After the apostles, the church began to change. The churches in big cities spontaneously began to become powerful. A big city naturally had a greater population; thus, the churches in larger cities became more powerful than churches in small cities or villages. The churches in big cities were inclined to absorb churches in smaller cities and villages so that they became satellites. The big cities became centers, while the smaller cities became accessories around them. As a result, there were changes not only in the organization but also in the administration of the church. Originally, there were several elders in a church. The churches in villages or in small cities also had their own elders. After the apostles passed away, however, a group of people in the early church advocated the doctrine that the authority of the apostles had been committed to the elders or bishops who represented the apostles. This was done out of respect for the apostles. Because they honored the first group of apostles, they were reluctant to designate anyone else as an apostle. They dared not use the title apostle.
Later, they appointed one from among many elders in a big city to be the bishop. Originally, elders were all bishops (overseers); each one was a bishop. The term elder refers to the person himself, and bishop refers to his office. But gradually, among the many elders, one was chosen to be a bishop, who became not only the head of the elders in a locality but also the head of the elders in the satellite churches.
This is how the changes came about: First, the church in a big city made all the churches in the small cities and villages its satellites. Later, a head elder was designated out of the big church, who naturally became the head elder of the satellite churches. He was called the bishop. This is a title found in the Bible, but the function now associated with it was not the same as what is in the Bible. In the Bible the elders are bishops. Paul called the elders in Ephesus together and said, “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has placed you as overseers [bishops]” (Acts 20:17, 28). The bishops in the Bible were plural; the elders were also plural. But today one is picked from among many elders to become the bishop. Only one is bishop while the rest are elders, not bishops. The elders no longer have the authority of a bishop. Smaller localities were united together and given over to the rule of this one bishop. One person was made to rule over many churches, and the matter of regions arose.
This development did not stop at just this level. During this same time the Roman Empire conquered the whole world. Among the many churches, the church in the city of Rome became very big. The city was not only large but also the capital. People throughout the whole world came to Rome to see Caesar. At first a bishop ruled over many places, which resulted in a regional church. As the city of Rome became prominent, it began to claim, “We are the capital, and Caesar lives in our midst.” Consequently, the bishop in the church of Rome not only ruled over the elders of the church in Rome but also over the elders in the region surrounding Rome. He not only became the head of the elders within the entire empire but also, more particularly, the head of the bishops of the various regions. This was the pope, the product of an order of ascending rank in the form of a hierarchy. Today the meaning of bishop in various denominations is “overseer.” The head of all such overseers is the pope. The reason everyone is ambitious to be the bishop of Rome is that once one becomes the bishop in Rome, he is spontaneously the bishop of the whole world and the head of all the elders in the world. Once one becomes the bishop in Rome, he immediately becomes the pope, and he represents Christ. This trend continued until its development became fully complete in the fourth century. By that time, “the churches” as recorded in the Bible no longer existed; they were now “one church.” The churches in the whole world became one church. From that day on, “the churches of God” as mentioned in the Bible (1 Cor. 11:16) no longer existed and no longer were mentioned. “The churches of the saints,” as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14:33, also no longer were heard of, no longer were mentioned, and no longer existed. They all became part of the one church of Rome, and all the churches throughout the world became branches of Rome. There were no longer churches associated with just localities.
Was there a scriptural basis for this development? Supposedly, the scriptural basis was the fact that the children of God should be one. Since the Lord has only one church on this earth, they thought that they should be united as “one church.” However, they forgot that the Bible speaks of “the churches.”
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