jaison jose

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Protestants argue that there is no ministerial priesthood. Instead, they say we’re all priests. As Martin Luther did, they use 1 Peter 2:9 to support this claim: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.”

Catholics argue that a ministerial priesthood does exist in the New Covenant, apart from the priesthood of all believers. What are we to make of this disagreement? What does the Bible have to say about it?

I’ve addressed this topic before but restricted the evidence to the Last Supper. Tim Staples has provided an assortment of evidence for it as well. Here I want to share with you some additional clues that, although perhaps obscure at first glance, when understood in light of the Old Testament give strong evidence for the existence of a ministerial priesthood in first-century Christianity.

Priestly ranks
Let’s start with 1 Peter 2:9. All agree that this is an allusion to Exodus 19:6, which refers to Israel as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Peter is obviously drawing a parallel between Israel and the Church.

But, rather than disproving the Catholic position, this verse actually supports it. During the time of Exodus, the universal priesthood of the Israelites was merely one rank (the lowest rank) of priestly status among two others: the top level of Aaron the high priest, and the middle level, which comprised his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, who served with Aaron (see Exodus 28 and Leviticus 8).

When we look in the New Testament we discover a top level there, too: Jesus, our high priest (Heb. 3:1). We’ve already seen that the bottom rank consists of the body of Christian believers (1 Pet. 2:9), in a parallel with the universal priesthood of the Israelites. It makes biblical sense for there also to be a New Testament parallel to the middle rank: ministers specially ordained to serve the people with Jesus just as Aaron’s sons served with him
Who is the rebellious Korah?
A second obscure clue pointing to this middle rank is Jude’s passing remark that some Christians in the first century had fallen into Korah’s rebellion: “Woe to them! For they walk in the way of Cain, and abandon themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error, and perish in Korah’s rebellion” (Jude 11; emphasis added).

Jude 4 sets the context by stating that there were “ungodly persons who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” How were these men perverting God’s grace? Whatever they were doing, it was something similar to what Korah did. But who was Korah, and what did he do that was so bad?

Korah was a figure in the Old Testament who, along with many other Israelites, rebelled against the authority of Moses and the Aaronic priesthood (see Numbers 16 for the whole story). Korah and his followers rejected the hierarchy of the Aaronic priesthood, claiming themselves to be of the same rank. We get a hint of this in Numbers 16:8,10-11: “And Moses said to Korah…would you seek the priesthood also? Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together.”

In response, Moses proposed a challenge, which consisted of Korah and the other rebels filling their censers with incense while Aaron did the same, and seeing whose offering the Lord would accept. The Lord rejected the offering of Korah and his followers, making the mouth of the earth open up and swallow them into Sheol (16:32).

Moses had the censers hammered out and made into a covering for the altar as “a reminder to the people of Israel, so that no one who is not a priest, who is not of the descendants of Aaron, should draw near to burn incense before the Lord, lest he become as Korah and as his company” (v.40).

Notice that the warning here was not only against those who would object to Aaron as high priest, but also to those who would object to the priestly rank of “the descendants of Aaron.” God was not only serious about the top-level rank of the high priest, but also the middle level of his ministerial priests.

It is against this Old Testament backdrop that we must read Jude 11 and its mention of some early Christians participating in Korah’s rebellion. If “Korah’s rebellion” was present within the first-century Christian community, there must have existed a priesthood, above the universal priesthood, to rebel against.

Old and new priestly prerogatives
We can add to the batch of clues Jesus’ defense of the apostles’ picking heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:1-8). The Pharisees objected, because they viewed the apostles’ behavior as breaking the Sabbath rest. Jesus responded by recalling how David and his men ate the showbread (bread of presence) within the Holy Place (in 1 Sam. 21) as part of their priestly Sabbath duty (see Lev. 24:8-9).

Jesus then reminds the Pharisees of the priestly prerogative of breaking the Sabbath rest in order to offer sacrifices in the temple: “[H]ave you not read in the law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless?”

By appealing to the Old Testament priestly prerogative of breaking the Sabbath rest without incurring the guilt of sin, perhaps Jesus is subtly showing that his apostles are New Covenant priests who enjoy the same priestly prerogative. And if this is so, then it’s true to say that Jesus established a ministerial priesthood distinct from the universal.

Let the light shine
Biblical authors sometimes make passing references to things that seem to us superfluous or unimportant. But usually, all we need is a little Old Testament light to be shined upon such details. As the saying goes, “We must read the New in light of the Old, and the Old in light of the New.”

As Bible-loving Christians, we Catholics join Protestants and profess the biblical truth that we are all “a royal priesthood” (1 Pet 2:9). But our love for the Bible also leads us to conclude that Jesus also established a priestly rank over and above the priesthood of believers: just like there was in the Old Testament, and just as we find today in the Catholic Church.



[1] Worth noting here is that in Catholic theology the Old Testament high priesthood correlates with the bishop, as well, because he participates in Jesus’ priestly ministry in the fullest degree (CCC 1586).
 

~Anastasia~

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Hello, jaison jose, and welcome to CF!

Happy Birthday as well! :)

Interesting points - hadn't really considered specifically tiers of "priesthood". Of course we have had priests/presbyters/elders/presbyteros/πρεσβύτερος and bishops/overseers/episkopos/ἐπίσκοπος (as well as deacons/servers/diakonos/διάκονος) from the time of these offices being established by the Apostles as written of in the New Testament Scriptures, while also recognizing the "priesthood of all believers".

Just wanted to welcome you to CF though. AND wish you a Happy Birthday. We say, "God grant you Many Years!"

:)
 
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jaison jose

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Hello, jaison jose, and welcome to CF!

Happy Birthday as well! :)

Interesting points - hadn't really considered specifically tiers of "priesthood". Of course we have had priests/presbyters/elders/presbyteros/πρεσβύτερος and bishops/overseers/episkopos/ἐπίσκοπος (as well as deacons/servers/diakonos/διάκονος) from the time of these offices being established by the Apostles as written of in the New Testament Scriptures, while also recognizing the "priesthood of all believers".

Just wanted to welcome you to CF though. AND wish you a Happy Birthday. We say, "God grant you Many Years!"

:)
thank you for wishes...:wave::wave:
 
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ViaCrucis

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Lutherans don't reject the presbyterate, what we reject is sacerdotalism. Every Christian is, in some sense, sacerdos; but not every Christian is called to the vocation of ministering through Word and Sacrament, this pastoral vocation does not deliver a special sacerdotal quality to the individual, but instead is a specific calling in the Church to exercise the Office of the Keys which Christ gave His Church. The Lutheran emphasis is that the "religious" life is not better than the "secular" life; the priest and monk are not closer to God than the milk maid or the plowman. The priest and the plowman stand equally before God as sinful beggars in need of the same mercy which is received through faith; and the Christian serves God and their fellow man through his or her vocation. The priest and the plowman is therefore both serving "sacerdotally" through their own unique stations in life, that the priest does this through the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments doesn't make his vocation a "better" one than the plowman. The Church does not have lords and servants; but one Lord and we are all His servants. Ministering to one another and the world in and with the love and mercy of Christ our God.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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~Anastasia~

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The Lutheran emphasis is that the "religious" life is not better than the "secular" life; the priest and monk are not closer to God than the milk maid or the plowman. The priest and the plowman stand equally before God as sinful beggars in need of the same mercy which is received through faith; and the Christian serves God and their fellow man through his or her vocation. The priest and the plowman is therefore both serving "sacerdotally" through their own unique stations in life, that the priest does this through the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments doesn't make his vocation a "better" one than the plowman. The Church does not have lords and servants; but one Lord and we are all His servants. Ministering to one another and the world in and with the love and mercy of Christ our God.


I think Orthodoxy would agree with much of what you've said (especially the part I bolded).

The most likely objection would be thst we do have servants - but those are the priests and ones of similar vocation who serve others.

But then I know Lutherans specifically rejected Catholicism, which I can't really comment on, rather than Orthodoxy.

I just found it interesting that I could strongly agree with much of your particular objection.
 
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ViaCrucis

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I think Orthodoxy would agree with much of what you've said (especially the part I bolded).

The most likely objection would be thst we do have servants - but those are the priests and ones of similar vocation who serve others.

But then I know Lutherans specifically rejected Catholicism, which I can't really comment on, rather than Orthodoxy.

I just found it interesting that I could strongly agree with much of your particular objection.

I actually don't even think that much of the sharpest objections are as relevant today as they were in the 16th century. I don't believe Roman Catholicism believes that priests and monks are closer to God; this criticism wasn't, at the time of the Reformation, so much a critique of an official position as it was a critique a common assumption. Much of the Lutheran criticism of popular religion at the time wasn't a criticism of official teaching but the popular assumptions and those particular abuses in the system which encouraged (or could potentially encourage) these assumptions.

I also think I should have phrased one of my points better, that the Church doesn't have lords, but one Lord; and we are all servants. The point really being emphasized that the Church has no lord but Christ, and that the clerical structures of the Church exist not as a stratification of the Faithful--as though there is a caste system in the Church--but as a holy ministry exercising the sacred Office of the Keys.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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jaison jose

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Lutherans don't reject the presbyterate, what we reject is sacerdotalism. Every Christian is, in some sense, sacerdos; but not every Christian is called to the vocation of ministering through Word and Sacrament, this pastoral vocation does not deliver a special sacerdotal quality to the individual, but instead is a specific calling in the Church to exercise the Office of the Keys which Christ gave His Church. The Lutheran emphasis is that the "religious" life is not better than the "secular" life; the priest and monk are not closer to God than the milk maid or the plowman. The priest and the plowman stand equally before God as sinful beggars in need of the same mercy which is received through faith; and the Christian serves God and their fellow man through his or her vocation. The priest and the plowman is therefore both serving "sacerdotally" through their own unique stations in life, that the priest does this through the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments doesn't make his vocation a "better" one than the plowman. The Church does not have lords and servants; but one Lord and we are all His servants. Ministering to one another and the world in and with the love and mercy of Christ our God.

-CryptoLutheran
CCC
Christ's Faithful - Hierarchy, Laity, Consecrated Life

871 "The Christian faithful are those who, inasmuch as they have been incorporated in Christ through Baptism, have been constituted as the people of God; for this reason, since they have become sharers in Christ's priestly, prophetic, and royal office in their own manner, they are called to exercise the mission which God has entrusted to the Church to fulfill in the world, in accord with the condition proper to each one."385

872 "In virtue of their rebirth in Christ there exists among all the Christian faithful a true equality with regard to dignity and the activity whereby all cooperate in the building up of the Body of Christ in accord with each one's own condition and function."386

873 The very differences which the Lord has willed to put between the members of his body serve its unity and mission. For "in the Church there is diversity of ministry but unity of mission. To the apostles and their successors Christ has entrusted the office of teaching, sanctifying and governing in his name and by his power. But the laity are made to share in the priestly, prophetical, and kingly office of Christ; they have therefore, in the Church and in the world, their own assignment in the mission of the whole People of God."387 Finally, "from both groups [hierarchy and laity] there exist Christian faithful who are consecrated to God in their own special manner and serve the salvific mission of the Church through the profession of the evangelical counsels."388

I. THE HIERARCHICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH

Why the ecclesial ministry?

874 Christ is himself the source of ministry in the Church. He instituted the Church. He gave her authority and mission, orientation and goal:



In order to shepherd the People of God and to increase its numbers without cease, Christ the Lord set up in his Church a variety of offices which aim at the good of the whole body. The holders of office, who are invested with a sacred power, are, in fact, dedicated to promoting the interests of their brethren, so that all who belong to the People of God . . . may attain to salvation.389
875 "How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent?"390 No one - no individual and no community - can proclaim the Gospel to himself: "Faith comes from what is heard."391 No one can give himself the mandate and the mission to proclaim the Gospel. The one sent by the Lord does not speak and act on his own authority, but by virtue of Christ's authority; not as a member of the community, but speaking to it in the name of Christ. No one can bestow grace on himself; it must be given and offered. This fact presupposes ministers of grace, authorized and empowered by Christ. From him, bishops and priests receive the mission and faculty ("the sacred power") to act in persona Christi Capitis; deacons receive the strength to serve the people of God in the diaconia of liturgy, word and charity, in communion with the bishop and his presbyterate. The ministry in which Christ's emissaries do and give by God's grace what they cannot do and give by their own powers, is called a "sacrament" by the Church's tradition. Indeed, the ministry of the Church is conferred by a special sacrament.

876 Intrinsically linked to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry is its character as service. Entirely dependent on Christ who gives mission and authority, ministers are truly "slaves of Christ,"392 in the image of him who freely took "the form of a slave" for us.393 Because the word and grace of which they are ministers are not their own, but are given to them by Christ for the sake of others, they must freely become the slaves of all.394

877 Likewise, it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry that it have a collegial character. In fact, from the beginning of his ministry, the Lord Jesus instituted the Twelve as "the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy."395 Chosen together, they were also sent out together, and their fraternal unity would be at the service of the fraternal communion of all the faithful: they would reflect and witness to the communion of the divine persons.396 For this reason every bishop exercises his ministry from within the episcopal college, in communion with the bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter and head of the college. So also priests exercise their ministry from within the presbyterium of the diocese, under the direction of their bishop.

878 Finally, it belongs to the sacramental nature of ecclesial ministry that it have a personal character. Although Christ's ministers act in communion with one another, they also always act in a personal way. Each one is called personally: "You, follow me"397 in order to be a personal witness within the common mission, to bear personal responsibility before him who gives the mission, acting "in his person" and for other persons: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit . . ."; "I absolve you . . . ."

879 Sacramental ministry in the Church, then, is a service exercised in the name of Christ. It has a personal character and a collegial form. This is evidenced by the bonds between the episcopal college and its head, the successor of St. Peter, and in the relationship between the bishop's pastoral responsibility for his particular church and the common solicitude of the episcopal college for the universal Church.

The episcopal college and its head, the Pope

880 When Christ instituted the Twelve, "he constituted [them] in the form of a college or permanent assembly, at the head of which he placed Peter, chosen from among them."398 Just as "by the Lord's institution, St. Peter and the rest of the apostles constitute a single apostolic college, so in like fashion the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, and the bishops, the successors of the apostles, are related with and united to one another."399

881 The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock.400 "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head."401 This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.

882 The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, "is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful."402 "For the Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered."403

883 "The college or body of bishops has no authority unless united with the Roman Pontiff, Peter's successor, as its head." As such, this college has "supreme and full authority over the universal Church; but this power cannot be exercised without the agreement of the Roman Pontiff."404

884 "The college of bishops exercises power over the universal Church in a solemn manner in an ecumenical council."405 But "there never is an ecumenical council which is not confirmed or at least recognized as such by Peter's successor."406

885 "This college, in so far as it is composed of many members, is the expression of the variety and universality of the People of God; and of the unity of the flock of Christ, in so far as it is assembled under one head."407

886 "The individual bishops are the visible source and foundation of unity in their own particular Churches."408 As such, they "exercise their pastoral office over the portion of the People of God assigned to them,"409 assisted by priests and deacons. But, as a member of the episcopal college, each bishop shares in the concern for all the Churches.410 The bishops exercise this care first "by ruling well their own Churches as portions of the universal Church," and so contributing "to the welfare of the whole Mystical Body, which, from another point of view, is a corporate body of Churches."411 They extend it especially to the poor,412 to those persecuted for the faith, as well as to missionaries who are working throughout the world.

887 Neighboring particular Churches who share the same culture form ecclesiastical provinces or larger groupings called patriarchates or regions.413 The bishops of these groupings can meet in synods or provincial councils. "In a like fashion, the episcopal conferences at the present time are in a position to contribute in many and fruitful ways to the concrete realization of the collegiate spirit."414

* The teaching office

888 Bishops, with priests as co-workers, have as their first task "to preach the Gospel of God to all men," in keeping with the Lord's command.415 They are "heralds of faith, who draw new disciples to Christ; they are authentic teachers" of the apostolic faith "endowed with the authority of Christ."416

889 In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a "supernatural sense of faith" the People of God, under the guidance of the Church's living Magisterium, "unfailingly adheres to this faith."417

890 The mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this Magisterium's task to preserve God's people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error. Thus, the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church's shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. The exercise of this charism takes several forms:

891 "The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful - who confirms his brethren in the faith he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. . . . The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium," above all in an Ecumenical Council.418 When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine "for belief as being divinely revealed,"419 and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions "must be adhered to with the obedience of faith."420 This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself.421

892 Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a "definitive manner," they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful "are to adhere to it with religious assent"422 which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it.

The sanctifying office

893 The bishop is "the steward of the grace of the supreme priesthood,"423 especially in the Eucharist which he offers personally or whose offering he assures through the priests, his co-workers. The Eucharist is the center of the life of the particular Church. The bishop and priests sanctify the Church by their prayer and work, by their ministry of the word and of the sacraments. They sanctify her by their example, "not as domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock."424 Thus, "together with the flock entrusted to them, they may attain to eternal life."425

The governing office

894 "The bishops, as vicars and legates of Christ, govern the particular Churches assigned to them by their counsels, exhortations, and example, but over and above that also by the authority and sacred power" which indeed they ought to exercise so as to edify, in the spirit of service which is that of their Master.426

895 "The power which they exercise personally in the name of Christ, is proper, ordinary, and immediate, although its exercise is ultimately controlled by the supreme authority of the Church."427 But the bishops should not be thought of as vicars of the Pope. His ordinary and immediate authority over the whole Church does not annul, but on the contrary confirms and defends that of the bishops. Their authority must be exercised in communion with the whole Church under the guidance of the Pope.

896 The Good Shepherd ought to be the model and "form" of the bishop's pastoral office. Conscious of his own weaknesses, "the bishop . . . can have compassion for those who are ignorant and erring. He should not refuse to listen to his subjects whose welfare he promotes as of his very own children. . . . The faithful . . . should be closely attached to the bishop as the Church is to Jesus Christ, and as Jesus Christ is to the Father":428
 
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~Anastasia~

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I actually don't even think that much of the sharpest objections are as relevant today as they were in the 16th century. I don't believe Roman Catholicism believes that priests and monks are closer to God; this criticism wasn't, at the time of the Reformation, so much a critique of an official position as it was a critique a common assumption. Much of the Lutheran criticism of popular religion at the time wasn't a criticism of official teaching but the popular assumptions and those particular abuses in the system which encouraged (or could potentially encourage) these assumptions.

I also think I should have phrased one of my points better, that the Church doesn't have lords, but one Lord; and we are all servants. The point really being emphasized that the Church has no lord but Christ, and that the clerical structures of the Church exist not as a stratification of the Faithful--as though there is a caste system in the Church--but as a holy ministry exercising the sacred Office of the Keys.

-CryptoLutheran
I'm glad to read this.

It has been my impression that the "sharpness" of contention between Catholicism and Lutheranism seemed not so severe as it had been.

And the impression or misconception of what Catholicism teaches, when inferred from what people see, seems to be a pretty widespread problem. I know some of the loudest objections to Catholicism are often from evangelicals, and often what they object to are not what Catholicism actually teaches. Orthodoxy gets caught in the "fallout" from this (as does Lutheranism).
 
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Phil 1:21

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And the impression or misconception of what Catholicism teaches, when inferred from what people see, seems to be a pretty widespread problem. I know some of the loudest objections to Catholicism are often from evangelicals, and often what they object to are not what Catholicism actually teaches. Orthodoxy gets caught in the "fallout" from this (as does Lutheranism).

Agreed. There is often confusion outside the RCC regarding what the RCC actually teaches. Some of this is the inconsistency between official teachings and the perception of practice (i.e. the whole Mary issue or the sex abuse scandal). Sometimes it's the result of Catholics either not knowing or failing to properly communicate what the RCC teaches. We've seen that many times here where someone outside the RCC will correct a Catholic regarding his/her denomination's teachings by quoting CCC. Still other times it's a case of people outside the RCC believing incorrect information passed onto them from elsewhere.

It's perfectly acceptable to disagree with a denomination's teachings, despite whatever fire and brimstone that denomination may threaten for doing so. But such disagreements should be based on factual information. Otherwise the discussion serves no productive purpose.
 
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