BISHOP, the title of the highest order of clergy in the Christian church. The name is in the Saxon, biscip, and is from the Greek, episeopos, an overseer. The Athenians used to send officers called cpi$topoi to their subject states. The word was adopted by the Romans; and Cicero speaks of himself as an eptleopus in Campania; it was also applied by them to the officers who inspected the provision-markets. There are two theories as to the functions of a B. in the primitive church, which may be described as the Episcopalian and the Presbyterian theories.
According to the former, the tirst bishops in the Church of Christ were his apostles; " for the office whereunto Matthias was chosen is termed (Acts i. 20) an episcopal office. which being spoken expressly of one, agreeth no le'ss unto them all; and therefore St. Cyprian, spenking generally of them all. calls them bishops." The form of government at first established by the apostles was that the laity or people should be subject to acollege of ecclesiastical persons appointed for that purpose in every city. These, in their writings, they term sometimes "presbyters," sometimes " bish ops." Thus St. Paul to the elders at Ephesus says: "Take heed to the flock over which the Holy Ghost bath made you bishops. This explains the Presbyterian view of the office. But as the apostles could net themselves be present in all churches, and as in a short time strifes and contentions art se, they appointed, after the order began at Jerusalem, sonic one president or governor over the rest, who had his authority estab lished a long time before that settled difference of name took place whereby such alone were called bishops; and therefore, in the book of Revelation, we find that they are entitled "angels." St. Irenmus, martyred in the 2d c., says: "We are able to number up them who by the apostles were made bishops." In Borne lie tells us. they appointed Linus; and in Smyrna, Polycarp. St. Ignatius witnesses that they made Evodius B. of Antioch. St. Jerome says: " All bishops are, the apostles' successors:" and St. Cyprian
terms bishops "prapositos qui apostolis nearia onlivatione eneecdunt" (presidents who suc ceed to the apostles by vicarious ordination). Booker says, in his usual judicious manner: "Such as deny apostles to have any successors at all in the office of their apostleship, may hold that opinion without contradiction to ibis of ours, if they will explain them selves in declaring what truly and properly apostleship is. In some things, every pres byter. in some things only bishops, in some things neither the one nor the other, are the apostles successors." And he adds, what fairly states the Episcopal theory on this sub ject: "The apostles have now their true successors, if not in the largeness, surely in the kind of that episcopal function whereby they had rower to sit as spiritual ordinary judges, both over laity and over clergy, where churches Christian were established." We find, also, that throughout those cities where the apostles did plant Christianity, history has noted a succession of pastors in the seat of one, not of many; and the first one in every rank we find to have been, if not some apostle, yet sorre apostle's disciple. By Epiphanius, the bishops of Jerusalem arc reckoned down from St. James to his own time; and Tertullian, writing in the 2d c., has the following: "Let them show the beginnings of their churches, let them recite their bishops one by one, each in such sort succeeding other that the first B. of them have had for his author and predecessor some apostle, or at least some apostolical person who persevered with the apostles; for so apostolical churches are wont to bring forth the evidence of their estates." The judg ment of the church of England as to the primitive existence of bishops is to be found in the preface to the ordination service, drawn up in the reign of Edward Y., where it is said: " It is evident unto all men diligently reading the Iloly Scripture and ancient authors, that from the apostles' time there have been these orders of ministers in Christ's church—bishops, priests, and deacons.