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[English Version] I. ReligionswissenschaftlichEtym. leitet sich der Begriff »Pr…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Etymologically the term priest derives from Greek πρεσβύτερος/ presbýteros, “elder”; it denotes a religious functionary, especially an expert responsible for the cult. The Greek word did not originally have this meaning. A second semantic strand puts a priest (Gk ἱερεύς/ hiereús, Lat. sacerdos) in charge of things that are sacred (Sacred and profane). The characteristics that comparative religion usually associates with priesthood are often transferred globally from Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism, to other religions and cultures. But it makes little sense to define the protean manifestations of priesthood and their ideological or theological self-conceptions essentialistically across various religions. It is more productive to analyze an…