Editing Presbyter (section)

==History==
The earliest organization of the [[Christian Church|Church]] in [[Jerusalem in Christianity|Jerusalem]] was according to most scholars similar to that of [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[synagogue]]s, but it had a council or college of ordained presbyters ({{langx|el|πρεσβύτεροι}} ''elders).''<ref>{{cite web|title=presbuteros|url=http://biblehub.com/greek/4245.htm|website=Bible Hub|access-date=21 February 2016|archive-date=2 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302105428/http://biblehub.com/greek/4245.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> In [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] 11:30<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|11:30}}</ref> and {{bibleverse|Acts|15:22}}, we see a collegiate system of government in Jerusalem though headed by [[James the Just|James]], according to tradition the first bishop of the city. In {{bibleverse|Acts|14:23}}, the [[Paul of Tarsus|Apostle Paul]] ordains presbyters in the churches he founded.

The term presbyter was often not yet clearly distinguished from the term overseer (ἐπίσκοποι ''episkopoi'', later exclusively used as meaning bishop), as in {{bibleverse|Acts|20:17}}, [[Epistle to Titus|Titus]] 1:5–7<ref>{{bibleverse|Titus|1:5–7}}</ref> and [[1 Peter]] 5:1.<ref>{{bibleverse|1|Peter|5:1}}</ref><ref>Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 1997 edition revised 2005, page 211: "It seems that at first the terms 'episcopos' and 'presbyter' were used interchangeably ..."</ref><ref>Cambridge History of Christianity, volume 1, 2006, "The general consensus among scholars has been that, at the turn of the first and second centuries, local congregations were led by bishops and presbyters whose offices were overlapping or indistinguishable."</ref> The earliest writings of the [[Apostolic Fathers]], the [[Didache]] and the [[First Epistle of Clement]] for example, show the church used two terms for local church offices—presbyters (seen by many as an interchangeable term with episcopos or overseer) and [[deacon]].

In [[Saint Timothy|Timothy]] and [[Titus (Biblical)|Titus]] in the New Testament a more clearly defined episcopate can be seen. We are told that Paul had left Timothy in [[Early centers of Christianity#Western Anatolia|Ephesus]] and Titus in [[Crete]] to oversee the local church ({{bibleverse|1Tim|1:3}} and {{bibleverse|Titus|1:5}}). Paul commands them to ordain presbyters/bishops and to exercise general oversight, telling Titus to "rebuke with all authority" ({{bibleverse|Titus|2:15}}).

Early sources are not clear, but various groups of Christian communities would have had a group or college of presbyter-overseers functioning as leaders of the local churches.<ref name="O'Grady 140">{{cite book |first=John|last=O'Grady|title=The Roman Catholic church: its origins and nature|page=140}}</ref> Occasionally women were described as presbyter on their tomb inscriptions or in other texts.<ref>Eisen, Ute E.. ''Women officeholders in early Christianity: epigraphical and literary studies''. United States, Liturgical Press, 2000. 978-0-8146-5950-2</ref><ref>Osiek, Carolyn; Madigan, Kevin, eds. (2005). ''Ordained women in the early church : a documentary history''. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0157-7}}. [[OCLC (identifier)|OCLC]] 794700384.</ref><ref>Kateusz, A. (2019). ''[https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/22895 Mary and early Christian women : hidden leadership] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521073410/https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/22895 |date=2024-05-21 }}''. Palgrave Macmillan.</ref> Eventually, the head or "monarchic" bishop came to rule more clearly,<ref name="Cath Encyclopedia">{{cite CE1913 |last=Van Hove|first= A.|wstitle=Bishop}}</ref> and all local churches would eventually follow the example of the other churches and structure themselves after the model of the others with the one bishop in clearer charge,<ref name="O'Grady 140"/> though the role of the body of priests remained important.<ref name="Cath Encyclopedia"/>

From the [[Christianity in the 2nd century|2nd century]], it is certain that the offices of bishop and presbyter were clearly distinguished, the bishop was understood as the president of the council of presbyters, and so the bishop was distinguished both in honor and in prerogative from the presbyters, who were seen as deriving their authority by means of delegation from the bishop.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} Each [[Episcopal see]] had its own bishop and his presence was necessary to consecrate any gathering of the church.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

Eventually, as [[Christendom]] grew, individual congregations were no longer directly served by a bishop. The bishop in a large city (the [[Metropolitan bishop]]) would appoint a priest to pastor the flock in each congregation, acting as his delegate.{{Citation needed|date=December 2015}}

The fourth century scholar [[Jerome]] (347–420) stated:

<blockquote>Therefore a presbyter is the same as a bishop is, and before that by the instigation of the devil emulations in respect to religion arose, and people began to say: I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, the churches were governed by the common counsel of the presbyters. But, after that each one was accustomed to regard those whom he had baptized as his own disciples and not of Christ, it was decreed in the whole world that one chosen from among the presbyters should be placed over the others ... Therefore, as presbyters may know that by the custom of the church they are subject to the one who has been placed over them; so also bishops may understand that they are greater than presbyters more by custom than by the veritable ordinance of the Lord.<ref>Jerome, Commentary on Epistle to Titus</ref></blockquote>

Slightly different other versions (quoting [[John Calvin]]) express the same.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=Edwin|title=The Puritans and Their Principles|date=1846|publisher=Baker and Scribnerb|location=New York |pages=345, 346 |url=https://archive.org/stream/puritanstheirpri00hallrich/puritanstheirpri00hallrich_djvu.txt}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bailey Adger|first1=John|title=My life and times|date=1899|publisher=The Presbyterian Committee of Publication|isbn=978-1344733878|url=https://archive.org/stream/mylifetimes00adge/mylifetimes00adge_djvu.txt|page=247|access-date=21 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Harrison|first1=John|title=Whose are the Fathers?: Or, the Teaching of Certain Anglo-Catholics|date=1867|publisher=Longmans, Green|isbn=9785878932493|page=488}}</ref>

A [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] explanation suggests that the delegates were bishops in the actual sense of the term but that they neither possessed fixed sees nor had a special title. Since they were essentially itinerant, they confided the fixed necessary functions relating to the daily life of the community to the care of some of the better-educated and highly respected converts.<ref name="Cath Encyclopedia"/>

Along with this was the title "priest" being distinctively ascribed to presbyters/bishops. Writer Greg Dues, author of ''Catholic Customs & Traditions'', claims that

<blockquote>Priesthood as we know it in the Catholic church was unheard of during the first generation of Christianity, because at that time priesthood was still associated with animal sacrifices in both the Jewish and pagan religions. ... When the Eucharist came to be regarded as a sacrifice [after Rome's theology], the role of the bishop took on a priestly dimension. By the third century bishops were considered priests. Presbyters or elders sometimes substituted for the bishop at the Eucharist. By the end of the third century people all over were using the title 'priest' (hierus in Greek and sacerdos in Latin) for whoever presided at the Eucharist.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dues |first1=Greg |url=https://archive.org/details/catholiccustomst00dues/page/166 |title=Catholic customs & traditions: a popular guide |date=1992 |publisher=Twenty-Third Publications |isbn=978-0896225152 |edition=Revised and expanded. |location=Mystic, Connecticut |page=[https://archive.org/details/catholiccustomst00dues/page/166 166] |language=en-us |url-access=registration}}</ref></blockquote>

With the legalization of Christianity and the threat of paganism dwindling from the passage of time, the use of the word priest was adopted from presbyter; as they felt there was no longer a chance of their faith being confused with the ideas, philosophies and culture of the Roman religion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-27/persecution-in-early-church-did-you-know.html|title=Persecution in the Early Church: Did You Know?|date=July 1990|access-date=2019-03-24|archive-date=2019-03-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322141117/https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-27/persecution-in-early-church-did-you-know.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[[Constantine the Great and Christianity]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=May 2019}}