The early ecumenical councils recognized other sees of ecclesiastical authority. For example, the authority of Alexandria was recognized as equal to the authority of Rome over the churches in their respective lineages and geographical areas.
The earliest and diverse forms of orthodox Christianity are seen by many scholars to be distinct from the later unified orthodox Christianity. While there are a number of historical models regarding this they generally agree that historical evidence is scant to non-existent for the earliest succession of Roman bishops (as even noted by Duffy), that authority was not exclusively centralized to Rome until centuries after Christ (as evidenced by the early ecumenical councils), that orthodox doctrine was formed and formalized over the course of centuries and that it took centuries for the various episcopates to transform from loose ecumenical movement into a unified church.
One of the most prominent examples is Ehrman's distinction between the orthodox church and the less unified & more diverse "proto-orthodox", a model and terminology that has seen expanded use in recent years.
Another example is Esler's treatment of early Christianity, which is more complex but similar. Somewhat oversimplifying, he sees orthodox Christianity as arising from a gradual unification (in the face of "common enemies" in the form of Marcionism, Arianism, "Judaizers" and so forth) of churches with a rough agreement on Christology and scriptural canon that were nonetheless extremely diverse groups that with wide variations in religious observance, various points of doctrine and local customs.
- None of these scholars assert that there was no Roman Church from the first century. We have Duffy's opinions included in the Origins and Mission section where all viewpoints are included and compared. I have added text to the article to recognize that Rome was not the sole authority per your comments. I also added text that states when that authority eventually emerged and became official. Please see the article text, Roman Empire section. NancyHeise talk 14:33, 9 October 2008 (UTC)