In reading the writings below of some of the Early Church Fathers, it became clear to me that Christianity has been locked in an identity crisis since around the time of the Reformation. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus places Peter as the head of His Church. In other words Jesus places Peter as the head of the Christian community. After His resurrection, while appearing to the Apostles in the upper room, Jesus then gives the twelve the authority to forgive sins. (John 20:22-23) The early Church understood that the Church that Jesus established meant staying with those whose authority was passed down by the laying of hands. (Acts 6:6-7, 13:3, 14:23) They also understood that for the Church to grow it must have set aside unique ministerial roles within the community. Therefore a bishop was appointed to be head over a local Church community. (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:7) Next is the priest or presbyter who receives his authority by the bishop and the laying on hands in an unbroken chain of succession back to the Apostles. (1 Tim. 5:17) Lastly, our dear deacons were given a special role through works of charity. (Acts 6:1-7; 1 Tim. 3:8) It is unmistakably clear from these and other New Testament readings that the early Church, by necessity, had to have within its communities a structure so to avoid confusion and false teaching. Look at the thousands of Protestant denominations and non-denominations that exist today. In them you may find bits and pieces of their beliefs taken from the early Church. However, “their” beliefs are just that. For example, Pastor Jones Church is set up to follow his interpretations without any line of Apostolic authority. The early Church did not pick and choose. They all were in agreement. They simply knew they needed these ministerial roles to maintain cohesion and strength. There was one ship and no identity crisis for centuries thanks to the continuation of Jesus’ ministry in His bishops, priests and deacons.
Here are examples of what early Christian writers had to say on the subject of bishops, priests, and deacons:
Ignatius of Antioch (disciple of the Apostle John and friend of Peter and Paul)
“Every man who belongs to God and Jesus Christ stands by his bishop.” (Philadelphia, 3, trans Jurgens)
“Follow your bishops, every one of you, as obediently as Jesus Christ followed the Father. Obey your clergy (priests) too, as you would the apostles; give your deacons the same reverence that you would to a command from God. Make sure that no step affecting the Church is ever taken by anyone without the bishop’s sanction. The sole Eucharist you should consider valid is one that is celebrated by the bishop himself, or by some person (presbyter/priest) authorized by him. Where the bishop is to be seen, there let all his people be; just as wherever Jesus Christ is present, we have the Catholic Church… This is to make certain of the soundness and validity of anything you do… (Smyrnaeans, 8)
“It is necessary, therefore—and such is your practice that you do nothing without the bishop, and that you be subject also to the presbytery, as to the apostles of Jesus Christ our hope, in whom we shall be found, if we live in him. It is necessary also that the deacons, the dispensers of the mysteries [sacraments] of Jesus Christ, be in every way pleasing to all men” (Letter to the Trallians 2:1–3 [A.D. 110]).
“I cried out while I was in your midst, I spoke with a loud voice, the voice of God: ‘Give heed to the bishop and the presbytery and the deacons.’ Some suspect me of saying this because I had previous knowledge of the division certain persons had caused; but he for whom I am in chains is my witness that I had no knowledge of this from any man. It was the Spirit who kept preaching these words, ‘Do nothing without the bishop, keep your body as the temple of God, love unity, flee from divisions, be imitators of Jesus Christ, as he was imitator of the Father’” (Letter to the Philadelphians 7:1–2 [A.D. 110]).
Clement of Alexandria – Greek Theologian and head of the catechetical school of Alexandria
“A multitude of other pieces of advice to particular persons is written in the holy books: some for presbyters, some for bishops and deacons; and others for widows, of whom we shall have opportunity to speak elsewhere” (The Instructor of Children 3:12:97:2 [A.D. 191]).
“Even here in the Church the gradations of bishops, presbyters, and deacons happen to be imitations, in my opinion, of the angelic glory and of that arrangement which, the scriptures say, awaits those who have followed in the footsteps of the apostles and who have lived in complete righteousness according to the gospel” (Miscellanies 6:13:107:2 [A.D. 208]).
St. Cyprian of Carthage – Bishop, Martyr and Patron of North Africa
“However, what you also have yourself declared in so important a matter, is satisfactory to us, that the peace of the Church must first be maintained; then, that an assembly for counsel being gathered together, with bishops, presbyters, deacons, and confessors, as well as with the laity who stand fast, we should deal with the case of the lapsed.” (Epistle 30 par. 5 [AD 200-270]
John Chrysostom
“[In Philippians 1:1 Paul says,] ‘To the co-bishops and deacons.’ What does this mean? Were there plural bishops of some city? Certainly not! It is the presbyters that [Paul] calls by this title; for these titles were then interchangeable, and the bishop is even called a deacon. That is why, when writing to Timothy, he says, ‘Fulfill your diaconate’ [2 Tim. 4:5], although Timothy was then a bishop. That he was in fact a bishop is clear when Paul says to him, ‘Lay hands on no man lightly’ [1 Tim. 5:22], and again, ‘Which was given you with the laying on of hands of the presbytery’ [1 Tim. 4:14], and presbyters would not have ordained a bishop” (Homilies on Philippians 1:1 [A.D. 402]).
Patrick of Ireland
“I, Patrick, the sinner, am the most rustic and the least of all the faithful . . . had for my father Calpornius, a deacon, a son of Potitus, a priest, who belonged to the village of Bannavem Taberniae. . . . At that time I was barely sixteen years of age . . . and I was led into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of persons, in accordance with our deserts, for we turned away from God, and kept not his commandments, and were not obedient to our priests, who were wont to admonish us for our salvation” (Confession of St. Patrick 1 [A.D. 452]).
“I, Patrick, the sinner, unlearned as everybody knows, avow that I have been established a bishop in Ireland. Most assuredly I believe that I have received from God what I am. And so I dwell in the midst of barbarous heaths, a stranger and an exile for the love of God” (Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus 1 [A.D. 452]).