"Reverend" As a Title.
Zion's Advocate, Vol. 43, No. 6, June 1904.
We are sure that the term "Reverend" implies too much to be given to any mere creature. It is found but once in the Holy Bible (Psalm 111:9), and there it is applied to the High and Holy Being who has "sent redemption to his people" and "commanded his covenant forever." "Holy and reverend is his name" can be truthfully said of no other being.The word in the original Hebrew is yare (yaw-ray). It means to afflict, to put in fear of, to be held in reverence. Saints are positively forbidden to call any man their "father" (Matt. 23:9), being instructed to regard God only as their Father. To pay holy reverence to the name of any other is sacrilegious. The common custom of the world to attach this sacred appellation to the names of mortals arises from the inherent tendency of mankind to idolatry.
A contention arose in the Church of England in 1874 over allowing "Rev." to be put on the tombstone of a Wesleyan preacher, the Bishop of Lincoln refusing to allow it. It was claimed that only clergymen of the established church were entitled to the worshipful term. The Bishop of Lincoln gained his case in the Court of Arches in 1875, but the decision was reversed by the Privy Council, on appeal, Jan. 21, 1876. The title was declared to be simply complimentary, and not limited in application. In the United States clergymen of all denominations are given the title, many, many of them glorying in the divine honor thus conferred.
Twice in the book of Revelations it is recorded that John fell at the feet of an angel to worship him, and it was said to him both times, "See, thou do it not." If an angel forbade the homage of John, what should sinful mortals say when reverence is offered them? Vain hearts swell with pride when their fellow beings ascribe divine honor to their names, but the true servants of the Master are filled with disgust at the very mention of such idolatry. The Scriptural title of Elder is the only one that we will consent to have connected with our names, and we feel unworthy of that. To be sure, it is claimed to be only a title of respect. Proper respect is allowable, of course, but no man deserves the respect which belongs only to God. There is a sense in which one may reverence another. The wife is commanded to reverence her husband, (Ephesians 5:33), and children are commanded to give reverence to their fathers (Hebrews 12:9), but only "God is to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all that are about him" (Psalms 89:7). Let all, then, reverence God in the assembly of the saints; let all that are about him have his holy name in reverence: but let no one reverence the name of man in a religious sense. Roman Catholics may reverence their departed "Saints," and Protestants may reverence their preachers, but let the true followers of Christ reverence none but Jehovah.
J. R. D.
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