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Transcript of Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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A Vision for the
Priesthood of All Believers
REPRESENT ING
CHR I S T
UCHE ANIZOR amp HANK VOSS
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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REPRESENTING
CHR I S T
A Vision for the
Priesthood of All Believers
UCHE ANIZOR amp HANK VOSS
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InterVarsity Press
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emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983094 by Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission
from InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a
movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools
of nursing in the United States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship
of Evangelical Students For information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from Te Holy Bible English Standard Version
copyright copy 983090983088983088983089 by Crossway Bibles a division of Good News Publishers Used by permission All
rights reserved
While any stories in this book are true some names and identifying information may have been
changed to protect the privacy of individuals
Portions of chapters two and three contain revised material from Uche Anizor Kings and Priests
Scripturersquos Teological Account of Its Readers (Pickwick 983090983088983089983092) Used by permission of Wipf and
Stock Publishers wwwwipfandstockcom
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
Images Jordanrsquos Quaker Meeting by Rod Waddams Private Collection Bridgeman Images
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983093983089983090983096-983095 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983095983092-983094 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment and to the responsible use of natural resources o learn
more visit greenpressinitiativeorgLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names Anizor Uche 983089983097983095983094- author | Voss Hank 983089983097983095983094- author
itle Representing Christ a vision for the priesthood of all believers
Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
Description Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983089983094 | Includes
bibliographical references and index
Identifiers LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983090983089 (print) | LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983097983091983091983090 (ebook) | ISBN
983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983093983089983090983096983095 (pbk alk paper) | ISBN 983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983097983097983095983092983094 (eBook)
Subjects LCSH Priesthood Universal
Classification LCC B983095983094983095983093 A983093983093 983090983088983089983094 (print) | LCC B983095983094983095983093 (ebook) | DDC
983090983091983092mdashdc983090983091
LC record available at httplccnlocgov983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983090983089
P 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983091 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments 983097
983089 Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests 10486251048625
Potential Priesthood Problems 1048625983090
A Common Priesthood 1048625983092
A heological Vision for the Doctrine 9830901048625
A Brief Note on Authorship 983090983091
1048626 A Royal Priesthood Scripturersquos Story 983090983093
Royal Priesthood in the Garden Sanctuary
Adam the Priest-King 983090983094
he Founding of a Priestly People Exodus 983091983088
Royal Priesthood Rooted in Davidrsquos Son Psalm 10486251048625983088 983091983095
Restoration hrough the Priestly Servant Isaiah 983093983090ndash983094983094 983091983096
he Great High Priest Christrsquos Eschatological Priesthood 9830921048625
he Royal Priesthood of the Church 1048625 Peter 983090 983092983094
he Service of the Gospel Paulrsquos Letters 983092983096
Priesthood and New Covenant Worship Hebrews 9830931048625A Suffering and Victorious Priesthood Revelation 983093983091
Conclusion he Biblical Vision of a Royal Priesthood 983093983092
1048627 Priesthood Reformed Lutherrsquos Burden 983093983095
Setting the Stage he Medieval Priesthood 983093983097
Luther and the Sacrament of Ordination 983094983095
he Biblical Doctrine of the Priesthood of Believers 983095983090
Seven Ministries of the Priesthood 983095983093
Lutherrsquos Unique Contributions 9830961048625
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1048628 Life in Communion Te rinity and the
Priesthood of All Believers 983096983093
Does the rinity Make Any Difference 983096983094
he Royal Priesthood Is Christocentric-rinitarian 983096983096
he Best of Songs he Royal Priesthood Responds
to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit 983097983091
hree Inadequate Protestant Versions of the
Priesthood of All Believers 1048625983088983091
Summary Mystery and Maturity 1048625983088983097
1048629 Worship Work and Witness Te Practices
of the Royal Priesthood 104862510486251048625
How Do Members of the Royal Priesthood
Respond to God 10486251048625983090
What Is a ldquoCentral Practicerdquo of the Royal Priesthood 10486251048625983097
he Seven Practices and Spiritual Sacrifices 1048625983090983088Seven Practices of the Royal Priesthood 1048625983090983090
Conclusion he Unity of Worship Work and Witness 1048625983092983092
1048630 Representing Christ 1048625983092983095
Mature in Christ the Great Priest-King 1048625983092983097
One Vision Four Perspectives 1048625983092983097
So What 1048625983093983092
Notes 1048625983093983095
Bibliography 1048625983096983095
Name and Subject Index 9830909830881048625
Scripture Index 983090983088983091
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W E WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS a special thanks to those who
helped this project along First we are grateful to Dan reier
who provided both of us with the opportunity to explore the
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers during our doctoral
studies We appreciate also our LA ldquoInklingsrdquo group that read
and commented on chapters of this book Your care and in-
sights have benefited this project We are grateful for David
Congdon and the IVP staff who saw this project from proposal
to completion Hank would like to thank Dr Don Davis and the
staff at Te Urban Ministry Institute for their encouragement
and their deep commitment to fleshing out the doctrine of thepriesthood of all believers Uche would like to thank Biola Uni-
versity for providing a research and development grant which
lightened his teaching load and freed him to work on this
project Tanks also to Chad Duarte for cheerfully compiling
the index Finally thank you to Johanna and Melissa who faith-
fully encouraged us (and continue to do so) along the wayPortions of chapters two and three contain revised material
from Uchersquos former work Kings and Priests Scripturersquos Teo-
logical Account of Its Readers (Pickwick ) Portions of
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R C
chapters four and five contain revised material from Hankrsquos
work Te Priesthood of All Believers and the Missio Dei(Pickwick ) Tese portions are used by permission of
Wipf and Stock Publishers
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983089
EXALTED CLERGY OR
EGALITARIAN PRIESTS
For through him [Christ] we both haveaccess in one Spirit to the Father
E
D EVELOPING A FAITHFUL DOCTRINE of the church is a
practical and theological challenge facing the global evangelical
church in the twenty-first century Pastors and church leaders
are asking new questions about the church and often finding
the answers of previous generations unsatisfactory One Roman
Catholic author suggests that ldquoas far as the development of doc-
trine is concerned the twentieth century was the century of the
churchrdquo1 We believe something similar may be said at the end
of this centurymdashif the Lord tarriesmdashabout the Protestant and
indigenous churches exploding around the globe In the midst
of rapid change a return to the sources can provide much-needed guidance for a new generation of missional disciples
Some five hundred years ago similar winds of change were
blowing At that time the doctrine of the priesthood of all
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R C
believers was retrieved by a man named Martin Luther Te
doctrine became a pillar for the Protestant church and con-tinues to possess powerful resources for the church today Yet
like any good thingmdashmoney sex or power for examplemdashthe
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers can be used for good
or ill What is a faithful and fruitful understanding of the doc-
trine of the priesthood of all believers
P P P
Ordained priests have recently received much negative attention
Headlines abound ldquoPriest Faces Years for Endangering Childrenrdquo
ldquoArchbishop Under Fire over Abuse Apologizes but Says He
Wonrsquot Resignrdquo ldquoUN Panel Says Vatican Is Lax over Abusive
Priestsrdquo and so on2 In much of Europe and North America or-
dained priesthood is associated in the popular imagination withscandal cover-ups and abuses of power Others find themselves
confused and ambivalent regarding clergy describing priests as at
once holy detached committed aloof devoted and out of touch
At one end of the spectrum there is the admirable Bishop
Myriel of Les Miserablesmdasha paragon of goodness and mercy Te
novel begins with a description of Myrielrsquos characteristic benevo-
lence When he arrives in Digne he is installed in the episcopal
palace ldquoa vast and handsome town house built in stonerdquo which
happens to be next to a hospital Tree days after his arrival the
bishop visits the hospital and upon seeing its small size and bad
conditions he resolves to house its twenty-six poor patients in his
palace and himself in the hospital3 It is this same priest who later
welcomes the vagrant Jean Valjean with open arms Who canforget the scene where after running off in the night with the
bishoprsquos silverware Valjean is apprehended by police and es-
corted back to Myriel When the police inform the priest that
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
they found his silver in the thiefrsquos bag the priest responds by
turning to Valjean and saying ldquoAh there you are Am I glad tosee you But heavens I gave you the candlesticks too you know
they are made of silver like the rest and you can get two hundred
francs for them easily Why didnrsquot you take them with the
cutleryrdquo Upon giving the crook the candlesticks he releases him
and sends him on his way to go and become ldquoan honest manrdquo4
At the other end of the spectrum one might think (scornfully)
of Jane Austenrsquos fairly irreligious parson Rev Collins whose high
esteem of himself and his authority as clergy ldquomade him alto-
gether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness self-importance
and humilityrdquo5
Yet for many of the faithful the ordained priest stands at the
top of an ecclesiastical hierarchymdashone perhaps divinely insti-
tutedmdashas a go-between for God and his people When the or-dained priest comes to be seen as categorically different from
and highly elevated above the common believer it is no wonder
that falls from grace amount to catastrophes
What about the ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo What comes to
mind when this notion is trumpeted If we entertain some of the
previously mentioned concepts of priesthood it is difficult to
imagine anything good coming from the idea One reaction
might be a sense of incongruence between what is being affirmed
(ldquoEveryonersquos a priest to Godrdquo) and our honest self-evaluation
(ldquoMe a priestrdquo) Te syllogism is simple () If priests are holy
(or anything else we typically ascribe to priests) and () we are
not then () we are not priests For those with such a mindset
the priesthood of all believers is not a doctrine so readily em-
braced Tatrsquos the first potential problem
Second the doctrine has often come to mean something akin
to the First Amendment right to ldquofreedom of speechrdquo or ldquoto
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R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
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R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
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R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
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R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
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REPRESENTING
CHR I S T
A Vision for the
Priesthood of All Believers
UCHE ANIZOR amp HANK VOSS
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983094 by Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission
from InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a
movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools
of nursing in the United States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship
of Evangelical Students For information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from Te Holy Bible English Standard Version
copyright copy 983090983088983088983089 by Crossway Bibles a division of Good News Publishers Used by permission All
rights reserved
While any stories in this book are true some names and identifying information may have been
changed to protect the privacy of individuals
Portions of chapters two and three contain revised material from Uche Anizor Kings and Priests
Scripturersquos Teological Account of Its Readers (Pickwick 983090983088983089983092) Used by permission of Wipf and
Stock Publishers wwwwipfandstockcom
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
Images Jordanrsquos Quaker Meeting by Rod Waddams Private Collection Bridgeman Images
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983093983089983090983096-983095 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983095983092-983094 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment and to the responsible use of natural resources o learn
more visit greenpressinitiativeorgLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names Anizor Uche 983089983097983095983094- author | Voss Hank 983089983097983095983094- author
itle Representing Christ a vision for the priesthood of all believers
Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
Description Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983089983094 | Includes
bibliographical references and index
Identifiers LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983090983089 (print) | LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983097983091983091983090 (ebook) | ISBN
983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983093983089983090983096983095 (pbk alk paper) | ISBN 983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983097983097983095983092983094 (eBook)
Subjects LCSH Priesthood Universal
Classification LCC B983095983094983095983093 A983093983093 983090983088983089983094 (print) | LCC B983095983094983095983093 (ebook) | DDC
983090983091983092mdashdc983090983091
LC record available at httplccnlocgov983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983090983089
P 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983091 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments 983097
983089 Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests 10486251048625
Potential Priesthood Problems 1048625983090
A Common Priesthood 1048625983092
A heological Vision for the Doctrine 9830901048625
A Brief Note on Authorship 983090983091
1048626 A Royal Priesthood Scripturersquos Story 983090983093
Royal Priesthood in the Garden Sanctuary
Adam the Priest-King 983090983094
he Founding of a Priestly People Exodus 983091983088
Royal Priesthood Rooted in Davidrsquos Son Psalm 10486251048625983088 983091983095
Restoration hrough the Priestly Servant Isaiah 983093983090ndash983094983094 983091983096
he Great High Priest Christrsquos Eschatological Priesthood 9830921048625
he Royal Priesthood of the Church 1048625 Peter 983090 983092983094
he Service of the Gospel Paulrsquos Letters 983092983096
Priesthood and New Covenant Worship Hebrews 9830931048625A Suffering and Victorious Priesthood Revelation 983093983091
Conclusion he Biblical Vision of a Royal Priesthood 983093983092
1048627 Priesthood Reformed Lutherrsquos Burden 983093983095
Setting the Stage he Medieval Priesthood 983093983097
Luther and the Sacrament of Ordination 983094983095
he Biblical Doctrine of the Priesthood of Believers 983095983090
Seven Ministries of the Priesthood 983095983093
Lutherrsquos Unique Contributions 9830961048625
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1048628 Life in Communion Te rinity and the
Priesthood of All Believers 983096983093
Does the rinity Make Any Difference 983096983094
he Royal Priesthood Is Christocentric-rinitarian 983096983096
he Best of Songs he Royal Priesthood Responds
to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit 983097983091
hree Inadequate Protestant Versions of the
Priesthood of All Believers 1048625983088983091
Summary Mystery and Maturity 1048625983088983097
1048629 Worship Work and Witness Te Practices
of the Royal Priesthood 104862510486251048625
How Do Members of the Royal Priesthood
Respond to God 10486251048625983090
What Is a ldquoCentral Practicerdquo of the Royal Priesthood 10486251048625983097
he Seven Practices and Spiritual Sacrifices 1048625983090983088Seven Practices of the Royal Priesthood 1048625983090983090
Conclusion he Unity of Worship Work and Witness 1048625983092983092
1048630 Representing Christ 1048625983092983095
Mature in Christ the Great Priest-King 1048625983092983097
One Vision Four Perspectives 1048625983092983097
So What 1048625983093983092
Notes 1048625983093983095
Bibliography 1048625983096983095
Name and Subject Index 9830909830881048625
Scripture Index 983090983088983091
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W E WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS a special thanks to those who
helped this project along First we are grateful to Dan reier
who provided both of us with the opportunity to explore the
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers during our doctoral
studies We appreciate also our LA ldquoInklingsrdquo group that read
and commented on chapters of this book Your care and in-
sights have benefited this project We are grateful for David
Congdon and the IVP staff who saw this project from proposal
to completion Hank would like to thank Dr Don Davis and the
staff at Te Urban Ministry Institute for their encouragement
and their deep commitment to fleshing out the doctrine of thepriesthood of all believers Uche would like to thank Biola Uni-
versity for providing a research and development grant which
lightened his teaching load and freed him to work on this
project Tanks also to Chad Duarte for cheerfully compiling
the index Finally thank you to Johanna and Melissa who faith-
fully encouraged us (and continue to do so) along the wayPortions of chapters two and three contain revised material
from Uchersquos former work Kings and Priests Scripturersquos Teo-
logical Account of Its Readers (Pickwick ) Portions of
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R C
chapters four and five contain revised material from Hankrsquos
work Te Priesthood of All Believers and the Missio Dei(Pickwick ) Tese portions are used by permission of
Wipf and Stock Publishers
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983089
EXALTED CLERGY OR
EGALITARIAN PRIESTS
For through him [Christ] we both haveaccess in one Spirit to the Father
E
D EVELOPING A FAITHFUL DOCTRINE of the church is a
practical and theological challenge facing the global evangelical
church in the twenty-first century Pastors and church leaders
are asking new questions about the church and often finding
the answers of previous generations unsatisfactory One Roman
Catholic author suggests that ldquoas far as the development of doc-
trine is concerned the twentieth century was the century of the
churchrdquo1 We believe something similar may be said at the end
of this centurymdashif the Lord tarriesmdashabout the Protestant and
indigenous churches exploding around the globe In the midst
of rapid change a return to the sources can provide much-needed guidance for a new generation of missional disciples
Some five hundred years ago similar winds of change were
blowing At that time the doctrine of the priesthood of all
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R C
believers was retrieved by a man named Martin Luther Te
doctrine became a pillar for the Protestant church and con-tinues to possess powerful resources for the church today Yet
like any good thingmdashmoney sex or power for examplemdashthe
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers can be used for good
or ill What is a faithful and fruitful understanding of the doc-
trine of the priesthood of all believers
P P P
Ordained priests have recently received much negative attention
Headlines abound ldquoPriest Faces Years for Endangering Childrenrdquo
ldquoArchbishop Under Fire over Abuse Apologizes but Says He
Wonrsquot Resignrdquo ldquoUN Panel Says Vatican Is Lax over Abusive
Priestsrdquo and so on2 In much of Europe and North America or-
dained priesthood is associated in the popular imagination withscandal cover-ups and abuses of power Others find themselves
confused and ambivalent regarding clergy describing priests as at
once holy detached committed aloof devoted and out of touch
At one end of the spectrum there is the admirable Bishop
Myriel of Les Miserablesmdasha paragon of goodness and mercy Te
novel begins with a description of Myrielrsquos characteristic benevo-
lence When he arrives in Digne he is installed in the episcopal
palace ldquoa vast and handsome town house built in stonerdquo which
happens to be next to a hospital Tree days after his arrival the
bishop visits the hospital and upon seeing its small size and bad
conditions he resolves to house its twenty-six poor patients in his
palace and himself in the hospital3 It is this same priest who later
welcomes the vagrant Jean Valjean with open arms Who canforget the scene where after running off in the night with the
bishoprsquos silverware Valjean is apprehended by police and es-
corted back to Myriel When the police inform the priest that
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
they found his silver in the thiefrsquos bag the priest responds by
turning to Valjean and saying ldquoAh there you are Am I glad tosee you But heavens I gave you the candlesticks too you know
they are made of silver like the rest and you can get two hundred
francs for them easily Why didnrsquot you take them with the
cutleryrdquo Upon giving the crook the candlesticks he releases him
and sends him on his way to go and become ldquoan honest manrdquo4
At the other end of the spectrum one might think (scornfully)
of Jane Austenrsquos fairly irreligious parson Rev Collins whose high
esteem of himself and his authority as clergy ldquomade him alto-
gether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness self-importance
and humilityrdquo5
Yet for many of the faithful the ordained priest stands at the
top of an ecclesiastical hierarchymdashone perhaps divinely insti-
tutedmdashas a go-between for God and his people When the or-dained priest comes to be seen as categorically different from
and highly elevated above the common believer it is no wonder
that falls from grace amount to catastrophes
What about the ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo What comes to
mind when this notion is trumpeted If we entertain some of the
previously mentioned concepts of priesthood it is difficult to
imagine anything good coming from the idea One reaction
might be a sense of incongruence between what is being affirmed
(ldquoEveryonersquos a priest to Godrdquo) and our honest self-evaluation
(ldquoMe a priestrdquo) Te syllogism is simple () If priests are holy
(or anything else we typically ascribe to priests) and () we are
not then () we are not priests For those with such a mindset
the priesthood of all believers is not a doctrine so readily em-
braced Tatrsquos the first potential problem
Second the doctrine has often come to mean something akin
to the First Amendment right to ldquofreedom of speechrdquo or ldquoto
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R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
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R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
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R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
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R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
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REPRESENTING
CHR I S T
A Vision for the
Priesthood of All Believers
UCHE ANIZOR amp HANK VOSS
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983094 by Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission
from InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a
movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools
of nursing in the United States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship
of Evangelical Students For information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from Te Holy Bible English Standard Version
copyright copy 983090983088983088983089 by Crossway Bibles a division of Good News Publishers Used by permission All
rights reserved
While any stories in this book are true some names and identifying information may have been
changed to protect the privacy of individuals
Portions of chapters two and three contain revised material from Uche Anizor Kings and Priests
Scripturersquos Teological Account of Its Readers (Pickwick 983090983088983089983092) Used by permission of Wipf and
Stock Publishers wwwwipfandstockcom
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
Images Jordanrsquos Quaker Meeting by Rod Waddams Private Collection Bridgeman Images
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983093983089983090983096-983095 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983095983092-983094 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment and to the responsible use of natural resources o learn
more visit greenpressinitiativeorgLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names Anizor Uche 983089983097983095983094- author | Voss Hank 983089983097983095983094- author
itle Representing Christ a vision for the priesthood of all believers
Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
Description Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983089983094 | Includes
bibliographical references and index
Identifiers LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983090983089 (print) | LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983097983091983091983090 (ebook) | ISBN
983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983093983089983090983096983095 (pbk alk paper) | ISBN 983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983097983097983095983092983094 (eBook)
Subjects LCSH Priesthood Universal
Classification LCC B983095983094983095983093 A983093983093 983090983088983089983094 (print) | LCC B983095983094983095983093 (ebook) | DDC
983090983091983092mdashdc983090983091
LC record available at httplccnlocgov983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983090983089
P 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983091 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments 983097
983089 Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests 10486251048625
Potential Priesthood Problems 1048625983090
A Common Priesthood 1048625983092
A heological Vision for the Doctrine 9830901048625
A Brief Note on Authorship 983090983091
1048626 A Royal Priesthood Scripturersquos Story 983090983093
Royal Priesthood in the Garden Sanctuary
Adam the Priest-King 983090983094
he Founding of a Priestly People Exodus 983091983088
Royal Priesthood Rooted in Davidrsquos Son Psalm 10486251048625983088 983091983095
Restoration hrough the Priestly Servant Isaiah 983093983090ndash983094983094 983091983096
he Great High Priest Christrsquos Eschatological Priesthood 9830921048625
he Royal Priesthood of the Church 1048625 Peter 983090 983092983094
he Service of the Gospel Paulrsquos Letters 983092983096
Priesthood and New Covenant Worship Hebrews 9830931048625A Suffering and Victorious Priesthood Revelation 983093983091
Conclusion he Biblical Vision of a Royal Priesthood 983093983092
1048627 Priesthood Reformed Lutherrsquos Burden 983093983095
Setting the Stage he Medieval Priesthood 983093983097
Luther and the Sacrament of Ordination 983094983095
he Biblical Doctrine of the Priesthood of Believers 983095983090
Seven Ministries of the Priesthood 983095983093
Lutherrsquos Unique Contributions 9830961048625
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1048628 Life in Communion Te rinity and the
Priesthood of All Believers 983096983093
Does the rinity Make Any Difference 983096983094
he Royal Priesthood Is Christocentric-rinitarian 983096983096
he Best of Songs he Royal Priesthood Responds
to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit 983097983091
hree Inadequate Protestant Versions of the
Priesthood of All Believers 1048625983088983091
Summary Mystery and Maturity 1048625983088983097
1048629 Worship Work and Witness Te Practices
of the Royal Priesthood 104862510486251048625
How Do Members of the Royal Priesthood
Respond to God 10486251048625983090
What Is a ldquoCentral Practicerdquo of the Royal Priesthood 10486251048625983097
he Seven Practices and Spiritual Sacrifices 1048625983090983088Seven Practices of the Royal Priesthood 1048625983090983090
Conclusion he Unity of Worship Work and Witness 1048625983092983092
1048630 Representing Christ 1048625983092983095
Mature in Christ the Great Priest-King 1048625983092983097
One Vision Four Perspectives 1048625983092983097
So What 1048625983093983092
Notes 1048625983093983095
Bibliography 1048625983096983095
Name and Subject Index 9830909830881048625
Scripture Index 983090983088983091
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W E WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS a special thanks to those who
helped this project along First we are grateful to Dan reier
who provided both of us with the opportunity to explore the
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers during our doctoral
studies We appreciate also our LA ldquoInklingsrdquo group that read
and commented on chapters of this book Your care and in-
sights have benefited this project We are grateful for David
Congdon and the IVP staff who saw this project from proposal
to completion Hank would like to thank Dr Don Davis and the
staff at Te Urban Ministry Institute for their encouragement
and their deep commitment to fleshing out the doctrine of thepriesthood of all believers Uche would like to thank Biola Uni-
versity for providing a research and development grant which
lightened his teaching load and freed him to work on this
project Tanks also to Chad Duarte for cheerfully compiling
the index Finally thank you to Johanna and Melissa who faith-
fully encouraged us (and continue to do so) along the wayPortions of chapters two and three contain revised material
from Uchersquos former work Kings and Priests Scripturersquos Teo-
logical Account of Its Readers (Pickwick ) Portions of
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R C
chapters four and five contain revised material from Hankrsquos
work Te Priesthood of All Believers and the Missio Dei(Pickwick ) Tese portions are used by permission of
Wipf and Stock Publishers
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983089
EXALTED CLERGY OR
EGALITARIAN PRIESTS
For through him [Christ] we both haveaccess in one Spirit to the Father
E
D EVELOPING A FAITHFUL DOCTRINE of the church is a
practical and theological challenge facing the global evangelical
church in the twenty-first century Pastors and church leaders
are asking new questions about the church and often finding
the answers of previous generations unsatisfactory One Roman
Catholic author suggests that ldquoas far as the development of doc-
trine is concerned the twentieth century was the century of the
churchrdquo1 We believe something similar may be said at the end
of this centurymdashif the Lord tarriesmdashabout the Protestant and
indigenous churches exploding around the globe In the midst
of rapid change a return to the sources can provide much-needed guidance for a new generation of missional disciples
Some five hundred years ago similar winds of change were
blowing At that time the doctrine of the priesthood of all
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R C
believers was retrieved by a man named Martin Luther Te
doctrine became a pillar for the Protestant church and con-tinues to possess powerful resources for the church today Yet
like any good thingmdashmoney sex or power for examplemdashthe
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers can be used for good
or ill What is a faithful and fruitful understanding of the doc-
trine of the priesthood of all believers
P P P
Ordained priests have recently received much negative attention
Headlines abound ldquoPriest Faces Years for Endangering Childrenrdquo
ldquoArchbishop Under Fire over Abuse Apologizes but Says He
Wonrsquot Resignrdquo ldquoUN Panel Says Vatican Is Lax over Abusive
Priestsrdquo and so on2 In much of Europe and North America or-
dained priesthood is associated in the popular imagination withscandal cover-ups and abuses of power Others find themselves
confused and ambivalent regarding clergy describing priests as at
once holy detached committed aloof devoted and out of touch
At one end of the spectrum there is the admirable Bishop
Myriel of Les Miserablesmdasha paragon of goodness and mercy Te
novel begins with a description of Myrielrsquos characteristic benevo-
lence When he arrives in Digne he is installed in the episcopal
palace ldquoa vast and handsome town house built in stonerdquo which
happens to be next to a hospital Tree days after his arrival the
bishop visits the hospital and upon seeing its small size and bad
conditions he resolves to house its twenty-six poor patients in his
palace and himself in the hospital3 It is this same priest who later
welcomes the vagrant Jean Valjean with open arms Who canforget the scene where after running off in the night with the
bishoprsquos silverware Valjean is apprehended by police and es-
corted back to Myriel When the police inform the priest that
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
they found his silver in the thiefrsquos bag the priest responds by
turning to Valjean and saying ldquoAh there you are Am I glad tosee you But heavens I gave you the candlesticks too you know
they are made of silver like the rest and you can get two hundred
francs for them easily Why didnrsquot you take them with the
cutleryrdquo Upon giving the crook the candlesticks he releases him
and sends him on his way to go and become ldquoan honest manrdquo4
At the other end of the spectrum one might think (scornfully)
of Jane Austenrsquos fairly irreligious parson Rev Collins whose high
esteem of himself and his authority as clergy ldquomade him alto-
gether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness self-importance
and humilityrdquo5
Yet for many of the faithful the ordained priest stands at the
top of an ecclesiastical hierarchymdashone perhaps divinely insti-
tutedmdashas a go-between for God and his people When the or-dained priest comes to be seen as categorically different from
and highly elevated above the common believer it is no wonder
that falls from grace amount to catastrophes
What about the ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo What comes to
mind when this notion is trumpeted If we entertain some of the
previously mentioned concepts of priesthood it is difficult to
imagine anything good coming from the idea One reaction
might be a sense of incongruence between what is being affirmed
(ldquoEveryonersquos a priest to Godrdquo) and our honest self-evaluation
(ldquoMe a priestrdquo) Te syllogism is simple () If priests are holy
(or anything else we typically ascribe to priests) and () we are
not then () we are not priests For those with such a mindset
the priesthood of all believers is not a doctrine so readily em-
braced Tatrsquos the first potential problem
Second the doctrine has often come to mean something akin
to the First Amendment right to ldquofreedom of speechrdquo or ldquoto
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R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
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R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
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R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
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R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983094 by Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission
from InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a
movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities colleges and schools
of nursing in the United States of America and a member movement of the International Fellowship
of Evangelical Students For information about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
Scripture quotations unless otherwise noted are from Te Holy Bible English Standard Version
copyright copy 983090983088983088983089 by Crossway Bibles a division of Good News Publishers Used by permission All
rights reserved
While any stories in this book are true some names and identifying information may have been
changed to protect the privacy of individuals
Portions of chapters two and three contain revised material from Uche Anizor Kings and Priests
Scripturersquos Teological Account of Its Readers (Pickwick 983090983088983089983092) Used by permission of Wipf and
Stock Publishers wwwwipfandstockcom
Cover design Cindy Kiple
Interior design Beth McGill
Images Jordanrsquos Quaker Meeting by Rod Waddams Private Collection Bridgeman Images
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983093983089983090983096-983095 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983095983092-983094 (digital)
Printed in the United States of America
As a member of the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protecting the environment and to the responsible use of natural resources o learn
more visit greenpressinitiativeorgLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names Anizor Uche 983089983097983095983094- author | Voss Hank 983089983097983095983094- author
itle Representing Christ a vision for the priesthood of all believers
Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
Description Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983089983094 | Includes
bibliographical references and index
Identifiers LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983090983089 (print) | LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983097983091983091983090 (ebook) | ISBN
983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983093983089983090983096983095 (pbk alk paper) | ISBN 983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983097983097983095983092983094 (eBook)
Subjects LCSH Priesthood Universal
Classification LCC B983095983094983095983093 A983093983093 983090983088983089983094 (print) | LCC B983095983094983095983093 (ebook) | DDC
983090983091983092mdashdc983090983091
LC record available at httplccnlocgov983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983090983089
P 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983091 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments 983097
983089 Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests 10486251048625
Potential Priesthood Problems 1048625983090
A Common Priesthood 1048625983092
A heological Vision for the Doctrine 9830901048625
A Brief Note on Authorship 983090983091
1048626 A Royal Priesthood Scripturersquos Story 983090983093
Royal Priesthood in the Garden Sanctuary
Adam the Priest-King 983090983094
he Founding of a Priestly People Exodus 983091983088
Royal Priesthood Rooted in Davidrsquos Son Psalm 10486251048625983088 983091983095
Restoration hrough the Priestly Servant Isaiah 983093983090ndash983094983094 983091983096
he Great High Priest Christrsquos Eschatological Priesthood 9830921048625
he Royal Priesthood of the Church 1048625 Peter 983090 983092983094
he Service of the Gospel Paulrsquos Letters 983092983096
Priesthood and New Covenant Worship Hebrews 9830931048625A Suffering and Victorious Priesthood Revelation 983093983091
Conclusion he Biblical Vision of a Royal Priesthood 983093983092
1048627 Priesthood Reformed Lutherrsquos Burden 983093983095
Setting the Stage he Medieval Priesthood 983093983097
Luther and the Sacrament of Ordination 983094983095
he Biblical Doctrine of the Priesthood of Believers 983095983090
Seven Ministries of the Priesthood 983095983093
Lutherrsquos Unique Contributions 9830961048625
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1048628 Life in Communion Te rinity and the
Priesthood of All Believers 983096983093
Does the rinity Make Any Difference 983096983094
he Royal Priesthood Is Christocentric-rinitarian 983096983096
he Best of Songs he Royal Priesthood Responds
to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit 983097983091
hree Inadequate Protestant Versions of the
Priesthood of All Believers 1048625983088983091
Summary Mystery and Maturity 1048625983088983097
1048629 Worship Work and Witness Te Practices
of the Royal Priesthood 104862510486251048625
How Do Members of the Royal Priesthood
Respond to God 10486251048625983090
What Is a ldquoCentral Practicerdquo of the Royal Priesthood 10486251048625983097
he Seven Practices and Spiritual Sacrifices 1048625983090983088Seven Practices of the Royal Priesthood 1048625983090983090
Conclusion he Unity of Worship Work and Witness 1048625983092983092
1048630 Representing Christ 1048625983092983095
Mature in Christ the Great Priest-King 1048625983092983097
One Vision Four Perspectives 1048625983092983097
So What 1048625983093983092
Notes 1048625983093983095
Bibliography 1048625983096983095
Name and Subject Index 9830909830881048625
Scripture Index 983090983088983091
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W E WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS a special thanks to those who
helped this project along First we are grateful to Dan reier
who provided both of us with the opportunity to explore the
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers during our doctoral
studies We appreciate also our LA ldquoInklingsrdquo group that read
and commented on chapters of this book Your care and in-
sights have benefited this project We are grateful for David
Congdon and the IVP staff who saw this project from proposal
to completion Hank would like to thank Dr Don Davis and the
staff at Te Urban Ministry Institute for their encouragement
and their deep commitment to fleshing out the doctrine of thepriesthood of all believers Uche would like to thank Biola Uni-
versity for providing a research and development grant which
lightened his teaching load and freed him to work on this
project Tanks also to Chad Duarte for cheerfully compiling
the index Finally thank you to Johanna and Melissa who faith-
fully encouraged us (and continue to do so) along the wayPortions of chapters two and three contain revised material
from Uchersquos former work Kings and Priests Scripturersquos Teo-
logical Account of Its Readers (Pickwick ) Portions of
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R C
chapters four and five contain revised material from Hankrsquos
work Te Priesthood of All Believers and the Missio Dei(Pickwick ) Tese portions are used by permission of
Wipf and Stock Publishers
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983089
EXALTED CLERGY OR
EGALITARIAN PRIESTS
For through him [Christ] we both haveaccess in one Spirit to the Father
E
D EVELOPING A FAITHFUL DOCTRINE of the church is a
practical and theological challenge facing the global evangelical
church in the twenty-first century Pastors and church leaders
are asking new questions about the church and often finding
the answers of previous generations unsatisfactory One Roman
Catholic author suggests that ldquoas far as the development of doc-
trine is concerned the twentieth century was the century of the
churchrdquo1 We believe something similar may be said at the end
of this centurymdashif the Lord tarriesmdashabout the Protestant and
indigenous churches exploding around the globe In the midst
of rapid change a return to the sources can provide much-needed guidance for a new generation of missional disciples
Some five hundred years ago similar winds of change were
blowing At that time the doctrine of the priesthood of all
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R C
believers was retrieved by a man named Martin Luther Te
doctrine became a pillar for the Protestant church and con-tinues to possess powerful resources for the church today Yet
like any good thingmdashmoney sex or power for examplemdashthe
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers can be used for good
or ill What is a faithful and fruitful understanding of the doc-
trine of the priesthood of all believers
P P P
Ordained priests have recently received much negative attention
Headlines abound ldquoPriest Faces Years for Endangering Childrenrdquo
ldquoArchbishop Under Fire over Abuse Apologizes but Says He
Wonrsquot Resignrdquo ldquoUN Panel Says Vatican Is Lax over Abusive
Priestsrdquo and so on2 In much of Europe and North America or-
dained priesthood is associated in the popular imagination withscandal cover-ups and abuses of power Others find themselves
confused and ambivalent regarding clergy describing priests as at
once holy detached committed aloof devoted and out of touch
At one end of the spectrum there is the admirable Bishop
Myriel of Les Miserablesmdasha paragon of goodness and mercy Te
novel begins with a description of Myrielrsquos characteristic benevo-
lence When he arrives in Digne he is installed in the episcopal
palace ldquoa vast and handsome town house built in stonerdquo which
happens to be next to a hospital Tree days after his arrival the
bishop visits the hospital and upon seeing its small size and bad
conditions he resolves to house its twenty-six poor patients in his
palace and himself in the hospital3 It is this same priest who later
welcomes the vagrant Jean Valjean with open arms Who canforget the scene where after running off in the night with the
bishoprsquos silverware Valjean is apprehended by police and es-
corted back to Myriel When the police inform the priest that
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
they found his silver in the thiefrsquos bag the priest responds by
turning to Valjean and saying ldquoAh there you are Am I glad tosee you But heavens I gave you the candlesticks too you know
they are made of silver like the rest and you can get two hundred
francs for them easily Why didnrsquot you take them with the
cutleryrdquo Upon giving the crook the candlesticks he releases him
and sends him on his way to go and become ldquoan honest manrdquo4
At the other end of the spectrum one might think (scornfully)
of Jane Austenrsquos fairly irreligious parson Rev Collins whose high
esteem of himself and his authority as clergy ldquomade him alto-
gether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness self-importance
and humilityrdquo5
Yet for many of the faithful the ordained priest stands at the
top of an ecclesiastical hierarchymdashone perhaps divinely insti-
tutedmdashas a go-between for God and his people When the or-dained priest comes to be seen as categorically different from
and highly elevated above the common believer it is no wonder
that falls from grace amount to catastrophes
What about the ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo What comes to
mind when this notion is trumpeted If we entertain some of the
previously mentioned concepts of priesthood it is difficult to
imagine anything good coming from the idea One reaction
might be a sense of incongruence between what is being affirmed
(ldquoEveryonersquos a priest to Godrdquo) and our honest self-evaluation
(ldquoMe a priestrdquo) Te syllogism is simple () If priests are holy
(or anything else we typically ascribe to priests) and () we are
not then () we are not priests For those with such a mindset
the priesthood of all believers is not a doctrine so readily em-
braced Tatrsquos the first potential problem
Second the doctrine has often come to mean something akin
to the First Amendment right to ldquofreedom of speechrdquo or ldquoto
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R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
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R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
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R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
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R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments 983097
983089 Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests 10486251048625
Potential Priesthood Problems 1048625983090
A Common Priesthood 1048625983092
A heological Vision for the Doctrine 9830901048625
A Brief Note on Authorship 983090983091
1048626 A Royal Priesthood Scripturersquos Story 983090983093
Royal Priesthood in the Garden Sanctuary
Adam the Priest-King 983090983094
he Founding of a Priestly People Exodus 983091983088
Royal Priesthood Rooted in Davidrsquos Son Psalm 10486251048625983088 983091983095
Restoration hrough the Priestly Servant Isaiah 983093983090ndash983094983094 983091983096
he Great High Priest Christrsquos Eschatological Priesthood 9830921048625
he Royal Priesthood of the Church 1048625 Peter 983090 983092983094
he Service of the Gospel Paulrsquos Letters 983092983096
Priesthood and New Covenant Worship Hebrews 9830931048625A Suffering and Victorious Priesthood Revelation 983093983091
Conclusion he Biblical Vision of a Royal Priesthood 983093983092
1048627 Priesthood Reformed Lutherrsquos Burden 983093983095
Setting the Stage he Medieval Priesthood 983093983097
Luther and the Sacrament of Ordination 983094983095
he Biblical Doctrine of the Priesthood of Believers 983095983090
Seven Ministries of the Priesthood 983095983093
Lutherrsquos Unique Contributions 9830961048625
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1048628 Life in Communion Te rinity and the
Priesthood of All Believers 983096983093
Does the rinity Make Any Difference 983096983094
he Royal Priesthood Is Christocentric-rinitarian 983096983096
he Best of Songs he Royal Priesthood Responds
to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit 983097983091
hree Inadequate Protestant Versions of the
Priesthood of All Believers 1048625983088983091
Summary Mystery and Maturity 1048625983088983097
1048629 Worship Work and Witness Te Practices
of the Royal Priesthood 104862510486251048625
How Do Members of the Royal Priesthood
Respond to God 10486251048625983090
What Is a ldquoCentral Practicerdquo of the Royal Priesthood 10486251048625983097
he Seven Practices and Spiritual Sacrifices 1048625983090983088Seven Practices of the Royal Priesthood 1048625983090983090
Conclusion he Unity of Worship Work and Witness 1048625983092983092
1048630 Representing Christ 1048625983092983095
Mature in Christ the Great Priest-King 1048625983092983097
One Vision Four Perspectives 1048625983092983097
So What 1048625983093983092
Notes 1048625983093983095
Bibliography 1048625983096983095
Name and Subject Index 9830909830881048625
Scripture Index 983090983088983091
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W E WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS a special thanks to those who
helped this project along First we are grateful to Dan reier
who provided both of us with the opportunity to explore the
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers during our doctoral
studies We appreciate also our LA ldquoInklingsrdquo group that read
and commented on chapters of this book Your care and in-
sights have benefited this project We are grateful for David
Congdon and the IVP staff who saw this project from proposal
to completion Hank would like to thank Dr Don Davis and the
staff at Te Urban Ministry Institute for their encouragement
and their deep commitment to fleshing out the doctrine of thepriesthood of all believers Uche would like to thank Biola Uni-
versity for providing a research and development grant which
lightened his teaching load and freed him to work on this
project Tanks also to Chad Duarte for cheerfully compiling
the index Finally thank you to Johanna and Melissa who faith-
fully encouraged us (and continue to do so) along the wayPortions of chapters two and three contain revised material
from Uchersquos former work Kings and Priests Scripturersquos Teo-
logical Account of Its Readers (Pickwick ) Portions of
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R C
chapters four and five contain revised material from Hankrsquos
work Te Priesthood of All Believers and the Missio Dei(Pickwick ) Tese portions are used by permission of
Wipf and Stock Publishers
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983089
EXALTED CLERGY OR
EGALITARIAN PRIESTS
For through him [Christ] we both haveaccess in one Spirit to the Father
E
D EVELOPING A FAITHFUL DOCTRINE of the church is a
practical and theological challenge facing the global evangelical
church in the twenty-first century Pastors and church leaders
are asking new questions about the church and often finding
the answers of previous generations unsatisfactory One Roman
Catholic author suggests that ldquoas far as the development of doc-
trine is concerned the twentieth century was the century of the
churchrdquo1 We believe something similar may be said at the end
of this centurymdashif the Lord tarriesmdashabout the Protestant and
indigenous churches exploding around the globe In the midst
of rapid change a return to the sources can provide much-needed guidance for a new generation of missional disciples
Some five hundred years ago similar winds of change were
blowing At that time the doctrine of the priesthood of all
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R C
believers was retrieved by a man named Martin Luther Te
doctrine became a pillar for the Protestant church and con-tinues to possess powerful resources for the church today Yet
like any good thingmdashmoney sex or power for examplemdashthe
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers can be used for good
or ill What is a faithful and fruitful understanding of the doc-
trine of the priesthood of all believers
P P P
Ordained priests have recently received much negative attention
Headlines abound ldquoPriest Faces Years for Endangering Childrenrdquo
ldquoArchbishop Under Fire over Abuse Apologizes but Says He
Wonrsquot Resignrdquo ldquoUN Panel Says Vatican Is Lax over Abusive
Priestsrdquo and so on2 In much of Europe and North America or-
dained priesthood is associated in the popular imagination withscandal cover-ups and abuses of power Others find themselves
confused and ambivalent regarding clergy describing priests as at
once holy detached committed aloof devoted and out of touch
At one end of the spectrum there is the admirable Bishop
Myriel of Les Miserablesmdasha paragon of goodness and mercy Te
novel begins with a description of Myrielrsquos characteristic benevo-
lence When he arrives in Digne he is installed in the episcopal
palace ldquoa vast and handsome town house built in stonerdquo which
happens to be next to a hospital Tree days after his arrival the
bishop visits the hospital and upon seeing its small size and bad
conditions he resolves to house its twenty-six poor patients in his
palace and himself in the hospital3 It is this same priest who later
welcomes the vagrant Jean Valjean with open arms Who canforget the scene where after running off in the night with the
bishoprsquos silverware Valjean is apprehended by police and es-
corted back to Myriel When the police inform the priest that
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
they found his silver in the thiefrsquos bag the priest responds by
turning to Valjean and saying ldquoAh there you are Am I glad tosee you But heavens I gave you the candlesticks too you know
they are made of silver like the rest and you can get two hundred
francs for them easily Why didnrsquot you take them with the
cutleryrdquo Upon giving the crook the candlesticks he releases him
and sends him on his way to go and become ldquoan honest manrdquo4
At the other end of the spectrum one might think (scornfully)
of Jane Austenrsquos fairly irreligious parson Rev Collins whose high
esteem of himself and his authority as clergy ldquomade him alto-
gether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness self-importance
and humilityrdquo5
Yet for many of the faithful the ordained priest stands at the
top of an ecclesiastical hierarchymdashone perhaps divinely insti-
tutedmdashas a go-between for God and his people When the or-dained priest comes to be seen as categorically different from
and highly elevated above the common believer it is no wonder
that falls from grace amount to catastrophes
What about the ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo What comes to
mind when this notion is trumpeted If we entertain some of the
previously mentioned concepts of priesthood it is difficult to
imagine anything good coming from the idea One reaction
might be a sense of incongruence between what is being affirmed
(ldquoEveryonersquos a priest to Godrdquo) and our honest self-evaluation
(ldquoMe a priestrdquo) Te syllogism is simple () If priests are holy
(or anything else we typically ascribe to priests) and () we are
not then () we are not priests For those with such a mindset
the priesthood of all believers is not a doctrine so readily em-
braced Tatrsquos the first potential problem
Second the doctrine has often come to mean something akin
to the First Amendment right to ldquofreedom of speechrdquo or ldquoto
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R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
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R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
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R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
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R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
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1048628 Life in Communion Te rinity and the
Priesthood of All Believers 983096983093
Does the rinity Make Any Difference 983096983094
he Royal Priesthood Is Christocentric-rinitarian 983096983096
he Best of Songs he Royal Priesthood Responds
to the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit 983097983091
hree Inadequate Protestant Versions of the
Priesthood of All Believers 1048625983088983091
Summary Mystery and Maturity 1048625983088983097
1048629 Worship Work and Witness Te Practices
of the Royal Priesthood 104862510486251048625
How Do Members of the Royal Priesthood
Respond to God 10486251048625983090
What Is a ldquoCentral Practicerdquo of the Royal Priesthood 10486251048625983097
he Seven Practices and Spiritual Sacrifices 1048625983090983088Seven Practices of the Royal Priesthood 1048625983090983090
Conclusion he Unity of Worship Work and Witness 1048625983092983092
1048630 Representing Christ 1048625983092983095
Mature in Christ the Great Priest-King 1048625983092983097
One Vision Four Perspectives 1048625983092983097
So What 1048625983093983092
Notes 1048625983093983095
Bibliography 1048625983096983095
Name and Subject Index 9830909830881048625
Scripture Index 983090983088983091
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W E WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS a special thanks to those who
helped this project along First we are grateful to Dan reier
who provided both of us with the opportunity to explore the
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers during our doctoral
studies We appreciate also our LA ldquoInklingsrdquo group that read
and commented on chapters of this book Your care and in-
sights have benefited this project We are grateful for David
Congdon and the IVP staff who saw this project from proposal
to completion Hank would like to thank Dr Don Davis and the
staff at Te Urban Ministry Institute for their encouragement
and their deep commitment to fleshing out the doctrine of thepriesthood of all believers Uche would like to thank Biola Uni-
versity for providing a research and development grant which
lightened his teaching load and freed him to work on this
project Tanks also to Chad Duarte for cheerfully compiling
the index Finally thank you to Johanna and Melissa who faith-
fully encouraged us (and continue to do so) along the wayPortions of chapters two and three contain revised material
from Uchersquos former work Kings and Priests Scripturersquos Teo-
logical Account of Its Readers (Pickwick ) Portions of
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R C
chapters four and five contain revised material from Hankrsquos
work Te Priesthood of All Believers and the Missio Dei(Pickwick ) Tese portions are used by permission of
Wipf and Stock Publishers
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983089
EXALTED CLERGY OR
EGALITARIAN PRIESTS
For through him [Christ] we both haveaccess in one Spirit to the Father
E
D EVELOPING A FAITHFUL DOCTRINE of the church is a
practical and theological challenge facing the global evangelical
church in the twenty-first century Pastors and church leaders
are asking new questions about the church and often finding
the answers of previous generations unsatisfactory One Roman
Catholic author suggests that ldquoas far as the development of doc-
trine is concerned the twentieth century was the century of the
churchrdquo1 We believe something similar may be said at the end
of this centurymdashif the Lord tarriesmdashabout the Protestant and
indigenous churches exploding around the globe In the midst
of rapid change a return to the sources can provide much-needed guidance for a new generation of missional disciples
Some five hundred years ago similar winds of change were
blowing At that time the doctrine of the priesthood of all
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R C
believers was retrieved by a man named Martin Luther Te
doctrine became a pillar for the Protestant church and con-tinues to possess powerful resources for the church today Yet
like any good thingmdashmoney sex or power for examplemdashthe
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers can be used for good
or ill What is a faithful and fruitful understanding of the doc-
trine of the priesthood of all believers
P P P
Ordained priests have recently received much negative attention
Headlines abound ldquoPriest Faces Years for Endangering Childrenrdquo
ldquoArchbishop Under Fire over Abuse Apologizes but Says He
Wonrsquot Resignrdquo ldquoUN Panel Says Vatican Is Lax over Abusive
Priestsrdquo and so on2 In much of Europe and North America or-
dained priesthood is associated in the popular imagination withscandal cover-ups and abuses of power Others find themselves
confused and ambivalent regarding clergy describing priests as at
once holy detached committed aloof devoted and out of touch
At one end of the spectrum there is the admirable Bishop
Myriel of Les Miserablesmdasha paragon of goodness and mercy Te
novel begins with a description of Myrielrsquos characteristic benevo-
lence When he arrives in Digne he is installed in the episcopal
palace ldquoa vast and handsome town house built in stonerdquo which
happens to be next to a hospital Tree days after his arrival the
bishop visits the hospital and upon seeing its small size and bad
conditions he resolves to house its twenty-six poor patients in his
palace and himself in the hospital3 It is this same priest who later
welcomes the vagrant Jean Valjean with open arms Who canforget the scene where after running off in the night with the
bishoprsquos silverware Valjean is apprehended by police and es-
corted back to Myriel When the police inform the priest that
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
they found his silver in the thiefrsquos bag the priest responds by
turning to Valjean and saying ldquoAh there you are Am I glad tosee you But heavens I gave you the candlesticks too you know
they are made of silver like the rest and you can get two hundred
francs for them easily Why didnrsquot you take them with the
cutleryrdquo Upon giving the crook the candlesticks he releases him
and sends him on his way to go and become ldquoan honest manrdquo4
At the other end of the spectrum one might think (scornfully)
of Jane Austenrsquos fairly irreligious parson Rev Collins whose high
esteem of himself and his authority as clergy ldquomade him alto-
gether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness self-importance
and humilityrdquo5
Yet for many of the faithful the ordained priest stands at the
top of an ecclesiastical hierarchymdashone perhaps divinely insti-
tutedmdashas a go-between for God and his people When the or-dained priest comes to be seen as categorically different from
and highly elevated above the common believer it is no wonder
that falls from grace amount to catastrophes
What about the ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo What comes to
mind when this notion is trumpeted If we entertain some of the
previously mentioned concepts of priesthood it is difficult to
imagine anything good coming from the idea One reaction
might be a sense of incongruence between what is being affirmed
(ldquoEveryonersquos a priest to Godrdquo) and our honest self-evaluation
(ldquoMe a priestrdquo) Te syllogism is simple () If priests are holy
(or anything else we typically ascribe to priests) and () we are
not then () we are not priests For those with such a mindset
the priesthood of all believers is not a doctrine so readily em-
braced Tatrsquos the first potential problem
Second the doctrine has often come to mean something akin
to the First Amendment right to ldquofreedom of speechrdquo or ldquoto
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R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
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R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
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R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W E WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS a special thanks to those who
helped this project along First we are grateful to Dan reier
who provided both of us with the opportunity to explore the
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers during our doctoral
studies We appreciate also our LA ldquoInklingsrdquo group that read
and commented on chapters of this book Your care and in-
sights have benefited this project We are grateful for David
Congdon and the IVP staff who saw this project from proposal
to completion Hank would like to thank Dr Don Davis and the
staff at Te Urban Ministry Institute for their encouragement
and their deep commitment to fleshing out the doctrine of thepriesthood of all believers Uche would like to thank Biola Uni-
versity for providing a research and development grant which
lightened his teaching load and freed him to work on this
project Tanks also to Chad Duarte for cheerfully compiling
the index Finally thank you to Johanna and Melissa who faith-
fully encouraged us (and continue to do so) along the wayPortions of chapters two and three contain revised material
from Uchersquos former work Kings and Priests Scripturersquos Teo-
logical Account of Its Readers (Pickwick ) Portions of
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 822
R C
chapters four and five contain revised material from Hankrsquos
work Te Priesthood of All Believers and the Missio Dei(Pickwick ) Tese portions are used by permission of
Wipf and Stock Publishers
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 922
983089
EXALTED CLERGY OR
EGALITARIAN PRIESTS
For through him [Christ] we both haveaccess in one Spirit to the Father
E
D EVELOPING A FAITHFUL DOCTRINE of the church is a
practical and theological challenge facing the global evangelical
church in the twenty-first century Pastors and church leaders
are asking new questions about the church and often finding
the answers of previous generations unsatisfactory One Roman
Catholic author suggests that ldquoas far as the development of doc-
trine is concerned the twentieth century was the century of the
churchrdquo1 We believe something similar may be said at the end
of this centurymdashif the Lord tarriesmdashabout the Protestant and
indigenous churches exploding around the globe In the midst
of rapid change a return to the sources can provide much-needed guidance for a new generation of missional disciples
Some five hundred years ago similar winds of change were
blowing At that time the doctrine of the priesthood of all
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1022
R C
believers was retrieved by a man named Martin Luther Te
doctrine became a pillar for the Protestant church and con-tinues to possess powerful resources for the church today Yet
like any good thingmdashmoney sex or power for examplemdashthe
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers can be used for good
or ill What is a faithful and fruitful understanding of the doc-
trine of the priesthood of all believers
P P P
Ordained priests have recently received much negative attention
Headlines abound ldquoPriest Faces Years for Endangering Childrenrdquo
ldquoArchbishop Under Fire over Abuse Apologizes but Says He
Wonrsquot Resignrdquo ldquoUN Panel Says Vatican Is Lax over Abusive
Priestsrdquo and so on2 In much of Europe and North America or-
dained priesthood is associated in the popular imagination withscandal cover-ups and abuses of power Others find themselves
confused and ambivalent regarding clergy describing priests as at
once holy detached committed aloof devoted and out of touch
At one end of the spectrum there is the admirable Bishop
Myriel of Les Miserablesmdasha paragon of goodness and mercy Te
novel begins with a description of Myrielrsquos characteristic benevo-
lence When he arrives in Digne he is installed in the episcopal
palace ldquoa vast and handsome town house built in stonerdquo which
happens to be next to a hospital Tree days after his arrival the
bishop visits the hospital and upon seeing its small size and bad
conditions he resolves to house its twenty-six poor patients in his
palace and himself in the hospital3 It is this same priest who later
welcomes the vagrant Jean Valjean with open arms Who canforget the scene where after running off in the night with the
bishoprsquos silverware Valjean is apprehended by police and es-
corted back to Myriel When the police inform the priest that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
they found his silver in the thiefrsquos bag the priest responds by
turning to Valjean and saying ldquoAh there you are Am I glad tosee you But heavens I gave you the candlesticks too you know
they are made of silver like the rest and you can get two hundred
francs for them easily Why didnrsquot you take them with the
cutleryrdquo Upon giving the crook the candlesticks he releases him
and sends him on his way to go and become ldquoan honest manrdquo4
At the other end of the spectrum one might think (scornfully)
of Jane Austenrsquos fairly irreligious parson Rev Collins whose high
esteem of himself and his authority as clergy ldquomade him alto-
gether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness self-importance
and humilityrdquo5
Yet for many of the faithful the ordained priest stands at the
top of an ecclesiastical hierarchymdashone perhaps divinely insti-
tutedmdashas a go-between for God and his people When the or-dained priest comes to be seen as categorically different from
and highly elevated above the common believer it is no wonder
that falls from grace amount to catastrophes
What about the ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo What comes to
mind when this notion is trumpeted If we entertain some of the
previously mentioned concepts of priesthood it is difficult to
imagine anything good coming from the idea One reaction
might be a sense of incongruence between what is being affirmed
(ldquoEveryonersquos a priest to Godrdquo) and our honest self-evaluation
(ldquoMe a priestrdquo) Te syllogism is simple () If priests are holy
(or anything else we typically ascribe to priests) and () we are
not then () we are not priests For those with such a mindset
the priesthood of all believers is not a doctrine so readily em-
braced Tatrsquos the first potential problem
Second the doctrine has often come to mean something akin
to the First Amendment right to ldquofreedom of speechrdquo or ldquoto
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1222
R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
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R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
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R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
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R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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R C
chapters four and five contain revised material from Hankrsquos
work Te Priesthood of All Believers and the Missio Dei(Pickwick ) Tese portions are used by permission of
Wipf and Stock Publishers
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 922
983089
EXALTED CLERGY OR
EGALITARIAN PRIESTS
For through him [Christ] we both haveaccess in one Spirit to the Father
E
D EVELOPING A FAITHFUL DOCTRINE of the church is a
practical and theological challenge facing the global evangelical
church in the twenty-first century Pastors and church leaders
are asking new questions about the church and often finding
the answers of previous generations unsatisfactory One Roman
Catholic author suggests that ldquoas far as the development of doc-
trine is concerned the twentieth century was the century of the
churchrdquo1 We believe something similar may be said at the end
of this centurymdashif the Lord tarriesmdashabout the Protestant and
indigenous churches exploding around the globe In the midst
of rapid change a return to the sources can provide much-needed guidance for a new generation of missional disciples
Some five hundred years ago similar winds of change were
blowing At that time the doctrine of the priesthood of all
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1022
R C
believers was retrieved by a man named Martin Luther Te
doctrine became a pillar for the Protestant church and con-tinues to possess powerful resources for the church today Yet
like any good thingmdashmoney sex or power for examplemdashthe
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers can be used for good
or ill What is a faithful and fruitful understanding of the doc-
trine of the priesthood of all believers
P P P
Ordained priests have recently received much negative attention
Headlines abound ldquoPriest Faces Years for Endangering Childrenrdquo
ldquoArchbishop Under Fire over Abuse Apologizes but Says He
Wonrsquot Resignrdquo ldquoUN Panel Says Vatican Is Lax over Abusive
Priestsrdquo and so on2 In much of Europe and North America or-
dained priesthood is associated in the popular imagination withscandal cover-ups and abuses of power Others find themselves
confused and ambivalent regarding clergy describing priests as at
once holy detached committed aloof devoted and out of touch
At one end of the spectrum there is the admirable Bishop
Myriel of Les Miserablesmdasha paragon of goodness and mercy Te
novel begins with a description of Myrielrsquos characteristic benevo-
lence When he arrives in Digne he is installed in the episcopal
palace ldquoa vast and handsome town house built in stonerdquo which
happens to be next to a hospital Tree days after his arrival the
bishop visits the hospital and upon seeing its small size and bad
conditions he resolves to house its twenty-six poor patients in his
palace and himself in the hospital3 It is this same priest who later
welcomes the vagrant Jean Valjean with open arms Who canforget the scene where after running off in the night with the
bishoprsquos silverware Valjean is apprehended by police and es-
corted back to Myriel When the police inform the priest that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
they found his silver in the thiefrsquos bag the priest responds by
turning to Valjean and saying ldquoAh there you are Am I glad tosee you But heavens I gave you the candlesticks too you know
they are made of silver like the rest and you can get two hundred
francs for them easily Why didnrsquot you take them with the
cutleryrdquo Upon giving the crook the candlesticks he releases him
and sends him on his way to go and become ldquoan honest manrdquo4
At the other end of the spectrum one might think (scornfully)
of Jane Austenrsquos fairly irreligious parson Rev Collins whose high
esteem of himself and his authority as clergy ldquomade him alto-
gether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness self-importance
and humilityrdquo5
Yet for many of the faithful the ordained priest stands at the
top of an ecclesiastical hierarchymdashone perhaps divinely insti-
tutedmdashas a go-between for God and his people When the or-dained priest comes to be seen as categorically different from
and highly elevated above the common believer it is no wonder
that falls from grace amount to catastrophes
What about the ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo What comes to
mind when this notion is trumpeted If we entertain some of the
previously mentioned concepts of priesthood it is difficult to
imagine anything good coming from the idea One reaction
might be a sense of incongruence between what is being affirmed
(ldquoEveryonersquos a priest to Godrdquo) and our honest self-evaluation
(ldquoMe a priestrdquo) Te syllogism is simple () If priests are holy
(or anything else we typically ascribe to priests) and () we are
not then () we are not priests For those with such a mindset
the priesthood of all believers is not a doctrine so readily em-
braced Tatrsquos the first potential problem
Second the doctrine has often come to mean something akin
to the First Amendment right to ldquofreedom of speechrdquo or ldquoto
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1222
R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1322
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1422
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1622
R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1722
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
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R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
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983089
EXALTED CLERGY OR
EGALITARIAN PRIESTS
For through him [Christ] we both haveaccess in one Spirit to the Father
E
D EVELOPING A FAITHFUL DOCTRINE of the church is a
practical and theological challenge facing the global evangelical
church in the twenty-first century Pastors and church leaders
are asking new questions about the church and often finding
the answers of previous generations unsatisfactory One Roman
Catholic author suggests that ldquoas far as the development of doc-
trine is concerned the twentieth century was the century of the
churchrdquo1 We believe something similar may be said at the end
of this centurymdashif the Lord tarriesmdashabout the Protestant and
indigenous churches exploding around the globe In the midst
of rapid change a return to the sources can provide much-needed guidance for a new generation of missional disciples
Some five hundred years ago similar winds of change were
blowing At that time the doctrine of the priesthood of all
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R C
believers was retrieved by a man named Martin Luther Te
doctrine became a pillar for the Protestant church and con-tinues to possess powerful resources for the church today Yet
like any good thingmdashmoney sex or power for examplemdashthe
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers can be used for good
or ill What is a faithful and fruitful understanding of the doc-
trine of the priesthood of all believers
P P P
Ordained priests have recently received much negative attention
Headlines abound ldquoPriest Faces Years for Endangering Childrenrdquo
ldquoArchbishop Under Fire over Abuse Apologizes but Says He
Wonrsquot Resignrdquo ldquoUN Panel Says Vatican Is Lax over Abusive
Priestsrdquo and so on2 In much of Europe and North America or-
dained priesthood is associated in the popular imagination withscandal cover-ups and abuses of power Others find themselves
confused and ambivalent regarding clergy describing priests as at
once holy detached committed aloof devoted and out of touch
At one end of the spectrum there is the admirable Bishop
Myriel of Les Miserablesmdasha paragon of goodness and mercy Te
novel begins with a description of Myrielrsquos characteristic benevo-
lence When he arrives in Digne he is installed in the episcopal
palace ldquoa vast and handsome town house built in stonerdquo which
happens to be next to a hospital Tree days after his arrival the
bishop visits the hospital and upon seeing its small size and bad
conditions he resolves to house its twenty-six poor patients in his
palace and himself in the hospital3 It is this same priest who later
welcomes the vagrant Jean Valjean with open arms Who canforget the scene where after running off in the night with the
bishoprsquos silverware Valjean is apprehended by police and es-
corted back to Myriel When the police inform the priest that
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
they found his silver in the thiefrsquos bag the priest responds by
turning to Valjean and saying ldquoAh there you are Am I glad tosee you But heavens I gave you the candlesticks too you know
they are made of silver like the rest and you can get two hundred
francs for them easily Why didnrsquot you take them with the
cutleryrdquo Upon giving the crook the candlesticks he releases him
and sends him on his way to go and become ldquoan honest manrdquo4
At the other end of the spectrum one might think (scornfully)
of Jane Austenrsquos fairly irreligious parson Rev Collins whose high
esteem of himself and his authority as clergy ldquomade him alto-
gether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness self-importance
and humilityrdquo5
Yet for many of the faithful the ordained priest stands at the
top of an ecclesiastical hierarchymdashone perhaps divinely insti-
tutedmdashas a go-between for God and his people When the or-dained priest comes to be seen as categorically different from
and highly elevated above the common believer it is no wonder
that falls from grace amount to catastrophes
What about the ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo What comes to
mind when this notion is trumpeted If we entertain some of the
previously mentioned concepts of priesthood it is difficult to
imagine anything good coming from the idea One reaction
might be a sense of incongruence between what is being affirmed
(ldquoEveryonersquos a priest to Godrdquo) and our honest self-evaluation
(ldquoMe a priestrdquo) Te syllogism is simple () If priests are holy
(or anything else we typically ascribe to priests) and () we are
not then () we are not priests For those with such a mindset
the priesthood of all believers is not a doctrine so readily em-
braced Tatrsquos the first potential problem
Second the doctrine has often come to mean something akin
to the First Amendment right to ldquofreedom of speechrdquo or ldquoto
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R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1322
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1422
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1622
R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1722
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1822
R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1922
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2022
R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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R C
believers was retrieved by a man named Martin Luther Te
doctrine became a pillar for the Protestant church and con-tinues to possess powerful resources for the church today Yet
like any good thingmdashmoney sex or power for examplemdashthe
doctrine of the priesthood of all believers can be used for good
or ill What is a faithful and fruitful understanding of the doc-
trine of the priesthood of all believers
P P P
Ordained priests have recently received much negative attention
Headlines abound ldquoPriest Faces Years for Endangering Childrenrdquo
ldquoArchbishop Under Fire over Abuse Apologizes but Says He
Wonrsquot Resignrdquo ldquoUN Panel Says Vatican Is Lax over Abusive
Priestsrdquo and so on2 In much of Europe and North America or-
dained priesthood is associated in the popular imagination withscandal cover-ups and abuses of power Others find themselves
confused and ambivalent regarding clergy describing priests as at
once holy detached committed aloof devoted and out of touch
At one end of the spectrum there is the admirable Bishop
Myriel of Les Miserablesmdasha paragon of goodness and mercy Te
novel begins with a description of Myrielrsquos characteristic benevo-
lence When he arrives in Digne he is installed in the episcopal
palace ldquoa vast and handsome town house built in stonerdquo which
happens to be next to a hospital Tree days after his arrival the
bishop visits the hospital and upon seeing its small size and bad
conditions he resolves to house its twenty-six poor patients in his
palace and himself in the hospital3 It is this same priest who later
welcomes the vagrant Jean Valjean with open arms Who canforget the scene where after running off in the night with the
bishoprsquos silverware Valjean is apprehended by police and es-
corted back to Myriel When the police inform the priest that
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
they found his silver in the thiefrsquos bag the priest responds by
turning to Valjean and saying ldquoAh there you are Am I glad tosee you But heavens I gave you the candlesticks too you know
they are made of silver like the rest and you can get two hundred
francs for them easily Why didnrsquot you take them with the
cutleryrdquo Upon giving the crook the candlesticks he releases him
and sends him on his way to go and become ldquoan honest manrdquo4
At the other end of the spectrum one might think (scornfully)
of Jane Austenrsquos fairly irreligious parson Rev Collins whose high
esteem of himself and his authority as clergy ldquomade him alto-
gether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness self-importance
and humilityrdquo5
Yet for many of the faithful the ordained priest stands at the
top of an ecclesiastical hierarchymdashone perhaps divinely insti-
tutedmdashas a go-between for God and his people When the or-dained priest comes to be seen as categorically different from
and highly elevated above the common believer it is no wonder
that falls from grace amount to catastrophes
What about the ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo What comes to
mind when this notion is trumpeted If we entertain some of the
previously mentioned concepts of priesthood it is difficult to
imagine anything good coming from the idea One reaction
might be a sense of incongruence between what is being affirmed
(ldquoEveryonersquos a priest to Godrdquo) and our honest self-evaluation
(ldquoMe a priestrdquo) Te syllogism is simple () If priests are holy
(or anything else we typically ascribe to priests) and () we are
not then () we are not priests For those with such a mindset
the priesthood of all believers is not a doctrine so readily em-
braced Tatrsquos the first potential problem
Second the doctrine has often come to mean something akin
to the First Amendment right to ldquofreedom of speechrdquo or ldquoto
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1822
R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1922
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2022
R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
they found his silver in the thiefrsquos bag the priest responds by
turning to Valjean and saying ldquoAh there you are Am I glad tosee you But heavens I gave you the candlesticks too you know
they are made of silver like the rest and you can get two hundred
francs for them easily Why didnrsquot you take them with the
cutleryrdquo Upon giving the crook the candlesticks he releases him
and sends him on his way to go and become ldquoan honest manrdquo4
At the other end of the spectrum one might think (scornfully)
of Jane Austenrsquos fairly irreligious parson Rev Collins whose high
esteem of himself and his authority as clergy ldquomade him alto-
gether a mixture of pride and obsequiousness self-importance
and humilityrdquo5
Yet for many of the faithful the ordained priest stands at the
top of an ecclesiastical hierarchymdashone perhaps divinely insti-
tutedmdashas a go-between for God and his people When the or-dained priest comes to be seen as categorically different from
and highly elevated above the common believer it is no wonder
that falls from grace amount to catastrophes
What about the ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo What comes to
mind when this notion is trumpeted If we entertain some of the
previously mentioned concepts of priesthood it is difficult to
imagine anything good coming from the idea One reaction
might be a sense of incongruence between what is being affirmed
(ldquoEveryonersquos a priest to Godrdquo) and our honest self-evaluation
(ldquoMe a priestrdquo) Te syllogism is simple () If priests are holy
(or anything else we typically ascribe to priests) and () we are
not then () we are not priests For those with such a mindset
the priesthood of all believers is not a doctrine so readily em-
braced Tatrsquos the first potential problem
Second the doctrine has often come to mean something akin
to the First Amendment right to ldquofreedom of speechrdquo or ldquoto
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1222
R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1322
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1422
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1522
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1622
R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1722
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1822
R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1922
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
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8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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R C
petition the [church] Government for a redress of grievancesrdquo
Under the guise of freedom of conscience or religious liberty(two wonderful concepts mind you) the priesthood of be-
lievers has sometimes been used to sanction unfettered indi-
vidualism and schism in Christrsquos church If I do not approve of
anotherrsquos judgment I can simply secede and band together with
those who agree with me According to one story likely satirical
a Georgia church split forty-eight times in a hundred-year
period6 Denominations factions and sects often appear to be
the natural offspring of the priesthood of all believers
We are thus confronted with two potential priesthood
problems clerical priesthood and individualistic priesthood Te
former sometimes manifests itself in unhealthy hierarchy the
latter in unfettered democracymdashand neither is desirable What
then do we mean when we declare every Christian a priest Isthe priesthood of all believers a concept worth salvaging
A C P
Yes Te doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is essential for
the church today However as with many doctrines the devil is in
the details Much depends on how we understand and practice the
doctrine Ordained leadership need not carry with it the aura of
superiority and believersrsquo priesthood need not be individualistic
Both official leadership and the priesthood of all believers are nec-
essary for Christrsquos body to grow into maturity (see Eph -)
When we look at the New estament we discover that no
ordained Christian leader is explicitly called ldquopriestrdquo7 Tis term
is reserved for Christ and for all of Godrsquos people During the firsttwo centuries of the post-apostolic church priestly language and
imagery were similarly applied in this restricted manner8 Justin
Martyr (AD ndash) for example identifies Christians as a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1322
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1422
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1522
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1622
R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1722
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1822
R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1922
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2022
R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1322
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
priestly race because of their unique election unique worship
and unique mission (ie preaching for the conversion of hu-mankind)9 Being a priest is at the core of what it means to be a
Christian It is an identity not simply a set of lofty but optional
tasks one might perform should he or she choose Priesthood
connotes a dignity before God and a responsibility to creation
Tat such a motley crew as the church should be given such a
designation seems completely out of touch with reality Never-
theless it is true and therefore must be regularly restated
Early church theologians such as the author of the Didache
ertullian (d AD ) and Origen (d AD ) would sometimes
describe church leaders as priests but they never did so in a way
that denied the priesthood of all believers Origenrsquos sermons on
Leviticus for instance regularly appeal to the ldquoroyal priesthoodrdquo
described in Peter He speaks of believers as a ldquospiritualpriesthoodrdquo and applies priesthood to all believers at least a
dozen times10 Origenrsquos example illustrates that for the most part
the title ldquopriestrdquo applied to all believers during the early centuries
of the church11 Tis emphasis on the priesthood of all believers
never completely faded from the churchrsquos consciousness but it
did undergo a declinemdashwhat we might call ldquothe dark agesrdquo of the
doctrine (the medieval period)mdashuntil its rehabilitation by Luther
and others (described in some detail in chapter three) oday the
doctrine goes by different names within different traditions ldquothe
priesthood of the baptizedrdquo (most often used in the Orthodox
communion) ldquothe priesthood of the faithfulrdquo (the preferred term
among Roman Catholics) and ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquo
(usually used by Protestants and global indigenous church move-
ments) Each term carrying slightly different connotations can
helpfully illumine an important aspect of the doctrine and we
will look at each in turn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1422
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1622
R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1722
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1822
R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1922
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2022
R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1422
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1522
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1622
R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1722
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1822
R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1922
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2022
R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1522
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
certain kind of priestly ministry Hence the preferred Orthodox
term for the doctrine is the ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo
15
Te priesthood of the faithful (Roman Catholic) Te
Second Vatican Councilrsquos Lumen Gentium is the first conciliar
document to address ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo16
It provides a clear affirmation that the whole church is a priestly
peoplemdashin a manner reminiscent of Luther and other Protes-
tants Archbishop Oscar Romero explained the teaching of the
Roman Catholic Church to his parishioners this way
How beautiful will be the day when all the baptized under-
stand that their work their job is a priestly work and
each metalworker each professional each doctor with the
scalpel the market woman at her stand is performing a
priestly office How many cabdrivers I know listen to this
message there in their cabs you are a priest at the wheel
my friend if you work with honesty consecrating that taxi
of yours to God bearing a message of peace and love to the
passengers who ride in your cab17
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that there is only one
priesthoodmdashChristrsquosmdashbut there are two distinct participations
in itmdashone ministerial belonging to ordained clergy the other
common belonging to all baptized believers Christ the high
priest made the church into a kingdom and priests to serve God
Te Catholic catechism reads ldquoTrough the sacraments of
Baptism and Confirmation the faithful are lsquoconsecrated to be
a holy priesthoodrsquordquo and they live out their baptismal priesthood
ldquothrough their participation each according to his own vocationin Christrsquos mission as priest prophet and kingrdquo18 Each Christian
exercises his or her priesthood in a distinctive way in accordance
with their calling Within the baptismal priesthood of the faithful
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1622
R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1722
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1822
R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1922
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2022
R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1622
R C
a subgroup is ordained to the ministerial priesthood Tis group
of ordained leaders are the ones most people think about whenthe word priest is mentioned Tey lead congregations in celebra-
tions of the Lordrsquos Supper preach the Word of God baptize and
perform other duties in the Roman Catholic Church For Cath-
olics the ordained priesthood is special with a unique sacrament
but it exists to serve the common priesthood It is ldquothe means by
which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Churchrdquo19
While ldquothe common priesthood of the faithfulrdquo is the most
common term used by Roman Catholic theologians many now
also use the traditionally Protestant ldquopriesthood of all believersrdquo20
Te priesthood of all believers (Protestant) Martin Luther
did not coin the phrase ldquothe priesthood of all believersrdquomdashthe
closest he comes is the ldquogeneral priesthood of all baptized be-
lieversrdquomdashbut he remains the most important source for theProtestant understanding of the doctrine referring to believers
as priests hundreds of times throughout his writings Te doc-
trine according to Luther denotes the believerrsquos sharing in
Christrsquos royal priesthood through faith and baptism Its primary
implications are every believerrsquos access to the Father through
Christ and responsibility to minister to other believers espe-
cially through the proclamation of the Word
Other traditions took up Lutherrsquos mantle some conforming
to his intent and others diverging For example the Anabaptist
traditions held what Luther deemed a radicalized version of the
doctrine Like Luther they emphasized believersrsquo direct access
to God although they sometimes minimized the role of or-
dained leaders in the church One writer observes
Te experience of the immediacy with God led Anabaptists
to reject any notion that special places persons or objects
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1722
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1822
R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1922
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2022
R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1722
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
brought one closer to God Te relationship of the human
being with God was not dependent on clerical or sacramentalmediation In the Anabaptist view religious institutions were
human inventions at best and downright detrimental to
spiritual well being at worst Te spiritual experience of
the immediate relationship between God and human beings
had the consequence of elevating the common person to a
position equal to that of the clergy and nobility21
In addition to this emphasis Anabaptists stressed the responsi-
bility of every believer to preach the gospel to those without a
sincere faith in Christ Tis missional dimension of the
priesthood of all believers ldquocontributed greatly to the launching
of the modern missionary movement a logical result of a
church-view which made every baptized person a missionerrdquo22
While different Protestant traditions have emphasized different
aspects of the doctrine a common core can be identified
Te heart of the Protestant understanding of the priesthood
of believers is rinitarian First the baptized believer now has
direct access to the Father in the Most Holy Place Trough
Christ we can all experience God intimately Second as those
who have been united to Christ we have the privilege of priestlyministry to one another in the place of Christ especially as we
speak his words and announce the good news about his grace
and forgiveness Finally every member of the priesthood of all
believers has received the Holy Spiritrsquos anointing and empow-
erment for mission and witness in the world Each baptized be-
liever has received gifts for service and ministry Just as Jesus
was empowered for mission at his baptism so baptized believers
have received the Holy Spiritrsquos empowerment Tey too are now
called to join in the missio Deimdashthe mission of God in the world
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1822
R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1922
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
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R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1822
R C
Te principles and practices of the priesthood of all believers
must be considered carefully lest the doctrine become a waxnose twisted in unseemly directions How we finish the statement
ldquoWe believe in the priesthood of all believers therefore rdquo re-
veals a good deal about what we understand the doctrine to
mean At my (Uchersquos) church for example the sentence might
be completed with any of the following statements
bull We share the preaching responsibilities among a group of five
to ten teachers
bull We place much of the directing of the church in the hands of
laypeople
bull We speak of small group leaders as the ldquorealrdquo pastors of the
church
bull We treat small groups as the heartbeat of the church theplace where all members are encouraged to ldquospeak the truth
in loverdquo to one another
bull We devote large portions of our service times to hearing
spontaneous prayers and words of testimony from various
members of the congregation
bull We have reflection services where the congregation ldquopreachesthe sermonrdquo through spontaneous reflections on Scripture
Without evaluating the relative strengths or weaknesses of
these practices we can see that they betray a particular take
(a fairly Anabaptistic one) on what the priesthood of all be-
lievers entails In fact all renderings of the doctrine are con-
textual and their validity rests on how much they cohere withScripturersquos overall vision As will become clear some practices
necessarily follow from an affirmation of the priesthood of
believers and some do not
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1922
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2022
R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 1922
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
Despite their differences the above termsmdashldquopriesthood of
the faithfulrdquo ldquopriesthood of the baptizedrdquo and ldquopriesthood of allbelieversrdquomdashall faithfully express aspects of Scripturersquos teaching
Also of significance is the fact that all major traditions of the
church emphasize this doctrine as vitally important for local
congregations today
A V D
Te priesthood of all believers lies near the center of church
life and Christian spirituality Rather than simply being a
quaint Protestant slogan it is a way of naming the Christianrsquos
identity in Jesus Christ As with many other teachings fresh
restatements must be made so that its truth remains living in
the consciousness of the church Tis book is one such con-
temporary restatement We aim to present a well-roundedtheological vision for the priesthood of all believers one that
is constructive rather than reactive It develops in four stagesmdash
biblical historical theological and practicalmdashwith a chapter
devoted to each stage
Te biblical chapter (chapter two) outlines the story of the
priesthood of all believers It is a story that begins in Eden and
ends in the New Jerusalem but we focus on a few highlights
starting with Exodus - followed by Psalm and Isaiah
ndash We then take up Peter - as a programmatic New
estament text and further build on its insights through an ex-
amination of several Pauline writings Hebrews and the book of
Revelation Te chapter also identifies some specific features of
the Levitical priesthood ultimately seeking to highlight the sim-ilarities between the labors of professional priests in the Old
estament and those of members of Christrsquos royal priesthood
Finally we point to the centrality of the Messiah as the one who
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2022
R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2022
R C
fulfills the long-awaited office of eschatological royal priest and
initiates the participation of Godrsquos people in his own royalpriesthood Trough the interweaving of these strands we have
the beginnings of a more thorough understanding of what the
priesthood of believers entails for the church
Te third chapter is historical detailing Martin Lutherrsquos the-
ology of the priesthood of believers and presenting it as a fruitful
and concrete attempt to integrate and develop Scripturersquos
teaching on priesthoodmdashboth ordained and universal We place
Lutherrsquos doctrine in context by setting it against the backdrop of
medieval developments in the understanding of priesthood par-
ticularly the elevation of ordained leadership over the laity
Much of Lutherrsquos polemic is targeted toward these (negative)
shifts He argues that all believers share the privilege of royal
priesthood and are called to ldquoproclaimrdquo the Word in its writtenoral and sacramental forms Tis chapter serves to correct some
misconceptions of Lutherrsquos teaching on the matter while pre-
senting him as a bridge between the biblical material and the
present life and thought of the church Lutherrsquos life and teaching
illustrate how revitalizing a vision of the priesthood of all be-
lievers opens the way for greater transformation of the churchrsquos
life and mission by the Word of God
Chapter four is theological arguing that a Christian doctrine
of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a
Christocentric-rinitarian understanding of the missio Dei It
brings the doctrine into dialogue with the churchrsquos confession of
the triune God producing an explicitly rinitarian account of
the priesthood of believers We contend that there are especially
appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father
(worship) the Son (service) and the Holy Spirit (witness) In-
adequate rinitarian versions of the doctrine of the priesthood
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2122
Exalted Clergy or Egalitarian Priests
of all believers can be found in Islam Mormonism and a number
of Protestant theologies Tis chapter concludes with a brief cri-tique of several inadequate Protestant forms
Te final substantive chapter is practical providing a contem-
porary ethics in outline for the royal priesthood We hold that a
canonically and catholically informed notion of the priesthood
of all believers leads to particular contextualized ecclesial prac-
tices Te chapter addresses how a clear vision a resolute in-
tention and particular means (VIM) can lead to faithful and
fruitful practices It places particular weight on seven central
practices essential to the health of the royal priesthood Tese
practices are closely associated with those emerging from the
earlier chapter on Luther () baptism as public ordination to the
royal priesthood () prayer () lectio divina () ministry
() church discipline () proclamation and () the Lordrsquos SupperEach of these is rooted in the apostolic doctrine of the royal
priesthood and each has played an important role in the doc-
trinersquos history Our hope for this book is that the richness of this
doctrine with its deep biblical and historical roots will become
evident so that its ramifications might be felt in our practices
and everyday experience as followers of the great High Priest
A B N A
As with many dual-authored books questions about which
author is speaking may arise While we both share responsi-
bility for the entire book it may be helpful for the reader to
know that chapters one two and three are primarily authored
by Uche while chapters four five and six are primarily authoredby Hank Personal illustrations and anecdotes in the respective
chapters belong to the primary author of the chapter
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222
8182019 Representing Christ By Uche Anizor and Hank Voss
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullrepresenting-christ-by-uche-anizor-and-hank-voss 2222