Bishops in 1 Timothy and Philippians

It’s not simply the presence of the tem ἐπισκόποις, but the description of a heirarchical church structure of which the “bishop” or “overseer” is a part. From Forgery and Counterforgery by Bart Ehrman, p. 205:

It should not be objected that Philippians 1:1 presents us with the same situation already in Paul’s lifetime. Overseers and deacons are mentioned there, but there is nothing either in that verse or the entire letter (or set of letters) of Philippians as a whole to indicate that these are persons selected for an office out of a pool of candidates, or that they were ordained by the laying on of hands. In fact, nothing is said about them at all, giving us no way of knowing whether they are comparable to the figures addressed in the Pastorals or not. If we assume they are it is not because of any evidence, since, in fact, there is no hint of evidence; it is simply a hopeful assumption. The fact that these Philippian overseers and deacons are never addressed in the letter(s) is itself far more telling: Paul does not tell them to correct the false teaching in the congregation, or to make sure Euodia and Syntyche fall in line, or to deal with any of the problems of the church. The differences from the Pastorals are apt.

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