Clergy vs Laity

The Clergy System – a very brief history

The clergy system has been widespread in “Christianity” from about the third century onwards. The essence of this system is that there are two classes of Christians – the clergy and the laity. In essence, the clergy spiritually rule over the laity.

Ignatius (35-107 AD) was one of the first to elevate one of the elders (presbyters) in a church above the others. This elevated elder was called a bishop. According to Ignatius, the bishop was the representative of God and should be obeyed absolutely.

By the third century, the bishop model was common. The bishop effectively became the solo pastor of the church.

Clement of Rome (c 35 – 99 AD) was the first Christian writer to make a distinction in status between Christian leaders and non-leaders. He used the word laity to distinguish non leaders from leaders. Clement argued that the Christian church should replicate in effect the Old Testament priesthood.

Tertullian was the first writer to use the word clergy to refer to a separate class of Christians. Both Tertullian and Clement popularised the word clergy in their writings.

Cyprian of Carthage (c 210 – 258 AD) called the bishop and presbyters “sacerdos”, which is Latin for priest, a custom that became common by the third century. Sacerdotalism is the belief that there exists a divinely appointed person to mediate between God and the people. Cyprian argued that an unbroken succession of bishops could be traced back to Peter, an idea known as apostolic succession. He also argued that because the priests offer the holy sacrifice (Eucharist) they were holy themselves.

In AD 313, Constantine exempted the Christian clergy from paying taxes, and gave them many other special privileges. He was the first to use the words clerical and clerics to depict a higher social class. Under Constantine, “Christianity” was recognised and honored by the Roman Empire. However, the Christianity recognised by Rome by then was full of practises that Christ never taught. It had become corrupted.

After the Council of Nicaea (325 AD), bishops began to delegate the responsibility of the Lord’s Supper to the presbyters. Because the presbyters were the ones administering the Lord’s Supper, they began to be called priests.

By the fourth century, a graded hierarchy dominated the Christian faith. At the head of the church was the bishop. Under him were the presbyters/priests. Under the presbyters/priests were the deacons. One bishop rule became the accepted form of church government throughout the Roman Empire. Certain churches also began to exercise authority over other churches.

In the Middle Ages, the presbyters, now commonly called priests, began to represent the priesthood and bishops began to be occupied with political duties.

By the fifth century, the concept of the priesthood of all believers had mostly disappeared from Christianity. Access to God was now controlled by the clergy.

The role of the bishop changed from being the head of a local church to being the head of a number of churches in a particular area. Eventually, the bishop of Rome was given the most authority of all, and his position finally evolved into the office of the pope.

By the third century, the clergy/laity gap had widened irreversibly. Clergymen were the trained leaders of the church. The laity were the second class, untrained Christians. The false clergy/laity dichotomy led to the also idea of sacred professions (e.g. church ministry) as distinct from ordinary (secular) work.

The Reformers of the sixteenth century only partially resurrected the concept of the priesthood of all believers. They taught that every Christian has direct access to God without needing a human mediator. However, they continued to recognise the Catholic idea of a special category of Christians (clergy) representing and ruling over the rest (laity). Instead of calling them priests though, they were normally called Pastors, Ministers or Preachers. It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that the term pastor came into common use, eclipsing the terms preacher and minister.

According to Calvin, “The pastoral office is necessary to preserve the church on earth in a greater way than the sun, food, and drink are necessary to nourish and sustain the present life”. He taught that preaching, baptism and the Eucharist were to be carried out by the pastor, not the congregation.

Luther rejected a sacrificing priesthood, but he believed that the sharing of God’s Word belonged to a special order of people. He said “A Christian preacher is a minister of God who is set apart, yea, he is an angel of God, a very bishop sent by God, a saviour of many people, a king and prince in the Kingdom of Christ. Luther stated that “It is a wonderful thing that the mouth of every pastor is the mouth of Christ, therefore you ought to listen to the pastor not as a man, but as God”.

The Reformation resulted in the Protestant pastor replacing the Roman Catholic priest to a large degree.

Why is the Clergy System wrong?

The clergy system is wrong because it contradicts New Testament (“NT”) teaching on local church structure.

The NT teaches that:

• All believers are spiritual priests.
• All believers have both the duty and the privilege to regularly serve and minister to other local church believers.
• There is no spiritually special class of believers.
• Spiritual leadership is shared among multiple elders, and no single elder is the highest authority in a church.

In the clergy system:

• All believers are not given opportunity to be spiritual priests. Only a small minority are.
• All believers in a local church do not regularly serve and minister to other believers in the church. Only a small minority do.
• The clergy is a spiritually special class.
• There is a single leader (either sole or senior pastor/minister) who is the highest authority in a church.

The priesthood of believers

The basic term for priest in the OT is the Hebrew word Kohen. The root meaning of this word is “to stand”; and therefore, this word indicates that a priest is one who stands before God and serves. The Greek word for priest in the NT is Hiereus . This word means “one who offers sacrifice”. So included in both the Old and New Testament words for priest, is the idea that a priest is one who stands before God to offer sacrifices and to serve. In the Old Testament the sacrifices consisted of the ritual offering of animals to cover the guilt of sin; but in the New Testament, believers offer the spiritual sacrifices of praise, worship, and service.

1 Peter 2:5, 9 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 10:19–20 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.

In OT times, only the high priest could enter into the holy of holies where God was present. After Christ died, the temple veil was torn in two, signifying that every believer now has direct access to God. The OT priesthood has been completely abolished. There is no special class of believers with greater access to God.

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

The reality for Christians today is that the pastoral office stifles the priesthood of believers. Most Christians passively listen to a sermon and prayer by the pastor, week after week, year after year.

1 Corinthians 12:7, 14, 18 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For the body is not one member, but many. But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. Every member is supposed to contribute to the health of the body. The reality in most churches is that the pastor is responsible for the spiritual health of the church. The pastor preaches most of the time and most often has the final say in church matters.

1 Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. Every believer has at least one spiritual gift. Every church member should contribute to the body. The reality in most churches is that the gift of teaching dominates to the detriment of other gifts, and the pastor dominates the teaching.

Approximately 58 times in the NT, believers are instructed to minister to “one another”. It is impossible for believers to do this in a typical weekly church service. The majority of believers are passive, spending most of their time listening to a sermon. The closest they get to ministering to one another is corporate singing, which is only one type of edification. Even corporate singing is not directed from believer to believer, so it’s a stretch to say that even this is ministering between believers.

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