No Hierarchical Bishops in Scripture

In Acts 20, Luke gives us an account of a trip by Paul to Miletus. From there, he calls for the elders from the church in nearby Ephesus to come to meet with him: "Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him." In today's parlance, we would call it a strategy meeting.

Then, when he is speaking to them, we find this interesting comment: "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers" (Acts 20:28).

What makes such a seemingly-mundane statement interesting? Notice the title "elders" in verse 17. That is a translation of the Greek word "presbuteros." From it, we get the English word "priest." However, its basic meaning is "an older person," from which it has been adapted to designate the church office of "elder."

However, in verse 28, the same men get addressed, not by their title, but by their job, "overseers." That English word is used to translate the Greek word "episkopos," from which we get the English word, "bishop." But it simply means "one who oversees," or a manager (see also I Peter 5:1-2).

The significance of that is that it eliminates any claim by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, or the Anglican Church, that their office of monarchical bishop is derived from Scripture. The word is there, of course, but of a kind completely different from the extravagant powers and privileges associated with that title, especially those blasphemous claims to the pope to be the Universal Bishop, with authority over all Christians in the world.