Stories of the Ancient Church: Presbyters
It is far to the bishop, there are almost no deacons, and presbyters (priests, fathers) are often associated by many with the Church itself. But in ancient times, it was different.
Today we are accustomed to the fact that the Church is mainly priests. They lead church communities, conduct services and sacraments, play a major role in resolving material issues, and so on. If we compare the current state of affairs with the first centuries of Christianity, our priests resemble bishops more than the presbyters of antiquity.
In previous publications, it was already mentioned that each Christian community was headed by a bishop. A community of 12 people already had the right to elect a bishop, and if there were fewer, neighboring communities could supplement this number with their delegates and help in the election. Now the bishop is the head of a diocese, sometimes numbering hundreds of communities.
Before the revolution of 1917, there were several dozen bishops in the Russian Empire, and the overwhelming majority of priests saw them only once in their lives, at ordination, and believers sometimes did not see them at all. The immediate assistants of bishops in antiquity were deacons, who are now mainly needed for the beauty of the hierarchical service. The conciliar principle, in the sense of active participation of laypeople in resolving community life issues, is almost absent in our church.
Thus, it can be said that the institution of presbyters today occupies a dominant position in the Church—not in the sense that they have the most authority, but in that they exercise practical leadership over almost all church life.
However, in antiquity, presbyters occupied a much less significant position. It was already mentioned that deacons were more important in the management of the community. It was also mentioned that the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles often use the terms "bishop" and "presbyter" as synonyms. But this is not always the case. There are places where the term "presbyter" is used in a sense different from "bishop", and from them, we can learn how ancient presbyters differed from ancient bishops.
Of course, the New Testament is not the only source; presbyters are mentioned in other written monuments, but it should be noted that these sources are clearly insufficient to comprehensively describe their position in antiquity. Much has to be spoken of hypothetically.
Origin of Presbyters
If we have a detailed description of the emergence of the institution of deacons in the book of Acts, and bishops are mentioned in many places in both Acts and the Apostolic Epistles, then no document of the apostolic time directly speaks about the time, reasons, and circumstances of the appearance of the institution of presbyters. The most common opinion in church historical science is as follows:
The institution of presbyters arises very early, no later than the year 35, modeled after the presbyters, or elders, in Jewish assemblies.
The word "presbyter" (πρεσβύτερος) can be used in the sense of "elder", that is, a leader (and in this case, it is synonymous with the word "bishop"), but also in the sense of "elder", "elderly", "respected person of advanced age". And in this case, it refers specifically to presbyters, not bishops.
In many nations, elders still play a very significant role in society. They are consulted, asked for permission for certain actions, and approached for conflict resolution. This was also the case in Old Testament Jewish society. The books of the Old Testament mention this. For example: "And Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them: select and take lambs for yourselves according to your families and kill the Passover lamb..." (Ex. 12:21). "And the Lord said to Moses: gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders and officers of them, and bring them to the tabernacle of meeting, that they may stand there with you..." (Num. 11:16).
The Gospels also speak of these elders: "Having heard about Jesus, he sent to Him the Jewish elders, asking Him to come and heal his servant" (Lk. 7:3). "When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death..." (Mt. 27:1).
The Greek word πρεσβύτερος is translated here as "elder". Following the model of these Jewish presbyters, elders also arose in the first Christian Jerusalem community, which was Jewish in its national composition. The head, the bishop of this community, was James, the brother of the Lord. Around him, this presbytery, consisting of respected, elderly members of the community, was formed.
In his Epistle, the Apostle James instructs this presbytery to perform certain sacred acts, namely the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick: "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the presbyters of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord" (James 5:14). James was the head of the Jerusalem community and knew its composition and structure well.
The fact that he mentions "the presbyters of the Church" and entrusts them with performing the sacrament gives us reason to assume that there were also just presbyters-elders, not "church" ones, that is, not authorized for such sacred acts, but simply respected people who were consulted in resolving various issues. And most likely, "the presbyters of the Church" from the very beginning went through the rite of ordination, the laying on of hands, as we see in relation to bishops and deacons.
The written monument of the 3rd century "Apostolic Tradition" by Saint Hippolytus of Rome already directly speaks of the necessity of such ordination: "When a presbyter is ordained, the bishop shall lay his hand upon his head... And he shall pray as we said above... as we said about the bishop. The bishop is in all respects equal to the presbyter, except for the seat on the throne and ordination, for the power to ordain is not given to the presbyter." It should be noted that the right of presbyters to perform the Eucharist without a bishop did not appear immediately, but more on that below.
Requirements for Presbyters
Following the example of the Jerusalem community, where the bishop was surrounded by elder-presbyters, communities in other places were built. In the Epistle to Titus, the Apostle Paul lists the qualities required of a presbyter: "That the elders be vigilant, sober, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience..." (Titus 2:2). Here, "elders" (presbyters) cannot be understood as bishops, since the requirements for them were already listed in the first chapter of the Epistle to Titus, where they are, by the way, called both bishops and presbyters in the same sense.
Saint Clement of Rome wrote to the Corinthians: "Obey your leaders and give due honor to the presbyters." Here one can see an indication that presbyters were of advanced age, to whom custom prescribed giving honor. A little later, Blessed Jerome of Stridon (4th–5th centuries) would write: "Presbyter and bishop are names: one of age, the other of rank." And such a document as the "Rules of the Holy Apostles" (Canones Ecclesiastici Apostolorum, late 2nd century) directly states that presbyters should be persons of advanced age.
Another distinction in the "Rules" between bishops and presbyters concerns marital life. If it is said of a bishop that it would be "good if he were unmarried, but if not, he must be the husband of one wife," then of presbyters it is quite different: "As is fitting, they must abstain from cohabitation with their wives." This may also be an indication of the advanced age of presbyters. However, this requirement was not absolute. In the "Apostolic Tradition" of Saint Hippolytus, it is said: "A presbyter whose wife gives birth is not deposed from his rank." This may also indicate that by the 3rd century, the age of candidates for presbyters had already begun to decrease, and in their functions and position, they began to approach the image familiar to us.
Saint Ignatius the God-bearer, a disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian, often mentions presbyters in his
