Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The Priesthood of All Believers


1 Peter 2:5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

Revelation 1:5 Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 5:9 Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with using the above verses as proofs that the New Testament supposedly abolished the notion or idea of there being a special class of priests, the so-called sacerdotal priesthood? Anyone? Anyone?


Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Exodus 23:22 (LXX) If ye will indeed hear my voice, and if thou wilt do all the things I shall charge thee with, and keep my covenant, ye shall be to me a peculiar people above all nations, for the whole earth is mine; and ye shall be to me a royal priesthood, and a holy nation: these words shall ye speak to the children of Israel, If ye shall indeed hear my voice, and do all the things I shall tell thee, I will be an enemy to thine enemies, and an adversary to thine adversaries.

Isaiah 61:6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

4 comments:

Barsanuphius Coppola said...

I can't believe no one responded to this.

Fernando said...

1. "Sacerdotal Priesthood" is redundant.
2. We see in the book of Hebrews that the Melchizedek priesthood of Christ replaces the Levitical priesthood. There are no longer any need to sacrifice because Christ once for all offer Himself as the sacrifice for sin "making perfect those being sanctified." We offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving (see Justin Martyr) called Eucharist or thanksgiving by which we access the sin offering that Christ Himself offered and offers. In this sacrifice of thanksgiving Christ offers to us His body and blood (and not the erroneous idea that we offer Christ to God again by presenting what is being made present but we now receive from Christ Himself).
3. There is no special class of priesthood in the New Covenant comparable to the Levitical priesthood. There is however what I call president priests (see Justin Martyr & Tertullian), the first among equals. Every Christian being a priest yet there is one who leads and shepherds the rest of the priests and who leads in liturgy. Every Christian is a priest in that we all have access to God's presence by the blood of Christ, we all eat the sacrifice at the altar like a priest (in this case the sacrifice of Christ), and we all offer spiritual sacrifices of praise/thanksgiving. As a Protestant it is my conviction that over time the distinction between the pastors and the rest of the body became greater and greater.

Fernando said...

3. There is no special class of priesthood in the New Covenant comparable to the Levitical priesthood. There is however what I call president priests (see Justin Martyr & Tertullian), the first among equals. Every Christian being a priest yet there is one who leads and shepherds the rest of the priests and who leads in liturgy. Every Christian is a priest in that we all have access to God's presence by the blood of Christ, we all eat the sacrifice at the altar like a priest (in this case the sacrifice of Christ), and we all offer spiritual sacrifices of praise/thanksgiving. As a Protestant it is my conviction that over time the distinction between the pastors and the rest of the body became greater and greater.

Fernando said...

sorry if I posted so many I did not notice that it went thru

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