Powers of the Episcopate in the Ancient Church in the I–IV Cent.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the consideration of the process of formation of episcopal power in the Ancient Church in the period from the 1st to the 4th centuries. In particular, it attempts to identify the factors that influenced the process of the rise of the Roman, Alexandrian and Antiochian Churches. Using the comparative legal method of research, as well as the historical and canonical approach, the author comes to the conclusion that there are four common factors that influenced the rise of episcopal power in the first four centuries of church life.