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episcopal office was first instituted in the churches of the Jews, Jas. 5:14; Heb. 13:7,17, and
then, shortly after, also in those of the Gentiles. Several other names are applied to these
officers, namely, proistamenoi, Rom. 12:8; I Thes. 5:12; kuberneseis, I Cor. 12:28; hegoumenoi,
Heb. 13:7,17,24; and poimenes, Eph. 4:11. These officers clearly had the oversight of the flock
that was entrusted to their care. They had to provide for it, govern it, and protect it, as the very
household of God.
b. Teachers.
It is clear that the elders were not originally teachers. There was no need of
separate teachers at first, since there were apostles, prophets, and evangelists. Gradually,
however, the didaskalia was connected more closely with the episcopal office; but even then
the teachers did not at once constitute a separate class of officers. Paul’s statement in Eph.
4:11, that the ascended Christ also gave “pastors and teachers,” mentioned as a single class, to
the Church, clearly shows that these two did not constitute two different classes of officers, but
one class having two related functions. I Tim. 5:17 speaks of elders who labor in the Word and
in teaching, and according to Heb. 13:7 the hegoumenoi were also teachers. Moreover, in II
Tim. 2:2 Paul urges upon Timothy the necessity of appointing to office faithful men who shall
also be able to teach others. In course of time two circumstances led to a distinction between
the elders or overseers that were entrusted only with the government of the Church, and those
that were also called upon to teach: (1) when the apostles died and heresies arose and
increased, the task of those who were called upon to teach became more exacting and
demanded special preparation, II Tim. 2:2; Tit. 1:9; and (2) in view of the fact that the laborer is
worthy of his hire, those who were engaged in the ministry of the Word, a comprehensive task
requiring all their time, were set free from other work, in order that they might devote
themselves more exclusively to the work of teaching. In all probability the aggeloi who were
addressed in the letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor, were the teachers or ministers of
those churches, Rev. 2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14. In Reformed circles the ministers now rule the
churches together with the elders, but in addition to that administer the Word and the
sacraments. Together they make the necessary regulations for the government of the Church.
c. Deacons.
Besides the presbuteroi the diakonoi are mentioned in the New Testament, Phil.
1:1; I Tim. 3:8,10,12. According to the prevailing opinion Acts 6:1-6 contains the record of the
institution of the diaconate. Some modern scholars doubt this, however, and regard the office
mentioned in Acts 6, either as a general office in which the functions of elders and deacons
were combined, or as a merely temporal office serving a special purpose. They call attention to
the fact that some of the seven chosen, as Philip and Stephen, evidently engaged in teaching;
and that the money collected at Antioch for the poor in Judea was delivered into the hands of
the elders. No mention is made of deacons whatsoever in Acts 11:30, though these, if they had
existed as a separate class, would have been the natural recipients of that money. And yet in all