Minister

Minister
Minister
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

Catholic Encyclopedia. . 2006.

Minister
    Minister
     Catholic_Encyclopedia Minister
    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 ( see Deacons ) 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 VIII. — New York: Robert Appleton Company. . 1910.


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  • Minister — Sm std. (14. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus l. minister Diener , zu l. minor kleiner, geringer . Die Bedeutung Regierungsmitglied im 17. Jh. aus frz. ministre desselben Ursprungs (in merowingischer Zeit war das ministerium der Haus und Hofdienst… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • minister to — ˈminister to [transitive] [present tense I/you/we/they minister to he/she/it ministers to present participle ministering to past tense ministered to …   Useful english dictionary

  • Minister — Min is*ter, n. [OE. ministre, F. ministre, fr. L. minister, orig. a double comparative from the root of minor less, and hence meaning, an inferior, a servant. See 1st {Minor}, and cf. {Master}, {Minstrel}.] [1913 Webster] 1. A servant; a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Minister — Min is*ter, v. i. 1. To act as a servant, attendant, or agent; to attend and serve; to perform service in any office, sacred or secular. [1913 Webster] The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. Matt. xx. 28. [1913 Webster] 2 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Minister — Minister: Die Bezeichnung für »oberster ‹Verwaltungs›beamter des Staates; Mitglied der Regierung« wurde im 17. Jh. aus gleichbed. frz. ministre (eigentlich »Diener«, dann etwa »Diener des Staates; mit einem politischen Amt Beauftragter«) entlehnt …   Das Herkunftswörterbuch

  • minister — [n1] person in charge of church abbot, archbishop, archdeacon, bishop, chaplain, clergy, clergyperson, cleric, clerical, clerk, confessor, curate, deacon, dean, diocesan, divine, ecclesiastic, lecturer, missionary, monk, parson, pastor, preacher …   New thesaurus

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