{"id":83173,"date":"2025-01-12T16:31:43","date_gmt":"2025-01-12T22:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=83173"},"modified":"2025-01-12T16:31:43","modified_gmt":"2025-01-12T22:31:43","slug":"do-the-letters-in-revelation-support-the-idea-of-a-leading-elder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-the-letters-in-revelation-support-the-idea-of-a-leading-elder\/","title":{"rendered":"Do the letters in Revelation support the idea of a leading elder?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>We believe in the plurality of elders in the church and that elders are equal in the sense that there is no senior or chairman elder. In Revelation chapters 2 &amp; 3, the seven letters are addressed to &#8220;the angel of the church.&#8221; The angel refers to the elder of the respective church, and it is singular tense. Some have argued that this implies there is a &#8220;senior&#8221; elder in the church to whom the letter is addressed. How would you deal with this question?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>Each letter in Revelation begins: &#8220;<em>To the angel of the church in &#8230; write.<\/em>&#8221; The word translated here as &#8220;angel&#8221; is the Greek word for &#8220;messenger.&#8221; Each letter is addressed to the angel at the church with the implication that the angel (or messenger) will deliver the message to the members.<\/p>\n<p>Notice that you made a jump without basis. You assume the angel or messenger is a leading elder. However,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There is no other indication of a leading elder in the New Testament.<\/li>\n<li>There is no connection of &#8220;messenger&#8221; to elders in the New Testament.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Many feel that the letters were addressed to the preachers at those churches who were charged with delivering the Gospel message. &#8220;Messenger&#8221; does match the duties given to preachers. In fact, the word for &#8220;preacher&#8221; refers to a herald or town crier sent to deliver the king&#8217;s edicts. Elders are given oversight of the members of a congregation. Their duties do not match that of a messenger, and as you noted, elders are referred to in the plural.<\/p>\n<p>Others feel that the angel is the overall spirit of the church, and the letters are more directed to the congregations as units. However, this view again runs into the problem of assuming congregations have spirits. Even so, this matches the terms being used more closely than the eldership in a congregation.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, claiming that the angels are leading elders cannot be a necessary implication.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: We believe in the plurality of elders in the church and that elders are equal in the sense that there is no senior or chairman elder. In Revelation chapters 2 &amp; 3, the seven letters are addressed to &#8220;the angel of the church.&#8221; The angel refers to the elder of the respective church, and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[123,102],"class_list":["post-83173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-elders","tag-revelation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3951,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-angels-preach\/","url_meta":{"origin":83173,"position":0},"title":"Do angels preach?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do angels preach? Answer: \"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19524,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-know-when-a-passage-is-talking-about-older-men-in-a-congregation-or-the-elders-of-a-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":83173,"position":1},"title":"How do you know when a passage is talking about older men in a congregation or the elders of a congregation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering with Elder being mentioned in 1 \u00a0or 2 or 3rd John and refers to a woman. I just remember reading it (II John 1; III John 1). I remember someone mentioning it to me a long time ago and the question I have now is how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1497,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-man-be-both-a-preacher-and-an-elder\/","url_meta":{"origin":83173,"position":2},"title":"Can a man be both a preacher and an elder?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can an elder function as an evangelist and vice versa? Answer: The word \"pastor\" in\u00a0Ephesians 4:11\u00a0comes from a Greek word referring to a shepherd. This is the man charged with the care and feeding of a flock. As with the office of the evangelist, this office is described by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":648,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-refer-to-an-elder-as-brother\/","url_meta":{"origin":83173,"position":3},"title":"Is it wrong to refer to an elder as &#8220;brother&#8221;?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, We have a duty roster which I draw up monthly. One month I listed one of the elders as \"brother,\" which he was not happy with. Is it really such a violation to call you a brother and not an elder? Answer: Actually, the violation is on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41570,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-leave-a-congregation-with-no-elders-for-one-that-has-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":83173,"position":4},"title":"Should I leave a congregation with no elders for one that has elders?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I worship at a church of Christ that has no elders. There are qualified men who do not desire the office. There is a sound church of Christ nearby that has elders. Am I putting my salvation in jeopardy? Should I move my membership? My desire is to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31598,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-should-an-elder-do-if-no-other-elders-left-in-the-congregation\/","url_meta":{"origin":83173,"position":5},"title":"What should an elder do if no other elders left in the congregation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If you have three elders in the church and two elders resigned, what is the function of the elder who is left? He still has a continuing desire to shepherd the flock and the rest of the congregation has no grievance with him. Answer: A man can preach without\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83173\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}