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(All quotes from Scripture are taken from the King James Version of the Bible)
One of the ways the true Church of Christ, the Orthodox Church,
is known is by Apostolic Succession. Meaning that the Apostles,
being ordained by Christ, ordained bishops, presbyters (priests), and deacons. These bishops, presbyters, and deacons in turn ordained
more bishops, presbyters, and deacons and so on and so forth unto the
present day. Every single Orthodox bishop, presbyter, and deacon can
trace his ordination, through the laying on of hands, directly back to
the Apostles and, consequently, to Christ. The twelve Apostles
themselves were bishops. This is verified by Acts 1:20 where it refers
to electing another person to take over Judas' bishopric since he had
betrayed Christ. "For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take". Another interesting note is in Acts 21:18 where it says, "And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present." Note that the Scripture here does not just say that they went in and the elders were present. It says that they went in unto James and all the elders were present. Why does the Scripture single James out? Holy Tradition tells us that St. James was the first bishop of Jerusalem. The Apostles were ordained to the Apostolic ministry by Christ Himself (John 15:16--"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you"). They, in turn, ordained presbyters (priests) to the presbytery (Acts 14:23--"And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed"). (It is necessary to make a small mention about the word presbyter (presbuter in Greek). In the King James Version, this word is continually mistranslated into English as "elder". Only in 1 Timothy 4:14 is it correctly translated as "presbytery". The original Greek word used in 1 Timothy 4:14 that they translated as
"presbytery" is presbuteriou. In Acts 14:23 it says that the Apostles
ordained "elders" in every Church. In the original Greek text for
Acts 14:23, the word for "elder" is presbuterous. This is the exact
same word that was translated as "presbyter" in 1 Timothy 4:14.) The
presbyters that the Apostles ordained, ordained more presbyters
(Titus 1:5--"For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee"). This is also verifed in 2 Timothy 2:2 where St. Paul says, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also". So, it would stand to reason that anyone who claimed to be a presbyter (or elder, or priest) would have to be able to trace his ordination all the way back to the Apostles. Something which every Orthodox bishop, presbyter, and deacon is able to do.
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The Offices of Holy Ministry As Recorded in the King James Version of the Bible
Bishops
Philippians 1:1--"Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons"
1 Timothy 3:1-2--"This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach"
Titus 1:7--"For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre"
Presbyters (Priests)
1 Timothy 4:14--"Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery"
Deacons
Philippians 1:1--"Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons"
1 Timothy 3:8-13--"Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus"
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