The Wandering Bishops: Apostles of a New Spirituality - Home Temple

WANDERING BISHOPS 2
PROLEGOMENA
The term Episcopi Vagantes was applied to independent Successors of the Apostles and their
chosen Successors who traveled as missionaries far and wide to teach the Gospel of Mar
Yeshua, the Master Jesus Christ. The term Vagantes meant “traveling” or “wandering.”
The Greek term Episcopos meant Shepherd or Overseer. It was first applied to the elected
Head of the Apostles, the Successor to Master Jesus in the Jerusalem Church, James Zaddik
or the “Just,” the brother of Jesus. The for this high office that finally came into use was
“Bishop.” The title of this book, The Wandering Bishops, refers to the rich history of the modern
Episcopus Vagans or Independent Bishop whose wandering is viewed as “straying” and
heretical by Catholic and Orthodox hierarchies.
Jesus Consecrated perhaps seventeen of his closest and most competent disciples as
MeBasrim or Apostles (later Greek Apostoloi). The term meant, “those who are sent forth,”
even as Jesus had been sent forth, to proclaim the Basor (later Greek Euangelion) or Divine
Message. Each of these Apostles wandered far and wide proclaiming the Message, baptizing,
organizing churches, training leaders, and establishing worship—each in his own way and
understanding of the Divine Message. They imparted a portion of Apostolic authority to their
own disciples, who were known as Nabi (later Greek Prophetai) or Prophets and Presbyteroi or
Elders of the early churches, who served under the authority of the Apostles.
Each Apostle selected his or her best disciple for Consecration as his/her Successor. I say
“her,” because archaeological and other evidence shows that there were female disciples and
Apostles, foremost of whom was Mary of Magdala, whose traditions were not supported in the
male-dominated church organizations. The Successors of the Apostles, and their Successors in
turn, were Consecrated by laying-on of hands and exsufflation or other pneumatic transmission.
The separate lines of Apostolic Succession were carried forward in geographically, politically,
and theologically diverse locations such as Asia Minor, Rome, and Alexandria. In the diversity of
their individual Apostolic traditions it was inevitable that there were to be increasing divisions
among the early churches. Beginning with the division between “Hebrew” and “Hellenists”
recounted in the Acts of the Apostles, through the gentile church excommunication of the
Nazoroi, Ebionim, and other original Jewish Christian churches by the end of the first century,
and continuing through the fourth century, when Constantine established Byzantine state
Christianity, the Apostolic traditions of many churches were declared non-orthodox or even
heretical by the politically dominant churches. Yet their traditions had devolved from only one
Apostle, such as Peter in Rome (although most scholars admit that the only historical Petrine
tradition probably developed in Antioch of Syrian—not in Rome.)
The separate churches often authorized and sent forth independent missionary Bishops to
evangelize other territories. These Bishops established missionary churches that were virtually
autocephalous or self-ruling. For example, St. Arius and his Bishops established Celtic Gnostic
Christianity in Europe, and Nestorius established so-called Monophysite Christian churches in
India. Later these churches were considered to be non-conforming and their founders were
declared heretics, when in fact they merely transmitted the Apostolic Gnosis as they had
received it.
In this century, all the extant lines of Apostolic Succession and tradition have been recovered
through the work of legal and valid Independent Bishops. These contemporary Episcopi
Vagantes are both men and women who have broken all ties with institutional Christianity. They