From Apostles to Bishops 

Alex - I may show my ugly mug at some point, and I could do a testimony video, but for the time being I prefer to keep the focus of this channel on Bibles, Christian books, and questions of theology, apologetics, and ethics, and so away from myself. May God bless you and yours as well!

Merry Christmas, Philip! You wrote, 'when St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote his letter to the Romans, he was the single bishop of his church writing to a church governed by a Presbytery', and if I understood the author correctly, that's his view as well.

A first century church of a city would have been completely different than what we view today or even the 3rd and 4th century. The numbers of believers should have been smaller and most of them met at homes of members. A single bishop overseeing other presbyters is a natural progress like selecting a "president" of a denomination.

Modernism straight into your veins. That's against the Tradition of the Catholic Church

Yeah, so much is suspect in this material. Quoting Fr. Brown was the final nail in the coffin. The modernism is strong with this text.

You said it: trendy lefty thinking here.

Thanks for those kind words, Kevin, and Happy New Year! I'm an Anglican.

Yes, I think both the 1560 Geneva Bible and the 1599 revision would end up very close to the KJV if I were to score them. Thank you for the kind words, and Merry Christmas!

anachronistic

It is anachronistic to reason from the legitimacy of the first century church in rome to the triumphal episcopal claims of the post reformation catholic church

@@siegfriedkircheis9484 "Anachronistic" ... I'm sorry that I left the wrong impression my friend. I wasn't trying to point out a specific time period. I was pointing out that the Catholic Church transcends the entire timeline of Christian history. Let's consider... PENTECOST 33 AD Acts 2:5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. Acts 2:8-11 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, 👉visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes.👈 Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. PAUL'S EPISTLES TO THE ROMANS 57-59 AD Romans 1:6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; Romans 1:8 Your faith is spoken of through out the whole world. Romans 1:10 now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. Romans 1:11 I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, 👉so that you may be established.👈 Romans 1:12 the mutual faith both of you and me. Romans 1:13 I often planned to come to you. Romans 1:15 you who are in Rome also. Did Paul consider the Roman Church to be insignificant, or is it to prosper in GOD's plan?... How many did Paul send to her? Romans 16 Phoebe, Priscilla and Aquila The Church that is in their house Epaenetus, Mary, Andronicus, Junia, Amplias, Urbanus, Stachys, Apelles, Household of Aristobulus, Herodion, Household of Narcissus, Tryphena and Tryphosa, Persis, Rufus and his mother, Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes and brethren with them, Julia, Nereus and sister, Olympas and saints with them GREETINGS FROM PAUL'S ASSOCIATES Timothy, Lucius, Jason, Sosipater, Tertius, Gaius, Erastus, Quartus, This is unparalleled to any other Church mentioned in the New Testament! And if that ain't enough convincing for the longevity of the Roman Catholic Church... Romans 16:20 And the God of peace 👉will crush Satan under your feet shortly.👈 Pretty sure Satan is still around.... so obviously this Roman Church is around also. 55 years later... (within the span of a human life) Ignatius of Antioch writes a letter to the Roman Church in 112 AD... Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which has obtained mercy, through the majesty of the Most High Father, and Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son; the Church which is beloved and enlightened by the will of Him that wills all things which are according to the love of Jesus Christ our God, which also presides in the place of the region of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honor, worthy of the highest happiness, worthy of praise, worthy of obtaining her every desire, worthy of being deemed holy, and which presides over love, is named from Christ, and from the Father, which I also salute in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father: to those who are united, both according to the flesh and spirit, to every one of His commandments; who are filled inseparably with the grace of God, and are purified from every strange taint, [I wish] abundance of happiness unblameably, in Jesus Christ our God You can date Climate of Rome late or early...but it still shows that the Roman Church is there in history. And that it takes Papal lead early. Considering it's correcting another Church. Plenty of more history to go down the line to today my friend!

strawman

@@siegfriedkircheis9484 show me my error friend?

Thanks for commenting, William! Do you know of any specific books by Pitre or Bergsma that counter Fr. Sullivan's thesis?

Pitre and Bergsma are apologists, not respected historical-critical scholars.

Thanks for the recommendation! I haven't read _Absolute Monarchs,_ but I did read his _Byzantium: The Early Centuries_ a long time ago.

Thanks for the suggestion, John! Yes, I can and intend to review the Confraternity New Testament. But since it's based on a Latin (and not a Greek) source text, I'm not qualified to score its 'literalness.'

@@RGrantJones I mean maybe you could compare it with the RSV or the Douay-Rheims bible to determine its literalness?My mother is a French teacher, and she scolded me for mispronouncing Rheims as ''Reems''; in fact, the correct French pronunciation is curious: It is Rans! Thank you for your excellent content!

From the content in the video, there seems to be nothing in the book that is anti-Catholic. Rather, it’s just a scholarly, yet critical view at Apostolic formation and succession in the Catholic Church.

The Jesuits were roughly formed as a counter to Protestantism, to enact reform within their own church and evangelise the known, unbelieving world.

@@user-vj9qz3br6l I would disagree. For a Catholic priest to even question this, is itself anti-Catholic. The Jesuits definitely need to be suppressed again.

@@user-vj9qz3br6l The video isn't anti-Catholic. The author is a Jesuit, who seem to have a propensity to gather amongst their ranks people who dislike the traditions of their own church.

Thanks for commenting, Pastor Smith! Yes, as I was reading this book, I wondered what criteria we should use to distinguish a development guided by the Holy Spirit from those that weren't guided in that way, and - specifically to Church government - did that development continue to include the emergence of archbishops, patriarchs, popes, Erastianism, presbyterianism, etc.

@@RGrantJones Thanks, Grant. I really do believe that is a legitimate question. On another topic, awhile back, I asked if you had any insights on the wearability of the new "fake leather" bible covers, and if I recall correctly, you said that you didn't. FWIW, my son, who is a missionary to SE Asia, is home for Christmas and about 5 years ago bought a Crossway TruTone ESV. He has left it in his hot car in the middle of summer here in the U.S., as well as in below freezing temperatures. He carries it in a backpack overseas, and it has been in the jungles of Cambodia, the Himilayas in Nepal, and dropped in a river in India. The cover seems to be indestructable! It has that classic well worn look, but it is still supple, has not faded, and is not coming apart anywhere (save for the inside cover liner). Thought you and your readers might like to know. I know I'm sold! Merry Christmas, my brother!

@@kirbysmith4135 - Merry Christmas! and thanks for that information. Very impressive!

It seems to me that the only answer here can be, does the development of doctrines find support in Scripture.

Thanks for commenting! Sadly, I don't know anything about Spanish language Bibles. Perhaps someone who does will read your comment and provide a suggestion.

@@RGrantJones Thanks Grant. That is ok, I am however, thinking of purchasing this particular book. Both you and my son James are quite similar with regards to purchasing books. Different genres, but his room is covered in them, while most of my books are encyclopaedic/dictionary reference books on most topics… with my two largest single topic collections being on Christianity and palaeography, typography and printing history/reference.

Hi. I own many Spanish bibles because I live in Argentina and I'm trying to improve my Spanish by reading and studying different Spanish translations of the Scriptures! I would recommend the Biblia Navarra because it closely tracks the Nova Vulgata, which is the base text for guiding the application of vernacular Bible translations for their use in the liturgy, and has orthodox study notes. Another Bible translation I would recommend is the official Spanish Bishops Conference translation of the Scriptures called ''Versión oficial de la Conferencia Episcopal Española''. If you are more traditionally-minded, I would recomend the Torres Amat Biblia, which is a translation of the Clementine Vulgate, or the Biblia Nacar Colunga, which was the first Spanish translation of the Scriptures from the original languages of Hebrew and Greek.

@@bos567564 Thank you very much John. This is a most helpful start. I am glad that I have some names to google and hopefully get a good idea about what I am looking at. Thankfully it is for a gift and the person speaks native Spanish. Enjoy your Christmas and New Year.

And if He didn't retire, how do we know which historical developments to attribute to Him? The development of the papacy, perhaps? Or the division of the Church into many denominations (to make its conquest by any other worldview more challenging)? Newman's notes of genuine development seem a bit subjective to me.

@@RGrantJones I think it's helpful to remember that there were a lot of contemporaries to the 'early fsthers' who probably resembled Joel Osteen.

@@dalecaldwell - good point!

Thanks for the question, Mmmyess, and Merry Christmas! Yes, I wrote a few essays on various topics about twenty years ago, and I posted them to a web site on Geocities, which is now defunct. Perhaps the best of those essays was "Notes on the Septuagint," in which I examined the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament. Someone posted it here: www.areopage.net/PDF/LXXNotesFeb06.pdf . But I'm an amateur, and certainly not an authority on any religious or theological topic. As far as I know, nothing I've written in that area has been published.

Honesty is always the best policy. Tell the story. See where the truth leads.

@@kirbysmith4135 Exactly! If we cannot have thoughtful Christian self reflection within the church, what is the point of worshipping God, breaking bread with Jesus, as our saviour and giving oneself over to the Holy Spirit.