Lectionary Calendar
Monday, December 23rd, 2024
the Fourth Week of Advent
Attention!
Tired of seeing ads while studying? Now you can enjoy an "Ads Free" version of the site for as little as 10¢ a day and support a great cause!
Click here to learn more!

Bible Encyclopedias
Anagnostes

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Search for…
or
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Prev Entry
Anagnidagdas
Next Entry
Anagogia
Resource Toolbox
Additional Links

(ἀναγνώστης ), reader, the name of a class of officers in the early church. In the Greek, Church they held the first rank in the lower order of officers; in the Roman Church they were next to the sub-deacons. They have sometimes been regarded as an order instituted by the apostles, and by them derived from the Jewish synagogue. Compare Luke 4:16; Acts 13:15; Acts 13:27; 2 Corinthians 3, There were among the Jews persons who performed the same office as readers among the Christians. There is not, however, any proof of the early appointment of a special minister in the capacity of reader: the office was probably instituted in the third century. Tertullian distinguishes the lector from the episcopus, presbyter, and diaconus; and the church observed a fixed rule respecting the office and duty of these respective ministers. Both in the synagogue and in the early Christian Church, any person who was able to discharge the duty was allowed to hold the office of reader, without reference to age. Boys of twelve, ten, and eight years of age, were frequently employed in this manner. The office was a favorite one with youths in the higher classes of society. Julian, afterward the apostate, in his younger years was reader in a church in Nicomedia. Bingham, Orig. Ecclesiastes bk. 3, ch. 5.

Bibliography Information
McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Anagnostes'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​tce/​a/anagnostes.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile