Notes
on Forming a Priesthood of Believers Ecclessia
©2016
Gary Clifford Gibson
While
the early church had its faults it did bring the gospel forward
through history. It would require a future, technologically advanced
time for millions of souls to gather into a priesthood of believers
paradigm with simple beginner, intermediate and elder ranks in one
networked church. The church would share membership, attendance,
participation, sharing and welfare networks, share traveler's lodging
and even monastic retreats and continuing adult instruction in the
word of God.
Timothy
as Paul’s ‘spiritual son’ and leader of the church at Ephesus
would have been reassured by what is in effect Paul’s living will
with instruction on how to proceed without the presence of the
Apostle. It is not certain that the immediate development of
particular forms of the church were to be taken as immutable for all
time. Like Paul’s criticisms of particular errorists the most
suitable structure for providing the gospel and practical Christian
organization for the time and foreseeable future would have been the
intention. Church organization probably should adapt to vast changes
in methods of social organization and innovate better priesthood of
believers’ structure.
Berkhof
writes that Paul wasn’t sure that Timothy would reach Rome before
he was executed and so made the letter such that it would comprise
adequate final words in leu.
In
theory, church offices that were exclusive and limited during the
early church before common literacy and when books were rare and
communication difficult, can be greatly increased in the contemporary
world. If in the first century one learned elder was needed, if there
are 100 learned elders in a church there isn't a reason they should
be excluded from holding the office of elder. It is as if an army
battalion could have just one corporal, one sergeant and perhaps two
officers and everyone else were privates. It is far better if all are
trained as active spiritual warriors and share church offices of
beginner, intermediate and elder with helpful standardized theology
formats. If all know the words to the gospel song then all should
sing; instead of just a soloist performing for an audience.
It
may be that John Bunyan’s book provides a kind of systems analysis
perspective upon the methods of operation that Satan employs to
corrupt the human soul. There is a sort of synoptic view of God’s
relationship to mankind provided in the ‘Holy War’ in allegorical
form. I think it quite useful to have a synoptic view on God’s
relationship to mankind especially concerning the assaults and
methods of operation used by the exteriority of evil implicit in the
works of the devil. Forewarned is forearmed. Defense is simpler when
one understands the reasons why the conflict is happening especially
as direct attack is made upon oneself and even one’s own thought.
As Bunyan wrote; the gunpowder of pride is an effective tool among
Satan’s repertoire of dirty tricks for subverting the human soul to
his advantage. I suppose the Evil one would line his pit with
trophies of souls in jars packed in and sealed with eternal doom.
A
synoptic view of the work of God to save the human race over the
course of history does require a generally accurate understanding of
the meaning of the Bible. A wrong hermeneutic and eschatology can
bring one to react incorrectly to the external challenges of Satan
and the phenomenality of evolution theory. To use Arnold Toynbee’s
challenge-response criterion, the response of Christians to the
external challenge of Satanic designs to snare their soul would not
be appropriate to the challenge. If one believes that a quick
evacuation will occur from a potential battlefield if there is a
sudden enemy attack it is quite possible that adequate defense
measures for protracted war will not be built. In other words if
pre-tribulationist misinterpreters of John’s Revelation believe
that they will be raptured from the world after a long slow drain of
morality from society in Satan’s winning campaign, they will be
poor defenders of or missionaries for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In
the ‘Holy War’ Prince Emmanuel in some way fades out from the
inner castle of Mansoul gradually after winning the battle for
Mansoul from the Devil who is cast into the pit. Yet he has already
established his Lord High Secretary to interact with the townsmen for
him, in his absence as he has returned to the court of the
Father-Shaddai. Because the people having been restored with
forgiveness for their prior defection to sin have become sickened
over time with subtly infiltrated sickness and deceptions masking
corruption regress toward apostasy slowly, the Lord High Secretary,
who may symbolize the Holy Spirit, has become reclusive and unwilling
to act in defense of the people of Mansoul too.
The
tribulation previously reached Mansoul in the form of its capture and
occupation by Diabolus and his army. Yet with the kingdom of God
(Prince Emmanuel) restored in possession of Mansoul there was still
trouble with the prospect for relapse into the old ways of submission
to the will of Diabolus who would return to be Prince of Mansoul. Not
only must Christians or the citizens of Mansoul be ever vigilant
against the deceit of Diabolus, they must encourage and reinforce one
another as peers in a priesthood of believers as free people that are
voluntarily allegiant as servants to Prince Emmanuel (Jesus Christ)
as their defender who has true concern about their eternal
well-being. In post-tribulationist interpretation of the Revelation
template for the Holy War, a priesthood of believers must needs
increase the kingdom of God unto being an active majority of the
population rather than being shrinking violets dwindling to a tiny
minority remnant waiting for evacuation like the Washington Adolphus
Greely expedition at Fort Conger. An active priesthood of professing
believers would know for themselves the truth of the gospel and
present that every day in their own lives and interactions with
others in society. Church going Christians cannot remain pew-sitting
watchers of an elite being Christian performers on stage viewing
things passively from the cell of their mind in a brain housing
skull. An actual peer Christian egalitarian networking church
structure need arise with a variety of forms where church discipline
is just a matter of being a Christian in a priesthood of believers
roll without prospect for reprobate conduct without being untrue to
oneself and what one believes and says in performing the roles of the
priesthood of believers that have some elements of standardization.
It
is said that some Montanists weren’t antipathetic to priesthood of
believers structure, yet Montanism required a kind of worldly
perfection unknown except for a few ascetics in deserts. That would
be less than practical approach for general urban assemblies. While
the early church had its faults it did bring the gospel forward
through history. It would require a future, technologically advanced
time for millions of souls to gather in priesthood of believers
paradigms with simple beginner, intermediate and elder ranks.
Christianity
drifted into an hierarchially ordered ossified structure fusing with
political movements on occasion entering into what Augustine called
the City of Man without sufficient thought for the City of God. It is
the City of God expressed by Christians in a priesthood of believers
that brings the world toward a better direction rather than vice
versa.
Reform
of the church to an egalitarian priesthood of believers was desirable
yet generally unknown.
It
is said that the church learned from the risen Lord in the 40 days
before his ascension how to organize the church in his absence.
Deacons would minister unto the poor and elders or presbyters would
attend to the body of believers. The Apostles were considered to be
of a bishop class of elders able to coordinate and harmonize among
diverse flocks. Paul appointed Titus and others into that role. Yet
the body of believers had one high priest in heaven-the Lord, and
maturity of Christians into the strong meat of faith from the milk of
conversion or youth was desired. All Christians could become elders
or priests one infers. Today a priesthood of believers ecclesia would
be a good formation for the church with beginner, intermediate and
expert/elder roles in church functions and representative elders or
Bishops with term limits elected to coordinate amid denominations and
congregations.
Philip
Schaff writes on page 26 of his History of the Christian Church
Volume II; The Ante-Nicene Era 100-325 A.D. that, “the foundation
was laid strong and deep by the apostles themselves. The seed
scattered by them from Jerusalem to Rome, and fertilized by their
blood, sprung up as a bountiful harvest. The word of our Lord was
again fulfilled on a larger scale: "One soweth, and another
reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye have not labored: others
have labored, and ye are entered into their labor" (John 4:38).
Christianity once established was its own best missionary.
Protestant
reforms in Germany and Switzerland developed new preachers and
theologians who often were converted Roman Catholic priests to a
better priesthood of believers format. Unfortunately, even the
electronic technologically enabling modern era has failed to upgrade
to a post-set aside hierarchical ministry organization.
Because
some Popes asserted unlimited power over all church and state affairs
a reformation was sought by the laity. Martin Luther in Germany and
Zwingli in Switzerland led a rectification of the Christian Church to
return to Bible basics that the word of God is primary and that there
is an egalitarian priesthood of believers.
Schaff
Page 15 Volume 7; “The spirit and aim of evangelical Protestantism
is best expressed by Paul in his anti- Judaistic Epistle to the
Galatians: "For freedom did Christ set us free; stand fast,
therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage."
Christian freedom is so inestimable a blessing that no amount of
abuse can justify a relapse into a state of spiritual despotism and
slavery. But only those who have enjoyed it, can properly appreciate
it.
The
Reformation was at first a purely religious movement, and furnishes a
striking illustration of the all-pervading power of religion in
history. It started from the question: What must a man do to be
saved? How shall a sinner be justified before God, and attain peace
of his troubled conscience? The Reformers were supremely concerned
for the salvation of the soul, for the glory of Christ and the
triumph of his gospel. They thought much more of the future
world than of the present, and made all political, national, and
literary interests subordinate and subservient to religion.”
-
Schaff Vol 7 page 23 Ҥ 8. The Priesthood of the Laity.
“The
social or ecclesiastical principle of Protestantism is the general
priesthood of believers, in distinction from the special priesthood
which stands mediating between Christ and the laity.
The
Roman church is an exclusive hierarchy, and assigns to the laity the
position of passive obedience. The bishops are the teaching and
ruling church; they alone constitute a council or synod, and have the
exclusive power of legislation and administration. Laymen have no
voice in spiritual matters, they can not even read the Bible without
the permission of the priest, who holds the keys of heaven and hell.
In
the New Testament every believer is called a saint, a priest, and a
king. "All Christians," says Luther, "are truly of the
spiritual estate, and there is no difference among them, save of
office alone. As St. Paul says, we are all one body, though each
member does its own work, to serve the others. This is because we
have one baptism, alike; one gospel, one faith, and are all
Christians for baptism, gospel and faith, these alone make spiritual
and Christian people." And again: "It is faith that makes
men priests, faith that unites them to Christ, and gives them the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whereby they become filled with all
holy grace and heavenly power. The inward anointing—this oil,
better than any that ever came from the horn of bishop or pope—gives
them not the name only, but the nature, the purity, the power of
priests; and this anointing have all they received who are believers
in Christ."
This
principle, consistently carried out, raises the laity to active
co-operation in the government and administration of the church; it
gives them a voice and vote in the election of the pastor; it makes
every member of the congregation useful, according to his peculiar
gift, for the general good. This principle is the source of religious
and civil liberty which flourishes most in Protestant countries.
Religious liberty is the mother of civil liberty. The universal
priesthood of Christians leads legitimately to the universal kingship
of free, self-governing citizens, whether under a monarchy or under a
republic.”-end quote
A
priesthood of believers is described somewhat in the book of Hebrews
by the apostle Paul, and of course Jesus said that Christians would
be as servants rather than as those placing themselves first.
A
priesthood of believers could be evolved from existing church
structures to make a more egalitarian and Biblically correct for of
Christian organization better able to evangelize and express the will
of God so far as I understand the New Testament.
The
Old Testament has a temple worship form something similar to other
priestly hierarchies of other faiths...paradoxically Muslims have an
imam that isn't actually a priest but is instead just a group leader
of merit.
Of
course regular Christian priesthoods have served to bring the message
of the gospel over the millenia, however in this populist era all
should be more equal and serve equal roles as servants able to serve
other Christians first and then others as is useful or consistent
with Biblical doctrine.
Here
is a brief organizational structure example...
Christians
in a church would be organized in groups of 12. Maybe a useful Church
would have 12 groups of 12. Each worship day one elder would have a
15 minute time to talk or sermonize, a few hymns could be sung, and
everyone else in the group could have five minutes to talk or not.
Alternate weeks would have a new elder selected to sermonize.
Perhaps
it would be better to have half of the 11 non-sermonizers talk for 10
minutes each instead of for 5 minutes. Each would be expected to
share some learning from the Bible and perhaps to discuss individual
work assignments.
Tithing
could continue yet no one would be paid. The money would be invested
in insurance for group associates and physical maint. Each member
would have their own outside job, yet each group would so far as
possible provide fairly free services to other members when and how
useful.
In
the priesthood of believers all would be trained to be front-line
working Christians trained to speak in small groups, evangelize
outside when possible, and be a Christian educator. The only position
women would not take, in order to be consistent with the Bible, would
be that of the 15-minute sermon leader, who would also lead the
responsive group reading. Since he doesn't get paid, and the position
changes no one should care, and the members should have plenty of
other meaningful work to do.
New
Christians could be brought into a new member group, or shifted into
groups without twelve people and so forth. This is just an idea that
I believe would help to establish more Christians in presently
non-Christian areas that would bring more Christians out of backseat
roles and into the forefront of actual Biblically directed Christian
living and so forth.
The
Universe grew from the smallest seed to provide shelter for all
manner of living things, yet ossification of Christian worship forms
and church structure set in as soon as the Apostles were gone. Martin
Luther wrote, “All Christians are priests, and all priests are
Christians. Worthy of anathema is any assertion that a priest is
anything else than a Christian." After the crucifixion of Jesus
by the Temple priesthood and the destruction of the Temple later
another human cultural tradition of hierarchical priesthoods grew to
resume the authority structure of a few upper class leaders instead
of the egalitarian priesthood of believers as Jesus seemed to want to
move to in reformation of the way people relate to God. Will
Christians ever generally develop the faith even for that simple
step?
The
Church today could use a priesthood of believers organizational and
design leader. Martin Luther believed that all Christians were to be
priests in distinction to hierarchical priesthoods that continue an
exclusive elitist politic.
A
priesthood of believers would be something like groups of twelve with
peer status sharing their weekly Sunday meeting roles in majority
speaker, minority speaker, weekly reports and song leader. With this
sort of fundamental organization with perhaps three ranks of novice,
regular and elder status the Church would have just one high priest
(Jesus Christ) and a priesthood of believers sharing in evangelical
and missions work and so forth.
Many
church needs should be supported by these dedicated groups, and
perhaps Churches would be full with 144 members. I prefer they meet
in monolithic domes sitting about round tables.
With
such a squad structure churches should hopefully be able to be more
supportive of medical and other group needs with contracts to
Christian services to provide things the group cannot. The
composition of each group should be as balanced as possible
occupationally speaking.
This
is a radical change to the way things are now done-Protestant
Churches are set up like little franchise Catholic Churches
supporting a hierarchical priesthood. Jesus ended the hierarchical
temple priesthood form with his death and resurrection.
John
9: 4-5
“4 I
must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night
cometh, when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the
world, I am the light of the world.”
If
post-millennialism is correct it doesn't mean Christianity is
obsolete-instead it confirms its truth and prophetic accuracy. We are
living in the age of the Gentiles. Instead of expect a sudden
anti-Christ and Armageddon Christianity should grow and increase
human peace, prosperity and knowledge of the Lord (perhaps with a
priesthood of believers replacing the hierarchical priesthood). The
second coming and final judgment could take an indefinite time even
occurring after human settlement of Mars and distant galaxies, it’s
hard to say for sure.
There
was after all a Pope at Rome and differences between more Orthodox
and Catholic sects as well as four other traditional patriarchates
with equal claim for spiritual prominence besides that of Rome.
Charles,
Charlemagne and the Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire for a time
could also claim to be first as political rulers of the Christian
Church with the power to appoint Bishops and other church leaders.
The problems of the Roman Papacy in its relation politically to kings
of the various nations often was one of papal claims to rule
politically as well as spiritually with kings disputing that right.
The issue was often one of who had a right to rule the unified church
and state. Those practical power issues tended to eclipse the
democratic rights of the laity or common folk. The political rights
of the common people tended to develop meaningfully along with the
emancipation of Christian fellowship from oppressive state and
ecclesiastical authority, and the process evolved over hundreds of
years.
During
the Protestant reformation the reformers such as Martin Luther,
Zwingli, Hus and Calvin took umbrage to not only corrupt clerical
practices and wrong doctrine, they found a fundamental priesthood of
believers approach to a direct relationship with Christ better and
more true than a hierarchical trickle down of doctrine from a
priesthood to a laity. There were numerous unintended consequences of
the reformation though.
With
the reformation Kings such as Henry the Eight broke off from Rome and
the Roman pope and became their own pope leading their own church.
Like Caesar as a god to be worshiped the nationalist popes leading
their own churches became pseudo gods issuing ecclesiastical rules by
decree. Decretals of the British female pope Queen Elizabeth set the
rules for mandatory church attendance and forms of worship
permissible in her realm. The protestant reformation became a more
complex breakup of political and ecclesiastical empires into new
local and regional ones. The continuing reform is to liberate the
Christian Church and individual spiritual freedom from bondage to
state authority.
Europe
was beset by aristocratic usurpation of Christian authority in Sweden
as well as England and Russia. Spiritual liberation from Erastian
criteria could also bring development antipathetic libertines without
belief in anything besides cultural hedonism. Such godless behavior
in society resulting in elastic rationalism brought the anti-Christs
Stalin and Hitler to power with Stalin declaring churches 'not
working anymore' as the religion of state atheism was compelled on
the populace. Effectively worship of Uncle Joe became requisite for
survival.
The
state church of the tsars was the Orthodox sect of the Universal
Christian Church. In the Ukraine the inter-tidal areas of political
and sectarian conflict as well as the troubles of racism, culturalism
and practical issues of food growing lands and security from invasion
made for continuing contention for control. The Ukraine had
Catholicism from Polish landlords, Orthodox from Russian and a
synthetic Uniate Church comprised of both. Because of the association
of religion under state authority, religious strife was implicit as
it was for Cromwell, Milton and anti-Papist reactionaries, regicides
of Charles the First and St. Bartholomew's Day massacres in Ireland
and France unto the British-Irish troubles of the 20th century.
Conservative
forces have tended to support the human characteristic of depleting
and degrading the resources of foes; religious or political, and
liberal forces have sought relief from such oppression. Of course
there is a cyclical element to that. Christianity of the Lord is
liberal yet with perennial moral values. Even so Conservative
Christians defending doctrines and Church power and murdered hundreds
of thousands of Christians much less godless atheist heretics.
Protestants decried the faults of Catholicism yet even Protestant
reformers supported the execution of fellow reformers with different
doctrines. Human original sin corrupts all social establishments
while the spirit of the Lord perpetually frees saved individuals from
that bondage. One hopes that the Ukraine receives a new fellowship in
the Spirit of the Lord.
It
may be easier for people to be saved with fewer of the sharp edges of
life cutting them up demographically speaking. After being saved if a
priesthood of believers structure exists as a peer group to reinforce
their new-found Christian ethical understanding
Gentry
believes that the tri-une unity who is God in three persons has a
covenant-based relation to mankind and that fundamentally Christians
are to work to make the world a better and Christian place in accord
with the will of God. Obviously this is an excellent theology for
missiology endeavors and I think would work fine with a more
egalitarian priesthood of believers ecclesiastical reform movement.
Gentry's
description on page 128 of an ethical continuum from God within which
Christians need to cohere comprises a meta-ethical context or
selection. It excludes even non-Christian theistic ethics as having
value in respect of the right theonomous ethical ensemble. I agree
though I note that non-Christians ethics do matter to secular society
and that they are not to be entirely discounted. Gentry believes that
Christians of the reformed, post—millennial kind ought to be
transformers of society from bad to good and that would make the
inference easy that encouraging better ethics for the lost might be
useful as an intermediate step in the road to progress for a fallen
world beyond the kingdom of God.
God
had a purpose in working with the Jews continuing through history
from the protoevangelium. The prophets were signs and shepherd-signs
to the people of Israel. The people of Israel were intended to be a
priesthood of believers leading the world to God. The Jews often
failed at the task, humanity tends to digress after the fall. Maybe
that is a lesson in itself-none are good, no not one.
Due
to their inability to comply with the terms of the Mosaic covenant
well enough the priesthood of believers was expanded through the Lord
Jesus Christ to include all followers of Christ.
It
is useful to keep in mind what Jesus said about being a spiritual
descendant of Abraham (from Matthew 3) "9 And think not to say
within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you,
that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham."
This is a notice to those believing in a material, genetic
dispensational salvation that it is hearts and minds following the
Lord that brings one to be regarded by God as a child of Abraham.
Adam
and Eve lived in what was a non-thermodynamic Universe set aside from
the created world outside the Garden of Eden. It seems as if they
were cast out into a thermodynamic paradigm to be the means through
which human life on Earth might be saved from the material,
thermodynamic criterion. That is a cultural mandate to make a people
of God-a spiritual being, from the numbers of evolved human beings in
God's creation, was made. Noah's descendants debarked to found
nations within what seems to be an already peopled world (though
there were only 200 million humans on Earth in the year zero. The
chosen people were to become a priesthood of believers bringing as
many as was predetermined by God to a spiritual and holy condition
through the will of God the father, Son and Holy Spirit.
There
is more to being a Christian than attending a hierarchical church
with an upper-class Christian priesthood devoted to surviving global
corporate hierarchical CEO's interests. In fact Christians ought to
assemble in an egalitarian priesthood of believers format today. Many
such individuals are enlightened enough about Bible scholarship to be
aware that the 'days' of Genesis probably refer to eras, as Bryan
said on the stand. Peter did say that a day to God is equal to a
thousand years. Given such criteria the age of the formation of life
on Earth given in the Bible equals about that of the scientific
estimate of the formation of multi-cellular life on Earth about 2.8
billion years ago.
The
priesthood of believers is a correct form rather than a partitioned
dichotomy of priests and laity mirroring that of traditional
aristocracy-subjects paradigms. Developing an active priesthood of
believers church structure with just three ranks of beginner,
intermediate and elder will be a challenge and a renewal of
reformation. In the world today the political drift is toward ad hoc
neo-imperialism of class of wealth through global networks.
Popularizing
Christian church worship drew myriad to the reformed services. One
would wish that today the church would recover the simple faith of
the reformers and further modernize the priesthood of believers such
that just three ranks of beginner, intermediate and elder Christians
exist with sharing of service roles in appropriate structures and
tithing conformed to the Biblical level of 1% (10% of harvest every
third year with the 10% divided in to three parts with a third of
that going to non-working priests).
Calvin
mentioned in his answer to Bishop Sadolet that Bernard had “thundered
against Eugenius and all the bishops of his own age” citing even
earlier need to reform the episcopal estate and papacy. It is
interesting to consider how after nearly 500 years the ideas of
Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and the Roman Catholic Church have shaped
Christian ideas about the salvation, faith, the Eucharist and
sacraments. Protestant reformers of the visible Christian church made
their reformed ideas at great personal cost and the thirty years war
of liberation from Romanism and its subject princes tore the European
peasantry. The American revolutionaries were of the reformed
school-George Washington if Catholic couldn't have revolted from his
Prince, although Britain had reduced Romanism already since Henry
VIII. Values developed by Martin Luther in the 16th century
reformation stimulated political and ecclesiastical changes
immediately. As the United States fails to maintain a strong
Protestant religious ethic it commensurately develops globalism,
concentration of wealth through networking and a variety of forms of
ad hoc imperialism with the collateral degradation of nationalism and
democracy. Protest against inhuman forces of impersonal hierarchical
power in church and state are basic to the revolutionary esprit. In
direct relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ mankind finds freedom.
Approximately
half of the German princes took up the independence from Roman
Catholicism movement right from the start. The first democracy in
Europe-the Dutch democracy led by the Dewitt brothers in the 16th
century. Severing ties from the Holy Roman Empire at Vienna was
essential and just a first step in the rise of the age of democracy.
All
was not perfect in the Lutheran style reformation though. Martin
Luther was quite conservative and retained some Roman Catholic
liturgical forms although abolishing the exclusive priestly caste.
When the hierarchy of corrupt Bishops and priests was overthrown
Luther advocated and received support for Erastian transition; the
German princes themselves became the religious leaders appointing
bishops for themselves.
The
Inquisition and other government and church executions of individuals
killed far more people of faith than scientifically inclined people,
yet of course moderns would almost have one think that the church was
a great repressor of science generally rather than its sponsor. The
church with the benefit of modern science and technology ought to
easily move toward a priesthood of believers egalitarian structure
with three ranks-beginner, intermediate and elder reading
standardized with room for improve liturgies in role sharing groups.
That might help the ecumenical movement, support real rather than
corporate democracy and reduce international conflict.
Puritans
like Cromwell were hated by Irish Catholics obviously, yet Milton was
a Puritan Government Minister in the Cromwell administration, and the
divorce of Catholic rulers from the English government as well as the
church was an inevitable and bloody evolution of social transition
fulfilling the teleology of God, or rather advancing it along a
certain path toward the direction expressed in Bible prophecy.
Constructing human society to evolve spiritual maturity and become a
majority of the people with a priesthood of believers enacting active
Christian roles might not be a simple process that is understandable
by a majority of people in their own lifetime.
John
speaks in chapter 20 of seeing souls of those martyred reigning with
Christ during this time. Living Christians would be priests, perhaps
as all Christians are theoretically equals as priests in a priesthood
of believers.
Some
try to place the morality of the kingdom of God outside the bounds of
relevant moral conduct in the world, and that is a mistake. The moral
and ethical conduct of Christians in-the-world is such that the world
actually works better with it too. It is not just an ethics theory
for the next-world. Resurrection is for the next world, and all will
encounter that day of death where the fork in the road to eternity
follows.
Because
the worst-case social behavior of personal egoism, avarice,
dissimulation and etc. strives against inhibiting moral concerns a
false-alternative paradigm of no-ethics worldliness vs. Christian
ethics is common. There are of course some societies without a
concept of sin or a need for salvation from their condition of
original sin encased within a temporal form. These lost souls require
the hearing of the word of God, perhaps in a reformed priesthood of
believers with ecclesiastic egalitarianism and honest tithing of 1%
(higher than what the Federal Reserve has been charging the major
banks in zero-interest loans). When the rich get billions and
billions without usury and the poor get high interest pay day loans
and so forth there is an obvious wrong.
In
Torrey's book 'The Fundamentals- A Testimony to the Truth' chapter 19
is titled 'My personal Experience of the Higher Criticism'. Dr. J.J.
Reeves writes in that essay that evolution theory is at the heart of
the higher criticism and so he finds it necessary to refute that to a
certain extent. I suppose I ought to write a little here about the
problems of finding evolution theory and scripture mutually
exclusive; I just don't accept that at all. In fact to my way of
thinking the Bible at several points seems consistent with evolution
theory and evolution theory seems to confirm the general structure of
the Bible. Perhaps since I grew up learning science and Presbyterian
Christianity simultaneously I naturally view things that way. Yet of
course I also regard a priesthood of believers as the necessary form
for the clergy today and think that careerists oppose that for job
security reasons.
One
finds that select theology schools emphasize their own sectarian
viewpoints. They do tend to take a minimalist stance on non-sectarian
reform such as Luther worked for that sought to cohere within a
Biblical fundamentalist universality bereft of secular organizational
proprietary bias such as the papal establishment had. Liberty
University’s course description for Theo 620 says “This course is
a study of the origin, nature, purpose, mission, polity, and ministry
of the church; a major emphasis will be on Baptist ecclesiology.”
Within this paradigm is an implicit disrecognition of the perennial
need to correct the error of hierarchism and its division of the
church into goats and sheep or commercial priests and lay people and
return to pursuit of the ideal priesthood of believers-perhaps with
theologians writing liturgies and roles to be enacted by small groups
in churches.
One
might consider how an ecclesiastic paradigm might differ from a
history of the church paradigm. It would be possible to consider the
external form of the church-in-the-world with a branching,
hierarchical tree diagram with little boxes showing the historical
development of the early church and its structure on through the
various branches unto the modern day. Then one might examine the
implicit and inherent church structure of each branch in more detail
inclusive of their beliefs, methods, doctrine, staff, liturgical
content and so forth. Branching tree diagrams are perennial favorites
in academia, and since the major branch of Protestantism appeared
with Luther it would grow in complexity as churches moved into new
assembly and worship forms as well as new nations for missions.
A
tree diagram for ecclesiology might be constructed with various
filters or color overlays upon it in the computer age of publishing
to show conditions of health of the church and periods of illness.
When sin becomes an official doctrinally accepted plank for a sect
one might color that area of the diagram with black. With enough
necrotic tissue in the tree diagram one might discern that like the
fig tree the Lord saw on the way to Jerusalem, it might need manured
and given another time interval to produce good fruit. Perhaps a
priesthood of believers movement utilizing the organization and
communications populism of the Internet would be a useful tool for
activating the billion Christians to a certain extent asleep as
pew-sitters in the church.
I
would think that the body of Christ cannot be anything besides
healthy and instead when it is unhealthy the members are simply
existing with a higher percent in secular and beyond the kingdom of
God. So it might be better to speculate that a priesthood of
believers liturgical form would have a better health status and more
Christians in the kingdom of God, wherein the body of Christ would be
found, than in an unhealthy secular realm that is something more like
an aspiring imitation of Christ led by hierarchical, commercial
careerist Christians. I might be wrong thought. I don’t think so.
After
the crucifixion of Jesus by the Temple priesthood manipulating the
Roman Governor and laws followed eventually by the destruction of the
Temple the human cultural tradition of hierarchical priesthoods in
time resumed the authority structure of a few upper class leaders
instead of the egalitarian priesthood of believers as Jesus seemed to
want to move to in. Reformation of the way people relate to God in
ecclesiastical structure perhaps required time to pass until
technology and literacy enabled better general understanding of ideas
about the points of religion such that Christians commonly could be
settled in belief.
Jude
3. ‘That ye should contend earnestly for the truth.'”
I
would think that means not only to evangelize. One might wish to
reform the church to increase participation and equality to actualize
a priesthood of believers - and to bring more Christians to a
knowledge of post-millennialism. When the Lord was resurrected and
was with the Apostles until Pentecost the kingdom of God was present
and the 'thousand years' began to draw people unto the faith. The
increase of the number of believers on Earth has continued and
probably will reach a majority status in some future, unforeseen
circumstance.
John's
use of the phrase 'thousand years' is probably a general sort of
reference meaning a very long time.
Sinful
Christians in the ministry are like embezzling accountants and
notably reprehensible. That is another reason why a priesthood of
believers is a better format, where the corrupt just don't have that
higher position of power to lever or exploit the lesser-and the
corrupt will migrate into positions of power naturally putting on the
vestments of authority yet allegiant to personal egoism.
The
Old Testament prophets spoke to the people as they would to subjects
in a hierarchy of monarchial law while the writers of the epistles
wrote peer to peer establishing a priesthood of believers.
Berkhof
describes the nature of epistles as a form of communication in this
opening section crediting Paul with the first use of a letter to a
church as an expression of divine communication. When Paul wrote with
divine inspiration a letter to a church or individual on
ecclesiastical concerns it was under the direction of the Holy Ghost
whom Paul trusted in implicitly.
