Well, no. While we typically translate hiereus as priest because we have no better word, that's a poor translation because priest means elder. Ideally English would have retained a separate word for hieratical priesthood (interesting that we retained it in an adjectival form but not as a noun). Perhaps hierophant could be pressed into service here?
Umm... no. Because you wish to use one English word for elder for hieratical priesthood, and another English word for elder, for presbyteral priesthood. That hardly settles the issue.
As I said, it's not an alteration, it's a term used and recognised by all Anglicans. Priest as it stands ties back into Greek presbyteros, elder.
Pretty simple, I guess, whatever Rome & England say is the tradition is the tradition. Even Greek and Hebrew to English translation doesn't matter.
This wording debate is centuries old (1500's) and ties back to being millennia old and Romanism. If anyone wants to really get into this matter of etymology and how the English "priest" was determined appropriate by Rome to translate the Greek
presbuteros, here's an interesting document that can be downloaded showing the debate about original English translations:
A defence of the sincere and true translations of the Holy Scriptures into the English tongue : against the cavils of Gregory Martin : Fulke, William, 1538-1589 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
I thought this quote of something said by the Puritan William Fulke, in his “defence of the true translations of the Holy Scriptures into the English tongue,” was interesting (he has been repeatedly arguing against translating "presbyter" as "priest" for many, many pages by now and has even ridiculed his opponent - Gregory Martin - for ignoring his often-repeated citations of the alterations of words by Rome - so his first sentence is not agreeing to presbyter > priest pursuant to "the common people" (Vulgar Latin)- ultimately as can be see, this is sarcasm):
But whereas the etymology of this English word “ priest”
cometh from presbyter, you charge us with great folly and
malice, that for sacerdos we translate “ priest,” and for pres-
byter “elder.” To this I answer, We are not lords of the
common speech of men; for if we were, we would teach them
to use their terms more properly: but seeing we cannot
change the use of speech, we follow Aristotle’s counsel, which
is to speak and use words as the common people useth,
but to understand and conceive of things according to the
nature and true property of them.
I have to agree with Mr. Fulke. There's not much we can do to get others to use terms more properly. We just have to understand the truth and see the traditions for what they are. There's a reason he also brings the Latin "sacerdos" into this sarcastic response. It has to do with the Roman concept of their priests attending to their concept of supposed NC sacrifices. Again, for some context, Fulke has called out these "heresies" repeatedly by this time.
In fairness,
@Paidiske and
@The Liturgist will probably side more with Mr. Martin. So here we are almost 600 years after this writing and not much progress in finding unity. Ultimately these threads are pretty much worthless although I did find
@The Liturgist earlier post regarding history impressive, while admittedly not having any interest in its accuracy. Given the state of things, there's probably someone who would disagree with it.
All believers are priests under the New Covenant Great High Priesthood of Jesus Christ. Some believer-priests are elders.
Presbuteros does not mean "priest" but "elder". Pseudo institutional priests are certainly not necessary for confession.
Quote from:
Our Great High Priest -- By: J. B. Rowell
Journal:
Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume:
BSAC 118:470 (Apr 1961)
Article: Our Great High Priest
Author:
J. B. Rowell
In like manner, William Tindale, outstanding scholar in translation, in warning against false translations, said: “Antichrist hath deceived us with unknown and strange terms, to bring us into confusion and superstitious blindness.”
Changes in Catholic Bible. For three hundred years, the Roman Church in her Douay Version, has persisted in translating the term presbuteros (meaning
elder) by the word
priest. As recently as 1949 as to 1952, the Roman Church has published her New Catholic Edition of the Holy Bible, The New Testament Confraternity Edition, in which she has swung right over to the accepted Protestant translation of the same Greek word presbuteros,
elder, by the use of the term
presbyter.
Tindale observed: “Another word is there in Greek, called
presbyter, in Latin
senior, in English an
Elder, and is nothing but an officer to teach, and not to be a mediator between God and us.”
