Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
A Compleat View of Episcopacy, as Exhibited from the Fathers of the Christian Church, Until the Close of the Second Century: Containing an Impartial Account of Them, of Their Writings, and of what They Say Concerning Bishops and Presbyters: with Observations, and Remarks, Tending to Shew, that They Esteemed These One and the Same Order of Ecclesiastical Officers: in Answer to Those, who Have Represented it as a Certain Fact, Universally Handed Down, Even from the Apostles Days, that Governing and Ordaining Authority was Exercised by Such Bishops Only, as Were of an Order Superior to Presbyters