Presbytery

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Presbytery (Gr. presbyterion ). In EV [Note: English Version.] of NT the word occurs only in   1 Timothy 4:14 , where it denotes the body of Christian presbyters or elders (no doubt those belonging to the church at Lystra; cf.   Acts 16:1-4 ) who laid their hands upon Timothy before he set out on his labours as St. Paul’s missionary companion. In the Gr. text, however, the word presbyterion is found in two other passages, viz.   Luke 22:66 (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘elders,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘assembly of the elders’) and   Acts 22:5 (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘estate of the elders’), as an expression for the body of Jewish elders who with the ‘chief priests’ and the scribes composed the Sanhedrin. This twofold use of the word (like the corresponding twofold use of ‘elder’) affords a strong confirmation of the view, which is otherwise most probable, that the presbytery of the Christian Church finds its roots in the eldership of the Jewish ecclesia .

The presbytery was at first a purely local body (cf. the Letters of Ignatius, passim ), corresponding not to the modern presbytery of the Presbyterian Churches, which is a district court composed of ministers and elders drawn from a number of separate congregations, but to the kirk-session or body of elders by which in those churches a single congregation is ruled. Originally the presbytery had no fixed president. The presbyters or elders, otherwise known as bishops (see art. Bishop), whom we meet in the NT seem officially to have all stood upon the same footing. But early in the post-Apostolic age one of the congregational presbyter-bishops rose, by what was probably a process of natural evolution (cf.   1 Timothy 5:17 , ‘Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in the word and in teaching’), to a position of predominance, and was now known as the ‘bishop’ par excellence , in distinction from the other presbyters (cf. in the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches the precedence of the minister over the elders and deacons respectively, although, properly speaking, a ‘minister’ is simply a diakonos or deacon). The bishop as we meet him in the Letters of Ignatius ( e.g.   Ephesians 4:1-32 ) is a congregational bishop, the president of a body of congregational presbyters. The monarchical bishop is a later creation.

What was involved in the laying on of the hands of the presbytery in the case of Timothy it is impossible to say with certainty. Probably it was an act corresponding to ordination to office (see Laying on of Hands), St. Paul himself being associated with the presbytery in the matter (cf.   2 Timothy 1:6 ). On the other hand, it may have been no more than a commendation of Timothy to the grace of God for strength and guidance in his new work as a missionary, analogous thus to the action of the prophets and teachers of Antioch in the case of Barnabas and Saul (  Acts 13:1-3 ). The laying on of St. Paul’s hands (  2 Timothy 1:6 ) may really have been a separate incident, comparable again to the laying on of the hands of Ananias on himself (  Acts 9:17 ) not an official act but a gracious benediction (cf. Lindsay, Church and Ministry , p. 143n. [Note: . note.] ). St. Paul without doubt received a consecrating grace from the hands both of Ananias and of those prophets and teachers of the Church at Antioch, but he claimed to be an Apostle ‘not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead’ (  Galatians 1:1 ).

J. C. Lambert.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) A body of elders in the early Christian church.

(2): ( n.) A judicatory consisting of all the ministers within a certain district, and one layman, who is a ruling elder, from each parish or church, commissioned to represent the church in conjunction with the pastor. This body has a general jurisdiction over the churches under its care, and next below the provincial synod in authority.

(3): ( n.) The Presbyterian religion of polity.

(4): ( n.) That part of the church reserved for the officiating priest.

(5): ( n.) The residence of a priest or clergyman.

King James Dictionary

PRES'BYTERY, n. A body of elders in the christian church.

Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.  1 Timothy 4

1. In ecclesiastical government, a judicatory consisting of all the pastors of churches within a certain district, and one ruling elder, a layman, from each parish, commissioned to represent the parish in conjunction with the minister. This body receives appeals from the kirk-session, and appeals from the presbytery may be carried to the provincial synod.

The presbytery of the churches in the United States is composed in a manner nearly similar.

2. The presbyterian religion.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

See Elders

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

is (1) the space in the choir of a church in which the high-altar is placed; the name is sometimes extended to the whole choir. (See Chancel). It is (2), in Scotch law, an ecclesiastical division of the country, as well as a court. (On the Continent this is known as the Classis .) In its local sense it includes a combination of parishes, varying from four to thirty, and the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland has power to vary the size. — Chambers, s.v. (See Church Of Scotland).

The presbytery is composed of the teaching elders of the churches of a given geographical district, together with one of the ruling elders elected for that purpose by the Session from each church. Besides being a court of appeal from the inferior judicatory, it is bound to inspect carefully the personal conduct and pastoral labors of every minister within its bounds, and, when necessary, to admonish, suspend, or even depose. It belongs to presbyteries to grant licenses to preach the Gospel, to take cognizance of all preachers within its borders, to give certificates of character, etc., to those removing, and to furnish supplies where needed for the pulpit. Ally Church member who feels himself aggrieved by the act of the Session may appeal from its decisions to the Presbytery. Superior in authority to the Presbytery is the Synod, which is composed of the teaching elders and one ruling elder from each church of a larger district than that represented by the Presbytery. Still above the Synod is the General Assembly.

This embraces representatives, both lay and clerical, from every Presbytery, and is the supreme authority in all ecclesiastical matters. To it an appeal lies from the Presbytery in all ecclesiastical proceedings of a disciplinary character, and its decision is final. Its authority, however, though supreme, is not unlimited. In legislating for the churches it is required to refer the laws which it passes to the presbyteries for their approval; and the law does not become of binding force upon the churches until it receives the sanction of at least a majority; in certain cases two thirds are required. The Presbytery holds frequent and stated meetings, according as circumstances may require. In any emergency it is in the power of the moderator (q.v.), on his own responsibility, or on receiving a written requisition from several members, to call a pro re nata meeting of the Presbytery. In Presbyterian churches, where the supreme court consists of delegates, it belongs to each Presbytery to elect ministers and elders to represent them in that court. All the proceedings of the Presbytery must be duly minuted by the clerk, and are subject to the review of the Provincial Synod. (See Presbyterianism).