Priests of my People: Levitical Paradigms for Early Christian Ministers

271 Pages·2015·1.468 MB·English

by  Bryan A. Stewart

PATRISTIC
STUDIES
P
RIESTS
OF
M P
Y EOPLE
Levitical Paradigms for
Early Christian Ministers
B A. S
RYAN TEWART
This book offers an innovative examination of the question: why did early Christians
begin calling their ministerial leaders “priests” (using the terms hiereus/sacerdos)?
Scholarly consensus has typically suggested that a Christian “priesthood” emerged
either from an imitation of pagan priesthood or in connection with seeing the Eucharist
as a sacrifice over which a “priest” must preside. This work challenges these claims by
exploring texts of the third and fourth century where Christian bishops and ministers are
first designated “priests”: Tertullian and Cyprian of Carthage, Origen of Alexandria,
Eusebius of Caesarea, and the church orders Apostolic Tradition and Didascalia
Apostolorum. Such an examination demonstrates that the rise of a Christian ministerial
priesthood grew more broadly out of a developing “religio-political ecclesiology.” As
early Christians began to understand themselves culturally as a unique polis in their
own right in the Greco-Roman world, they also saw themselves theologically and his-
torically connected with ancient biblical Israel. This religio-political ecclesiology, sharp-
ened by an emerging Christian material culture and a growing sense of Christian
“sacred space,” influenced the way Christians interpreted the Jewish Scriptures typo-
logically. In seeing the nation of Israel as a divine nation corresponding to themselves,
Christians began appropriating the Levitical priesthood as a figure or “type” of the
Christian ministerial office. Such a study helpfully broadens our understanding of the
emergence of a Christian priesthood beyond pagan imitation or narrow focus on the
sacrificial nature of the Eucharist, and instead offers a more comprehensive explanation
in connection with early Christian ecclesiology.
“Priests of My Peopleis a fresh contribution to our understanding of the historical develop-
ment of the ‘priesthood.’ Bryan A. Stewart shows that the Christian bishop was not, as is com-
monly held, called priest because he presided at the sacrifice of the Eucharist. Rather it was as
head of the community, the new Israel, the Christian polisthat the term priest came into gen-
eral usage. This provocative book breaks through the shibboleths that have marked Protestant
and Catholic debates to offer an ecumenical understanding of the Christian ministry.
Robert Louis Wilken, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor
of the History of Christianity Emeritus, The University of Virginia
BRYANA. STEWARTreceived his B.A. in religion from Grove City College (Grove City, PA) and
his M.Div. from Covenant Theological Seminary (St. Louis, MO). He completed his Ph.D. in
patristics and early Christianity from the University of Virginia (Charlottesville, VA). After
completing his doctoral work, he was awarded a two-year Lilly post-doctoral teaching and
research fellowship at Valparaiso University (Valparaiso, IN). Currently Stewart is Associate
Professor of Religion at McMurry University (Abilene, TX), where he teaches the history of
Christian thought.
www.peterlang.com
P M P
RIESTS OF Y EOPLE
Advance Praise for
“This book is valuable simply for challenging the widespread assumptions that the
Christian ‘priesthood’ came to be around 200 due to pagan models or to a new
understanding of the Eucharist as a sacrifice. Far more than this, however, Bryan A.
Stewart demonstrates that the late-second- and early-third-century designation of
Christian ministers as ‘priests’ richly exemplifies development of doctrine—not
merely the development of ideas, but rather ideas thoroughly contextualized within
Christian material culture, sacred space, and religio-political worldview. As Stewart
makes clear, the newly developed typological connections with the Levitical priesthood
accord with the trajectory of the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers, in a
manner that prior scholars overlooked. This erudite and rewarding book is a major
step forward for those interested in how doctrine developed in the early Church.”
Matthew Levering, Perry Family Foundation
Professor of Theology, Mundelein Seminary

“Bryan A. Stewart deploys a supple ‘religio-political ecclesiology’ and notions of sacred
space to explain the emergence of a new, Christian form of priestly leadership in the
early church. Understanding the church as itself a polis provided the context in
which early Christians drew parallels between the Levitical, Aaronic priests of Israel
and the new ministers who presided over Christian communities. Stewart’s historical
case is compelling, and along the way he makes an important contribution to long-
standing ecumenical debates concerning the nature and sources of the Christian
ministry.”
Peter Leithart, President, Theopolis Institute,
Birmingham, Alabama

P M P
RIESTS OF Y EOPLE
P
ATRISTIC
S
TUDIES

Gerald Bray
General Editor

Vol. 11

This book is a volume in a Peter Lang monograph series.
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PETER LANG
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B A. S
RYAN TEWART

P M P
RIESTS OF Y EOPLE

Levitical Paradigms for
Early Christian Ministers

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stewart, Bryan A.
Priests of my people: Levitical paradigms for early Christian ministers /
Bryan A. Stewart.
pages cm. — (Patristic studies; Vol. 11)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Priesthood—History of doctrines—Early church, ca. 30–600.
2. Pastoral theology—History of doctrines—Early church, ca. 30–600. I. Title.
BR195.P36S74 262’.1413—dc23 2014043814
ISBN 978-1-4331-2761-8 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4539-1453-3 (e-book)
ISSN 1094-6217

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

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To
Jennifer
for her understanding and unceasing encouragement,
and
Robert L. Wilken
for the generosity of his time and support