\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOrigins of Denominations\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Matthew 23:1-12 I. Very shortly after the first century, one elder in the church became the chief elder and took on the title of bishop to distinguish himself from the other elders. A. Even though elder and bishop refers to the same duty – Titus 1:5,7 B. By the third century,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[726,712,1277,447,1599],"class_list":["post-30360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-church-history","tag-coptic-orthodox-church","tag-denominationalism","tag-orthodox-church","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3149,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-onesimus-later-become-an-elder\/","url_meta":{"origin":30360,"position":0},"title":"Did Onesimus later become an elder?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 26, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I heard a preacher say one time that Onesimus ended up becoming an elder of the church.\u00a0 Is that not speculation and conjecture? Answer: Ignatius, a Christian who wrote at the beginning of the second century, to the church in Ephesus said, \"Seeing, then, that we have become acquainted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25799,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-your-timeline-for-roman-catholic-beliefs-have-some-errors\/","url_meta":{"origin":30360,"position":1},"title":"Does your timeline for Roman Catholic beliefs have some errors?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I read your web page on\u00a0why some Catholic teachings are wrong. I would like to point out some of what I think are fallacies of your argument and I\u2019d appreciate a response. Starting with your timeline: Priests Early 2nd Century \u2013 Separation of clergy and laity, this also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30329,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/corruption-in-church-organization\/","url_meta":{"origin":30360,"position":2},"title":"Corruption in Church Organization","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Acts 20:17-35 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Equality of members (first century) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The early church was marked by the equality of its members - Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As Jesus prayed, the desire was for all Christians to be one - John 17:20-21 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There were different duties,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55829,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-development-of-the-roman-catholic-hierarchy\/","url_meta":{"origin":30360,"position":3},"title":"The Development of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Frank Van Dyke via The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 8, June 1952 The Catholic doctrine of the primacy of Peter and the Roman See was set forth in the following decree of the Council of Florence in 1439: \"Also we decree that the holy apostolic See and the Roman\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56250,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/five-synonyms-one-office\/","url_meta":{"origin":30360,"position":4},"title":"Five Synonyms: One Office","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeff Smith In the New Testament, we find at least five words that describe both the office an elder holds and the work that he does. Elder\u00a0is from the Greek word,\u00a0presbuterous. Paul told Titus to \"appoint elders in every city\" in Titus 1:5. The lexicographer, Thayer, comments that this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41588,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-an-elder-an-elder-for-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":30360,"position":5},"title":"Is an elder an elder for life?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A brother in our area is claiming to be \"an elder for life\" even though he has moved from one congregation to another and has not\u00a0been a serving elder in either. He was an elder for a congregation, but that eldership was dissolved because of his domineering attitude and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30360\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}