LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 312

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312

II. THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS­­—COMMISSION ON THEOLOGY AND CHURCH RELATIONS

priesthood gave way to an actual sacrifice offered to God
in Holy Communion.
Gentiles who came to the faith in increasing numbers
were familiar with Greek temple worship and its priests.
At this time, the chief cities of the Roman Empire had
temples and priests and a well-structured political order.
Church administrative structure came to be patterned
after imperial rule. The sacrifice for sins by Christ, the
great High Priest who offered Himself, was difficult to
grasp. The belief that all believers were priests spiritually
was confusing. If sacrifices are spiritual, it seemed that
there were no real priests and Christianity was a priestless faith.
Although Cyprian introduced a perspective that
tended to undermine the role of the laity as a royal
priesthood, his concern was the preservation of orthodox teaching. He and bishops like him sought to maintain the church’s identity and continuity during a period
of significant numerical growth.
Read 2 Tim. 1:13–14; 2 Tim. 2:1–2; 2 Tim. 2:22–26
and 2 Tim. 4:1–5. What tasks is Timothy to take on in the
church at Ephesus? How will such tasks help to maintain
the church’s identity and continuity?
Cyprian’s vigorous doctrinal concerns were not
entirely on the mark biblically. He said that the Lord’s
Supper is a sacrifice of the Lord, and that the power to
offer this sacrifice rests in the bishop. Such teachings led
to a change in the way those in the public office were
perceived. Those in public office were now not simply distinct; their ministry was elevated. The growing
agreement that “priesthood” meant the clergy placed the
responsibility for maintaining the unity of the church,
the purity of its teaching and the consistency of its worship in the clerical priest who offers up the eucharistic
sacrifice. While no one may have intended to overshadow the idea of the universal priesthood, a new tone was
struck and a new direction set. The way in which service
was offered together by the public office (the clergy) and
by all in the royal priesthood would become skewed
over time.
AUGUSTINE (354–430)
Not everyone followed the course that Cyprian set.
The bishop and theologian Augustine cast light on the
blessings of Baptism. Believers were made members of
the royal priesthood in Christ’s washing, by virtue of the
faith given to them and their place in the Body of Christ.
Priests do not empower Baptism. Christ does. Augustine

said, “My origin is Christ. … For I believe, not in the
minister by whose hands I am baptized, but in Him who
justifieth the ungodly, that my faith may be counted to
me as righteousness.”15
At confirmation, the individual was anointed with oil,
a sign of being equipped for service in Christ’s kingdom. Commenting on Rev. 20:6, Augustine wrote: “This
clearly does not mean only the bishops and presbyters,
who are now called by the distinctive name of ‘priests’ in
the Church; but just as we call all Christians ‘Christs’ in
virtue of their sacramental anointing (chrisma) so we call
them all ‘priests’ because they are members of the one
Priest. And the apostle Peter says of them that they are ‘a
holy people, a royal priesthood.’”16
In his book, The City of God, Augustine wrote,
“To this God we owe our service — what in Greek is
called latria — whether in the various sacraments or
in ourselves. For we are his temple, collectively, and as
individuals … We offer to him, on the altar of the heart,
the sacrifice of humility and praise, and the flame on the
altar is the burning fire of charity.”17
The body of Christ is served by those in the public
office, but their service leads hearts, minds and lives to
action. Membership in the royal priesthood means active
work. While Augustine and his views about the priesthood were not forgotten through the Middle Ages, the
seeds that Cyprian planted would grow to provide order
and authority.
Read 1 Cor. 12:4–11, 27–31. Which of the gifts and
activities listed by Paul represent public offices in the
church? All or just a few? How does the apostle link the
Office of the Public Ministry to the service of the entire
priesthood?
At the time of the Council of Nicaea (AD 325), Rome
did not have superiority over other centers of Christianity. Yet in the following centuries, Rome’s status grew.
The move of the capital to Constantinople in the East left
a hole in the Western Mediterranean, and the eventual
collapse of the Roman Empire left a vacuum that the
Church of Rome would fill.

15
In Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist, Book I, chap. 7-8;
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4, ed. Philip Schaff (Peabody,
Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995; reprint of the 1887 ed. by Christian Literature Publishing), 522.
16
Concerning the City of God Against the Pagans, Book XX, chap. 10,
trans. Henry Bettenson (New York: Penguin Books, 1972), 919.
17

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The City of God, Book X, chap. 3, Bettenson, 375.
9

made fit to offer their praise and service. Yet while the
people of the royal priesthood had a role to play, their
status or identity came from what the priest did.

mean the local Christian gathering? In which verses does
the word refer to the Body of Christ? In which verses is the
church spoken of in connection with the Word?

Voices for the People

The Church and the Word

Others who spoke up forcefully for the people, Marsilius of Padua (1275–1342), John Wycliffe (1330–1384)
and John Hus (1372–1415) were opposed by the institutional church.19 On the eve of the Reformation, even
with the universal priesthood much overshadowed, one
more voice came from Marcus von Weida (1450–1516),
a Dominican monk. Von Weida, in a treatise on the
doctrine and practice of prayer, urged ordinary people
to lift up one another before God that they might be
strengthened and encouraged in the Christian life, just as
believers did in the New Testament epistles. They had the
right to pray to God without need of any clerical go-between. This call to lay claim to the identity as priests
before God is striking, not only for what was said, but
also because such a call was unfortunately all too rare.
But things were about to change, and a light was about to
shine on theological concepts and biblical truths that had
long been ignored.

The institutional church did not embrace Luther’s
message. The changes that Luther sought would have
resulted in a far different approach and attitude on the
part of the institutional church, but the church was not
interested in retooling its message or in relinquishing
its power and authority. The clergy and the ecclesiastical
hierarchy were not interested in what Luther had found
in the Word.

LUTHER’S REFORMATION
With the advent of the Reformation, the royal priesthood
once again came to the fore. Martin Luther’s understanding of this teaching was shaped in some ways by his
social, political and cultural context, but he said what he
did about the priesthood of believers simply because he
believed it was biblical. The teaching grew from God’s
gracious action and bore witness to the work of Christ.
The royal priesthood was tied to an understanding
of the Church, not as an institution, but as a community
of believers, created by the Holy Spirit working through
the Word. “God’s Word cannot be without God’s people,”
Luther wrote, “and conversely, God’s people cannot be
without God’s Word.”20
Read Acts 14:23, 1 Cor. 7:17 and Eph. 5:25–27. How
is the word “church” used in these verses? In which does it
19
Marsilius was excommunicated for his views. John Wycliffe died of a
stroke, but the church later had his bones exhumed and burned. John
Hus was condemned at the Council of Constance in 1415 and burned
at the stake.

Martin Luther, “On the Councils and the Church,” Luther’s Works,
vol. 41, ed. Eric W. Gritsch (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1966), 150.
20

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Read John 8:31–32; Acts 8:4; Rom. 10:6–9 and 1
Thess. 2:13. According to these verses, who possesses the
Word?
Luther came to see that the Word was not the
personal possession of the clergy or the institutional
church. The Word belongs to the Church, the universal
royal priesthood. Luther added to his concept of the
church throughout his career, but from 1518 to 1521,
he published many of his ideas on the church and the
royal priesthood. He unfolded the biblical teaching of the
church as both God’s holy creation and a fallible institution. He showed that the church’s proper authority rests
in the Word of God (not in the institution itself) and
explained that its defining traits or identifying marks are
all tied to the Word of God and that ecclesial structures
such as councils or the papacy are inherently fallible.
He distinguished between the spiritual, holy Church,
made up of all those whom the Spirit has brought to faith
through the Word, and the visible, institutional church
whose members include both believers and hypocrites.
Luther rejected the Roman notion that the ordained were
“spiritual” and holy while the baptized were not.
Read Rom. 1:7; Rom. 15:25; Eph. 1:1 and 1 Cor. 1:2.
A saint is a person who has been made holy in Christ and
set apart for a special purpose. To whom does Paul give the
title of saint in these verses?
Luther’s thinking was not always perfectly consistent,
but, above all, he taught that the Church is an assembly
of believers created by the Spirit. He knows that in this
life there are necessary institutions and structures that
can (or should) see to the public preaching of the Word.
Within this structure or institution people gather to
worship and hear the Word, to have sins forgiven. Where
faith is worked by such means, those who hear and
believe are priests, Church in the primary sense.

DISCUSSION GUIDE AND BIBLE STUDY

2019 Convention Workbook

eternal life and death. The role and responsibility of the
Christian laity to engage with and to forgive a sinner was
diminished. The life of repentance was controlled exclusively by the ordained clergy through private Confession
and Absolution. While forgiveness was still given, too
often the message was one of compliance and obedience.
It was hard for the institutional church to resist the power available in the practice of Confession and Absolution.
Often supported by political authorities, the practice was
not only a spiritual exercise, but also a useful vehicle for
social control and formation.

Read 2 Cor. 9:10–15. Aware of the needs of others,
how are the Corinthian Christians to live and serve as
priests of God? What words does Paul use that suggest
priestly service and sacrifice?

The expansion and growth of church structure and
canon law was a final development that contributed to
clerical prestige. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries,
popes and canon lawyers regularized church administration as well as church law, strongly supporting the
authority of those in ecclesiastical office.

In the earliest centuries of the church, Christians who
fell into grave sin were admonished and then brought
back into fellowship through public Confession and Absolution, followed by some public satisfaction — fasting
perhaps, or giving to Christian charity. Such satisfaction
was an expression of determination to avoid sin and to
lead a Christian life, but it was not an effort to secure or
guarantee forgiveness. As the church entered the seventh
century — often thought of as the start of the Middle
Ages — several changes took place. Public confession
was replaced by private confession made to a priest, and
the satisfaction previously prescribed by the congregation was instead determined by that priest alone.
Read 1 Cor. 5:1–5 and 2 Cor. 2:5–11. How were the
Christians in Corinth to respond to an unrepentant member of their community? Why must the Christian community forgive the repentant sinner?
Other ideas were added to the practice of Confession
and Absolution. The virtues of the saints were said to
be on deposit as “a treasury of merit.” Ordinary sinners
could draw from this deposit to lessen their own time
in purgatory. Believers worried about navigating this
complex system and so greater emphasis and authority
were given to the priest, who became the gatekeeper of
18

DISCUSSION GUIDE AND BIBLE STUDY

Read James 5:13–20. In what way do the actions listed
here by the apostle James reflect priestly responsibilities?

GREGORY THE GREAT (Gregory I, pope from 590–604)
Gregory the Great was a visionary leader. From Rome
he sent out ordained clergy and monks to serve as
missionaries. As they took the message, they pointed
back to the Roman church as the source that sent them,
thus raising Rome’s image and boosting the prestige of
the Bishop of Rome, as well as that of the clergy he sent.
At the same time, Gregory did not turn his back on the
laity. He understood that the mission of the church fell
to both priests and laypeople. He said: “The priest’s lips
should teach knowledge, for he is a messenger of the
Lord [by priest he means an ordained cleric]; but all
may attain the same high dignity if they will. Whoever
calls his neighbor from wicked ways to a right course
of life, he too, certainly is a messenger of the Lord. Hast
thou no bread to give to the needy? Thou hast a tongue.
Thou hast something of more value than bread. … To
the poorest even the little that he has received will be
reckoned as a talent.”18

11

Eastwood, 106–7, emphasis added.

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Changes in the doctrine and practice of the Lord’s
Supper further boosted the image of the priest in the
eyes of the public and widened the gap between those
ordained in the Office of the Public Ministry and those
in the universal priesthood. The priest became the
dispenser or controller of the Eucharist, and the sacrifice
of thanksgiving and praise that came from the universal
priesthood became less important.

Developments such as these undermined the place
of the royal priesthood in the life of the church. The
early church held up both the royal priesthood and the
Office of the Ministry, each necessary in its own way.
That changed in the Middle Ages. No single development
was enough to tip the scales, but the accumulated effect
favored those in the ordained ministry.
THOMAS AQUINAS (1225–1274)
Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican monk and theologian,
believed that Christ, by His death on the cross, offered
more to God than was demanded in payment for the
sins of the world. Sin was viewed as deeds or misdeeds
that need to be offset, and for that Christ’s satisfaction,
like the extra merits of the saints, stood ready to be used.
The clerics were the ones who made the connection and
squared the accounts, a role that contributed to their
high image.
Although Aquinas raised up the ordained clergy he
still had a place for the universal priesthood. The faithful
offer up their praise and worship. It was in worship that
the Mass was celebrated, with the ordained priest doing
his work. In connection with that action, the people were

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All Christians are priests even though not all are pastors or ministers. The difference lies not in status but in
the office or call they have and its particular responsibilities. In “To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation”
(1520), Luther demolishes three “walls” that the Roman
church had erected: the division between spiritual (clergy) and secular (laity) classes; the papal claim that only
Rome (not ordinary Christians) could rightly interpret
Scripture; and that the pope was not subject to reproof
from the rest of the church.21 Secular rulers may rightly
intervene in order to make provision for the preaching
of the Gospel because, as baptized Christians, they are
priests. As rulers they have an oversight role, rather like
fathers for children. They have an office that determines
the specific ways in which they serve as members of the
royal priesthood.

or if all baptized on Sunday, the child might drown
for all the water poured. There are additional biblical
expectations and qualifications in the pastoral epistles
to be honored that include one’s sex, the condition of
one’s family life, one’s ability and reputation and so forth.
Luther elsewhere talks of these.)

In “The Babylonian Captivity of the Church” (1520),
Luther charges that the institutional hierarchy bolstered
its claim of authority by claiming to control Sacraments
that were not sacraments and by holding the true Sacraments hostage. The Sacraments were not given to the
institutional authorities but to the Church. All believers possess these gifts and, as priests, can see to their
exercise: “Let everyone, therefore, who knows himself to
be a Christian, be assured of this, that we are all equally
priests, that is, we have the same power in respect to the
Word and the sacraments. However, no one may make
use of this power except by the consent of the community or by the call of a superior. (For what is the common
property of all, no individual may arrogate to himself,
unless he is called.)”22

Here Jesus is saying that he does not only want
[the condemnation of sin and proclamation of the
forgiveness of sins] to take place in the church,
but he also gives this right and freedom where
two or three are gathered together, so that among
them the comfort and the forgiveness of sins
may be proclaimed and pronounced. He pours
out [his forgiveness] even more richly and places
the forgiveness of sins for them in every corner,
so that they not only find the forgiveness of sins
in the congregation but also at home in their
houses, in the fields and gardens, wherever one of
them comes to another in search of comfort and
deliverance. It shall be at my disposal when I am
troubled and sorry, in tribulation and vulnerable,
when I need something, at whatever hour and
time it may be. There is not always a sermon being
given publicly in the church, so when my brother
or neighbor comes to me, I am to lay my troubles
before my neighbor and ask for comfort. ... again I
should comfort others, and say, “Dear friend, dear
brother, why don’t you lay aside your burdens. It
is certainly not God’s will that you experience this
suffering. God had his Son die for you so that you
do not sorrow but rejoice.”24

The Ministry of the Word
In “The Freedom of the Christian” (1520), Luther distinguishes between the priesthood of believers and the ministry of the Word (the public office filled by the clergy).
Luther writes that “although we all are equally priests,
we cannot all publicly minister and teach. We ought not
do so even if we could.”23 All believers, all priests, could
fill the public office, yet they don’t. (This is not simply a
pragmatic matter — that not all could fit into the pulpit,
Martin Luther, “To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation,”
Luther’s Works, vol. 44, ed. James Atkinson (Philadelphia: Fortress,
1966), 123–39.
21

22
Martin Luther, “The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Luther’s
Works, vol. 36, ed. Abdel Ross Wentz (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1959),
116.
23
Martin Luther, “The Freedom of the Christian,” Luther’s Works, vol.
31, ed. Harold J. Grimm (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1957), 356.

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Read 1 Tim. 3:1–7 and Titus 1:5–9. What biblical
expectations and qualifications for the pastoral office are
given here?
Pastors and church officials had a responsibility to
feed God’s people with the Gospel and to set right things
around them that are wrong in the church, but many
failed. Fortunately, God’s people are not dependent on
such clergy but are buoyed up by the Word.
Preaching on Matt. 18:15–20, Luther said:

Read Acts 2:17–19; Acts 8:1–8 and Acts 11:19–21.
What prophecy is fulfilled in Acts 2 and then again in Acts
8 and 11? As the scattered believers flee the persecution
without their apostolic leaders, how do they illustrate
24
Martin Luther, “Sermons on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chapters 1824 (1537–1540),” Luther’s Works, vol. 67, ed. Christopher Boyd Brown
(St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2015), 407–8; Luther’s Werke:
Kritische Gesamtaus (Weimar: H. Böhlau, 1883–1993), 47:297–98.

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