PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS: A LEGACY OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION AND ITS IMPLICATION ON THE 21 CENTURY ST CHURCH

Abstract

The priesthood of all believers was one of the cardinal principles of the sixteenth century protestant Reformation. While the Reformers used the doctrine/principle of all believers to buttress the evangelical understanding of the Church against the sacerdotalism of medieval Catholicism; the ecclesial context has always been misconstrued and misapplied by the church in the 21 century. This paper therefore, seeksto clarify the misconception and refocus st the principle of priesthood of all believers, to reflect its contextual understanding;and also to explore the implications of such misconception on the 21 century church. To achieve this, the st researcher adopts a historical and analytic approach. The paper argues that the current application of the doctrine by the 21 century is not congruent with the reformers st understanding which is in worth rather than in function. It further identifies the priestly roles of the believer to include: direct access to God, holy living, and reconciliation. The paper identifies some major implications of the misapplication on the 21 century church such as: st indiscriminate setting up of churches/ministries, development of roadside theology, weakening of the power of ecumenism, and religious individualism. The paper further argues that, although the principle of the priesthood of all believers has achieved great religious freedom for all believers, however, it has been misapplied by the 21 century church leading to st moral and spiritual decadence instead of improving it. The paper therefore challenges men and women of God, scholars and teachers of the word of truth not to spend time rejecting the biblical justification of this doctrine, rather, they should seek to clarify, refocus and put it in proper perspective for the church's application in order to improve the spirituality of the 21st century church.