The territory represented by a group of congregations over which a bishop gained control came to be known as a diocese. Later these geographic units were grouped to form larger units. In these larger units one of the “bishops,” usually the one residing in the capital of the province, gained ascendancy in rank and authority over his fellow “bishops” and was called the metropolitan. The digression was augmented by conferences held in the various provinces and in which the local metropolitan served as chairman. At first, they were innocent “get-togethers” of delegates from the different congregations for the sake of fellowship, friendly discussion of their common problems, and reaching conclusions on disputed questions. But they soon partook of the nature of legislative bodies, and were called Councils by the Latins, and Synods by the Greeks. Thus there came into existence a source of legislation in addition to, and different from, the Bible. The congregations joining in this movement were deprived of their scriptural autonomy. Until after A.D. 300 each province held its own separate conference, and each metropolitan was entirely independent of all the other metropolitans in the government of his province. You can imagine how the congregations that refused to “string along” with the crowd were condemned and boycotted by the ecclesiastical leaders. In A.D. 325 the first general council was called, and the congregations represented were divided into five groups according to the political divisions of the Roman Empire. The ecclesiastical ruler of each group was called “Patriarch” or “Chief Father.” This council formulated what is known as the Nicene Creed, which was adopted by most of the churches and which is still acknowledged by many denominations today, including the Roman Catholic. Naturally there was rivalry among the five “Chief Fathers.” The “bishops” of Rome and Constantinople managed to gain supremacy over the other three (those at Jerusalem, Alexander, and Antioch). The warfare between these two was long and fierce. In A.D. 588 John the Faster, the Patriarch of Constantinople, assumed the title of “Universal Bishop of the Church.” The Patriarch of Rome protested bitterly, but in A.D. 606 the title of “Universal Bishop” was transferred from John the Faster to the “Roman See.” Thus with more than five hundred years of gradual drifting away from the Bible plan they developed a complete ecclesiastical hierarchy, with its councils, creeds, and dignitaries, supposedly having authority in addition to, different from, and in some cases, greater than, the Bible. Authority was now divided between the Bible and men who were presumptuous enough to set themselves up as legislators in the kingdom of God, which eventually culminated in the “Pope’s” ridiculous claim to be infallible. By the congregations sharing in this apostasy the Bible was no longer considered a complete and final authority.