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A bishop is an ordained person who holds a specific position of authority in any of a number of Christian churches.
The bishop's role is typically called the " episcopacy", because the word "bishop" is derived ultimately from the Greek word episkopos (επισκοπος), which literally means overseer or foreman. Episkopos is used in the New Testament in the epistle of St Paul to Timothy 3:1-7 and Paul's epistle to Titus 1:5-9, which contains a description for the bishop's qualifications and duties. The bishop's stated duties entail administration; the bishop is described as the "steward of God." (Titus 1:7, KJV) Those duties also include teaching; the bishop is enjoined to "hold fast the faithful word, as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers." (Titus 1:9)
The bishop must be even-tempered, sober, just, holy, and temperate; he should not be a novice Christian. A bishop is expected to rule his own house well, "having all his children in subjection with all gravity." He should be the "husband of (only) one wife." Whether this enjoins a bishop to have never been remarried, requires a bishop to be married, or simply disqualifies a candidate who practices polygamy are questions of interpretation about which there are several opinions. At this stage in the history of Christianity, bishops were permitted to marry and have children.
The bishops are also mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles 20:28, in which they are described as "shepherds". In Latin, a shepherd is a pastor. To refer to a member of the Christian clergy as "pastor" refers to the image of the bishop as shepherd of his "flock." The passage in Acts seems to view the office of bishop as referring to the same office as the "elders."
"Elders," " presbyters," or " priestA priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. Priests have been known since the earliest times and in the simplest societies (see shamas"—depending on the translationThe Bible has been translated into many languages. The Tanakh was originally written in Hebrew, with the exception of some passages of Daniel, Ezra, and Jeremiah which are in Aramaic. The New Testament is widely agreed to have originally been written in G—are also mentioned in the Epistle to Titus, in a manner that makes it difficult to determine whether a separate level of hierarchyA hierarchy (Greek hieros sacred, arkho rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things. Different fields use the word in slightly different ways, but a particular definition (below) captures the core of almost all uses. Originally, "hierarchy" meant " above or below the bishop is intended; it seems that here the words are synonyms also. The Epistle to Timothy mentions deaconThe diaconate is one of three ordained offices in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches. The other two offices are those of priest and of bishop. It is also an office in many Protestant denominations. The word deacs in a manner that indicates more clearly that the office of deacon differs from the office of the bishop, and is subordinate to it, though it carries similar qualifications.
During Late Antiquity, as villaA villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class. According to Pliny, there were two kinds of villas, the villa urbana which was a country seat that could easily be reached from Rome (or another city) for a night or two, and the vills or other landed properties were given or bequeathed to the leaders of Christian communities, bishops often acquired the status of feudalThis page relates to medieval Europe. Compare feudal Japan at the entry Tokugawa shogunate''. Feudalism comes from the Late Latin word feudum itself borrowed from a Germanic root fehu a commonly used term in the Middle Ages which means fief, or land held lordA lord is one who has power and authority. It can have diffrent meanings depending on the context of use. The etymology of the English word lord goes back to Old English hlaf-weard (loaf-guardian) reflecting the Germanic tribal custom of a superior to pros. Where such properties had been confiscated by Roman authorities during the 4th century, they were ordered to be returned, under the Theodosian decrees of 391.
In the West, as the military protection offered by local representative of the Emperor dwindled or collapsed, the bishop remained the only figure to uphold law and order. The career of Leo I, Bishop of Rome, in representing the city in negotiations with Attila, is a case in point.
In the Eastern churches, latifundia entailed to a bishop's see were much less common, the state power didn't collapse the way it did in the West, and thus the tendency of bishops acquiring secular power was much weaker than in the West.
Bishops of the Church of England still sit in the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, as representatives of the state church. The Bishop of Sodor and Man is ex officio a member of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man
In France before the French Revolution, representatives of the clergy - in practice, bishops and abbots of the largest monasteries - comprised one of the three Estates in the Estates-General, until their role was abolished during the French Revolution.
A number of bishops served as Electors in the Holy Roman Empire. By the terms of the Golden Bull of 1356, the Bishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne were made permanent electors who chose the next Emperor upon the death of his predecessor. The bishop of Mainz was, in fact, the head of the electors. As electors of the Holy Roman Empire, these bishops were not the only bishops who were sovereigns in their own right, and governed their dioceses in civil as well as ecclesiastical matters. By virtue of their electorates, the bishop of Mainz held the office of the High Chancellor of Germany; Cologne was High Chancellor of Italy, and Trier was High Chancellor of Burgundy.
But, of course, the highest prince bishop was the Pope, who ruled as monarch of the Papal States by virtue of his title as Bishop of Rome. His claim to this fief rested on the forged Donation of Constantine, but in fact his authority over this kingdom in central Italy grew slowly after the collapse of Roman and Byzantine authority in the area. The Papal States were abolished when King Victor Emmanuel II took possession of Rome in 1870 and completed the reunification of Italy. This became a perennial source of tension between the Papacy and the government of Italy. In 1929, Pope Pius XI made a deal with the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini and became the independent leader of the Vatican, while giving up any rights to the rest of the former Papal States, and he was recognised as an independent monarch by the Lateran Treaties, a throne the current Pope continues to enjoy.
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