Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Those who use the title "bishop"


"This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work" (1 Timothy 3:1 King James Version 1611)

I have researched the internet, to find out who use the title “bishop”. And I also searched the evangelical, born again churches here in our country and in abroad. I have found out that those who use the title bishops are:

1. The Roman Catholic bishops. And as they use this title, it is not used in the Biblical sense.
The Biblical teaching is that “a bishop is the overseer of a local church” 1 bishop/ 1 church.

But the Roman Catholics teach and practice that “a bishop is the overseer of a diocese [groups of local churches]” 1 bishop/ many churches. For Roman Catholics, the overseer of a local church [which they call “parish”] is called “priest” which according to them came from the Greek word “presbyter” which is translated in English as “elder”. So the priests are the elders or pastors according to them.
2. The Episcopalian bishops. The same teaching and practice as of the Roman Catholic bishops.
3. The Evangelical bishops. But sad to say, they also follow the Roman Catholic tradition. Here in the Philippines, the leaders of national denominations are called “bishops”, or if these ministers have founded and planted many churches to form a denomination, these ministers are called “bishops”. Then the ministers under them, who oversee local churches, are called “pastors”. Because they are denominations, they have a national office, and their denomination is divided in regions or provinces or districts or cities or towns. Their leader is “bishop”. They have “regional pastors” or “district pastors” or “town pastors”.
4. KJV Bible-believing bishops. About this group, I’ve found only few. I researched the so-called “grace websites” even KJVO Grace websites, I’ve found out that if these grace preachers don’t use “pastors”, they will use “pastor-teacher”, “elder”, “teaching-elder”, “minister” and “bible teacher”. But they don’t use the title “bishop”. They avoid it, though it is a very KJVO word. The only ones I know who rightly use the title “bishop” according to its Biblical sense are Bishop David Dowell of Tri-cities Grace Fellowship Church and some who follow this teaching, such as me, myself, Bishop Marthy Austria. Here in the Philippines, I’ve heard from a fellow KJVO bishop, that some grace dispensationalists here who followed Dan Gross, use the title “bishop” for their leaders. This fellow who informed me, when he visited me in my church, although a KJVO, used the title “pastor”. But when I taught him 1 Tim 3:1, after a brief study, accepted the KJVO title “bishop”.
But despite the few who use this title “bishop”,
I myself will “hold fast the faithful word” And be faithdul and obedient to the KJV.

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