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The priesthood of all believers is either the general Christian belief that all Christians form a common priesthood, or, alternatively, the specific Protestant belief that this universal priesthood precludes the ministerial priesthood (holy orders) found in some other churches, including Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
The church's doctrine also sometimes refers to all baptised members as the "common priesthood", [1] [2] which can be confused with the ministerial priesthood of the consecrated clergy. The church has different rules for priests in the Latin Church–the largest Catholic particular church–and in the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches.
The priesthood is formally known as the "Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God", but to avoid the too frequent use of the name of deity, the priesthood is referred to as the Melchizedek priesthood (Melchizedek being the high priest to whom Abraham paid tithes). As an authority, the priesthood is the authority by which a bearer may ...
However, while the English word priest has presbyter as the etymological origin, [7] the distinctive Greek word (Greek ἱερεύς hiereus) for "priest" is never used for presbyteros/episkopos in the New Testament, except as being part of the general priesthood of all believers, [8] with the first Christians making a distinction between pagan ...
All Christian people together are the priesthood (see priesthood of all believers), on behalf of whom the elders are called to serve by the consent of the congregation. Presbyterianism uses a conciliar method of church government (that is, leadership by the group or council). Thus, the ministers and "elders" govern together as a group, and at ...
The congregational (or priesthood of all believers) form of Church polity has no foundation in the Scriptures, the canons of the undivided Church, the Lutheran Confessions, or the writings of Dr. Martin Luther. For this reason the canons of The Evangelical Catholic Church state that the parish Pastor is the spiritual father of his parish (XIII ...
It is church doctrine that the priesthood must strive to fulfill the grace given to them with the gift of the "laying on of hands" in the most perfect that they can. But the Church teaches that the reality and effectiveness of the sacraments of the church, ministered by the presbyters, do not depend upon personal virtue, but upon the presence of Christ who acts in his church by the Holy Spirit.
Luther developed his expositions of the "universal priesthood of believers" from New Testament scripture. Through his studies, Luther recognized that the hierarchical division of Christians into clergy and laity, stood in contrast to the Apostle Peter's teaching (1Peter 2:1-10).. . .