Changes

:Also, "fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters" are mentioned, which in churches with [[apostolic succession]] are also informal titles of [[priest]]s and [[abbot]]s, [[monk]]s and [[brother]]s, "mother-superiors" of [[convent]]s and [[religious orders]], and [[nun]]s and [[sister]]s.

:Also, "fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters" are mentioned, which in churches with [[apostolic succession]] are also informal titles of [[priest]]s and [[abbot]]s, [[monk]]s and [[brother]]s, "mother-superiors" of [[convent]]s and [[religious orders]], and [[nun]]s and [[sister]]s.

:It is not certain that the "deacons" (διακονόις ''diakonois'', literally ''servants / slaves'') in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 are presbyters assistant to the "episcopos", that the position of deacon mentioned with the bishop was that of  "priest" / "elder" subordinate to him. In his letter to the Philippians (1:1) Paul greeted the saints with the bishops and deacons, referring to himself and Timothy as "servants / slaves" ''δουλοι'', and yet both of them were apostles (1 Thessalonians 2:6). The interpretation of some Orthodox and Catholic [[Exegesis|exegetes]] is that ''presbyteroi'' were serving assistants ''diakonoi'' to the ''episkopos'', while others of them interpret the deacons as serving lay members of the [[pastor]]al staff of the episcopos as pastor and chief presbyter of the congregational membership of believers, or possibly as men formally ordained by the laying on of the hands of the presbyterate (1 Timothy 4:15) to the ministry of service to the needy as deacons (Acts 6:1-6). Both deacons in 1 Timothy and presbyters in Titus were to have one wife, or if they were widowers to have had no more than one wife, or, as others read it, were ''required'' to have one wife, in any case not more than one. This is the ancient church discipline of both Orthodoxy and Catholicism even to this day; and it was also previously that of Anglicanism, although now it has been relaxed in the [[Anglican Communion]] since the late mid-20th century, to allow remarriage after the death of the wife or after divorce. In both Orthodoxy and Catholicism the candidate for elevation to the rank of episcopos or bishop must have been never-married, ideally a virginal male.

:It is not certain that the "deacons" (διακονόις ''diakonois'', literally ''servants / slaves'') in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 are presbyters assistant to the "episcopos", that the position of deacon mentioned with the bishop was that of  "priest" / "elder" subordinate to him. In his letter to the Philippians (1:1) Paul greeted the saints with the bishops and deacons, referring to himself and Timothy as "servants / slaves" ''δουλοι'', and yet both of them were apostles (1 Thessalonians 2:6). The interpretation of some Orthodox and Catholic [[Exegesis|exegetes]] is that ''presbyteroi'' were serving assistants ''diakonoi'' to the ''episkopos'', while others of them interpret the deacons as serving lay members of the [[pastor]]al staff of the episcopos, the episcopos as pastor and chief presbyter of the congregational membership of believers, or possibly as men formally ordained by the laying on of the hands of the presbyterate (1 Timothy 4:15) to the ministry of service to the needy as deacons (Acts 6:1-6). Both deacons in 1 Timothy and presbyters in Titus were to have one wife, or if they were widowers to have had no more than one wife, or, as others read it, were ''required'' to have one wife, in any case not more than one. This is the ancient church discipline of both Orthodoxy and Catholicism even to this day; and it was also previously that of Anglicanism, although now it has been relaxed in the [[Anglican Communion]] since the late mid-20th century, to allow remarriage after the death of the wife or after divorce. In both Orthodoxy and Catholicism the candidate for elevation to the rank of episcopos or bishop must have been never-married, ideally a virginal male.

:In the New Testament church an apostle was also an episcopos, a presbyter and a deacon ("servant / slave"), but a deacon was not always a presbyter, nor an episcopos, nor an apostle; and an episcopos and a presbyter was also a deacon ("servant / slave") to the apostles. Hebrews 3:1; Acts 14:14; 15:6, 23; 20:28; 1 Timothy 5:1-2, 17; Titus 1:1; James 1 Peter 5:1-5; 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 1—see the interlinear texts of these passages and the multiple commentaries on them. The delineation of the ministries of ordained bishop, priest, deacon, and of consecrated (vowed) religious mother, brother, sister, we see today was not yet defined. The beginnings of an ecclesiastical hierarchy of levels of authority is already evident in the [[epistles of Ignatius]] (a disciple of the [[John the Apostle|Apostle John]]), written c. A.D. 110. It is a documented historical fact that in the first few centuries of the Christian Era every episcopos, bishop, was also affectionately regarded as [[pope]] and [[patriarch]] and chief pastor of a particular church congregation, locally, sometimes as the only presbyter, and in some cases, to a limited extent, as being circumstantially spiritually responsible for more than one congregation, as also having regional shepherding and guiding authority as a chief pastor, being given an appointed position of great respect; and according to some interpreters without any domineering authority to command obedience.

:In the New Testament church an apostle was also an episcopos, a presbyter and a deacon ("servant / slave"), but a deacon was not always a presbyter, nor an episcopos, nor an apostle; and an episcopos and a presbyter was also a deacon ("servant / slave") to the apostles. Hebrews 3:1; Acts 14:14; 15:6, 23; 20:28; 1 Timothy 5:1-2, 17; Titus 1:1; James 1 Peter 5:1-5; 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 1—see the interlinear texts of these passages and the multiple commentaries on them. The delineation of the ministries of ordained bishop, priest, deacon, and of consecrated (vowed) religious mother, brother, sister, we see today was not yet defined. The beginnings of an ecclesiastical hierarchy of levels of authority is already evident in the [[epistles of Ignatius]] (a disciple of the [[John the Apostle|Apostle John]]), written c. A.D. 110. It is a documented historical fact that in the first few centuries of the Christian Era every episcopos, bishop, was also affectionately regarded as [[pope]] and [[patriarch]] and chief pastor of a particular church congregation, locally, sometimes as the only presbyter, and in some cases, to a limited extent, as being circumstantially spiritually responsible for more than one congregation, as also having regional shepherding and guiding authority as a chief pastor, being given an appointed position of great respect; and according to some interpreters without any domineering authority to command obedience.