Verses Matthew 18:15-18 speak of conflict resolution and establish the Church as the final authority. Since the binding is in heaven it is universal authority of the Catholic (i.e. universal) Church and not merely a local church.
Verses 19-20 speak not of conflict but of consent: they explain that God answers every prayer of a faithful Catholic.
there is some world wide governing body of fallible men
Sure it is, since the scripture tells us that it is binding in heaven. Or do you believe there are local heavens also?
I post about the elders of the church at Ephesus and you change the term to “bishops”
Because the scripture says "επισκοπους". That is "bishops". "Elders" is your fake translation -- even most Protestant translations distinguish "επισκοπος" from "πρεσβυτερος", -- they translate the latter "elder", never the former. King James edition calls them "overseers" in that verse.
simply means those who are older and have been in the church the longest
Start with a fake translation, arrive at meaning not in the text. So, those old people "rule the Church of God". Regardles how we call them, looks like they are authority over the Church. Not your semi-literate pastor who plans counterscriptural nonsense in your head because he is not sure what words mean.
Seriously now.
Just re-read my post. Seriously. Or ask someone to explain it to you. That WAS my point: all of scripture is said to someone in particular and meant for all of us. Including the one spoken in Ephesus.
Catholics seem to have a problem with those verses no matter how they translate their meaning don’t they. We can agree to disagree for various reasons as to the meaning regarding authority but Catholics still then have a problem in that Jesus clearly says He is in the midst of them. Don’t Catholics go a building to know that Jesus is with them?
>> Because the scripture says "επισκοπους". That is "bishops". "Elders" is your fake translation<<
Not from what I can find at least not in the meaning and intent you seem to be inferring.
The word used there is presbuteros Strong’s Greek
Original Word: πρεσβύτερος, α, ον
Transliteration: presbuteros
Phonetic Spelling: (pres-boo'-ter-os)
Short Definition: elder
Definition: elder, usually used as subst.; an elder, a member of the Sanhedrin, an elder of
a Christian assembly.
4245 presbýteros – properly, a mature man having seasoned judgment (experience); an elder.
The NT specifies elders are men. (The feminine singular, presbytera, never occurs in the Bible.)
http://biblesuite.com/greek/4245.htm
>> King James edition calls them "overseers" in that verse.<<
Oh really?
Acts 20:17 (KJV) And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
In fact, out of the 22 versions of the Bible that I looked at only the Douay-Rheims Bible translates it differently (surprise) and it translates it “ancients”.
The word for bishop is only used 3 times in scripture. The word is (ἐπίσκοπον) episkopon and here is it’s translation.
Strongs
episkopos: a superintendent, an overseer
Original Word: ἐπίσκοπος, ου, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: episkopos
Phonetic Spelling: (ep-is'-kop-os)
Short Definition: overseer, supervisor, ruler
Definition: (used as an official title in civil life), overseer, supervisor, ruler, especially
used with reference to the supervising function exercised by an elder or presbyter of a church or congregation.
Now isn’t that interesting. You said “episkopos” was used in the scripture I used to say it meant elder. It wasn’t. The word used was “presbýteros” which even the Catholic bible says means ancient while all other 21 versions translate it elders as does Strongs, Thayers, NASEC, and Englishman’s.
I can easily see why you only posted the Greek text to try to impress.
Now you can see why my moniker is CynicalBear. I don’t take what people say without checking.
BTW You may not care what I think but don’t try to then come back and try to snow me.
17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
You really ought to take the whole passage in context, so I included the rest of it. You know, the part that blows the Catholic church's claim that Jesus established it as an authority out of the water.
Where ever 2-3 are gathered in His name there He is in the midst. IOW, there is church.