The past several years some Protestants have been claiming that during the Apostolic era of the Church, each congregation was run by a group of Elders, rather than a single head Pastor/Bishop. They typically claim that the 'one bishop per city/congregation' model, known as the "monepiscopacy," was a 'later' development, appearing around the year 175AD. The goal of their argument is to show that the Catholic understanding of Church leadership, led particularly by a single Bishop in Rome, was never part of the original Apostolic Church, and thus the Papacy must be a later historical invention. Much has be written about this over the past several years, but for some reason one of the chief proof-texts has not gotten much attention, so I think it's worth sharing what I've found on this matter.
Revelation 1:20. "As for the mystery of the seven stars that you
saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars
are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the
seven churches."
In Revelation 2-3, Jesus tells John what he is
to tell these "angels," with each "angel" ruling over a major city
church (including Ephesus), in which Jesus gives
warnings to most of these "angels" leading the churches. While at first it might look
like these "angels" are the spirit creatures we are all used to thinking
of, the fact is the Greek/Hebrew word for "angel" is a more generic
term for "messenger" (usually appointed by God). In fact, the term
"angel" is sometimes another Biblical way of referring to God's
priests (e.g. "f
or the lips
of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction
from his mouth, for he is the messenger [Hebrew: angel] of the Lord of
hosts" Mal 2:7). Moreover, in Revelation, Jesus is referred to a
Angel-Messenger, and in the Old Testament, the consensus among the
Church Fathers is that the pre-incarnate Son is who is meant by the
"Angel of the Lord" appearing to various OT figures (see
HERE).
Looking at the key text in question, Revelation 1:20 and the references to these "angels" throughout ch2-3, it makes little sense for Jesus to be issuing warnings to Spirit-Angels,
given that the Spirit-Angels have already been tested before the time
of Adam. This means they are all already categorized as either permanently fallen or glorified. Rather, it makes more
sense if these "angels" are Bishops, who certainly have the power to correct the abuses
going on in these seven congregations.