The Early Church on Priesthood

The Early Church for Today
Reformation 501
Priesthood of All Believers
Part Two

The Ancient Christians on Priesthood
What are we Looking For?
1. The Priesthood of the Believer.
2. The Role of the Clergy and Laity.
3. The Sacrament of Holy Orders.

Two Problems
1. We tend to read our theology into the Early Christian writings.
2. Not all the Early Christian writers agreed with each other.

Irenaeus of Lyons (130-200)
“For all the righteous possess the sacerdotal (priestly) rank.
And all the apostles of the Lord are priests, who do inherit here
neither lands or houses, but serve God and the alter continually.”

Clement of Alexandria (150-215)
“The spiritual man is, then, the truly kingly man. He is the sacred
high priest of God.”
Tertullian (160-220)
“We are the true worshipers and the true priests who, praying in the
spirit, offer a sacrifice in spirit.”
“Are not even we laymen priests? It is written, ‘He has made us a
kingdom also and priests.’ ”

Ignatius of Antioch (35-108)
“For, since you are subject to the bishop as to Jesus Christ, you appear
to me to live not after the manner of men, but according to Jesus
Christ, who died for us, in order, by believing in His death, you may
escape from death. It is
therefore necessary that, as
you indeed do, so without
the bishop you should do
nothing, but should also be
subject to the presbytery, as
to the apostle of Jesus
Christ...”

Problems in Antioch
1. Threats to the Faith
Gnosticism
Docetism
Judaism
Paganism
2. Lack of Resources
Undefined Canon
Limited Leadership
Oral Traditions
3. The Bishop

“In like manner, let all reverence the deacons as an appointment of
Jesus Christ, and the bishop as Jesus Christ, who is the Son of the
Father, and the presbyters as the Sanhedrin of God, and assembly of
the apostles.
Apart from these, there is
no Church.”

Didache (1st cent)
“Appoint therefore for yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the
Lord, meek men, and not lovers of money, and truthful and approved,
for they also minister to you the ministry of the prophets and
teachers.
Therefore do not despise them, for they are your honorable men
together with the prophets and teachers.”

Clement of Rome (30-100)
Epistle to the Corinthians
“They (the Apostles) appointed those (ministers) already mentioned,
and afterwards gave instructions, that when these should fall asleep,
other approved men should succeed them in their ministry.
We are of the opinion, therefore, that those
appointed by them, or afterwards by other
eminent men, with the consent of the whole
Church and who have blamelessly served...
...cannot be justly dismissed from the ministry.”

Clement of Rome (30-100)
Epistle to the Corinthians
“it behoves us to do all things in (their proper) order, which the
Lord has commanded us to preform at stated times...
Where and by whom He desires these things
to be done, He Himself has fixed by His own
supreme will...
The layman is bound by the laws that pertain
to laymen.”

“Are not even we laymen priests? It is written, ‘He has made us a
kingdom also and priests.’ ”

Tertullian (155-240): The Catholic Years
“...the chief priest* (who is the bishop) has the right (to baptize): in
the next place, the presbyters and deacons....
Beside these, even laymen have the right; for what is equally
received can be equally given. Unless bishops,
or priests, or deacons, be on the spot, other
disciples are called, i.e. to the work.”

Clergy (klaros)
Laity (laos)
Ordination (ordo)
Note
Tertullian often used the Latin sacredos for the Greek presbyteros.

Cyprian of Carthage (210-258)
“...every one honored by the divine priesthood, and ordained in the
clerical service, ought to serve only the altar and sacrifices, and to
have leisure for prayers and supplications.”
“The form of which ordination and engagement
the Levites formerly observed under the
law...Which plan and rule is now maintained in
respect of the clergy...”

“You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church
for your mother....
God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is
one; one is the faith, and one is the people
cemented together by harmony into the strong
unity of a body.”

“The bishop is in the church, and the church in the bishop, and if any
one is not with the bishop he is not in the church.”
The Novatian Controversy

So, if you are not plugging into the Catholic Church (bishop) you are
not plugging into God.

Summary of Pre-Constantine Church
1. There is a clear recognition of the Priesthood of all Believers.
2. Sacredos (priest) became the common term for religious leader.
3. Many recognize a parallel between OT and NT Priesthood.
4. The Bishop is becoming the Vital Link to the Church (to Christ).
5. The role of the Laity (people) was fading.

Clericalization After Constantine

“The idea of the universal
priesthood of believers
retreated in proportion, though
it never passed entirely out of
sight.”
Philip Schaff

Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
“‘...but they shall be priests of God and
Christ...’
...this refers not to bishops alone, and
presbyters, who are now specifically called
priests in the Church; but as we call all
believers Christians on account of the
mystical chrism, so we call all priests
because they are members of the one Priest.
Of them the Apostle Peter says, ‘A holy
people, a royal priesthood.’”

Centralizing Authority
1. Concerns over Heresy, Divisions, & Church Discipline
2. This has been going on since Ignatius (even Paul)

Monastic Movement
1. Distinction between the Ascetics and the Less Spiritual
2. Temporal concerns superseded by Eternal concerns
3. Monastic Model taken up by the Clergy

Monastic Movement
Pagan Rome Becomes Christian Rome
1. There is no “Separation between Church and State”
2. Christian Priests replace Pagan Priests
3. Clergy are exempt from Military & Civil Services
4. Exempt from taxes
5. Clergy begin to dress differently than Laity
6. Changes in Ordination practices
7. The Clergy are now Professionals separated from the Laity

Monastic Movement
Pagan Rome Becomes Christian Rome
Laity becomes Increasingly Passive
1. Laity participation in Liturgy decreases
2. Participation in decisions decreases
3. The Churches are run by Professionals

Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390)
“We form saints in a day, and enjoin them to be
wise, though they possess no wisdom at all, and
bring nothing to their spiritual office, except at
best a good will.”

John Chrysostom (349-407)
“For as when fierce winds coming from opposite directions clash
with one another, the ocean, hither-to calm, becomes suddenly
furious and raises its crested waves,
destroying those who are sailing over it, so
when the Church has admitted corrupt men,
its once tranquil surface is covered with
rough surf and strewn with shipwrecks.”

“...when one is required to preside over the Church, and to be
entrusted with the care of so many souls...
...we must bring forward those who to a
large extent surpass in excellence of
spirit...”

“...what the priests do here below God ratifies above...”
“For if no one can enter into the kingdom of
Heaven except he be regenerate through
water and the Spirit, and he who does not
eat the flesh of the Lord and drink His blood
is excluded from eternal life, and if all these
things are accomplished only by means of
those holy hands, I mean the hands of the
priest, how will any one, without these, be
able to escape the fire of hell, or to win
those crowns which are reserved for the
victorious?”

“But our priests have received authority to
deal, not with bodily leprosy, but spiritual
uncleanness – not to pronounce it removed
after examination, but actually and
absolutely to take it away.”

The Sacrament of Holy Orders

What is a Sacrament?
The word “sacrament” is not found in the Bible.
Definition
"Sacrament”:
"sacra” meaning "sacred" or "holy” & “ment” meaning "thing”.
Thus a sacrament is a "holy or sacred thing.”

Roman Catholic (7 Sacraments)
“An Outward Sign Instituted by Christ to give Grace.”
Lutheran (2 Sacraments)
“A Means to Grace” (a method whereby God gives us grace).
Reformed (2 Sacraments)
An Earthly Sign associated with a Promise.

Justin Martyr (100-165)
“…but like as Jesus Christ our Redeemer was made flesh and
blood… so we are taught, that the nourishment blessed by the word
of prayer, by which our flesh and blood are nourished by
transformation (assimilation), is the flesh and blood of the incarnate
Jesus.”

Clement of Alexandria (150-215)
"Elsewhere the Lord, in the Gospel according to John, brought this
out by symbols, when He said: 'Eat ye my flesh, and drink my
blood,' describing distinctly by metaphor the drinkable properties of
faith and the promise, by means of which the Church, like a human
being consisting of many members, is refreshed and grows, is
welded together and compacted of both,--of faith, which is the body,
and of hope, which is the soul; as also the Lord of flesh and blood.
For in reality the blood of faith is hope, in which faith is held as by a
vital principle."

The Seventh Sacrament
The Ministerial Priest is a special
Instrument of God’s Grace, spiritually
empowered in a way that the Universal
Priesthood is not.

Did Jesus commission the Apostles as Witnesses or as Priests?

Did the Ancients hold to this?

“It is necessary to obey those who are the presbyters in the Church,
those who, as we have shown, have succession from the apostles;
those who have received, with the succession of the episcopate, the
sure charism of truth according to the good pleasure of the Father.
But the rest, who have no part in
the primitive succession and
assemble wheresoever they will,
must be held in suspicion.”

“As for the proud minister, he is to be ranked with the devil.
(But) Christ's gift is not thereby profaned: what flows through him
keeps its purity, and what passes through him remains dear and
reaches the fertile earth...
The spiritual power of the sacrament is indeed comparable to light:
those to be enlightened receive it in its purity, and if it should pass
through defiled beings, it is not itself defiled.”
Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

Summary
1. Sacramental Theology was developing, including Orders.
2. Centralizing Authority (Power & Control)
4. A Universal (Catholic) Church
5. The Laity is Weakened as the Clergy is Empowered.

Issues
1. Biblically, should presbyteros function like hiereus?
2. Defining Sacrament.
3. Did Jesus commission the Apostles as Priests or Witnesses?
4. Are Ministerial Priests needed for the Sacraments?
5. What is the Role of the Church in Salvation?

Numbers 11: 29
The Priesthood of All Believers
“But Moses replied, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all
the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his
Spirit on them!’”

Joel 2: 28-29
“And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”

Acts 2
“...this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
In the last days, God says,
‘I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.’“

Hebrews 1: 1-4
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at
many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has
spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and
through whom also he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation
of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had
provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty in heaven.”

Ephesian 4: 11-14
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,
the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so
that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the
faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the
waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by
the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.”

1 John 2: 27
“As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you,
and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing
teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not
counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.”

1 Corinthians 14
“When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of
instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything
must be done so that the church may be built up. If anyone speaks in
a tongue... someone must interpret.
Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh
carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is
sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy
in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.”

1 Peter 2: 5 & 9
“...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house
to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to
God through Jesus Christ...
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s
special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who
called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Corinthians 12: 28
“And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second
prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping,
administrating, and various kinds of tongues.”

The Priesthood in Context of the Church
1. All believers are called to be priests, but not all are called to be
pastors.
2. Elders (mature priests) should train the younger priests.
3. Priesthood is a Commission.

Martin Luther on Priesthood
“Luther never understands the
priesthood of all believers merely in the
sense of the Christian’s freedom to stand
in a direct relationship to God without a
human mediator.
Rather, he constantly emphasizes the
Christian’s evangelical authority to
come before God on behalf of the
brethren and also of the world.
The universal priesthood expresses not religious individualism but
its exact opposite, the reality of the congregation as a community.

NOT “I am my own priest!”
I come before Christ on your behalf,
You come before Christ on my behalf,
We both come before Christ on behalf of the World.

The Early Church on Priesthood

The Early Church on Priesthood

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