The Priesthood of All Believers and the Missio Dei: A Canonical, Catholic, and Contextual Perspective

by Hank Voss, Daniel Treier

Overview

The priesthood of all believers is a pillar undergirding Protestant ecclesiology. Yet the doctrine has often been used to serve diverse agendas. This book examines the doctrine's canonical, catholic, and contextual dimensions. It first identifies the priesthood of all believers as a canonical doctrine based upon the royal priesthood of Christ and closely related to the believer's eschatological temple-service and offering of spiritual sacrifices (chapters 1-3). It secondly describes its catholic development by examining three paradigmatic shifts, shifts especially associated with Christendom (chapters 4-6) and a suppression of the doctrine's missional component. Finally, the book argues that a Christian doctrine of the priesthood of all believers should be developed with a Christocentric-Trinitarian understanding of the missio Dei. This suggests there are especially appropriate ways for the royal priesthood to relate to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. A canonically and catholically informed priesthood of all believers leads contextually to particular ecclesial practices. These seven practices are 1) Baptism as public ordination to the royal priesthood; 2) Prayer; 3) Lectio Divina; 4) Ministry; 5) Church Discipline; 6) Proclamation; and 7) the Lord's Supper as the renewal of the royal priesthood.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498283304
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	10/25/2016
Series:	Princeton Theological Monograph Series , #223
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Hank Voss (PhD, Wheaton College) is national director of church planting at World Impact and senior national staff with The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI). He is the co-author of Representing Christ: A Vision for the Priesthood of All Believers. His ministry experience includes fifteen years in urban ministry and contextualized theological education. Voss is married to Johanna and they have four children.

Table of Contents

Illustrations and Tables x

Foreword Daniel Treier xi

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xvii

List of Abbreviations xxi

Introduction 1

Defining Terms 3

The Big Picture 13

Part I The Royal Priesthood in Scriptures Script

1 Royal Priests: Actors in the New Testaments Story 27

A Radical Change in the Priesthood 41

What is Christian Priesthood? 45

2 The Story's Script: Isaiah's Royal-Priestly Servant and His Royal-Priestly Seed 51

Jesus as the Priestly Servant of God ('ebed Yahweh) 52

The Servants Royal and Priestly Seed ('ebedim) in Isaiah 54-66 60

3 Matthew's Jesus as Isaiah's Servant: The Royal Priesthoods High-Priestly King 72

Matthew's Priestly Servant and His Priestly Disciples 74

Isaiah's Priestly Seed Elsewhere in the New Testament 91

Part II From Actors to Audience and Back Again: The Royal Priesthoods Story across the Centuries

4 Defrocking the Royal Priesthood: The First Paradigm Shift 103

Temple Troubles: Clement of Rome and the Hierarchicalization of Temple Service (a.k.a. "Ministry") 106

Sharing the Sacrifice? Cyprian and the Rise of the "Third" Christian Priesthood 112

Royal Priesthood versus Roman Citizenship: Baptism, Constantine, and the Rise of Christendom 117

5 Reforming the Royal Priesthood: Luther and the Priesthood of All Believers 129

Luther's Doctrine of the "Priesthood of All Believers" 130

A Systematic Account of Luther's Priesthood of All Believers 135

Assessing Luther's Doctrine of the Believer as Priest 144

6 Sending the Royal Priesthood: Karl Barth, Lesslie Newbigin, and Missional Theology 155

Karl Barth and the Priesthood of All Believers 156

Lesslie Newbigin and a Missionary Priesthood of All Believers 170

Part III The Royal Priesthood in Today's World

7 The Priesthood of All Believers in Trinitarian Perspective 181

Christocentric-Only or Christocentric-Trinitarian? 183

Responding to the Triune God 187

Protestant Perils and the Priesthood of All Believers 199

8 The Practices of a Priestly People: Baptismal Ordination and the Offering of Spiritual Sacrifices 209

The Royal Priesthood's Practices 210

Baptism: The Royal Priesthoods Practice of Ordination 218

Spiritual Sacrifices as Practices: Romans 12:1-2 and the Royal Priesthoods Worship, Work, and Witness 224

The Lord's Supper as Consummation of the Royal Priesthood's Spiritual Practices 236

Conclusion 241

Appendix: Significant Figures and Events for the Royal Priest hood: First through Twenty-first Centuries 247

Bibliography 269

Subject Index 297

Scripture Index 303