When did the Catholic
Presbytery originate?
As I mentioned in a
previous answer any discussion of the Catholic Church is outside the theme of
this website. If the Bible mentions
the Catholics it is in a description of the falling away. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the Catholics are sincere; it
is just that they are sincerely wrong.
All I know about the
Catholic Presbytery is that it is a part of the Catholic Church building.
In the tradition of the Jewish Tabernacle and later the Jewish Temple the
Presbytery was the equivalent to the Most Holy Place.
In the 600’s A.D. there was usually a latticework separating the
Presbytery from the common area of the building.
In Constantinople the aristocracy was allowed to observe services in the
Presbytery but in other parts of Europe this was forbidden.
Only the higher ranks of the priesthood were allowed in this area.
How exactly the Priests
used it, I do not know. It just
allows them to feel that they have a special relationship with God that only
exists in their mind or maybe they used it to give the appearance of having more
power in the Church. To me the
Catholic Church is all about power. It
was started by Church leaders that gathered together because they did not have
enough faith to trust in God’s plan for the organization of the Church.
They felt like they could do better by consolidating their power in a
group or association. I am sure they meant well but did they not know that there
was probably a reason why this assembly was not in God’s plan?
Over time this group became more and more formal exercising more and more
power over the Christians. In 606
A.D. the inevitable happened, Boneface III, emperor of Rome and a recent convert
to Christianity decided he not only wanted to be a Christian but he wanted to be
the ruler of the Church. So, he
proclaimed himself the Bishop of Rome and so we had the first Pope.
The Catholic Church would
have you believe that Peter was the first Pope based on Mathew 16:18.
They believe he is talking about Peter when in reality he is talking
about what Peter said. Confession that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is the
foundation of the Church that Christ built.
The confession is the rock, not Peter.
The key to the kingdom he gave to his disciples.
1 Corinthians 1:18 shows that we have the keys because we unlock the
kingdom for those that we preach to or as it says in Mathew 28:19 we are to
teach all nations so that everyone has a chance to obey God.
So the scriptural answer to
your question is that the Catholic Presbytery is an attempt to give substance to
a shadow by an apostasy that does not realize that by trying to make a better
Church they ended up leaving the Church. The old law and the Tabernacle were shadows of things to come
and most holy place is the Church where we no longer need priests to intercede
with God but can approach God directly because of the barriers Christ tore down.