Stewart, Alistair Charles  (1960-...) <br/><br/>
The original bishops  Office and order in the first Christian communities 
Alistair Charles Stewart 
 - U.S.A.  Baker Academic  2014 
 - 394tr.  Hardcover  23cm 
<br/><br/> This work provides a new starting point for studying the origins of church offices. Alistair Stewart, a leading authority on early Christianity and a meticulous scholar, provides the essential groundwork for historical and theological discussions. Stewart refutes a long-held consensus that church offices emerged from collective leadership at the end of the first century. He argues that governance by elders was unknown in the first centuries and that bishops emerged at the beginning of the church 
<br/><br/><label>ISBN: </label>9780801049217 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca 30-600
<br/><br/><label>Dewey Class. No.: </label>262.1209015  / A414-S85