Giver:
What power have any of the bishops ever demonstrated? I have met several bishops, and have never heard tell that any of them walked in any spiritual power.
Now tell me if the Holy Spirit chooses Catholic priest, then those priest must have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. If someone has the Holy Spirit how could they commit the terrible sins that some have and are committing? If they didn’t have the Holy Spirit, how then did they get chosen?
WOW. . .I am stunned that this qualifies as a viable arguement for you!
Perhaps a refresher course in Scripture and the early Church will help you understand better what sort of power/responsiblity is given to those who hold the office of bishop.
St. Paul asks: “But how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe unless they have heard of him? And how can they hear unless there is someone to preach? And how can men preach unless they are sent?” (Rom. 10:14-15). We know that the faith comes to us through “many witnesses” (1 Tim. 2:2). The faith is then “handed on to trustworthy men who will be able to teach others.” We know that Christ, himself, personally chose and sent the first teachers and preachers: “Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority to expel unclean sprits and to cure sickness and disease of every kind. . .Jesus sent these men on mission as the Twelve” (Matt. 10:1-5). These men, in turn, passed on the faith and sent, by their authority, other men (see Acts).
Jesus ordained the Twelve as the first leaders in the Church to sit upon “twelve thrones” (Matt. 19:28, Lk. 22:30) in judgment and leadership. This is the beginning of the Church’s first degree of Holy Orders: the episcopate. We see the first mention of this office in Act 1:20 when St. Peter stands up among the apostles after Judas’ suicide and says, “’May another take his office.’” The Greek term used here for “office” is “episkopos” which translates “bishopric.” This is a specific office which refers to the successors of the apostles. The episcopacy includes the bishops of the Church which can trace their succession from the Apostles. We see St. Paul addressing the bishops (episkopoi) and deacons (diakonoi) in his letter to the Philippians (Phillip. 1:1). This refers to the early Church structure that continues today to include bishops as overseers of God’s holy ones and deacons as their servant assistants. In the early church (as well as today), it was councils of bishops, in union with the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), who made universal statements for the Church.
And the early Church, too, is a wonderful witness to Scripture:
Through the Bible, we know that Jesus chose certain men to be his special ministers and we know that those men ordained, in His name, other men to serve and pass on the faith of the apostles. History, too, is a strong witness to what the Church teaches. St. Ignatius of Antioch, writing in 110 AD (just 80 years after Jesus), testifies in his letters to the early Church: “For Jesus Christ, our inseparable life, is the will of the Father, just as the bishops, who have been appointed throughout the world, are the will of Jesus Christ. It is fitting, therefore, that you should live in harmony with the will of the bishop” (to the Ephesians). He also writes: “Take care to do all things in harmony with God, with the bishop presiding in the place of God and with the presbyters in the place of the council of Apostles, and with the deacons, who are most dear to me, entrusted with the business of Jesus Christ” (to the Magnesians). Further: “In like manner let everyone respect the deacon as they would respect Jesus Christ, and just as they respect the bishop as a type of the Father, and the presbyters as the council of God and college of Apostles. Without these, it cannot be called Church. I am confident that you accept this, for I have received the exemplar of your love and have it with me in the person of your bishop. His very demeanor is a great lesson, and his meekness is his strength” (to the Trallians). And so, just 80 years after Jesus founds His Church, we see in the writings of this early Church father that the Church recognized the three-fold sacramental institution of “Holy Orders” as the leadership order in the church.
And so what about all these weak bishops you’ve come to know? What about all these priests with terrible sins? Our answer lies in Scripture. Christ chose Judas as one the twelve. His ways are far above our ways. We may never agree or understand why some men are called out to serve. We are not their judges. We, as Christians, know that God in his infinite power and wisdom makes all things work for HIS glory, not our understanding.
