PRESBYTER

(Gr. nptaSvrtpoi, elder; by which word it is translated in our New Testament.} tine of an ord*" of ministers in the Christian church, frequently alluded in the Scriptures as having, in its several members, u spiritual care of distinct congregations, and exercising res cla a general superintendence over the concerns of ti church. It is allowed that, up to the time of Calvin, the i never existed a church in which there was not an order c presbytery, or priests, subordinate to that of bishops; nni 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 pre served throughout. See Episcopacy and Presbytery. [s. 991]