Scripture says that Jesus is the mediator between God and man. this fulfills the Old Testament role of the priesthood.
In the Old Testament, priests were needed to perform ritual ceremonies of sacrifice in which a bird or animal were ritually killed, to remove the sin of Jews temporarily.
Jesus fulfilled this sacrificial ceremony by his death on the cross, and made the priesthood role in man redundant for ever. He suffered the penalty for our sins by being also the sacrificial object, and took away God’s anger towards mankind for those sins since Adam sinned. He removed the penalty for sin permanently, from true believers. The Reformers believe this.
But some religions still persist with priests, despite the fact that Jesus performs the role of priestly mediator for us.
Some Anglicans still use the term ‘priest’, instead of ‘minister’.
Anglicanism persists in believing in some Catholic concepts, and the ‘priest’ presides over the holy communion ceremony.
In the early church, according to the New Testament scriptures, we had no priests. We had elders, presbyters etc.
This link, also speaks about the beliefs of Roman Catholics.
Who is the Real Rock?
Catholic priests supposedly have authority to forgive sins; however, only God can truly forgive sins. The Roman Catholic Priesthood denies and replaces Jesus’ true Biblical priesthood.
a Catholic link explains their view on this in http//www.newadvent.org/cathen/10118a.htm
and it seems to get it right, theologically in this link.
Christ’s saving work did not at once blot out every individual sin and transform every sinner into a saint, it only procured the means thereto. Personal sanctification is effected the special acts, partly Divine, partly human; it is secured by loving God, and man as the Saviour did. Christianus alter Christus: every Christian is another Christ, a son of God, an heir to the eternal Kingdom. Finally, in the fulness of time all things that are in heaven and on earth shall be re-established, restored, in God through Christ (Ephesians 1:9-10). The meaning of the promise is that the whole of creation, bound up together and perfected in christ as its Head, shall be led back in the most perfect manner to God, from whom sin had partly led it away. Christ is the Crown the Centre, and the Fountain of a new and higher order of things: “for all are yours; And you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” (1 Corinthians 3:22-23).
I wonder how the average parishioner actually sees the role of the priest, in a church which still maintains that title?
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_role_of_a_Catholic_priest sums it up by this analysis:
A Catholic priest fulfills the role of mediator between God and man. The priest is another Christ, consecrated by a bishop in order to assist in serving the Church in the dispensing of sacraments, celebrating of Holy Mass, teaching the ways of God and His Church, converting the heathen and performing the corporal and spiritual acts of mercy among the people God places in his path.
The priest’s primary role is to sanctify himself and others through the correct execution of these his duties. By his consecration he truly acts in the Person of Christ when dispensing the sacraments for he participates directly in Christ’s priesthood; according to Catholic theology, Christ is the true and only mediator between God and man and is prophet, priest and king, roles the priest directly participates in and assumes in the name of Christ as preacher, priest and leader of God’s faithful through the virtue of the holy orders and commission from the Church he receives at ordination.
Debates in the Anglican synod meetings reject the ideas of the Sydney Anglicans, for example, in this regard?
RSS Feed