Beginning with John the Faster (John IV, 582-595), the Bishop of Constantinople adopted as a formal title for himself the by then customary honorific Ecumenical Patriarch ("pre-eminent father for the civilized world") over the strong objections of Rome, a title based on the political prestige of Constantinople and its economic and cultural centrality in the Empire. In the following years, Rome's appeals to the East were based on the unique authority of the Apostolic See and the primacy of Peter, over the powers of councils as defended by the East (councils, for example, had endorsed that lofty title which Rome contested).



Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church has an episcopate, with the Pope, who is the Bishop of Rome, at the top. The Roman Catholic Church considers that juridical oversight over the Church is not a power that derives from human, but strictly from the authority of Christ which was given to his twelve apostles. The See of Rome, as the unbroken line of apostolic authority descending from St. Peter (the "prince and head of the apostles"), is a visible sign and instrument of communion among the college of bishops and therefore also of the local churches around the world. In communion with the worldwide college of bishops, the Pope has all legitimate juridical and teaching authority over the whole Church. This authority given by Christ to St. Peter and the apostles is transmitted from one generation to the next by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the laying on of hands from the Apostles to the bishops, in unbroken succession.

Eastern Orthodox Church

The conciliar idea of episcopal government continues in the Orthodox Church. In Eastern Orthodoxy, all autocephalous primates are seen as collectively gathering around Christ, with other archbishops and bishops gathering around them, and so forth, in a model called "conciliar hierarchy". This is based in part on the vision in the book of Revelation of the 24 elders gathered around the throne of Christ, who are believed to represent the 12 patriarchs of Israel and the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. There is no single Patriarch with exclusive authority comparable to the Pope in Rome. However, the Patriarch of Constantinople (which today is actually Istanbul) is seen as the primus inter pares, the "first among equals" of the autocephalous churches of Eastern Orthodoxy.

Oriental Orthodox churches


Both the Greek and Coptic Orthodox Churches each recognise their own Pope of Alexandria (Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, and Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria respectively), both of whom trace their apostolic succession back to the Mark the Evangelist.[3] There are official ongoing efforts in recent times to heal this ancient breach. Already, the two recognize each other's baptisms, chrismations, and marriages, making intermarriage much easier.

Church of the East

Historically, the Church of the East has traced its episcopal succession to St. Thomas the Apostle. Currently the bishops of the Assyrian Church of the East continue to maintain its apostolic succession.

Anglican Communion



Paul Kwong, Anglican Archbishop and Primate of Hong Kong







American Methodist churches


Episcopal government in other denominations



See also


  6. ^ Still in Production. Retrieved on 2013-07-23.

Further reading


External links

2 Annotations

kiki  •  Link

he yy i need a paragraph on the religion called episcopalian!!!!i need help!!

Bill  •  Link

Can any thing therefore be plainer than that the Church of England holds Episcopacy or the Order of Bishops to be of Divine Institution, and one of those diverse orders which God by his Holy Spirit has appointed? It appears also from the Forms of Ordination, that without a Bishop no Person can be ordained either Deacon, Priest or Bishop, consequently that Bishops only are the Men who have publick Authority given unto them in the Congregation or Church of God, to call and send Ministers into the Lord's Vineyard. And therefore according to the Doctrine of the Church of England declared by her Ordinal and Articles as they expound each other, it is not lawful for any Man to take upon him the Office of publick Preaching, or ministring the Sacraments in the Congregation or Church of Christ, before he be lawfully called and sent to execute the same by some Bifhep, that is, before he is Episcopally ordained, and this is the Law of God, who by his Holy Spirit has appointed the Order of Bishops, and directed that only those who are of that Order should ordain others, consequently is a Law not only obligatory in the Church of England, but throughout the whole Catholick Church.
---The Divine Right of Episcopacy. T. Brett, 1718.

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