A name applied to those who are pastors of a congregation, or preachers of God’s word. They are also called divines, and may be distinguished into polemic, or those who possess controversial talents; casuistic, or those who resolve cases of conscience; experimental, those who address themselves to the feelings, cases, and circumstances of their hearers; and, lastly, practical, those who insist upon the performance of all those duties which the word of God enjoins. An able minister will have something of all these united in him, though he may not excel in all; and it becomes every one who is a candidate for the ministry to get a clear idea of each, that he may not be deficient in the discharge of that work which is the most important that can be sustained by mortal beings. Many volumes have been written on this subject, but we must be content in this place to offer only a few remarks relative to it. In the first place, then, it must be observed, that ministers of the Gospel ought to be sound as to their principles. They must be men whose hearts are renovated by divine grace, and whose sentiments are derived from the sacred oracles of divine truth. A minister without principles will never do any good; and he who professes to believe in a system, should see to it that it accords with the word of God. His mind should clearly perceive the beauty, harmony, and utility of the doctrines, while his heart should be deeply impressed with a sense of their value and importance.
2. They should be mild and affable as to their dispositions and deportment.
A haught imperious spirit is a disgrace to the ministerial character, and generally brings contempt. They should learn to bear injuries with patience, and be ready to do good to every one; be courteous to all without cringing to any; be affable without levity, and humble without pusillanimity; conciliating the affections without violating the truth; connecting a suavity of manners with a dignity of character, obliging without flattery; and throwing off all reserve without running into the opposite extreme of volubility and trifling.
3. They should be superior as to their knowledge and talents. Though many have been useful without what is called learning, yet none have been so without some portion of knowledge and wisdom. Nor has God Almighty ever sanctified ignorance, or consecrated it to his service; since it is the effect of the fall, and the consequence of our departure from the Fountain of intelligence. Ministers, therefore, especially, should endeavour to break these shackles, get their minds enlarged, and stored with all useful knowledge. The Bible should be well studied, and that, if possible, in the original language. The scheme of salvation by Jesus Christ should be well understood, with all the various topics connected with it. Nor will some knowledge of history, natural philosophy, logic, mathematics, and rhetoric, be useless. A clear judgment, also, with a retentive memory, inventive faculty, and a facility of communication should be obtained.
4. They should be diligent as to their studies. Their time especially should be improved, and not lost by too much sleep, formal visits, indolence, reading useless books, studying useless subjects. Every day should have its work, and every subject its due attention. Some advise a chapter in the Hebrew Bible, and another in the Greek Testament, to be read every day. A well-chosen system of divinity should be accurately studied. The best definitions should be obtained, and a constant regard paid to all those studies which savour of religion, and have some tendency to public work.
5. Ministers should be extensive as to their benevolence and candour. A contracted bigoted spirit ill becomes those who preach a Gospel which breathes the purest benevolence to mankind. This spirit has done more harm among all parties than many imagine; and is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful engines the devil makes use of to oppose the best interests of mankind; and it is really shocking to observe how sects and parties have all, in their turns, anethematized each other. Now, while ministers ought to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints, they must remember that men always will think different from each other; that prejudice of education has great influence; that difference of opinion as to non-essential things is not of such importance as to be a ground of dislike. Let the ministers of Christ, then, pity the weak, forgive the ignorant, bear with the sincere though mistaken zealot, and love all who love the Lord Jesus Christ.
6. Ministers should be zealous and faithful in their public work. The sick must be visited; children must be catechised; the ordinances administered; and the word of God preached. These things must be taken up, not as a matter of duty only, but of pleasure, and executed with faithfulness; and, as they are of the utmost importance, ministers should attend to them with all that sincerity, earnestness, and zeal which that importance demands. An idle, frigid, indifferent minister is a pest to society, a disgrace to his profession, an injury to the church, and offensive to God himself.
7. Lastly, ministers should be uniform as to their conduct. No brightness of talent, no superiority of intellect, no extent of knowledge, will ever be a substitute for this. They should not only possess a luminous mind, but set a good example. This will procure dignity to themselves, give energy to what they say, and prove a blessing to the circle in which they move. In fine, they should be men of prudence and prayer, light and love, zeal and knowledge, courage and humility, humanity and religion.
See DECLAMATION. ELOQUENCE, PREACHING, and SERMONS, in this work; Dr. Smith’s Lect. on the Sacred Office; Gerard’s Pastoral Care; Macgill’s Address to Young Clergymen; Chrysostom on the Priesthood; Baxter’s Reformed Pastor; Burnett’s Pastoral Care; Watt’s Humble Attempt; Dr. Edwards’s Preacher; Mason’s Student and Pastor; Gibbon’s Christian Minister; Mather’s Student and Preacher; Osterwald’s Lectures on the Sacred Ministry; Robinson’s Claude; Doddridge’s Lectures on Preaching and the Ministeral Office.
one who attends or waits on another; so we find Elisha was the minister of Elijah, and did him services of various kinds, 2Ki 3:11. So Joshua was the servant of Moses, Exo 24:13; Exo 33:11. And these persons did not by any means feel themselves degraded by their stations, but in due time they succeeded to the offices of their masters. In like manner John Mark was minister to Paul and Barnabas, Act 13:5. Christ is called a minister of the true, that is, the heavenly, sanctuary. The minister of the synagogue was appointed to keep the book of the law, to observe that those who read it, read it correctly, &c, Luk 4:20. The rabbins say he was the same as the angel of the church or overseer. Lightfoot says, Baal Aruch expounds the chazan, or minister of the congregation, by sheliach hatzibbor, or angel of the congregation; and from this common platform and constitution of the synagogue, we may observe the Apostle’s expression of some elders ruling and labouring in word and doctrine, others in the general affairs of the synagogue. Ministers were servants, yet servants not menial, but honourable; those who explain the word, and conduct the service of God; those who dispense the laws and promote the welfare of the community; the holy angels who in obedience to the divine commands protect, preserve, succour, and benefit the godly, are all ministers, beneficial ministers, to those who are under their charge, Heb 8:2; Exo 30:10; Lev 16:15; 1Co 4:1; Rom 13:6; Psa 104:4.
One who acts as the less or inferior agent, in obedience or subservience to another, or who serves, officiates, etc., as distinguished from the master or superior. In the Old Testament the term is applied to Joshua as the minister of Moses (Exo 24:13), and to Elisha as the minister to Elijah (2Ki 6:15). Persons thus designated sometimes succeeded to the office of their principal, as did Joshua and Elisha. The word is applied to the angels, Psa 103:21; comp. Psa 104:4; Heb 1:7; and also to the Jews in their capacity as a sacred nation, ’Men shall call you the ministers of our God’ (Isa 61:6); and to the priests (Jer 33:21; Eze 44:11; Eze 45:4; Joe 1:9). In the New Testament the term is applied to Christian teachers, Act 13:2; Rom 15:16; and to Christ, Heb 8:2; to the collectors of the Roman tribute, in consequence of the divine authority of political government, ’they are God’s ministers.’ The word diakonos, ’minister,’ is applied to Christian teachers, 1Co 3:5; 2Co 3:6; 2Co 6:4; 2Co 11:23; 1Th 3:2; to false teachers, 2Co 11:15; to Christ, Rom 15:8; Rom 15:16; Gal 2:17; to heathen magistrates, Rom 13:4; in all which passages it has the sense of a minister, assistant, or servant in general, as in Mat 20:26; but it means a particular sort of minister, ’a deacon,’ in Php 1:1; 1Ti 3:8; 1Ti 3:12. Another word similarly rendered is applied to Christian ministers, Luk 1:2; Act 26:16; 2Co 4:1. The word denotes, in Luk 4:20, the attendant in a synagogue who handed the volume to the reader, and returned it to its place. In Act 13:5 it is applied to ’John whose surname was Mark,’ in his capacity as an attendant or assistant on Barnabas and Saul. It primarily signifies an under-rower on board a galley, of the class who used the longest oars, and consequently performed the severest duty, as distinguished from the rower upon the upper bench of the three, and from the sailors or the marines: hence in general a hand, agent, minister, attendant, etc.
One who attends or waits on another, Mat 20:28 ; so Elisha was the minister of Elijah, 1Ki 19:21 2Ki 3:11 . These persons did not feel themselves degraded by their stations, and in due time they succeeded to the office of their masters. In like manner, John Mark was minister to Paul and Barnabas, Mal 13:5 . Angels are ministers of God and of his people, Psa 103:21 Heb 1:14 . The term is applied to one who performs any function, or administers any office or agency: as to magistrates, 1Ch 15:16 1Co 4:1 5:5; and to teachers of error, 2Co 11:15 . Christ came to minister, not to be ministered unto; and is called in another sense a minister "of the circumcision," 1Ch 15:8, and of the heavenly sanctuary, Heb 8:2 .\par
Minister. This term is used in the Authorized Version to describe various officials of a religious and civil character. Its meaning, as distinguished from servant, is a voluntary attendant on another. In the Old Testament, it is applied
(1) to an attendance upon a person of high rank, Exo 24:13; Jos 1:1; 2Ki 4:43;
(2) to the attaches of a royal court, 1Ki 10:5; 2Ch 22:8 ; compare Psa 104:4;
(3) To the priests and Levites. Ezr 8:17; Neh 10:36; Isa 61:6; Eze 44:11; Joe 1:9; Joe 1:13.
One term, in the New Testament, betokens a subordinate public administrator, Rom 13:6; Rom 15:16; Heb 8:2, one who performs certain gratuitous public services. A second term contains the idea of actual and personal attendance upon a superior, as in Luk 4:20.
The minister’s duty was to open and close the building, to produce and replace the books employed in the service, and generally to wait on the officiating priest or teacher. A third term, diakonos, (from which comes our word, deacon), is the one usually employed in relation to the ministry of the gospel: its application is twofold, -- in a general sense, to indicate ministers of any order, whether superior or inferior, and in a special sense, to indicate an order of inferiors ministers. See Deacon.
Minister
Liturgy at Athens meant public service rendered gratuitously to the state; hence the sense of public Divine service (not restricted to sacrifice, Luk 1:23): Act 13:2.
The word commonly occurring in the O.T. is sharath, ’to minister, serve.’ Joshua was Moses’ minister. All God’s hosts are called ’ministers of his, that do his pleasure,’ and He maketh ’his ministers a flaming fire.’ The priests were the ministers of Jehovah. Jos 1:1; Psa 103:21; Psa 104:4; Joe 2:17. In the N.T. three words are used.
1.
2.
3.
MINISTER.—The word ‘minister’ comes from the Lat. minister = ‘servant,’ and generally it may be said that wherever it is found in the Bible, whether in OT or in NT, its original meaning is its primary one, service being the idea it is specially meant to convey.
1. In OT it is used (corresponding to the same Heb. word in each case) of Joshua as the personal attendant of Moses (Exo 24:13, Jos 1:1), of the servants in the court of Solomon (1Ki 10:5), of angels and the elemental forces of nature as the messengers and agents of the Divine will (Psa 103:21; Psa 104:4; cf. Heb 1:7; Heb 1:14), but, above all, of the priests and Levites as the servants of Jehovah in Tabernacle and Temple (Exo 28:35, 1Ki 8:11, Ezr 8:17, and constantly). The secular uses of the Heb. word, standing side by side with the sacred, show that it was not in itself a priestly term. Ministry was not necessarily a priestly thing, though priesthood was one form of ministry.
2. In NT several Gr. words are tr.
(2) leitourgos.—In classical Gr. this word with its cognates is applied to one who renders special services to the commonwealth, without any suggestion of a priestly ministry. But in the LXX
(3) diakonos.—Even more significant than the uses to which leitourgos and its cognates are put in the NT is the fact that they are used so seldom, and that diakonos and diakonia are found instead when the ideas of minister and ministry are to be expressed. This corresponds with the other fact that the priesthood of a selected class has been superseded by a universal Christian priesthood, and that a ministry of lowliness and serviceableness (which diakonos specially implies) has taken the place of the old ministry of exclusive privilege and ritual performance, diakonia is the distinctive Christian word for ‘ministry,’ and diakonos for ‘minister.’ But these nouns and the related verb are used in the NT with a wide range of application. The personal services rendered to Jesus by Martha, Mary, and other women (Luk 10:40, Joh 12:2, Mat 27:55), and to St. Paul by Timothy, Erastus, and Onesimus (Act 19:22, Phm 1:13), are described as forms of ministry. The man who serves and follows Christ is His minister (Joh 12:26; ‘my diakonos’ is the expression in the original); and the minister of Christ will not fail to minister also to the brethren (1Co 12:5, 1Pe 4:10). But while every true Christian is a minister of Christ and of the brethren, there is a ministry of particular service out of which there gradually emerges the idea of a special Christian ministry. We may find the roots of the idea in our Lord’s words to His disciples, ‘Whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister, … even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many’ (Mat 20:26 ff.). The minister at first was one who was distinguished from others by his larger services. He did not hold an office, but discharged a function. There were differences of function, indeed, and, above all, the distinction between those who were ministers of the word (Act 6:4, 2Co 3:6, Eph 3:6-7) and those who ministered by gracious deed (Act 6:1 ff.). But whatever might be the ‘diversities of ministrations’ (1Co 12:5), the word diakonos covered them all. At a later stage, when differences of function have begun to harden into distinctions of office, the name diakonos is specially appropriated to the deacon (wh. see) as distinguished from the presbyter or bishop (Php 1:1, 1Ti 3:1-13). But diakonos still continues to be used in its wider sense, for Timothy, who was much more than a deacon, is exhorted to be ‘a good minister (diakonos) of Jesus Christ’ (1Ti 4:6). See following article.
J. C. Lambert.
A title given to the superiors of some religious orders or of a district of the same, such as the minister general and minister provincial of the Franciscans, of the Trinitarians; the second in authority in Jesuit communities; one authorized to administer the sacraments, e.g., the minister of baptism.
The term minister has long been appropriated in a distinctive way to the clergy. The language of I Cor., iv, 1-2; Heb., viii, 2; Matt., xx, 26, etc. must have helped to familiarize the thought that those charged with spiritual functions in the Christian Church were called upon to be the servants (ministri) of their brethren. Even before the Reformation the word minister was occasionally used in English to describe those of the clergy actually taking part in a function, or the celebrant as distinguished from the assistants, but it was not then used sine addito to designate an ecclesiastic. This employment of the term dates from Calvin, who objected to the name priest etc. as involving an erroneous conception of the nature of the sacred office. These Calvinistic views had some influence in England. In the Book of Common Prayer the word minister occurs frequently in the sense of the officiant at a service, and in the thirty-second of the Canons Ecclesiastical (1603) we read "no bishop shall make a person deacon and minister both upon one day", where clearly minister stands as the equivalent of priest. As regards modern usage the Hist. Eng. Dictionary says: "The use of minister as the designation of an Anglican clergyman (formerly extensively current, sometimes with more specific application to a beneficed clergyman) has latterly become rare, and is now chiefly associated with Low Church views; but it is still the ordinary appellation of one appointed to spiritual office in any non-Episcopal communion, especially of one having a pastoral charge".As regards Catholic use, minister is the title of certain superiors in various religious orders. The head of the Franciscan Order is known as the minister general, and the superior of the different provinces of the various branches is called minister provincial. The same is true of the Order of the Trinitarians for the Redemption of Captives and of some other orders. In the Society of Jesus the second in command in each house, who is usually charged with the internal discipline, the commissariat, etc., is called minister. The statement made in Addis and Arnold’s "Catholic Dictionary" and thence incorporated into the great Hist. Eng. Dictionary that each of the five assistants of the General of the Jesuits is called minister is without foundation.-----------------------------------HERBERT THURSTON Transcribed by Bruce C. Berger The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XCopyright © 1911 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Christian ministry is a very broad subject and may be conveniently studied through looking at topics that deal with its various aspects. According to its most common biblical usage, ‘ministry’ means ‘service’. A person who ministers to others is one who serves others; a minister of God is a servant of God (Deu 10:8; Psa 103:21; Joe 2:17; Mat 8:15; Mat 25:44; Mat 27:55; 2Co 3:6; 2Co 6:4; 2Co 11:15; 2Co 11:23; for details see SERVANT).
Different forms of the biblical word translated ‘minister’ denote a variety of people and the work they do in the church (Rom 12:7; Eph 6:21; Col 4:17; Heb 6:10; see GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT). The same word, transliterated ‘deacon’, refers to a recognized class of church helpers (Php 1:1; 1Ti 3:8; see DEACON). The pastoral leaders of the church, who are distinct from the deacons, are also ministers (Eph 4:11-12; Col 1:7; 1Ti 1:12; 2Ti 4:5; see APOSTLE; ELDER; TEACHER; PREACHING). The perfect minister, who is an example to all others, is Jesus Christ (Mat 20:28; Joh 13:14-16; Rom 15:8).