Priesthood :: essays research papers

Priesthood     The position of priesthood in the church has been evident since theearliest existence of the church. Jewish priests first were established in the ordinal century BC performing religious ceremonies. They were even moreestablished around 950 BC due to the establishment of the temple in Jerusalem.     The major place of the traditional Jewish priest was to performsacrificial rituals. According to the Bible, the Temple was built as a place forGod to live with the people. It was the holiest building that existed, and requisite to be kept holy by the priests. Their role of the priests was to performanimal sacrifices to God as an offering. The priests performed these sacrificesas specialists on behalf of a community or assembly in order to restore theholiness of the community and of the Temple. It was believed that if there wassin among the people then God would not come and be with them.     After the Temple was destroyed during the war with Rome, these animalsacrifices were stopped, and there were no more active Jewish priests. Thereligious leadership in the synagogue was led by the rabbis.     In the Protestant religion there exists a "priesthood of allbelievers"("Priesthood", 529). This meant that each member in the communityserves as his or her own priest, with direct access to intercourse with God.Protestants believe that the role of the priest is an "officiatingmediary"("Priesthood", 529), rather than a one who performs ritual sacrifices.This stems from the Protestant belief that Jesus Christ served as "the ultimate"sacrifice, and thence there is no use in animal sacrifices. Protestants alsodo not call their religious leaders "priests" because the name itself impliesthat he is of a higher(prenominal) level than his fellow man or that he has more access toGod than some others.     There exists t wo different forms of priesthood transmitted andvocational priests. A hereditary priest is a limited position in that it canonly be held by a person who a direct descendent of the people of Levi. Thistribe is one of the original 12 tribes of Israel as set forth in Genesis 49.There exists among this tribe one High Priests who head of the other priests. Heis the only priest who was allowed to view the holy Ark of the Covenant duringthe existence of the Temple in Jerusalem. These hereditary priests, unlike mostpriests in todays society, were allowed to marry in order to carry on the lineof priesthood.     The vocational priests are those which have been "called" to theministry by God himself.