Monepiscopate

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As Monepiskopat or monarchical episcopate is called the structure of Christian communities , which in the early Church developed since the beginning of the 2nd century and the latest largely prevailed in the mid-third century.

In the first Christian century there was no general structure of congregations and offices. Although offices are already mentioned in the New Testament writings, including the offices of bishop , presbyter and deacon that were later established , their tasks were not yet fixed. One and the same group of people could be addressed with different terms; this was not yet associated with a fixed order of office. In view of the Pauline emphasis on the rule of the Holy Spirit , the equality of charisms and mutual subordination, the Pauline congregations were reserved about the idea of ​​an official authority. On the other hand, it must not be overlooked that in the Pauline congregations there were services of leadership and leadership: in the first letter to the Thessalonians Paul mentions those who try to “lead the congregation in the name of the Lord” (5:12), in Romans he speaks of the ministry of the “ruler” (12.8), in Philippians he greets the “bishops and deacons” (1.1) and he calls on the Corinthian community to join the “house of Stephanas” and his helpers and subordinate to employees (cf. 1 Cor 16.15f). At the same time, a model of presbyterial church leadership emerged in congregations with a stronger Jewish Christian influence. Here a committee of several elders, the presbyters, stood at the head of a Christian community.

The Monepiscopate developed when individual presbyters, later a single one from the circle of presbyters, held a special leadership function. A single bishop was then responsible for a ward or particular church. He was supported by priests and deacons .

Together with the biblical canon and the rule of faith , the monepiscopate is one of the three norms by which the ancient church sought to overcome the internal crisis in which it was embroiled in the second century by Gnosticism , Marcionitism and Montanism .

literature

  • Carl Andresen u. a. (Ed.): Handbook of the history of dogmas and theology. Vol. 1: The development of teaching in the context of catholicity. 2nd revised and expanded edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1998, ISBN 3-525-03269-2 , pp. 88-91.
  • András Handl: Viktor I (189? –199?) Of Rome and the emergence of the “monarchical” episcopate in Rome. In: Sacris Erudiri. Journal of Late Antique and Medieval Christianity 55 (2016), 7-56.