The Holy Bible.

     Acts 20:28 ( KJV; 1611 EDITION - read Acts 20:17-28 to get the general context ) reads as follows:

"Take heed therefore vnto yourselues, & to all the flocke, [ sic ] ouer the which the holy Ghost hath made you ouerseers, to feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."

     Ephesians 4:11 ( KJV; 1611 EDITION ) reads as follows:

"And he gaue some, Apostles: and some , [ sic ] Prophets : [ sic ] and some , [ sic ] Euangelists : [ sic ] and some, Pastors, and teachers."  

     1 Timothy 3:1-7 ( KJV; 1611 EDITION ) read as follows:

"This is a true saying : [ sic ] If a man desire the office of a Bishop, he desireth a good worke.  A Bishop then  must be blamelesse, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober , [ sic ] of good behauiour, giuen to hospitalitie, apt to teach , [ sic ] not giuen to wine , [ sic ] no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not couetous ; [ sic ] one that ruleth well his owne house, hauing his children in subiection with all grauitie.  ( For if a man know not how to rule his owne house , [ sic ] how shall he take care of the Church of God ? [ sic ] )  Not a nouice, lest being lifted vp with pride , [ sic ] hee fall into the condemnation of the deuill.  Moreouer , [ sic ] hee must haue a good report of them which are without , [ sic ] lest he fall into reproch [ sic ], and the snare of the deuill."

     1 Timothy 5:17-20 ( KJV; 1611 EDITION ) read as follows:

"Let the Elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.  For the Scripture saith , [ sic ] Thou shalt not mousell the oxe that treadeth out the corne : [ sic ] and , [ sic ] The labourer is worthy of his reward.  Against an Elder receiue not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.  Them that sinne rebuke before all, that others also may feare."

     Titus 1:5-9 ( KJV; 1611 EDITION ) read as follows:

"For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting , [ sic ] and ordaine Elders in euery citie, as I had appointed thee.  If any be blameless, the husband of one wife , [ sic ] hauing faithfull children, not accused of riot, or vnruly.  For a Bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God : [ sic ] not selfewilled, not soone angry , [ sic ] not giuen to wine , [ sic ] no striker , [ sic ] not giuen to filthie lucre, but a louer of hospitalitie, a louer of good men, sober, iust, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithfull word, as hee hath beene taught, that he may bee able by sound doctrine , [ sic ] both to exhort and to conuince the gainsayers."

     1 Peter 5:1-4 ( KJV; 1611 EDITION ) read as follows:

"The Elders which are among you I exhort , [ sic ] who am also an Elder , [ sic ] and a witnesse of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be reuealed.  Feede the flocke of God which is among you, taking the ouersight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly : [ sic ] not for filthy lucre, but of a ready minde : [ sic ] neither as being lords ouer Gods [ sic ] heritage : [ sic ] but being ensamples to the flocke.  And when the chiefe shepheard shall appeare, ye shall receiue a crowne of glory that fadeth not away."

     1 Peter 5:1-4 ( NKJV ) read as follows:

"The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as oveseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away."

     With all of the above-given information in mind, the Greek word ( Greek [ 4166 ] ) for the word "Pastors" in Ephesians 4:11 ( KJV; 1611 EDITION ) is defined as follows:

"a shepherd (lit. or fig.)."  [  See ABINGDON'S STRONG'S EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE, STRONG, JAMES, S.T.D., LL.D., ABINGDON PRESS, NASHVILLE, Copyright, 1890, by JAMES STRONG, MADISON, N.J., ( A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek/New Testament with their Renderings in the King James Version, p. 79.  ]

Since the word "Pastors" in Ephesians 4:11 ( KJV; 1611 EDITION ) means "a shepherd (lit. or fig.),"  and the phrases, "Feede the flocke" ( recall 1 Peter 5:2; KJV; 1611 EDITION ) or "Shepherd the flock" ( recall 1 Peter 5:2; NKJV ) appear in the context of elders, it is clear that the word "pastor" means "elder" and not "preacher."

     Furthermore, the words "Pastors," "Bishop," and "overseers" all refer to the same office, namely, that of an elder.  Moreover, the word "overseers" ( plural ) in Acts 20:28 clearly indicates that there must be more than one elder in a local congregation of the church.  Additionally, the prefix "arch-" is defined as follows:
"1  Chief; principal: archchancellor."  [  See NEW ILLUSTRATED WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY Including THESAURUS of SYNONYMS & ANTONYMS, PMC Publishing Company, Inc., 118 EAST 28th STREET, NEW YORK, NY  10016, dictionary portion: pages 1-1150, Copyright 1992, by J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, p. 53.  ]
     Thus, noting that the phrase, "the Chief Shepherd," in 1 Peter 5:4 ( NKJV ) is a reference to "our Lord Jesus" ( the initial preceding phrase has a cross-reference to Hebrews 13:20 ( in the KJV and NKJV of the Holy Bible with center-column references )), it is clear that Jesus is the Chief Shepherd.  Furthermore, since the word "bishop" means "overseer" ( recall 1 Timothy 3:1, where the equivalent translation for the word "bishop" is listed in the center-column reference ), a shepherd oversees the flock ( recall Acts 20:28; NKJV ), and the prefix "arch-" means "Chief," Jesus can rightly be called the Archbishop of the universal church.  There is only one Archbishop ( Jesus ) associated with the church.  Therefore, while the word "archbishop" is not found in the Holy Bible, the concept of Jesus being the Archbishop is taught in the Holy Bible.  The Holy Bible teaches that there is no such thing as a human archbishop.  Therefore, the denominational concept of a human archbishop is false teaching.

     When considering the qualifications listed for elders in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, for example, we see clearly that an elder must be "the husband of one wife" ( recall 1 Timothy 3:2 ).  Therefore, women are not allowed to be elders.  A Christian ( see Acts 11:26, for example ) man who desires to be an elder must meet all of the above-given qualifications for the office of elder, in order to be an elder.  The phrase, "hee must haue a good report of them which are without," in 1 Timothy 3:7 ( KJV; 1611 EDITION ) implies that an elder is a man who is a member of the church.

     Considering Acts 20:28, 1 Timothy 5:17-20, and 1 Peter 5:2 ( "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you . . . ."; NKJV ) together, we learn that while elders rule the local congregation of the church, of which they are members, only those elders who rule well ( and especially those who labor in the word and doctrine ) are to "be counted worthy of double honor" ( see 1 Timothy 5:17; NKJV ).  From 1 Timothy 5:20, we see that the elders who are sinning are to be rebuked by an evangelist ( see 1 Timothy 1:1, 2, 2 Timothy 1:1, 2 and 2 Timothy 4:5, for example ).  Thus, while elders rule the local congregation of which they are members, they do not enjoy an absolute rule.

As a note to the readers, I thank you for your patience while I produced this weblog posting.  As you can see, the subject of elders in the church is a complicated one.

If you have any questions about the Holy Bible, you can contact me by e-mail at:

<rewillis1_1@juno.com>

<Russell E. Willis>

     

The Holy Bible.

     1 Samuel 31:1-5 ( NKJV ) read as follows:

"Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.  Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons.  And the Philistines killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons.  The battle became fierce against Saul.  The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers.  Then Saul said to his armorbearer, 'Draw you sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me.'  But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid.  Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it.  And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him" ( emphasis mine, R.E.W. ).

What we read about in 1 Samuel 31:1-5 is a wartime event, whereby Saul and his armorbearer committed suicide.  The word "suicide" does not appear in the sacred text of the Holy Bible, however, the act of committing suicide is described in the above-given passage in the Holy Bible, for example.

     The word "suicide" is defined as follows:

"n.  1  The intentional taking of one's own life."  [  See NEW ILLUSTRATED WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY Including THESAURUS of SYNONYMS & ANTONYMS, PMC Publishing Company, Inc., 118 EAST 28th STREET, NEW YORK, NY  10016, dictionary portion: pages 1-1150, Copyright 1992, by J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, p. 964.  ]

The sixth commandment, Exodus 20:13 ( NKJV ), reads as follows:

"You shall not murder."

Also, the apostle Paul ( see Romans 1:1 ) recorded the following in Romans 13:9 ( NKJV ):

"For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'You shall not covet,' and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" ( emphasis mine, R.E.W. ).

     Thus, though the Old Testament became obsolete when Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, we can still learn from it ( see Luke 23:26-49 ( especially verse 33, for example ), Romans 15:4, Colossians 2:11-15 ( especially verse 14, for example ), Hebrews 8:1-13 ( especially verse 13, for example ), and Hebrews 9:16-22 ( especially verse 17, for example ), for example ).  The apostle Paul ( in the specific context of murder, which would include suicide ( or self-murder )) reaffirmed the teaching of the sixth commandment in the New Testament.  In general, suicide is condemned under the Old Testament, with the exception being during wartime events ( as is indicated in 1 Samuel 31:1-5, for example ).

     However, under the New Testament, suicide is condemned ( without exception ).  Judas Iscariot committed suicide ( see Matthew 26:1-16 ( especially verse 14, for example ) and Matthew 27:1-5 ( especially verse 5, for example ), for example ), but this event clearly appears in a negative context.  Therefore, under the New Testament ( which is the testament that is currently in force ), suicide is always a sin.

     Dear reader, if you are reading this weblog posting and are having suicidal thoughts - stop having those thoughts and DO NOT TAKE ACTION ON THOSE THOUGHTS!  Life is worth living.  Furthermore, if a person commits suicide, that person has no hope of going to heaven ( see Matthew 11:15, Mark 16:15, 16, Luke 13:3, Acts 2:38, Acts 8:4-25 ( especially verse 22, for example ), Acts 8:26-40 ( especially verse 37, for example ), and Revelation 2:10, for example ).

If you have any questions about the Holy Bible, you can contact me by e-mail at:

<rewillis1_1@juno.com>

<Russell E.Willis>