The chief of a sacred order; particularly, the chief of an order of angels.
Word of the Day: Catachrestical
One who has high and controlling authority in sacred things; the chief of a sacred order; as, princely hierarchs.
Belonging to a hierarch.
Alt. of Hierarchic
Pertaining to a hierarch.
Belonging to a sacred order, or to ecclesiastical government.
Pertaining to a hierarchy.
of Hierarchy
The principles or authority of a hierarchy.
1. An order or rank of angels or celestial beings; or a subordination of holy beings. Some of the Rabbins reckon four, and others ten hierarchies, or orders of angels.
2. Constitution and government of the christian church, or ecclesiastical polity, comprehending different orders of clergy; as the hierarchy of England.
1. Dominion or authority in sacred things.
2. A body of officials disposed organically in ranks and orders each subordinate to the one above it; a body of ecclesiastical rulers.
3. A form of government administered in the church by patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops, bishops, and, in an inferior degree, by priests.
4. A rank or order of holy beings.
Hierarchy
Encyclopedia Britannica
HIERARCHY. From ιεράρχης, meaning a steward or guardian of holy things, is derived ιεραρχία, naturally signifying the office of such a steward or guardian (not a “ruler of priests” or “priestly ruler ”; see Boeckh, Corp. Inscr. Gr., No. 1570), but most commonly used in ecclesiastical language to denote the aggregate of those persons who exercise authority within the Christian Church,—the patriarchate, episcopate, or entire threefold order of the clergy. The word, which does not occur in any classical Greek writer, owes its present extensive currency to the celebrated writings of Dionysius Pseudo-Areopagita, which, originating probably in the age of Justinian, exerted during the 9th and following centuries so remarkable an influence on the current of theological speculation, both in the Eastern and in the Western Church. Of these the most important are the two which treat of the celestial and of the ecclesiastical hierarchy respectively. Defining hierarchy as the “function which comprises all sacred things,” or, more fully, as “a sacred order and science and activity, assimilated as far as possible to the godlike, and elevated to the imitation of God proportionately to the Divine illuminations conceded to it,” the author proceeds to enumerate the nine orders of the heavenly host, which are subdivided again into hierarchies or triads, in descending order, thus :—Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Dominations, Virtues, Powers; Principalities, Archangels, Angels. These all exist for the common object of raising men through ascending stages of purification and illumination to perfection. The ecclesiastical or earthly hierarchy is the counterpart of the other. In it the first or highest triad is formed by baptism, communion, and chrism. The ...second triad consists of the three orders of the ministry, bishop or hierarch, priest, and minister or deacon (ιεράρχης, ιεpευς, λειτουργός) ; this is the earliest known instance in which the title hierarch is applied to a bishop. The third or lowest triad is made up of monks, “initiated,” and catechumens. To Dionysius may be traced, through Thomas Aquinas and other Catholic writers of the intervening period, the definition of the term usually given by Roman Catholic writers—“ccetus seu ordo praesidum et sacrorum ministrorum ad regendam ecclesiam gignendamque in hominibus sanctitatem divinitus institutus” —although it immediately rests upon the authority of the sixth canon of the twenty-third session of the council of Trent, in which anathema is pronounced upon all who deny the existence within the Catholic Church of a hierarchy instituted by divine appointment, and consisting of bishops, priests, and ministers. This definition, however, relates only to what is called the “hierarchy of orders,” to which hierarchy, it must further be borne in mind, belong the lesser orders of sub-deacon, acolyth, exorcist, lector, and doorkeeper (to which that of singer is sometimes added); though these are to be regarded as institutions of ecclesiastical authority only, while the other three are of divine right, and therefore preeminently “holy.” The “hierarchy of jurisdiction,” as distinguished from that of “orders,” is represented by the Roman pontiff alone, who enjoys supreme authority over all bishops, even when these are assembled iu general council. This supreme authority he holds by divine right as the successor of Peter, who received immediately from Christ the primacy of honour and of jurisdiction over the universal church. Between the pope and the bishops occur the metropolitans or archbishops and the patriarchs; but these intermediate grades are not regarded as essential, and, for the present at least, the rank of patriarch may almost be said to be, in the Roman communion, purely titular. The Greek Church, like the Roman, recognizes a threefold clerical order, distinct jure divinο from other Christians, of bishops, priests, and deacons. The five patriarchs, of equal dignity, hold the highest rank in the episcopate; and the episcopal body united in a general council represents the church, and infallibly decides, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, all matters of faith and ecclesiastical life. The Anglican Church acknowledges the superior aud divinely conferred authority of the episcopal order, but, seeking its hierarchical doctrine in the records of a comparatively early period of church history, holds the substantial equality of all bishops, and, while acknowledging the validity, does not maintain the necessary infallibility, of their decisions when met in general council. Thus in form of government the Roman Church may be said to be a hierarchical monarchy, the Greek in some sense a patriarchal oligarchy, and the Anglican an episcopal aristocracy. For historical and other details relating to the growth and development of the hierarchical system the reader is referred to the articles Apostle, Archbishop, Bishop, Cardinal, Church, Clergy, Council, Diocese, Episcopacy, Exarch, Patriarch, Pope, &c.
Some kind of hierarchy, both of orders and of jurisdiction, may, from the nature of the case, be looked for in every religious system that has attained any considerable degree of visibility and external organization. The ancient Jewish and Egyptian hierarchies, for example, find parallels in Parsism and Mahometanism; while in some regions Buddhism has attained a degree of complexity in its ecclesiastical government strikingly suggestive of many features of the present Roman hierarchy.
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 11, p. 792
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Churchdom Roget’s Thesaurus §995
N. church, churchdom, ministry, apostleship, priesthood, prelacy, hierarch, church government, christendom, pale of the church, clericalism, sacerdotalism, episcopalianism, ultramontanism, theocracy, ecclesiology, ecclesiologist, priestcraft, odium theologicum, monachism, monachy, monasticism, monkhood, pontificate, primacy, archbishopric, archiepiscopacy, prelacy, bishopric, bishopdom, episcopate, episcopacy, see, diocese, deanery, stall, canonry, canonicate, prebend, prebendaryship, benefice, incumbency, glebe, advowson, living, cure, rectorship, vicariate, vicarship, deaconry, deaconship, curacy, chaplain, chaplaincy, chaplainship, cardinalate, cardinalship, abbacy, presbytery, holy orders, ordination, institution, consecration, induction, reading in, preferment, translation, presentation, popedom, the vatican, the apostolic see, religious sects, council, conclave, convocation, synod, consistory, chapter, vestry, sanhedrim, conge d'elire, ecclesiastical courts, consistorial court, court of arches
V. call, ordain, induct, prefer, translate, consecrate, present, take orders, take the tonsure, take the veil, take vows
Adj. ecclesiastical, ecclesiological, clerical, sacerdotal, priestly, prelatical, pastoral, ministerial, capitular, theocratic, hierarchical, archiepiscopal, episcopal, episcopalian, canonical, monastic, monachal, monkish, abbatial, abbatical, anglican, pontifical, papal, apostolic, roman, popish, ultramontane, priest-ridden
Clergy Roget’s Thesaurus §996
N. clergy, clericals, ministry, priesthood, presbytery, the cloth, the desk, clergyman, divine, ecclesiastic, churchman, priest, presbyter, hierophant, pastor, shepherd, minister, father, father in christ, padre, abbe, cure, patriarch, reverend, black coat, confessor, dignitaries of the church, ecclesiarch, hierarch, ebdomarius, eminence, reverence, elder, primate, metropolitan, archbishop, bishop, prelate, diocesan, suffragan, dean, subdean, archdeacon, prebendary, canon, rural dean, rector, parson, vicar, perpetual curate, residentiary, beneficiary, incumbent, chaplain, curate, deacon, deaconess, preacher, reader, lecturer, capitular, missionary, propagandist, jesuit, revivalist, field preacher, churchwarden, sidesman, clerk, precentor, choir, almoner, suisse, verger, beadle, sexton, sacristan, acolyth, acolothyst, acolyte, altar boy, chorister, pope, papa, pontiff, high priest, cardinal, ancient flamen, flamen, confessor, penitentiary, spiritual director, cenobite, conventual, abbot, prior, monk, friar, lay brother, beadsman, mendicant, pilgrim, palmer, canon regular, canon secular, franciscan, friars minor, minorites, observant, capuchin, dominican, carmelite, augustinian, gilbertine, austin friars, black friars, white friars, gray friars, crossed friars, crutched friars, bonhomme, carthusian, benedictine, cistercian, trappist, cluniac, premonstatensian, maturine, templar, hospitaler, bernardine, lorettine, pillarist, stylite, abbess, prioress, canoness, religieuse, nun, novice, postulant, prophet, priest, high priest, levite, rabbi, rabbin, rebbe, scribe, mullah, muezzin, ayatollah, ulema, imaum, imam, sheik, sufi, kahin, kassis, mufti, hadji, dervish, fakir, faquir, brahmin, guru, kaziaskier, poonghie, sanyasi, druid, bonze, santon, abdal, lama, talapoin, caloyer
V. take orders
Adj. the reverend, the very reverend, the right reverend, ordained, in orders, called to the ministry
No Bible verses found for "hierarch".