Is the Pope the head Bishop?

[allisonP]

Forgive my ignorance here as I am just trying to understand as a non-catholic .
I read on another thread that Peter was the first Bishop of Rome.

I understand that the Pope is decended from Peter(maybe I didnt word that right) anyway…is Bishop and Pope the same thing? The Pope being the head Bishop?

 

[1ke]

The Pope is both the Bishop of Rome and the “head Bishop” of the Catholic Church.

As the Bishop of Rome he does the same types of things that bishops do in other diocese-- like the Bishop of New York, Boston, etc.

As the “head Bishop”, he is the leader of the entire Catholic Church, and does have primacy over the other bishops.

 

[allisonP]

Thank you!
Is Bishop the same as Elder or Shephard?

 

[itsjustdave1988]

allisonP:

Thank you!
Is Bishop the same as Elder or Shephard?

According to Protestant lexicon, Vine’s Expository of New Testament Words, under the heading “Bishop (overseer)”,

<1,1985,episkopos>
lit., “an overseer” (epi, “over,” skopeo, “to look or watch”), whence Eng. “bishop,” which has precisely the same meaning, is found in Acts 20:28; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:7; 1 Pet. 2:25. See OVERSEER.

Note: Presbuteros, “an elder,” is another term for the same person as bishop or overseer. See Acts 20:17 with verse Acts 20:28. The term “elder” indicates the mature spiritual experience and understanding of those so described; the term “bishop,” or “overseer,” indicates the character of the work undertaken. According to the Divine will and appointment, as in the NT, there were to be “bishops” in every local church, Acts 14:23; 20:17; Phil. 1:1; Titus 1:5; Jas. 5:14. Where the singular is used, the passage is describing what a “bishop” should be, 1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:7. Christ Himself is spoken of as “the … Bishop of our souls,” 1 Pet. 2:25. See ELDER.

See also: Bishop, Priest, and Deacon

 

[herry]

Dear AllisonP,

“And when they came to Capernaum: and being in the house, He (Jesus) asked them (apolstles), What is it that ye disputed among yourselves along the way? But they held thier piece: for by the way they had disputed among themselves about who should be the greatest. And He sat down and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all” Mark 9:33-35

St. Cyprian: “For neither does any of us set himself up as a bishop of bishops, nor by tyrannical terror does any of us compel his colleague to the necessity of obediance; since every bishop, according to the abundance of his liberty and power, has his own right of proper judgement, and can no more be judged by another thant he himself can judge another. But let us all wait for the judgement of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only one who has both the power of preferring us in government of his church, and judging us in our conduct there” (7th council of Carthage, Opening Session, in the presence of 87 bishops after Stephen the Bishop of Rome had claimed some superior authority over the bishop of Carthage)

St Cyprian’s interpretation of Matthew 16:18: “Our Lord says to Peter ‘I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church…’ Thence through the changes of times and sucessions, the ordering of the bishops, and the plan of the church flows onwards; so that the church is founded upon the bishops, and every act of the church is controlled by these rulers. Since this then is founded upon the divine law (Jesus spoke to all bishops in Matt. 16:18), I marvel that some, with daring temerity (Stephen, Bishop of Rome), have chosen to write to me as if they wrote in the name of the church;when the church is established in the bishops and in the clergy, and all who stand fast in the faith” --St. Cyprian, Epistle XXVI (saying Christ’s charge to Peter refers to the whole episcopate)

Paul said that he was “not a whit behind the chiefest of apostles”(2 Cor. 11:5). Look at how he rebuked Peter in Galatians chapter 2. How could he do this if Peter was the “pope”? Also, in Acts chapter 8:14, the elders at Jerusalem hear that the gospel was preached at Samaria so the “send Peter and John”. How can they send Peter if Peter was supposed to give all the orders?

Peter: “The elders who are among you I exhort, who am also an elder…neither being as lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock” 1 Peter 5:1, 4

God Bless,

-Herry

 

[1ke]

allisonP:

Thank you!
Is Bishop the same as Elder or Shephard?

In a word, Yes.

Others have posted the linguistic origin of the word.

 

[Tom]

If you do a little research, you’ll find Protestants use an edited version of St Cyprian writing which is a combination of two versions found. This is not historical but better suits their needs. You need also keep in mind that during St Cyprians time there was an “antipope”, Novitian, that’s one who claims to be pope but who was not properly elected.
The two versions can be found and explained at: www.newadvent.org/cathen/04583b.htm
This is the second version, they would rather not like you to see:

Upon one He builds His Church, and to the same He says after His resurrection, ‘feed My sheep’. And though to all His Apostles He gave an equal power yet did He set up one chair, and disposed the origin and manner of unity by his authority. The other Apostles were indeed what Peter was, but the primacy is given to Peter, and the Church and the chair is shown to be one. And all are pastors, but the flock is shown to be one, which is fed by all the Apostles with one mind and heart. He that holds not this unity of the Church, does he think that he holds the faith? He who deserts the chair of Peter, upon whom the Church is founded, is he confident that he is in the Church?

From the same article:

These alternative versions are given one after the other in the chief family of manuscripts which contains them, while in some other families the two have been partially or wholly combined into one. The combined version is the one which has been printed in man editions, and has played a large part in controversy with Protestants. It is of course spurious in this conflated form, but the alternative form given above is not only found in eighth- and ninth-century manuscripts, but it is quoted by Bede, by Gregory the Great (in a letter written for his predecessor Pelagius II), and by St. Gelasius; indeed, it was almost certainly known to St. Jerome and St. Optatus in the fourth century. The evidence of the manuscripts would indicate an equally early date. Every expression and thought in the passage can be paralleled from St. Cyprian’s habitual language, and it seems to be now generally admitted that this alternative passage is an alteration made by the author himself when forwarding his work to the Roman confessors. The “one chair” is always in Cyprian the episcopal chair, and Cyprian has been careful to emphasize this point, and to add a reference to the other great Petrine text, the Charge in John, xxi. The assertion of the equality of the Apostles as Apostles remains, and the omissions are only for the sake of brevity.

Read the entire article and you’ll get the full picture.

 

[Sarah_Jane]

Look at how he rebuked Peter in Galatians chapter 2. How could he do this if Peter was the “pope”?

It’s not a problem for us. Some saints like St.Catherine of Siena rebuked the pope.