Expert: J.M.J. West - 10/27/2008

Question
Priesthood: The Roman Catholic Church teaches that there is a distinction between the clergy and the “lay people,” whereas the New Testament teaches the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9). your input please.  

Answer
In the old covenant(s), there were various kinds of Priesthood, even while God said to Israel "you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Ex 19:6)  We see this parallelled in the New Testament pretty clearly.

1)   High Priest:
OT – Aaron and his sons
NT – Christ forever
2)   Ministerial Priesthood:
OT – Levitical Priests
NT – Priest
3)   Universal Priesthood:
OT – Israel
NT – The Church.

"In the Old Testament the New Testament is concealed; in the New Testament the Old Testament is revealed" – St. Augustine.  We see precisely this unfolding of the Divine plan and the divine poetry in the simitry of the old and new covenants and their roles.

Both OT and NT had ordained priests.  We should expect this.

Within the ministerial priesthood, however, there are various kinds of Ordination:

1) Bishops (episcopoi) have the care of multiple congregations and appoint, ordain, and discipline priests and deacons. They sometimes appear to be called "evangelists" in the New Testament. Examples of first-century bishops include Timothy and Titus (1 Tim. 5:19–22; 2 Tim. 4:5; Titus 1:5).

2) Priests (presbuteroi) are also known as "presbyters" or "elders." In fact, the English term "priest" is simply a contraction of the Greek word presbuteros. They have the responsibility of teaching, governing, and providing the sacraments in a given congregation (1 Tim. 5:17; Jas. 5:14–15).

3) Deacons (diakonoi) are the assistants of the bishops and are responsible for teaching and administering certain Church tasks, such as the distribution of food (Acts 6:1–6).

These terms were fluid in the early church.  Thus, in the apostolic age Paul sometimes described himself as a diakonos ("servant" or "minister"; cf. 2 Cor. 3:6, 6:4, 11:23; Eph. 3:7), even though he held an office much higher than that of a deacon, that of apostle.   Similarly, on one occasion Peter described himself as a "fellow elder," [1 Pet. 5:1] even though he, being an apostle, also had a much higher office than that of an ordinary elder.

Consider the witness of the 1st century church: "Take care to do all things in harmony with God, with the bishop presiding in the place of God, and with the presbyters in the place of the council of the apostles, and with the deacons, who are most dear to me, entrusted with the business of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father from the beginning and is at last made manifest”  (Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Magnesians, 6:1 [AD 100])

Clearly then there is in fact DIFFERENTIATION IN THE PARTS OF THE BODY!  Why else would St. Paul make the rhetorical distinction in Ephesians 4 when he asks "Are all Apostles?  Are all prophets?  Are all teachers?..."

Not all members of the body have the same role, but all are necessary members of the body.

See also:
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/the_church.html
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/apostolic_succession.html

Peace of Christ,

-J.M.J. West