See also: Ordination
📖 Biblical Definition
Ordination is the solemn act by which the church, through her existing officers, sets apart a duly called and qualified man to the office of the ministry, with prayer and the laying on of hands. It presupposes a twofold call: the inward call of the Spirit, by which a man is moved with holy desire and fitted with gifts and grace, and the outward call of the church, by which his gifts, character, and doctrine are examined and his fitness approved. Ordination does not create the call but recognizes and ratifies it, publicly authorizing the man to exercise his office and conferring upon the church the assurance that he comes not of his own presumption but by lawful appointment. The pattern is apostolic: Paul and Barnabas were separated to their work by fasting, prayer, and the laying on of hands; elders were ordained in every city; Timothy received a gift through prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery, and was charged to lay hands suddenly on no man, lest he share in another’s sins. The laying on of hands is no magical channel of grace; it is a solemn sign of identification, blessing, and commission. Ordination guards the ministry from self-appointed men and binds the minister to the doctrine and discipline of the church that sends him.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 defines ORDINATION as the act of conferring holy orders or setting apart a man to the work of the ministry, with appropriate ceremonies.
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ORDINATION, n. — 1. The act of conferring holy orders or sacerdotal power; the act of investing one with ministerial functions, or with sacerdotal power, by such ceremonies as the customs of any church direct. 2. Established order or tendency consequent on a decree.
ORDAIN, v.t. — To set; to establish in a particular office or order; hence, to invest with ministerial functions, or to set apart for sacred offices; to appoint.
📖 Key Scripture
1 Timothy 4:14 — "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery."
2 Timothy 1:6 — "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands."
Acts 13:2-3 — "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away."
1 Timothy 5:22 — "Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
No major postmodern redefinition; the abuses are practical. Sacerdotal traditions inflate ordination into a grace-infusing rite that creates an indelible priestly caste; casual movements abolish examination, ordaining the unproven and self-appointed.
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Ordination is corrupted at opposite poles. The sacerdotal error inflates it into a sacrament that infuses an indelible character, transforming a man into a priest of a different order than the laity, mediating grace by virtue of the rite itself. On this view the laying on of hands is a channel that conveys priestly power, and the ordained man becomes a necessary intermediary between God and the people. But Scripture knows the laying on of hands as a solemn sign of commission and blessing, not a conduit of magical grace, and it knows but one Mediator and one High Priest.
The opposite and increasingly common error is the abolition of ordination’s seriousness altogether. In casual and entrepreneurial movements a man may declare himself a minister, print a title, and gather a following with no examination of his doctrine, no testing of his character, and no accountability to any body that sends him. Paul’s charge—lay hands suddenly on no man—is simply ignored. The recovery of ordination lies between the poles: a solemn, sober setting apart of proven and qualified men by the church’s officers, neither swelled into a grace-dispensing priesthood nor deflated into a self-issued credential.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Two strands meet—the Latin ordo (order, rank), giving the sense of appointment to office, and the Greek cheirotoneō / laying on of hands, giving the apostolic manner of commissioning.
Usage
"Ordination recognizes a call already given by the Spirit; it does not manufacture one out of ambition."
"Paul charged Timothy to lay hands suddenly on no man—a rule the self-credentialing age has forgotten entirely."
"He was ordained by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery, set apart with prayer to the work of the ministry."