Loading…

The Catholic Priesthood: Biblical Foundations is unavailable, but you can change that!

During the time of Jesus Christ, neither he nor his apostles would have had the term “priest” applied to their mission or identity. The priesthood was exclusive to the tribe of Levi and at that time was associated primarily with their sacrificial liturgies in the temple. But with Christ’s death on the cross, a new understanding of Christ as priest began to grow in light of his priestly...

of a hierarchical structure, was making explicit what was already there from the beginning. The word “development” is used with a caveat: it is development in the sense of maturation of what was already implicit. Christ had given the apostles everything they had for ministry. The beginning of the Church is something living that matures. Joseph Ratzinger puts it this way: “The purification of Christianity, the search for its original essence, is carried on today, in the era of historical consciousness,
Pages xviii–xix
Buy this book at Logos.com