One Eldership Over Multiple Churches?

The massive number of Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 21:20) would have prohibited them from assembling in a single location, and only one church in Jerusalem is reported as having elders (Acts 11:30; 15:4). Is it scriptural for one eldership to oversee many groups meeting independently in one city? 

When the Jerusalem church began it was initially under the oversight of the apostles (Acts 2:42; 6:2), but the vast majority of these Christians left Jerusalem within a few years (8:1). Several years later the Jerusalem church (however big or small) had elders (11:30; 12:25; 15:2, 4), with the possibility of multiple congregations with elderships throughout the region of Judea (cf. 11:29-30). 

In Acts 21:20 the myriads of believing Jews were not all residents of Jerusalem but were visiting the city from distant places—including Asia Minor (21:27; 24:18) where elderships in multiple churches had been appointed (14:23; 20:17)—for the annual Pentecost celebrations (20:16; compare 2:1, 5). As ethnic Jews, this was part of their cultural heritage and family traditions. 

There is no clear teaching or example in scripture of a single eldership overseeing multiple congregations. Each community of the Lord’s church is autonomous, with a plurality of qualified men serving as the principal leaders (Acts 11:30; 14:23; 15:2-6, 23; 20:17, 28; 21:17-19; Eph. 4:11-12; Phil. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:1-7; 5:17; Tit. 1:5-9; Jas. 5:14; 1 Pet. 5:1-4; cf. 1 Thess. 5:12-13; Heb. 13:7, 17). The oversight exercised by these men is limited to the respective congregations in which they have membership (1 Pet. 5:2). At the same time, effective leaders “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12).

--Kevin L. Moore

 

Related Posts: Who is Qualified to be an Elder?, Congregational Leadership Without Elders

 

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The Last Chapter of Romans: Greetings to and from Churches of Christ (Romans 16:14-16)

“Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes,¹ Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them” (Romans 16:14, ESV).² 

Another local church appears to be identified here. All five of the individuals greeted have Greek names, presumably eastern immigrants, “and the brothers who are with them” would be the other members unknown to Paul by name. None standing out as an apparent patron or host, all listed together seemingly on the same level, gives the impression of congregants among society’s lower echelons, perhaps meeting in a small tenement apartment.³

Referencing them as “brothers” [ἀδελφοί] (or “brethren”) sees them belonging to God’s universal family, with another group of believers in Rome called “saints” [ἅγιοι] (v. 15) and those assembling in the home of Prisca and Aquila called a “church” [ἐκκλησία] (v. 5). Rather than making pedantic distinctions, these local groups are more likely alluded to with descriptive terms that ultimately bring them together as a unified whole. They are brethren (1:13; 8:12; 15:14, 30),⁴ churches belonging to Christ (1:5-6; 16:16) and mutually sanctified (1:7; 8:27; 15:16).

The Greek name “Asyncritus” [Ἀσύγκριτος] means “incomparable.” Apparently from somewhere east of Rome, the name has been found twice in Roman inscriptions, only one of which is relevant to Paul’s time period (the latter half of the first century) and that of an imperial freedman.⁵

“Phlegon” [Φλέγων] is a Greek name, from the verb φλέγω (“ignite,” “burn,” “inflame”), conveying the sense of “burning” or “zealous.” The few relevant inscriptions in Rome (possibly as many as seven) indicate a migrant from the east, either a slave or freedman, with possible ties to the emperor’s court.⁶

“Hermes” [Ἑρμῆς], the Greek name of the messenger of the gods (cf. Acts 14:12), was a name commonly worn in the mid-first century by slaves and descendants of slaves, including those of the imperial household (e.g., freedmen of Claudius), as well as the lowest class. Later on, inscriptional evidence shows that socially prominent persons also wore the name, including those with their own slaves and freedmen.⁷

“Patrobas” [Πατροβᾶς] is another Greek name, a combination of πατήρ (“father”) + βίος (physical “life”), denoting “father’s life,” “emulating a father,” or “paternal.” The Greek form of the name is unattested elsewhere, but in its Latin form there was a mid-first century freedman of Nero’s household, killed by emperor Galba, who was named Patrobii [Patrobius] (Suetonius, Galba 20; Tacitus, History 1.49) and its shortened form Patrobas (Martial, Epigram 2.32). Roman inscriptions point toward probable eastern origin and potential slave ancestry inclusive of prominent freedmen of the imperial court.⁸

The Greek name “Hermas” [Ἑρμᾶς], a variation (dialect form) of the aforementioned “Hermes,”⁹ is a contraction of a number of names, such as Hermagoras, Hermeros, Hermodorus, and Hermogenes, none of which was uncommon.¹⁰ Among the ancient inscriptions in Rome, of the three that may be contemporaneous, one can be identified as a first-century slave. The Hermas to whom Paul sends greetings appears to have been a Gentile Christian from the eastern region of the Roman Empire.¹¹

“Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them” (Romans 16:14). 

Evidently another local church is identified here, conceivably comprised of the household of “Philogus” (the paterfamilias), “Julia” (his wife), “Nereus and his sister” (the children), “Olympas” (possibly another household member and/or the only other congregant known to Paul by name),¹² “and all the saints [ἅγιοι]¹³ who are with them.” 

The Greek name “Philologus” [Φιλόλογος] is a combination of φίλος (“loving,” “friend”) + λόγος (“word,” “saying,” “message”), meaning “lover of the word,” “fond of learning,” or “scholar.” Most likely of eastern provenance, among the eighteen potentially contemporaneous Roman inscriptions bearing the name, half are slaves or freedmen with possible links to the royal household.¹⁴ If the name in our current text had been given to a freedman by a former master, “some light is thrown on the probable occupation of the Philologus of St Paul.”¹⁵ Traditionally he is believed to have been the father of the heretic Marcion.¹⁶

“Julia” is a Latin name (transliterated Ἰουλία in Greek), the female counterpart of the masculine name Julius. As a family designation (nomen gentilicium), the clan gens Iulia (linked by common ancestry) was one of the most prominent ruling-class families of ancient Rome, Gaius Julius Caesar among the more notable.¹⁷ The Christian woman to whom Paul sends greetings, perhaps the wife of Philologus, was likely a freed person or descendant therefrom of the Julian family.¹⁸

“Nereus” [Νηρεύς] is a Greek name, from the adj. νηρός (“of fish” or “of water”), applied in Greek mythology to the father of the sea nymphs and minor sea god Nerites. In Rome this was a common name for slaves and freedmen, including those of the imperial court.¹⁹ The “sister” of Nereus is unnamed (the feminine form “Nereis” might be a possibility), presumably known to Paul’s readership. If she and her brother were children of Philologus and Julia, it is fairly certain this was a Gentile family. 

The Greek name “Olympas” [Ὀλυμπᾶς], meaning “heavenly,” is a derivative of the Greek pantheon’s Mount Olympus, perhaps an abbreviated form of the name Olympianus (“of Olympus”) or Olympiodorus (“gift of Olympus”). Inscriptional evidence links the name and related forms to slaves and former slaves, including imperial slaves and freed persons.²⁰ A Christian wearing this name would be indicative of Gentile ethnicity, probably Greek, from an idolatrous background (cf. 1:21-23),²¹ which is also the case for the previously named Nereus, as well as Phoebe (v. 1) and Hermes (v. 14).

“Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you” (Romans 16:16).

The “one another” [ἀλλήλων] involves the entire community of believers, so once again Paul is promoting mutuality and fellowship.²² While applicable whenever fellow-Christians encountered one another, perhaps all the churches in Rome were to be called together for the public reading of this letter, and like the proverbial “kiss and make up,” the gathering would conclude with a corporate gesture of fraternal solidarity.²³ The kiss-greeting was customary throughout ancient Mediterranean cultures,²⁴  which Paul regulates here and elsewhere to ensure that intimate exchanges among the “saints” [ἅγιοι] are kept “holy” [ἅγιος] with respect to motivation and manner, averting insincerity, hypocrisy, and impropriety.

Unique in Paul’s writings and the rest of scripture is the explicit allusion here to “all the churches of Christ” [αἱ ἐκκλησίαι πᾶσαι τοῦ Χριστοῦ].²⁵ Of the 114 occurrences of the noun ἐκκλησία in the NT,²⁶ over half (sixty-two) are used by Paul.²⁷ He speaks of the one universal “church,”²⁸ all the “churches” comprehensively,²⁹ a plurality of “churches” in a broad geographical region,³⁰  and a single “church” in a particular place.³¹ In Romans all five occurrences of the word are in the final chapter with reference to three individual gatherings of Christians (vv. 1, 5, 23), numerous congregations comprised of Gentile believers (v. 4), and all the churches (v. 16).³²

As a divinely commissioned apostle of Jesus Christ (1:1-5), Paul was in a position to speak broadly of, for, and to all the churches. Some have argued that the reference in the current text is limited to the communities the apostle himself had planted (so-called Pauline churches).³³ Yet Paul routinely visited and/or included in his apostolic ministry churches that he did not personally initiate (e.g., Damascus, Jerusalem and Judea, Caesarea and Samaria, Syrian Antioch, Troas, Ephesus, Tyre, Ptolemais, Puteoli, Rome, Colosse, Laodicea).³⁴ His heartfelt concern for “all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28) surely included these and more (cp. 1 Cor. 1:2; Col. 1:3-6). Without added or contextual qualifiers, there is no convincing reason not to take at face value allusions to “all” the churches. 

The genitival construction (English prepositional phrase) “of Christ” is fitting, seeing that the messianic title “Christ” [Χριστός] occurs sixty-six times in Romans (more than in any other Pauline document). Using the imagery of the “body” (cf. 12:4-5), Paul envisions the church as “the body of Christ.”³⁵ To be “in Christ” (vv. 3, 7, 9, 10; cf. 3:24; 6:11, 23; 8:1-2, 39; 9:1; 12:5; 15:17) is to be in Christ’s body, which is a mutual inclusion³⁶ involving “churches” [ἐκκλησίαι] said to be “in Christ” (Gal. 1:22), “of God in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 2:14), and “in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1).

Elsewhere Paul refers to churches that are “of God”³⁷ (implying divine origin and ownership), and according to the spiritual state, ethnicity, or ethnogeographic identity of the membership.³⁸ In Romans, however, seeing that the letter begins with an address to those who are “called [κλητοί] of [to belong to] Jesus Christ [Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ]” (1:6), the letter now ends by sending a greeting to the same addressees from all other “called-out ones” [ἐκ-κλησίαι] “of [belonging to] the Christ [τοῦ Χριστοῦ].” This highlights a fundamental basis of unity³⁹ and provides the other end of the letter-opening where Paul has informed these readers, “your faith is proclaimed in all the world” (1:8). 

The universal church [ἐκκλησία] was preordained and identified by Christ as “my church” (Matt. 16:18). Therefore, “all the churches of Christ” comprising the global community of the saved are no ordinary gatherings or temporal assemblies. The spiritual qualifiers added by Paul give a special sense to an otherwise common term.

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ The names Hermes and Hermas are reversed in the BMT/TR.

     ² Later tradition includes Asyncritus (alleged bishop of Hyracania), Phlegon (alleged bishop of Marathon), Hermes (alleged bishop in Dalmatia), Patrobas (alleged bishop of Naples and Puteoli), and Hermas (alleged bishop of Philippopolis and author of The Shepherd of Hermas) among the seventy(-two) disciples of Luke 10:1.

     ³ R. Jewett, Romans 29-30; P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus 164-71; H. A. W. Meyer, Romans 570. An alternative interpretation suggests that each of the named men could be a household leader representing a separate house church (see T. B. Allworthy, s.v. “Philologus” in Hastings’ Dictionary of the NT). It would depend on whether “the brothers who are with them” are with all of them collectively or each of them separately.

     ⁴ Having repeatedly applied the designation ἀδελφός to the one regarded as “weak” (Rom. 14:10, 13, 15, 21), Paul then uses the same term for the entire community of Christians (15:14, 30). In fact, Paul addresses them all as ἀδελφοί ten times in the letter (1:13; 7:1, 4; 8:12; 10:1; 11:25; 12:1; 15:14, 30; 16:17). Note also “brotherhood” terminology (8:29; 12:10; cf. 8:18, 21).

     ⁵ R. Jewett, Romans 29; P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus 170, 178; “Asyncritus” in Anchor Bible Dictionary 1:508; purportedly a freedman of Augustus (W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 427).

     ⁶ P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus 170, 180; “Phlegon,” in Anchor Bible Dictionary 5:347. Phlegon of Tralles was a second-century author and freedman of emperor Hadrian.

     ⁷ E. F. Harrison, “Romans” 165; J. B. Lightfoot, Philippians 176; W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 427; see esp. P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus 172-74; “Hermes” in Anchor Bible Dictionary 3:156. A marble gravestone from Rome, dated mid-first century to early-second century (held in John Hopkins University’s collection of epigraphic materials, unpublished), has the epitaph of Antigone (a Latinized Greek name), the daughter of Tiberius Claudius Hermes and Claudia Heuresis.

     ⁸ P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus 170, 178; “Patrobas” in Anchor Bible Dictionary 5:186; J. B. Lightfoot, Philippians 176-77; W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 427.

     ⁹ C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans 2:795.

     ¹⁰ J. B. Lightfoot, Philippians 176; W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 427.

     ¹¹ P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus 180; “Hermas” in Anchor Bible Dictionary 3:147-148. Hermas was the name of a wealthy Christian freedman in Rome, believed to have authored The Shepherd of Hermas. While the ancient work does reflect the state of Christianity in Rome, its mid-second century dating excludes Paul’s greeted associate. See M. W. Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers 199-203.

     ¹² Later tradition includes Philologos (alleged bishop of Sinope) and Olympas (reportedly martyred by Nero) among the seventy(-two) disciples of Luke 10:1.

     ¹³ This is the final occurrence of the plural adj. “saints” or “sanctified ones” [ἅγιοι] in Romans (cf. also 1:7; 8:27; 12:13; 15:25, 26, 31; 16:2). 

     ¹⁴ C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans 2:795; R. Jewett, Romans 30; P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus 170, 178; “Philologus” in Anchor Bible Dictionary 5:345; J. B. Lightfoot, Philippians 177; W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 427.

     ¹⁵ J. B. Lightfoot, Philippians 177 n.1.

     ¹⁶ According to the fourth-century Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 42.

     ¹⁷ Following Julius Caesar, two family lines, the Julio-Claudian dynasty, provided the first five emperors of the Roman Empire.

     ¹⁸ Women were often called by the feminine form of their paternal nomen, e.g., the daughters of Germanicus Julius Caesar were Julia Agrippina, Julia Drusilla, and Julia Livilla, who may be named in literary and inscriptional records simply as Julia. The name is found on over 1,400 inscriptions of ancient Rome, mostly of freed persons and their children (P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus 175-76; “Julia” in Anchor Bible Dictionary 3:1125; cf. W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 427). See also Josephus, Ant. 16.5.1; 17.1.1; 19.4.3.

     ¹⁹ Of the twenty-eight inscriptions in Rome that may be contemporaneous and indicative of slave ancestry, fifteen are definite and one is probable, including an ex-slave of emperor Tiberius, a bodyguard of Claudius, and another imperial slave (R. Jewett, Romans 31; P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus 174; “Nereus” in Anchor Bible Dictionary 4:1074; J. B. Lightfoot, Philippians 176; cf. W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 427).

     ²⁰ P. Lampe, From Paul to Valentinus 179; “Olympas” in Anchor Bible Dictionary 5:15.

     ²¹ Note also 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 8:4-13; 10:7, 14-30; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; Gal. 4:8; Eph. 2:11-12; 4:17-20; 1 Thess. 1:8.

     ²² Cf. also Rom. 1:12, 27; 2:15; 12:5, 10, 16; 13:8; 14:13, 19; 15:5, 7, 14.

     ²³ C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans 2:795-96; D. J. Moo, Romans 926.

     ²⁴ Gen. 27:26; 29:13; 2 Sam. 20:9; Matt. 26:49; Luke 7:45; Acts 20:37; 1 Cor. 16:20; 2 Cor. 13:12; 1 Thess. 5:26; 1 Pet. 5:14. Writing from Rome in the mid-second century, Justin Martyr (ca. 100-165) states: “Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss” (First Apology 65). 

     ²⁵ The adj. πᾶσαι (“all”) is not included in the BMT/TR.

     ²⁶ There are twenty-three occurrences in Acts: one pre-Christian (7:38), three non-Christian (19:32, 39, 41), and the rest in a Christian setting. At 9:31 textual variation is between the plural ἐκκλησίαι (BMT/TR) and the singular ἐκκλησία (NA²⁸/UBS⁵). If the latter is original, as per most modern versions, this is the only use of the singular term for a collectivity of churches in multiple geographical regions (Judea, Galilee, Samaria; cp. 15:41). John uses the word three times in his third epistle and twenty times in Revelation, incl. a reference to “all the churches” (2:23). The remaining NT uses are in Matthew (three times, each attributed to Jesus), Hebrews (twice), and James (once).

     ²⁷ This is “the single most frequent term used by Paul to refer to the groups of those who met in the name of Christ…. Clearly, then, ‘church’ is the term with which Paul most regularly conceptualized the corporate identity of those converted in the Gentile mission” (J. D. G. Dunn, Theology of Paul the Apostle 537).

     ²⁸ 1 Cor. 10:32; 12:28; 15:9; Gal. 1:13; Eph. 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32; Phil. 3:6; Col. 1:18, 24.

     ²⁹ 1 Cor. 4:17; 7:17; 11:16; 14:33-34; 2 Cor. 8:18; 11:28; 12:13; 2 Thess. 1:4.

     ³⁰ 1 Cor. 16:1, 19a; 2 Cor. 8:1, 19, 23, 24; 11:8; Gal. 1:2, 22; 1 Thess. 2:14. Note also Acts 14:23; 16:5.

     ³¹ 1 Cor. 1:1; 6:4; 11:22; 16:19b; 2 Cor. 1:1; Phil. 4:15; Col. 4:15, 16; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1; 1 Tim. 3:5, 15; 5:16; Philem. 2. Paul can speak of all assembled churches (1 Cor. 14:34) in the context of a local church assembled (1 Cor. 11:18; 14:4, 5, 12, 19, 23, 28, 35).

     ³² The earliest Pauline letters employ the term ἐκκλησία in the opening address (1-2 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1-2 Corinthians), whereas the later congregational letters (starting with Romans and followed by those written from Rome) are addressed to the ἁγίοι (“saints”).

     ³³ R. Jewett, Romans 976-77; D. J. Moo, Romans 927.

     ³⁴ Acts 9:19-30; 11:19-26; 15:2-4; 18:19–19:1; 20:5-7; 21:3-17; 28:13-16; Rom. 1:9-13; Col. 1:5-8; 4:16-17; Philem. 1-2.

     ³⁵ Explicitly 1 Cor. 10:16-17; 12:27; Eph. 4:12; implicitly 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph. 1:22-23; 2:16; 3:6; 4:4, 16; 5:23, 30; Col. 1:18, 24; 2:19; 3:15.

     ³⁶ Cf. Rom. 12:5; Eph. 1:1-14, 22-23; 2:16-22.

     ³⁷ 1 Cor. 1:2; 10:32; 11:16, 22; 15:9; 2 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:13; 1 Thess. 2:14a; 1 Tim. 3:5, 15.

     ³⁸ Churches are said to be “of the saints” (1 Cor. 14:33), “of the Gentiles” (Rom. 16:4), “of Galatia” (1 Cor. 16:1; Gal. 1:2), “of Asia” (1 Cor. 16:19), “of Macedonia” (2 Cor. 8:1), “of Judea” (Gal. 1:22), “of the Laodiceans” (Col. 4:16), and “of the Thessalonians” (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1). But mostly Paul speaks of the “church/es” without added qualifiers.

     ³⁹ The wording “reminds the Romans of their inclusion not just within a Pauline mission, but within a group which encompasses all the churches…. a desire by Paul to have the Roman church join with all the churches, encouraging mutuality and independence, and a common identity ...” (J. T. Hughes, Ecclesial Solidarity 145-46). Paul’s unique phrase expresses “the way in which the Church of Rome was an object of love and respect to Jewish and Gentile Churches alike” (F. J. A. Hort, Prolegmena to Romans and Ephesians 1:52; cited in W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans 427). Cf. also C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans 2:796-97.

Related Posts: The Church of the NT, Greetings to Brothers & Sisters (Rom 16:8-13), Avoid Those Causing Division (Rom 16:17-20)

 

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