Father and Priest

[Hail_Linus]

When did presbyters begin to be called father and priest? Any resources would be helpful.

 

[TheDoctor]

This may help: newadvent.org/cathen/12406a.htm

 

[Garyjohn2]

I was curious after reading your question. I did a google search and this old thread popped up:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=297366

It appears to be a very old custom, likely going back to apostolic times.

 

[Usagi]

The English word “priest” literally comes from “presbyter,” so in a way “priest” is a specifically Christian term we shouldn’t be afraid to use. The interesting bit is that the same word ended up being retroactively applied to Jewish and pagan religious officiants who offered sacrifices, even though Hebrew and Greek and Latin use different words not related to presbyter/elder for those. (I think we did start using the word for “sacrificial priest” in Latin for the Christian officiants, so that may be where we started conflating the concepts under one word. If we had stuck with the word for “elder” in Latin, we might today call our pastors “senators,” which ended up coming into English to refer to a different kind of leader instead.)