Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In the original Greek of the New Testament, we encounter the word “episkopos” five times and “presbyteros” roughly twenty times.
For example, Acts 14:23 states, “And when they had appointed elders (presbyteros) for them in every church, with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed.”
And Philippians 1:1 says, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers (episkopos) and deacons."
Regardless of how these terms are translated, they confirm the biblical roots of the Church’s clerical hierarchy.
#StPaulCenter #AskAScholar #JohnBergsma #Bible #Clergy #Protestantism #Catholicism
In the original Greek of the New Testament, we encounter the word “episkopos” five times and “presbyteros” roughly twenty times.
For example, Acts 14:23 states, “And when they had appointed elders (presbyteros) for them in every church, with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they believed.”
And Philippians 1:1 says, “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers (episkopos) and deacons."
Regardless of how these terms are translated, they confirm the biblical roots of the Church’s clerical hierarchy.
#StPaulCenter #AskAScholar #JohnBergsma #Bible #Clergy #Protestantism #Catholicism
