Chapter 33 - The Office of Bishop
THE OFFICE OF BISHOP
I. QUALIFICATIONS OF THE BISHOPS
II. THE DUTIES OF THE BISHOP
 The bishop is not an official priest. The word in the Greek for priest is entirely different from the ones translated bishop, elder, pastor. New Testament churches had no official priests. All believers are priests. See. 1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 5:10. Here is the pitiably weak attempt once made by a leading Catholic to justify the priesthood: “The very word ‘priest’ in our language is derived from the New Testament word ‘presbuterous.’ Presbuterous became presbyter; presbyter became priester; priester became priest. This is sufficient indication of the office and proof that the Catholic priesthood is ‘scriptural’”
 Let those who think that the requirement that a bishop “be blameless, the husband of one wife” demands that he be a married man, reflect upon the fact, first of all, that such a demand would require the immediate resignation of a pastor whose wife dies. Moreover, let these note, in the second place, that Titus 1:6 adds, “having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly.” If the foregoing requirement means that a bishop must be married, then this one means that it is not enough for a man to be married—he is not to be ordained as a bishop until he has children and they are saved. Let’s try to be consistent, brethren.