Clergy (Gr. klēros, 'a lot, an inheritance'). The word klēros occurs in the Septuagint as the equivalent of the Hebrew nachalati, 'an inheritance,' applied to the Jewish nation generally as peculiarly the divine heritage (Deut. iv. 20; ix. 29), and to the Levitical office specifically, as a 'spiritual' heritage, distinguished from the temporal possessions of the other tribes (Deut. x. 9; xviii. 1-2). In the New Testament it is found in cognate senses applied to the Christian body or its several congregations (1 Peter, v. 3, where the word is plural), and to the apostolic office (Acts, i. 17, 25). Hence the term was very generally applied to the ministers of the Christian religion, as holders of an allotted office, in contradistinction to the
Laity (q.v.). This use of the term is very ancient, being found in Clement of Alexandria (De Divite. Servando, 46) and Tertullian (De Monog. 12), and appears to have gradually become prevalent, as the ministers of religion more and more exclusively, instead of the members of the Christian church generally, began to be regarded as God's 'heritage' and 'priesthood' (1 Peter, ii. 9), consecrated to him, and peculiarly his. The distinction between the clergy and the laity became more marked through the multiplication of offices and titles among the clergy, the ascription to them of a place in the Christian church similar to that of the priests and Levites in the Jewish Church, with peculiar rights and privileges (which occurs as early as Clement of Rome, Ep. ad. Corinth. i. 40), their assumption of a peculiar dress and of official insignia, the growth of monastic institutions, and the introduction of celibacy. In harmony with the notions on which this distinction is founded, is that of an indelible or almost indelible character derived from ordination, so that a renunciation of the clerical office is either viewed as an impossibility, or a sort of apostasy. These notions in their highest degree belong to the Church of Rome. In the Protestant churches, the distinction between clergy and laity is much less wide; and although the same terms are often used, it is rather conventionally than in their full signification. The employment of official robes by the clergy preceded their assumption of a peculiar ordinary dress (indeed, for the most part, there was no direct adoption of a special garb for ordinary occasions, but the clergy did not change their fashions as the laity did, and continued to wear attire, such as the cassock, which was once commonly worn by all persons, but was discarded by the laity), and is not so intimately connected with any peculiar pretensions.
Among the privileges accorded to the clergy by the Roman emperors, and in the middle ages, was exemption from civil offices; among the rights asserted by them, and which caused much dispute, was exemption from lay-jurisdiction, even in cases of felony. With the revival of the Western Empire by Charlemagne, the clergy became one of the Estates of the empire, and the bishops were given baronial rank, and entitled to sit along with the temporal nobles in the imperial Diets. This institution survived the break-up of the Carolingian empire, and prevailed in several parts of Europe, very noticeably in France until the Revolution. In England the clergy are still technically and constitutionally one of the three Estates of the realm, and taxed themselves in their convocations as late as 1663. The bishops who sit in the House of Lords do so in virtue of baronies annexed to their sees, but not as prelates of the church, and it was held by parliament in Henry VIII.'s time, and later by Coke, that the right of session in convocation made the clergy of the second order ineligible to sit in the House of Commons. But the point remained doubtful till the Act 41 Geo. III. chap. 63, sec. 4 definitely excluded clerks in holy orders from sitting there, under a penalty of £500 per day if so sitting or voting. Those only who have formally relinquished the clerical office can sit, in virtue of the Clerical Disabilities Act of 1870. The clergy were distinguished into the higher clergy and the lower clergy, that is, those in the 'major orders' of bishop, priest, and deacon (and, since the 13th century, sub-deacon), or those in the 'minor orders' of acolytes, lectors, exorcists, &c. The term Secular Clergy is the designation of priests of the Latin and Greek churches who do not follow any religious rule (regula), but have the care of parishes. Monks who are in holy orders are designated Regular