Every Christian is a Priest to Each Other
As a Baptist, I embrace the great Reformation precepts -- and, dare I say, Baptist (at our best) notions -- of soul freedom, soul competency and the priesthood of all believers. We are all imbued by God with both the freedom and competence to read and understand Scripture and to interpret it without direction from a "priest." The only intermediation we need, according to the writer of Hebrews, is Christ himself.
For a Baptist Christian, scriptural interpretation should begin and end with the individual reading of the text through the lens of Jesus and with the Holy Spirit's guidance.
However, this always should be done in the context and the nurture of the community. This includes one's ecclesiological tradition, the church, and the best of biblical scholarship. It is altogether arrogant to think that God speaks only directly to me and through no one else. Indeed, the full idea of the believers' priesthood doctrine is not just that no one needs a priest; it is that every Christian is a priest, a priest to each other.
This mutual accountability must be done in love and with a light touch. That's why this is done better in a small group, like a Sunday school class, or among brothers and sisters in the local church. It is not to be license to sanction top down ravishing of consciences or theological straitjacketing either of the local congregation or the individual.
In sum, I read the text through the life and teachings of Christ, expecting inspiration and understanding from the Holy Spirit. I then sometimes discuss it with others, such as a Bible study group, and often read several commentaries or other scholarly sources. In the end, as a free and competent soul without further need of a priest, I understand it and apply it to my life as best I can.
By
J. Brent Walker
|
February 23, 2009; 7:17 AM ET
| Category:
Personal Religion
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Posted by: congratulations | February 26, 2009 7:14 AM
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what are the originals? what are the initial values? what are the defaults? what are the setup files? what have Oxford and CAmbridge Comissions concluded? what are the intakes from the elders?
what did Ahmet prophet adopt? what did AP apply? what did AP initiate? what did AP employ?
Posted by: congratulations | February 25, 2009 8:40 AM
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siz birbirinizi kollarken, ne hukuk ne hak gozetiyorsunuz. saclarinizi kestirseniz sayin Meclis BAskani ya da saclariniza tahinli cevizli kabak tatlisi surseniz, Adapazarlilar ve Eskisehirliler, Muazzez Ilmiye Cig ve Bitlisliler yardimci olur size?
www.eskisehirliyiz.biz/eskisehir/simge.asp?sec=3
hocam, Aziz George gibi durmus degil mi? ne dersiniz? hani ben de Eskisehirliyim de, Gelibolu'dan gelisli, onun icin diyorum yani.
Posted by: congratulations | February 25, 2009 4:23 AM
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siz o mecliste utanarak yemek yiyecek ve yemekhaneye giremeyeceksiniz bile yakin bir zaman sonra.
Posted by: congratulations | February 25, 2009 4:10 AM
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siz bu ulkede biz cahiliz biz cahillik ettik diye dolasacaksiniz sayin Toptan.
Posted by: congratulations | February 25, 2009 4:07 AM
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yok sayin Toptan, merak etmeyin,i BEdrettin Dalan ve BAkirkoy'de elektrosok uygulayan Antalyali kovulmus eski bashekim ve simdi Yeditepe'de tip fakultesi psikiyatride ogretim gorevlisi torununuzun kulaklarini sagir etmez, dinlemege almaz, isaret diline gerek kalmaz.
sizin cezanizi verecek bu millet, sizin gibi sutsuzlerin cezasini vercek.
Posted by: congratulations | February 25, 2009 4:06 AM
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ibranice girtlak, yedi ya da dokuz yilda bir degistirilen temizlenen guncellenen masaustu ya da kutuphane anlamindaymis, wikipedia'da gormuslugum kadariyla soyleyeyim.
Posted by: congratulations | February 25, 2009 2:28 AM
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kurtcenin icinde getirilmis degerleri ve maneviyati koyacak yer var mi kutuphanenizde sayin Meclis Baskani? yer acin bir zahmet.
Posted by: congratulations | February 25, 2009 2:16 AM
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"merhaba=hello" in arabic is "be comfortable where you are seated", as far as i know. thank You for this room, Minister, John Meacham, SAlly Quinn.
Posted by: congratulations | February 25, 2009 2:15 AM
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nasil olsa ispanyollardan isaret dilini ogreneceksiniz yakinda sayin Meclis Baskani, siir de yaziyorsunuz. torununuz icin hangi dili dusunuyorsunuz? ingilizce mi?
Posted by: congratulations | February 25, 2009 2:11 AM
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Minister, may i beg Your pardon for a room, please? in the prayer, Ahmet prophet praises Muhammed in the beseated section ("tahiyyat").
lets think about this with Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses.
1. Ahmet prophet was later named as Muhammed
2. Muhammed "the praised" is a character of those times too.
3. the addresses in the beseated section ("tahiyyat") has been added later.
4. so which church are we talking about? orthodox church?
5. are we talking about "Hizir" the Green One?
Adalet BAkani Mehmet Ali SAhin "yanlis yaparsam halk cezasini verir" demis. ben de Ahmet Turk'e tesekkur ediyorum.
Posted by: congratulations | February 25, 2009 2:08 AM
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To imply in any way that one should not read a “sacred text” without the assistance of
another person opens the discussion to at least two possibilities.
First, the original intent of the deity giving the revelation was to empower a class of
people to “guide” the masses who could not be trusted to get the correct meaning for
themselves.
Or second, the deity was unable to provide a guide for the “unwashed masses”
As we now well aware, radio and TV signals are received by millions of people
simultaneously so that the message in the “sacred text” could have been broadcast to all
and in many languages.
Of course, the “true” insight is that the manner chosen by the deity was to have each prove
their faith by believing the spin given by the current day interpreters practicing
presentism.
Posted by: Perspective1 | February 19, 2009 1:36 PM
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Really don't know what to say about all this.
Maybe...
If you like your damn book so much, you can educate the pitchfork brigade.
I'm sure your efforts are good, there, Reverend, but for some reason they seem to walk out there in the world with some notion the 'rules' you insist define civilization by.... don't apply to queer girls.
Has a way of getting awkward, that, don't you know.
I mean, here are your 'sheep' in a 'war for Christ' all snookered and with no idea what do do with their wee-wees, and here I am, of a religion preaching sacred reverence and wonder of sexuality and no particular war for any particular thing, having to defend what *you* call 'virtue to be taken' and I call, 'Pity bout inside your knee there, piggie...'
I feel, in an interfaith way, that our great traditions are just not *connecting* somehow.
Reverend.
Why, some of your flock even are afraid their pens aren't built tight enough if other Americans don't live by the prescribed breeding programs.
All kinds of messy.
Sure we, as reasoning humans, can work this out, though. I understand it's been distracting us all from certain bookkeeping tasks of late.
Posted by: Paganplace | February 18, 2009 5:45 PM
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