Village in ancient ecclesiastical usage as distinguished from a city, was a place having no magistrates of its own and no laws except such as form a part of the government and laws of the city on which it is dependent. Some villages, however, were set apart as dioceses and had bishops appointed over them. In the early Church, the chorepiscopi were appointed to superintend the work in the villages. See Bingham, Christ. Antiq. bk. 2, ch. 14; bk. 9 ch. 2.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More