Historical treatment of the Reformation doctrine of the Priesthood of the Believer.

1. The Early Church for Today
Reformation 501
Priesthood of the Believer
Part One

3. Please Note...
The Roman Catholic Church has never denied the teaching of
Universal Priesthood (Priesthood of Believers).
But, there is a different understanding of what this all means.

4. Martin Luther
To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520)
“That the pope or bishop anoints, makes tonsures, ordains,
consecrates, or dresses differently from the laity, may make a
hypocrite or an idolatrous oil-painted icon, but it in no way makes a
Christian or spiritual human being.
In fact, we are all consecrated priests
through Baptism, as St. Peter in 1 Peter 2
says, ‘You are a royal priesthood and a
priestly kingdom,’ and Revelation,
‘Through your blood you have made us
into priests and kings’.”

5. The People and Their Church
1. Society was deeply Religious

6. The People and Their Church
1. Society was deeply Religious
2. Society and the Church were Hierarchical

7. Those the Pray
Those that Fight
Those that Work
The People and Their Church

8. The People and Their Church
1. Society was deeply Religious
2. Society and the Church were Hierarchical
3. The Division Between Clergy and Laity

9. The People and Their Church

10. The People and Their Church
1. Society was deeply Religious
2. Society and the Church were Hierarchical
3. The Division Between Clergy and Laity
4. Society was Ripe for a Change

11. To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520)
“In fact, we are all consecrated priests through Baptism, as St. Peter
in 1 Peter 2 says, ‘You are a royal priesthood and a priestly kingdom,’
and Revelation, ‘Through your blood you have made us into priests
and kings’.”
Martin Luther on Priesthood

12. To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520)
“In fact, we are all consecrated priests through Baptism, as St. Peter
in 1 Peter 2 says, ‘You are a royal priesthood and a priestly kingdom,’
and Revelation, ‘Through your blood you have made us into priests
and kings’.”
“A Christian is a free master over all
things and subject to no one.”
Martin Luther on Priesthood

13. The Peasant’s War (1524)

14. The Peasant’s War (1524)
That’s not
what I
meant.

15. So, what did Martin actually Mean?
Martin Luther on Priesthood

16. 1. Christ has Sanctified us.
Sola Christus
“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind,
the man Christ Jesus...”
1 Timothy 2
We don’t need another Mediator.
Martin Luther on Priesthood

17. 1. Christ has Sanctified us.
2. Every Believer is now a Priest.
Martin Luther on Priesthood
“For a priest, especially in the New Testament, was not made but
was born.
He was created, not ordained. He was born not indeed of flesh, but
through a birth of the Spirit, by water and Spirit in the washing of
regeneration.
Indeed, all Christians are priests, and all priests are Christians.”

18. 1. Christ has Sanctified us.
2. Every Believer is now a Priest.
Martin Luther on Priesthood
“Mostly the functions of a priest are these:
...to teach, to preach and proclaim the Word of God, to baptize, to
consecrate or administer the Eucharist, to bind and loose sins, to
pray for others, to sacrifice*, and to judge of all doctrine and
spirits.
Certainly these are splendid and royal duties. But the first and
foremost of all on which everything else depends, is the teaching of
the Word of God.”

19. 1. Christ has Sanctified us.
2. Every Believer is now a Priest.
Martin Luther on Priesthood
“With what fear and trembling bishops and councils would have
spoken and issued decrees, if the judgment of hearers would have
had to be regarded when decisions were made with respect to
priesthood, to the office of teaching, of baptizing, of consecrating,
of sacrificing, of binding, of prayer, of judging doctrine.
Indeed, there never would have been a universal papacy if this right
of judgment had prevailed. They took good counsel when they
monopolized this office!”

20. 1. Christ has Sanctified us.
2. Every Believer is now a Priest.
Martin Luther on Priesthood
“Therefore the name ‘prophet’ belongs equally to all Christians,
and he who denies this also denies that he has been baptized and
has been instructed through the Word.”
“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.”
Acts 2 & Joel 2

21. 1. Christ has Sanctified us.
2. Every Believer is now a Priest.
3. Callings and Vocations.
Martin Luther on Priesthood
Vocation is our calling in Life (your entire life).
Your job might not be your vocation.

22. 1. Christ has Sanctified us.
2. Every Believer is now a Priest.
3. Callings and Vocations.
Martin Luther on Priesthood
Vocation refers “not only to one's occupation but to all one's
relationships, situations, contexts, and involvements
(including, of course, one's occupation, if one is employed). It
is true that Luther often speaks about specific occupations, but
the purpose in doing so is not to restrict vocation to occupation
but to affirm that even the most mundane stations are places in
which Christians ought to live out their faith...”
Marc Kolden

24. The Peasant’s War (1524)
Be the Best
Peasant
you can be.

25. “...forgetting their offer*, they betake themselves to violence, and
rob and rage and act like mad dogs.”
Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants.

26. Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants.
“The peasants have taken on themselves the burden of three terrible
sins against God and man...
In the first place they have sworn to be true and faithful, submissive
and obedient, to their rulers... they are breaking this obedience...
In the second place, they are starting a
rebellion, and violently robbing and
plundering monasteries and castles...
In the third place, they cloak this terrible
and horrible sin with the Gospel...”

27. Against the Murderous, Thieving Hordes of Peasants.
“...if the ruler is a Christian...
First he must take the matter to God, confessing that we have
deserved these things...
Then he should humbly pray for help against the devil...
Then, ...offer the mad peasants an
opportunity to come to terms, even
though they are not worthy of it.
Finally, if that does not help, then swiftly
grasp the sword.
...Stab, smite, slay...”

28. 1. Christ has Sanctified us.
2. Every Believer is now a Priest.
3. Callings and Vocations.
4. The Pastoral Office.
Martin Luther on Priesthood
By whose authority does the Minister preach
the Word and administer the sacraments?

29. 4. The Pastoral Office.
“Either we must learn how to provide ourselves with presbyters
apart from papal tyranny, or if we are not willing to do so (though it
is possible) we must give ourselves into captivity…”
Martin Luther on Priesthood

30. 4. The Pastoral Office.
Authority from Below
“We are all priests, as many of us as are Christians. But the priests,
as we call them, are ministers chosen from among us. All that they
do is done in our name.”
“The preaching office is no more than public service which
happens to be conferred upon someone by the entire congregation,
all the members of which are priests.”
Martin Luther on Priesthood

31. 4. The Pastoral Office.
Authority from Above
“...we are in a divine calling and in God’s own work, and that the
people need to be assured of our calling, in order that they may
know that our word is in fact the Word of God.”
Martin Luther on Priesthood

32. 4. The Pastoral Office.
God works through the church (congregation)
“The church has the command to appoint ministers; to this we must
subscribe wholeheartedly, for we know that God approves this
ministry and is present in it.”
Martin Luther on Priesthood

33. 4. The Pastoral Office.
Authority from Above through Below
“From all of these facts if it evident that the church retains the right
of electing and ordaining ministers.
Wherefore, when the bishops are heretics or refuse to administer
ordination, the churches are by divine right compelled to ordain
pastors and ministers for themselves.”
Martin Luther on Priesthood

34. 1. Christ has Sanctified us.
2. Every Believer is now a Priest.
3. Callings and Vocations.
4. The Pastoral Office.
5. On Sacraments
Martin Luther on Priesthood

35. 5. On Sacraments
Martin Luther on Priesthood
“Hence it follows that there are, strictly speaking, only two
Sacraments in the Church of God: Baptism and the Bread...”
The Minister (pastor) is appointed by the congregation to preach
and administer the sacraments.
In an emergency any Christian may administer the sacraments
when the Minister is not available.

36. Martin Luther on Priesthood
For Luther, “The universal priesthood
expresses not religious individualism but
its exact opposite, the reality of the
congregation as a community.”

37. Martin Luther on Priesthood
The doctrine of the Priesthood of the Believer
is empowering.
It levels the field.

38. The Council of Trent (1545-1563)

39. “If any one shall say that in the New Testament there is no visible
and external priesthood nor any power of consecrating and
offering the Body and Blood of the Lord, as well as of remitting
and retaining sins, but merely the office and bare ministry of
preaching the Gospel, let him be anathema.”
The Council of Trent (1545-1563)

40. “If any one shall say that in the New Testament there is no visible
and external priesthood nor any power of consecrating and
offering the Body and Blood of the Lord, as well as of remitting
and retaining sins, but merely the office and bare ministry of
preaching the Gospel, let him be anathema.”
“The ordinary Christian cannot be a priest in the strict sense, for
he can offer, not a real sacrifice, but only the figurative sacrifice
of prayer.”
Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent)
The Council of Trent (1545-1563)

41. The Sacrament of Holy Orders
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
#1536:
“Holy Orders is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted
by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church
until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry.
It includes three degrees: episcopate, presbyterate, and diaconate.”

42. The Sacrament of Holy Orders
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
#1539:
“The chosen people (Israel) was constituted by God as "a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation.” But within the people of Israel, God
chose one of the twelve tribes, that of Levi, and set it apart for
liturgical service; God himself is its inheritance.
A special rite consecrated the beginnings of the priesthood of the
Old Covenant. The priests are ‘appointed to act on behalf of men
in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.’”

43. The Sacrament of Holy Orders
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
#1547
“The ministerial or hierarchical priesthood of bishops and priests,
and the common priesthood of all the faithful participate, ‘each in
its own proper way, in the one priesthood of Christ.’ While being
‘ordered one to another,’ they differ essentially. In what sense?

44. The Sacrament of Holy Orders
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
#1547
“...While the common priesthood of the faithful is exercised by the
unfolding of baptismal grace --a life of faith, hope, and charity, a
life according to the Spirit...
The ministerial priesthood is a means by which Christ unceasingly
builds up and leads his Church. For this reason it is transmitted by
its own sacrament, the sacrament of Holy Orders.”

45. The Ancient Church

46. Priesthood and the Bible
Priest (Hiereus)
Greek: ἱερεύς (hiereus) meaning "sacred one”.
“...being designated by God as a high PRIEST according to the
order of Melchizedek.”
Hebrews 5:10

47. Priesthood and the Bible
Priest (Hiereus)
Greek: ἱερεύς (hiereus) meaning "sacred one”.
“...you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house
for a holy PRIESTHOOD, to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ...
But you are a chosen race, a royal PRIESTHOOD, a holy nation, a
people for god's own possession, so that you may proclaim the
excellences of him who has called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light...”
1 Peter 2

48. Priesthood and the Bible
Elder (Presbyteros)
Greek: πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros) meaning "one with elderhood”.
Generally, an older person.
“Therefore, I exhort the ELDERS among you, as your fellow
ELDER... shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising
oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the
will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as
lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be
examples to the flock...”
1 Peter 5:1-4

49. Priesthood and the Bible
Clergy (Klaros)
Eventually Klaros would be used to highlight the division between
the ministers and people (laos) of God.
But in the New Testament, the Greek word kleros is not used that
way.

50. Priesthood and the Bible
‫ן‬ ֵ‫ֹּה‬‫כ‬
Greek
Cohenim is generally Translated in the Septuagint as ἱερεύς
(hiereus).
(cohenim)
Latin
Sacerdos, literally those who make holy gifts
(sacer -holy or sacred + dos -gift).
Hebrew

51. Priesthood and the Bible
English
prēostas (priests)
From the very beginning in English, Christian ministers, the
presbyters of the New Testament, became known as prēostas
(priests).
“Priest” was eventually adopted to refer to all religious ministers,
Jewish as well as pagan.

52. Priesthood and the Bible
“For cause of this thing Y lefte thee at Crete, that thou amende tho
thingis that failen, and ordeyne preestis bi citees, as also Y
disposide to thee”.
Titus 1:5
John Wycliffe (d. 1384)
“And the preest schal brenne tho on the
auter, in to the fedyng of fier, and of the
offryng to the Lord.”
Leviticus 3:11

53. Priesthood and the Bible
“Now whether ye call them elders or priests, it is to me all one: so
that ye understand that they be officers and servants of the word of
God.”
William Tyndale (d. 1536)

54. Priesthood and the Bible
New Testament on Priesthood
ἱερεύς (hiereus)
πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros)
1. How would Paul distinguish hiereus from presbyteros?
2. Is there a Sacrament of Orders?
3. Do presbyteros function like priests?

55. Priesthood and the Bible
New Testament on Priesthood
1 Timothy 4:14
“Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by
prophetic utterance when the council of ELDERS laid their hands
upon you.”
James 5:14-15
“Is any among you sick? Let him call for the ELDERS of the
church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the
name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man,
and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he
will be forgiven.”

56. Priesthood and the Bible
New Testament on Priesthood
John 20:21-23
“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has
sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he
breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If
you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins
of any, they are retained.’”
2 Corinthians 5:18-19
“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself
and gave us* the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God
was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses
against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”