(By David Bumgardner)
Recently, our church had the pleasure of seeing several men and women to the Anglican priesthood. Ordination is a sacred and significant process in which individuals are set apart for a specific role in the church. In a powerful and richly symbolic moment in the liturgy, the bishop placed his hands on each one and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit for the office and work of a Priest in the Church of God, now committed to you by the imposition of our hands.” This act of ordination is a visible sign of the spiritual authority and responsibility being conferred upon the individual.[1]
In my judgment, this powerful moment is a liturgical microcosm of spiritual realities and privileges for every believer in Jesus Christ.
As those made in God’s image and redeemed by Christ, the biblical authors invite us from cover to cover to serve as God’s royal priests. This radical vision of universal priesthood empowers each believer, equipping them for ministerial service and representing the God who has “ordained” all of us into his priestly service.
This fundamentally eliminates “clericalism,” a belief that can create a hierarchy within the church. Instead, priests/ministers are “only functionally distinct from other Christians. That is, clergy carry out a special function in the church but do not have a higher status of authority than the laity.” This rejection of clericalism ensures that every member of the church is equally valued and included in the priesthood.[2]
Moreover, an emphasis on the biblical presentation of “priesthood” is more pervasive in the Scriptures and more significant for practical ministry than other leadership metaphors. Reclaiming and understanding the Hebraic roots of the priesthood, along with its respective reimaginations and expansions in the New Testament, will offer clarity to the ordained and encouragement to the laity, grounding us all in the rich history and tradition of our faith.
The Deficiency and Definition of Sacerdotalism
“Sacerdotalism” is a term that has sometimes been used as a pejorative by Protestant Christians against Roman Catholic Christians. This tragedy aside, sacerdotalism can be a real danger for those in the Christian community, especially for churches with an ordained priesthood (though it does not have to be). Sacerdotalism is the belief that priests are the essential mediators between God and humankind, and that they have the unique ability to transform physical elements into means of grace. This belief can lead to a hierarchical view of the church, where the clergy are seen as having a higher status and authority than the laity. One theological dictionary has helpfully, fairly, and concisely defined the term in the following way:
“The emphasis in the Roman Catholic tradition, especially as proclaimed in the Middle Ages, on the powers of earthly priests as essential mediators between God and humankind. Sacerdotalism teaches that by ordination, priests have the gift of the spirit whereby they can transform mundane physical elements (water, bread, and wine) into means of grace.”
In other words, sacerdotalism maintains that priests are the means of God’s saving action. John Chrysostom illustrates the logical conclusions of sacerdotalism well: he once remarked that “it is patently mad to despise this great office [i.e., the priesthood] without which we cannot attain to salvation or God's good promises” and that “without [priests’] help” it is “not possible to escape the fire of Gehenna.”
This, in my judgment, is biblically deficient.
The “Kingdom of Priests”
In the opening pages of the Hebrew Bible, we see that YHWH establishes his covenant with creation and appoints humankind as his royal representative on earth. Many are familiar with these words from the creation narrative in Genesis 1:27:
“So God created man
in his own image;
he created him in the image of God;
he created them male and female.”[3]
God then gives the first human couple an explicit mandate in the following verse: “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.” This command would be recapitulated when YHWH plants a garden and places man “to work it and watch over it” (Gen. 2:15).
At first glance, we may suppose that God intended the filling, subduing, working, and watching of the earth in a merely physical sense. But literary sensitivity and opening ourselves up to the thought world of the Hebrew Bible will suggest otherwise.
Peter Gentry and Stephen Wellum have compellingly argued that the biblical author intentionally draws parallels between the garden and YHWH’s sanctuary. Genesis, they argue, “portrays the first man as a kind of priest in a garden sanctuary.”[4] They suggest several explicit parallels between the garden of Genesis 2-3 and the sanctuary space of the Tabernacle (and later the temple) described in the Hebrew Bible:
YHWH “walks” in the garden (Gen. 3:8), thus signaling a centralized divine presence. The same verb describes the tent sanctuaries in Lev. 26:12, Deut. 32:15, and 2 Sam. 7:6-7.
Cherubim guard the way to the Tree of Life when humankind is banished from the garden sanctuary. Depictions of Cherubim adorned the tabernacle curtains and temple walls (Exod. 26:31; 1 Kings 6:29). YHWH is frequently described in Scripture as he who “sits enthroned between the cherubim” (Psalm 80:1).
The tree of life is at the center of the garden, and the menorah represents that same tree at the center of the Tabernacle and temple.
The man is told to “work” and “watch over” the garden. The same sequence of verbs is used in describing the duties of the Levites in Num. 3:7-8, 8:26, and 18:5-6.
A river flows out of the garden. Ezek. 47 describes a miraculous river flowing out of the Temple.
There are six days in the creation narrative. There are also six commands for the building of the tabernacle in Exod. 25-40.[5]
Tragically, the first human couple abandoned their priestly duties and broke God’s covenant, thus being exiled from the garden sanctuary. But YHWH would later establish another priesthood, both as an ordained office in Exodus 28 and as the universal office of his people.
In the first principal part of the law code, YHWH tells Israel that if they “carefully listen” to him, they “will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation” (Exod. 19:5-6). Gentry and Wellum helpfully suggest that the function of this priesthood is informed by verse 22 of the same chapter: “The priests who come near the Lord must consecrate themselves.”
In other words, the function of this universal priesthood in Israel is to “approach and come near to” YHWH and be “consecrated and devoted to him.”[6] Just as Adam carried out his priestly duties in the presence of YHWH, so too will Israel through 1) the liturgy of the tabernacle/temple and 2) drawing the nations of the world to YHWH’s presence (see Deut. 7:6-8; Jer. 3:17; and Isa. 2:2).
Thus, we can reasonably conclude that sacerdotalism is foreign to the thought world of the Hebrew Bible. It certainly was the case that Israel had a distinct priesthood (the Levites) responsible for “working” and “watching over” the sanctuary with “its liturgy providing for forgiveness.”[7] Yet there also remains ample evidence that the intellectual world of the Hebrew Bible conceived or broader another concept of priesthood, whose office was open to any faithful Israelite who approached and brought others to YHWH. Further, though the liturgy of the Tabernacle was central to Israel’s spiritual life, YHWH made it clear through his prophets that it was of second importance to covenant faithfulness (Isa. 1:11-15; 1 Sam. 15:22; Hos. 6:6).
A Priestly Church and Priestly Rites
However, this understanding of the universality of the priesthood was not unique to the Hebrew Bible. This Hebraic understanding was recapitulated in the documents of the New Testament and, by way of example, was that both of Jesus and an inquiring scribe in Mark’s Gospel:
“One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, ‘Which command is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.’ Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices’” (Mark 12:28-33, emphasis added).
Later, the Apostle Peter would apply YHWH's promise to Israel to the fledgling early Christian community when he penned, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession” (1 Pet. 2:9; cf. Exod. 19:6).
But beyond these explicit recapitulations in the New Testament, the rite of initiation into the Christian community may be a priestly ordination. Peter Leithart has suggested that the ordinance/sacrament of baptism corresponds to “membership in the royal priesthood of the church.” Leithart notes multiple parallels between induction into the priesthood and the rite of baptism in the New Testament. Three of his insights merit mention here:
“Aaron and his sons, who were ‘baptized’ by Moses at the time of their ordination (Lev. 8:6; see also Lev. 14:7; and Num. 19:19, where a corpse-defiled person was sprinkled by a ‘clean person’).”
“Throughout the year, the sins of Israel ‘accumulated’ on the High Priest until they were confessed over the scapegoat and sent out of the camp on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). The Aaronic priests were ordained to bear the sins of Israel, ‘baptized’ into substitutionary ministry… this explains what Jesus meant when He said that His baptism was part of ‘“fulfilling all righteousness’ (Mt. 3:15)
“Luke tells us that immediately after His baptism Jesus ‘began His ministry,’ being ‘about thirty years of age’ (Lk. 3:23). Priests likewise began ministry at the age of 30 (Num. 4:34-37), following their ordination, which included a ritual bath.”
Yet another observation that may be drawn from the Church's rich history is that the Christian baptismal rite was often followed by Chrismation (i.e., anointing with holy oil). The priest would sign the cross on the head of the newly baptized with the Oil of Chrism. In the Anglican tradition, the priest says, “You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own forever.”[8]
One cannot help but think of the oil running down the beard of Aaron in Psalm 133, which is a reference to the priestly anointing of Aaron and his sons in Exodus 29:7. In both the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, the consecrating oil is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit.
Is it any accident that there is broad ecumenical consensus that the “washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit” of Titus 3 is an allusion to Christian baptism that implicitly draws upon both priestly ritual cleansing and anointing? So apparent was this connection to Leo the Great that he declared, “All who have been born again in Christ are made kings by the sign of the cross and consecrated priests by the anointing of the Holy Spirit.”[9]
Scripture’s radical paradigm for priesthood offers much to learn. From the First to the Last Adam, Israel to the Church, and Consecration to Baptism, Scripture challenges our tendencies toward idolatry and sacerdotalism or viewing ordained earthly priests as essential mediators between God and humans.
While God offers us assurance through his word and the sacraments, He has also entrusted us with access to his divine presence. And if the occasion should ever arise that we feel unfit, unclean, or unprepared to come before him, he has also incorporated us into an entire kingdom of priests who can usher us into his loving presence.
So What? Why an Inclusive and Reclaimed Priesthood Matters
Perhaps your church has an ordained order of priests in apostolic succession like mine. Maybe it does not, opting for an elder board or leadership team. But if you are a lay person, Scripture’s paradigm of priesthood should, as it has been noted, challenge our tendency to refer spiritual seekers to the clerical and ecclesiastical “professionals.” Remember that the Scriptures teach us that while your leaders and ministers may be different from you in function, they are identical to you in vocation and purpose.
For clergy, Scripture’s pervasive mention and allusion to God’s “Kingdom of Priests” helps us place other leadership metaphors in their proper place. While concepts such as “apostleship,” “pastor/shepherd,” and “elder” are important and have their place, no metaphor quite encapsulates the duties and joys of ordained ministry.
Michael Ramsey helpfully reminds us that, like the high priests of old, the ordained minister carries the people with him in fulfilling the obligations of his office:
The priest displays in his own person that total response to Christ to which all members of the Church are pledged. He is to be a “beacon” of the Church’s pastoral, prophetic and priestly concern… Besides displaying the Church’s response the priest also enables it, for by his professional training and concentration of labour he “gets things done”. And besides displaying and enabling he also involves the whole Church in his own activity. When he visits a sick person, for instance, it is not only the visit of a kind Christian; it is the Church visiting. Similarly the priest can be the Church praying, the Church caring for the distressed, the Church preaching. In the Church and for the Church he displays, he enables, he involves.[10]
By our redemption, membership into the universal church, and baptism, we have indeed been ordained priests of God and Christ who “shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:10, 20:6). These biblical-theological findings should spur on our churches to explore new ecclesiastical, ministerial, and liturgical pathways for the exercise of this priesthood among all people, both lay and ordained.
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David Bumgardner is a minister, writer, and theologian based in North Texas. He is an alumnus of the Baptist News Global Ardelle and Hardy Clemons Fellowship. In 2022, he graduated from Texas Baptist College at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. Currently, he is a graduate theology student at Winebrenner Theological Seminary and will begin postgraduate studies at Edinburgh Theological Seminary this fall.
David's memberships in theological organizations include the Evangelical Theological Society, the Society of Pentecostal Studies, and the Wesleyan Theological Society. His research interests encompass ecumenics, Trinitarian theology, the English Reformation, and political theology. He holds ministerial credentials from the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, TX, and the Anglican Mission International.
You can connect with him through his website: www.davidbumgardner.com.
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[1] “The Form and Manner of Ordaining a Priest” in The Anglican Church in North America, The Book of Common Prayer (Huntington Beach, CA: Anglican Liturgy Press, 2019), 493-4.
[2] Stanley Grenz, David Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999), 27.
[3] All Scripture references are taken from The Christian Standard Bible (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017).
[4] Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, God’s Kingdom through God’s Covenants: A Concise Biblical Theology (Wheaton: Crossway, 2015), 88. Emphasis mine.
[5] See Gentry and Wellum, God’s Kingdom through God’s Covenants, 87-91.
[6] Ibid., 146.
[7] C. John Collins, Reading Genesis Well: Navigating History, Poetry, Science, and Truth in Genesis 1-11 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018), 228-9.
[8] The Book of Common Prayer, 169.
[9] St. Leo the Great, Sermons 4.38 in Gerald Bray, ed., James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 87.
[10] Michael Ramsey, The Christian Priest Today (London: SPCK, 2009), 6–7.
