Presbyteroi in the time of the Apostolic Fathers

Przemysław Szewczyk

Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne w Łodzi , Poland


Abstract

The ecclesiastical hierarchy, being a reality founded by Christ, is also subjected to his­torical evolution. The article discusses the history of pastoral service in the Church by ana­lyzing the meaning of the word presbyteros in the writingsof the Apostolic Fathers. It is obvious that the term which is derived from the Greek language indicates a person who exercises a pastoral ministry in the church community emphasizing his seniority, but not necessarily old age. Only for Papias „presbuteros” is a real old man who, because of his age, is a living witness to the time of the Apostles. The authority of the witness made him a guard­ian of the faith, that is to say „episcopos”, the bishop. The writings of Ignatius of Antioch and Clement of Rome suggest that in their community „the elders” should not be really old, they form a group which has a different role from that of the bishop. It seems that with the end time of the bishops/old-men in the Church two realities were formed: the episcopacy and the colleges of the presbyter. The establishment of relations and the division of powers between the „presbuteroi” and the man appointed bishop of his church community was therefore one of the most important questions of Christianity in the time of the Apostolic Fathers.

Keywords:

Presbuteroi, Apostolic Fathers

Clemens Romanus, Epistula ad Corinthios, SCh 167
Gnilka J., Pierwsi chrześcijanie: źródła i początki Kościoła, tłum. W. Szymona, Kraków 2004
Ignatius, Epistula ad Ephesios
Ignatius, Epistula ad Magnesios, SCh 10
Ignatius, Epistula ad Philadelphios
Ignatius, Epistula ad Smyrnaeos
Ignatius, Epistula ad Trallianos
Iraeneus, Adversus haereses
Montanari F., Vocabolario della lingua greca, Torino 2004
Novum Testamentum Graece, ed. Nestle-Aland, Stuttgart 1993
Pietras H., Początki teologii Kościoła, Kraków 2000
Polycarpus, Epistula ad Philippenses
Słownik grecko-polski, red. Z. Abramowiczówna, III, Warszawa 1962
Starowieyski M., Słowniczek – narodziny słownictwa chrześcijańskiego, w: Pierwsi świadkowie. Pisma Ojców Apostolskich, BOK 10, Kraków 1998
Tihon P., Historia dogmatów, red. B. Sesboüé, t. 3: Znaki zbawienia, tłum. P. Rak, Kraków 2001
Vaticanum II, Constitutio Apostolica „Lumen gentium”

Published
2011-12-15


Szewczyk, P. (2011). Presbyteroi w czasach Ojców Apostolskich. Vox Patrum, 56, 261–270. https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.4220

Przemysław Szewczyk 
Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne w Łodzi



License

Papers published in Vox Patrum are covered by the Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) licence. Authors and users can use published works licensed under the CC-BY-ND since 2018. For earlier publications, copyrights are available under fair use rights in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyrights and related rights.