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Book Description
Bishops are to be understood primarily as representatives of cultures
regardless of where their people are territorially located. The
vindication of this thesis has implications also for ecumenical
reconciliation between episcopal and non-episcopal communions occupying
the same geographical territory. The author compares the approaches and
insights of both Vatican II and Lambeth 89 on this issue, and then
proceeds to a historical and theological analysis of the development of
the threefold Order in the early centuries, which he illuminates with
the aid of contemporary sociological and cultural theory, in particular
that of Durkheim. Key themes in the development of Order are identified
in the classical texts of Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Cyprian,
Tertullian and the Church Order literature. The author's conclusion is
that we need both to break the geographical and jurisdictional mould in
which our understanding of church Order has become set.
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