Why We Resist The Doctrines Of The Church of Rome

THE PRIESTHOOD

This is a very important matter, The Church of England has been disturbed by the arguments concerning the ordination of women to the ”Priesthood”. Had the Church of England been completely reformed, at the Reformation, it would have entirely rejected any form of priesthood. It is not needed under New Testament conditions.
There is a Priesthood in the New Testament, it is that of all believers. All who are truly “born again” are part of that “holy nation, that royal priesthood”. Christ has, by the New Birth, made us a Royal Priesthood. He “hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father” (Revelations 1:6). Peter calls the Church “an holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5).
This position is clearly stated in Loraine Boettner’s book Roman Catholicism (Banner of Truth edition, pages 68 and 69)
“The writers of the New Testament had two separate words for elders and priest. They do not mean the same things at all and the New Testament never confuses them. It never says “presbuteros”, elder, when it means priest. The New Testament word for priest is “hierus”. In Greek, from Homer down, this word has a singular meaning. It meant a man appointed, or consecrated, or otherwise endowed with power to perform certain technical functions of ritual worship, especially to offer acceptable sacrifices and to make effectual prayers. Likewise in the Septuagint “hierus” is the regular if not invariable translation of the Old Testament “kohen” and “kahen”, the only Hebrew word for priest. It occurs more than 400 times in the Old Testament in this sense. In the New Testament “hierus” always means priest, never means elder. The is not anywhere in the New Testament the shadow of an allusion to a Christian priest in the ordinary sense of the word, that is, a man qualified as over against others not qualified for the special function of offering sacrifices, making priestly intercessions, or performing any other act which only a priest can perform. The Epistle to the Hebrews attributed both priesthood and high-priesthood to Christ and to him alone. The argument of the Epistle not only indicates that a Christian priesthood was unknown to the writer, but that such a priesthood was unallowable. It is to Jesus only that Christians look as to a priest. He has performed perfectly and permanently the function of a priest for all believers. His priesthood, being perfect and eternal, renders a human priesthood both needless and anachronistic.”

ONLY ONE OFFERING AND ONLY ONE SACRIFICING PRIEST

The plain teaching of the epistle to the Hebrews is that the Aaronic priesthood is now ended and that Christ, a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec, having entered the Holy Place in the heavens with His own blood, has made full atonement for His people. This is clearly expressed in the XXXIst Article of the Church of England Articles, “The offering of Christ once made is the perfect redemption, propitiation and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin, but that alone. Wherefore the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits.”
In the Church of Rome the priest, on ordination, receives the paten and the chalice and is commanded to celebrate the Mass. In the Church of England he is given a Bible and commissioned to preach the Gospel, although many have now made the Holy Communion more like the Mass, they hardly preach at all, and then often unbiblically.
They have betrayed the Church. Since the Reformation there has been no official place for sacrificing priests, they and their altars were swept away, but have now been brought back by the High Church Tractarian party illegally.

THE NEW TESTAMENT PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS

The priesthood of the New Testament is that of all believers. They do not need to offer a sacrifice for sin, that was done at Calvary; they meet at the Lord’s Table to commemorate His atoning death and anticipate His glorious return, but that is a service of remembrance, not a sacrifice. It requires a table, the Lord’s board, not an altar and needs no priest.
Yet there are still the offerings that are without blood and are not in respect of reconciliation of the soul to God, but of praise, worship and the giving of body and soul in the service of the Lord and the work of His Church. In this the whole Church takes part as “kings and priests” (Revelation 1:6). The true Church has elders, some of whom are set aside for the preaching of the Word of God and the Pastoral Ministry, others as Deacons, but none are priests and in the lists of the officers of the Church in the New Testament no priest is mentioned (I Corinthians 12:28).

THE CLAIMS OF THE ROMAN

Because of the unscriptural nature of this doctrine, and its being founded on human tradition alone and not on Scripture, great claims are made for its power and authority. The Roman view of the Church is that of the Pope, the Cardinals, Bishops and priests. In short, the hierarchy. The New Testament view is that of the body of born again believers. The priest is claimed to stand in the place of God, he is the immediate mediator between the faithful and their God. His orders must be obeyed. The fact that he presides at the confession and by its means knows even the inner thoughts of his penitents, gives him a power out of all proportion to his right. He can and does interfere in the private lives of his flock, and as a result he is feared, for he can impose penances on them. It is generally demanded that he is celibate, the life that he lives is to some extent unnatural and imposes on him a way of life that gives him great power over his flock and makes it obligatory for him to always act in the support of the Church of Rome. There have been times when the priests have threatened to withhold the forgiveness of sins in confessional to any who would not support the political policy of the Church.

A FINAL CONCLUSION

When we take a look at the priesthood of the Roman Church in the light of Holy Scripture we are compelled to conclude that it is wholly and entirely unscriptural, for it is a denial of the essential place of Christ and of His finished work. The Old Testament looked forward to that finished work and in the ritual of the Tabernacle and Temple foreshadowed it, but the coming of Christ fulfilled it and as the Epistle to the Hebrews makes clear Christ is the only sacrificing priest of the New Testament order and the only Person who is able to forgive our sins, for He alone is able to cleanse us (1 John 1:9). 

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