PRESBYTER

(Yunanca köken — orijinale bakınız.) One of an order of ministers in the Christian church, frequently alluded to in the Scriptures as having, in its several members, the spiritual care of distinct congregations, and exercising as a cla a general superintendence over the concerns of the church. It is allowed that, up to the time of Calvin, there never existed a church in which there was not an order of presbytery, or priests, subordinate to that of bishops; and, although the words themselves are sometimes confounded in the New Testament, the a ertors of episcopacy point out the distinction between the offices as accurately preserved throughout. See Episcopacy and Presbytery. [s. 984]