Our navigation bar is loading . . .

Subscribe to JCSM's weekly inspirational message podcast!Write on Jason Gastrich's Facebook page!Add JCSM as a friend to your MySpace account!Watch Jason Gastrich's videos on YouTube!
Read, respond and subscribe to Jason Gastrich's blog!

Designate a portion of your next eBay auction to JCSM through eBay's Mission Fish program!JCSM's Top 1000 Christian Sites - Free Traffic Sharing Service!
Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997

Please type your email and let us encourage you!

 
        Search jcsm.org now!

Click here and add this page to your favorites!

Return to the JCSM Study Center!

Encyclopedia Britannica



MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)

This article appears in Volume V18, Page 542 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MIC-MOL
MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant) , an official title both civil and ecclesiastical. The word minister as originally used in the Latin Church was a
translation
  of the Greek &hKOYOS, deacon; thus Lactantius speaks of presbyteri et ministri, priests and deacons (De mort. persecutorum, No. 15), and in this sense it is still technically used; thus canon vi., Sess. xxiii. of the council of Trent speaks of the hierarchy as consisting " ex episcopis, presbyteris et ministris." But the equivocal character of the word soon led to the blurring of any strictly technical sense it once possessed. Bishops signed themselves minister in the spirit of humility, priests were "servants of the altar" (ministri altaris), while sometimes the phrase ministri ecclesiae was used to denote the clergy in
minor
  orders (see Lex Bajwar. tit. 8, quoted in Du Cange). A similar equivocal character attaches to the word minister as used in the Anglican formularies: " Oftentimes it is made to express the person officiating in general, whether priest or deacon; at other times it denoteth the priest alone, as contradistinguished from the deacon " (Burn's Eccl. Law, ed. Phillimore, iii. 44). Thus the 33rd canon of 1603 orders that " no
bishop
  shall make any person a deacon and minister both together upon one day." Generally, however, it may be said that in the use of the Church of England " minister " means no more than executor officii, a sense in which it was used
long
  before the Reformation. As the most colourless of all official ecclesiastical titles, it is easy to see how the word minister has come to be applied to the clergy of
Protestant
  denominations. The phrase " minister of religion " is wide enough to embrace any evangelical office, ,and has about it more of the savour of humility than " pastor."
The civil title of minister originates in the same exact sense of servant, i.e. servants of the royal household (ministri aulae regis). This origin is still clearly traceable in the titles of some ministers in
Great
  Britain, e.g.
chancellor
  of the
exchequer
 , first lord of the treasury, and in the official style of " his majesty's servants " applied to all. Practically, however, the word minister has in modern states come to be applied to the heads of the
great
  administrative departments who as such are members of the government. On the continent there are, besides, " ministers without portfolio," i.e. ministers who, without being in charge of any
special
  department, are members of the government. In general it is distinctive of constitutional states that any public act of the sovereign must
bear
  the countersignature of the minister responsible for the department concerned. (See the articles MINISTRY and CABINET. For the history and meanings of the word " minister " in diplomacy, see DIPLoMAcY.)
(W. A. P.)


End of Article: MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)


If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/MIC_MOL/MINISTER_Lat_minister_servant_.html">
MINISTER (Lat. minister, servant)
</a>
(Previous)
MINION 		(Next)
MINISTRY

 


 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

The JCSM Study CenterAmerica's Christian FoundationSkeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and ExplainedNKJV Web Hosting and Services
JCSM's Sermons, Debates and the Bible on MP3The Online Christ-Centered MinistriesDo You Have A Web Site?  Your Ad Could Be Here!Seminary Notes and PapersThe Picturesque Photo Albums


Jesus Christ Saves Ministries, P.O. Box 70696, Pasadena, CA 91117

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-present.



Kingdom Debt Solutions - Be Debt Free! Sport Logos - Quality Athletic Equipment The JCSM Study Center Your Ad Could Be Here! Launch A Successful Internet Organization or Business! Learn Guitar, Bass, or Piano in San Diego county!

You can advertise your site right here!

Free & Cheap Cell Phones  |  Cheap Long Distance Phone Service Carriers  |  Talk America Local Phone Service  |  Ztel & MCI - Unlimited Long Distance
Compare Cell Phone Plans & Companies  |  International Calling Cards & Prepaid Phone Cards  |  Voice Over IP Broadband Internet Phone Service  |  Wireless Phone Plans & Cheap Cell Phones

Dr. Jason Gastrich

Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.

 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries is directed by Dr. Jason Gastrich. It was founded in 1997 and it exists to bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that have been sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA  92169
1-877-850-3878 or Email

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-2009.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Online First Aid and CPR Certification  .  The Online Christ Centered Ministries  .  The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained  .  The Inerrancy Discussion Board  .  Free Email Accounts  .  Home Equity Loans  .  JasonGastrich.com  .  The Missions, Apologetics, and Creation Bible Conference  .  Young Earth Creation Science  .  San Diego Music Lessons  .  10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings  .  Gastrich.net  .  Maximizing the Internet: 12 Keys to Success  .  Louisiana Baptist University  .  NKJV Web Hosting and Services  .  Michael Newdow  .  San Diego Soccer Training  . Christian Guitar Lessons  .  Jesus Christ Saves Ministries  .  Eternal Security