| Ti 1:5 | appoint priests, as I appointed you | Authority to be handed on after the apostles gone. The word "priest" is just the modern form of the older "presbyter" which can be traced back to the original Greek. You can see this for yourself in any good dictionary with word etymologies (word histories). It will have a history along these lines: Old English: preost, from the older Germanic form represented by Old Saxon, Old High German: prestar, Old Frisian: prestere, from Vulgar (common) Latin: prester (priest), from Late Latin: presbyter ("presbyter, elder"), from the Greek: presbyteros.
Protestants tend to use "elder" here, obscuring the relationship to "priest", but the verb "ordain" [KJV] or "appoint" [NIV, RSV, NASB] makes the connection obvious, nonetheless. Some recent Protestant Bibles will have "appoint pastors" [e.g., the Living Bible].
Scripture never sanctions breaking the line of succession or assuming priestly authority for oneself. |
