![]() ![]() In Luther’s typical pithy manner, he claimed: “Faith alone is the true priestly office.” Luther’s idea of the priesthood of all believers versus the priesthood of only a select few rests in the priestly office of Christ and in the believer’s blessing to share in all that Christ is through union with him. Luther instead believed that offering the sacrifice of the mass did not make one a priest but rather anyone who had faith in Christ, our great high priest, was indeed a priest of God. Luther challenged this prevailing notion because he rejected the church’s claims he believed the church rested its idea of the unique priestly class on tradition rather than the authority of Scripture. This view of a hierarchy prevailed in the church through the middle ages until the 16th century Protestant Reformation. They are of a higher order than ordinary people who have no capacity for such sublime truth. Salvation chiefly comes through the sacraments and the priests who administer them, and the priests are a unique class of individual who have been gifted by God to contemplate the things of God. God passes his knowledge and grace down the chain to the angels, who in turn invest this information in the sacraments, and those who administer the sacraments (priests), who then give them to the laity. The great chain begins with God, then archangels, and angels this heavenly hierarchy finds its earthly parallel through the sacraments, those who are inspired by God to comprehend them, and those initiated by them. Medieval Christians believed that the church was part of a celestial hierarchy where everything in the heavens and earth had its place in a great chain of being. What are the differences between these two views? In short, the medieval view rests on the teaching of church tradition whereas the Protestant view grows out of Scripture. Protestants, on the other hand, believe that all people in the church are priests, or in the language of the 16th century reformer, Martin Luther, the priesthood of all believers. The medieval church taught that God works exclusively through a select class of priests as they administered the seven sacraments of the church: baptism, the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper), confirmation, penance, extreme unction, marriage, and holy orders. There are, however, significant differences between medieval and Protestant understandings of how God works through the church. In these simple terms, this sounds very similar to the way most Christians understand it. Medieval theologians believed that salvation came from God through the church. ![]() ![]() While those authorities are a part of the way that God blesses his church with instruction in sound doctrine, those with churchly authority need the rest of the body just as much. This does not mean that we should do away with pastoral or ministerial authorities. This means that Christians are not dependent upon the priests within the church to interpret Scripture for them or affect God’s blessing of forgiveness for them all Christians are equally priests through Christ and stand upon the same ground before the cross. Therefore, Christ was the final priestly mediator between God and his people, and Christians share in that role through him. Although there was a select group of priests in the OT, who mediated the knowledge, presence, and forgiveness of God to the rest of Israel, Christ has come and fulfilled the priestly role through his life, death, and resurrection. In contrast to the beliefs of the medieval church, the Protestant doctrine of the priesthood of all believers holds that there is no longer a priestly class of people within God’s people, but that all believers share in Christ’s priestly status by virtue of their union with Christ. ![]()
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