Theory of the Eldership [pp. 702-759]

Meaning of the term Presbyter.
applicable to preachers as ministers of the word." (B. p. 66.)
In support of these strong affirmations we are referred to the
Old Testament, to the synagogue, to the plurality of elders in
every church, and to the above text, and the subject is urged
upon us by the solemn asseveration, that "these surely are not
slight questions-they affect the very heart of our system-and
in deciding them we settle the distinctive principles of our government." (Ib. p. 35.)
We will now proceed to examine in detail the grounds on
which, scripturally and historically, this theory is based. With
every possible effort to condense, and omitting much we might
advance and have even written, we must task the patience of
our readers. But as we can only oppose facts to authority,
we may reasonably hope that all interested in the question of the
true value of the ruling eldership will give to our argument a
calm and dispassionate consideration. This is all we ask. To
the law and testimony of God's word, and to our Presbyterian
Standards is our confident appeal.
Meaning of the term Presbyter, i. e. r6-O,&ToC.
The fundamental position on which this theory is based is
that the essence of the presbyter is rule, and that the fundamental meaning of the term presbyter is a ruler.
Let us then first inquire into the original meaning of the
term presbyter.
Presbyter (,op-sa3VT,roo,) does not primarily mean a ruler.
It is the comparative degree of 7rpeaju;, old, an old man, and
means older, an older man, and has a superlative rp*ai3uzraz-oo,
oldest, the oldest man. The word came to have the sense of
reverend, or honoured, from the great respect paid in early
ages to the aged and experienced, and especially to parents.
The secondary meaning of the word, according to Passow, is
an ambassador, and it is only in its third derivative sense it
means, as it did at Sparta, a political title-a ruler. In this
as well as in the other senses, it is found in some analogous
form in almost every language, and very commonly in the
Ihebrew, and among the sacred race, whose history is preserved
in the Old Testament Scriptures.
Precisely the same is the case with the Latin word senior —
1860.]
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