presbyter
Sign in to saveAlso known as Christian priest, priest
Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek , which means elder or senior, although many in Christian antiquity understood presbyteros to refer to the bishop functioning as overseer. The word presbyter is used many times in the New Testament, referring both to the Jewish leadership and the "tradition of the elders", and to the leaders of the early Christian community.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- position
- Subclass of
- Christian minister
- Part of
- clergy
- Religion
- Christianity
- Image
- Priests rome.jpg
Show 7 more facts
- female form of label
- Priesterin
- next lower rank
- deacon
- next higher rank
- bishop
- different from
- priest
- described by source
- Wikitólica
- male form of label
- presbitero
- Commons category
- Christian priests
via Wikidata · CC0
~8 min read
Encyclopedic overview
7 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Modern usage
- See also
- Citations
- General and cited sources
- External links
Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek , which means elder or senior, although many in Christian antiquity understood presbyteros to refer to the bishop functioning as overseer. The word presbyter is used many times in the New Testament, referring both to the Jewish leadership and the "tradition of the elders", and to the leaders of the early Christian community.
In modern Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican usage, presbyter is distinct from bishop: in the Catholic Church it means Catholic priest. In other Protestant usage, for example, Methodism, presbyter does not refer to a member of a distinctive priesthood called priests but rather to a minister, pastor, or elder.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “presbyter” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.