A 06 - General Priesthood All Christians
Ryder PLHC: 06 General Priesthood of All Christians in Apocalypse THE GENERAL PRIESTHOOD OF ALL CHRISTIANS IN THE APOCALYPSE JOHANNES APOOALYPTISTA
Volat avis sine meta
Quo nee vates nee propheta
Evolavit altius:
Tam implenda quam impleta
Nunquam vidit tot secreta
Purus homo purius.
Chapter VI THE GENERAL PRIESTHOOD OF ALL CHRISTIANS IN THE APOCALYPSE
Unto Him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by His blood; and He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto His God and Father. Revelation 1:5-6. THE Apocalypse of St. John the Divine may be compared to a vast cathedral, dim, mysterious, solemn, containing symbols of the deepest obscurity, well-nigh, if not altogether, incomprehensible. But this cathedral is entered by a portico, fair and clear, adorned with pillars of white marble, polished with consummate art.
It may be asked why this mysterious cathedral of the Apocalypse is entered by the portico of the Letters, or Messages, to the Seven Churches of Asia.
Many have failed to find the answer because they have regarded the first three chapters of the book, which describe the spiritual life in the Seven Churches, [1] as detached from the main body of the book.
[1] The apocalyptist does not use he ekklesia to denote the whole Church as St. Paul does (Colossians, Ephesians). When St. John wishes to express the ideal unity of Christendom he does so by means of a symbolical female figure, the mother (Revelation 12:1), or the Wife or Bride of Christ (xix., xxi., xxii.). It is interesting to note that the apocalyptist writes taij ekklhsiaij not to the aggregate, th ekklhsia. Ai ekklhsiaj are not the Seven Churches only, but the Christian societies throughout the world known in the next generation as h kaqolikh ekklhsia (Ignatius, Smyrna, viii. 2).
I have studied with the deepest interest the latest book on the Apocalypse, by the Regius Professor of Divinity in Cambridge, and the answer which Dr. Swete gives seems to remove the difficulty. He notices that not only are the Seven Churches mentioned in the first chapter (Revelation 1:11, "What thou seest, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches"), but they seem to be also referred to in the last chapter (Revelation 22:16, "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches ").
Thus the whole book may be regarded in substance as an unfolding of the divine purpose; in form, an Epistle in reality, a Pastoral. At the time when the Book of Revelation was written (A.D. 95, in the reign of Domitian) a blasphemous claim was made by the emperors of Rome. The worship of emperors, deified and dead, or licentious and living, was the abomination against which St. John wrote. Temples were erected, priests ministered, cities vied as vewKopoi or subservient adherents of the imperial cult. Living emperors were worshipped in their lifetime as gods. City after city, to gain favour with the Government, asked permission to erect temples to the reigning emperor. [1]
[1] The city of Pergamum possessed in A.D. 29 a temple dedicated to Rome and Augustus; a second temple was erected in the time of Trajan, when Pergamum acquired the title of dij newkopoj. The practice led to the persecution of Christians. All citizens were commanded to offer worship to the emperor on pain of death. To refuse was not only rebellion, but heresy. Eusebius makes this clear in the story of the martyrdom of Polycarp (see Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. bk. iv. c. xv.). It was absolutely a choice between Caesar or Christ. The Christians refused to offer sacrifice either to the old pagan gods, or to the new deities enthroned in heaven by a subservient Senate. For this they were banished, or thrown to the lions, or burned alive.
What were the blasphemous titles assumed by the heads of the Roman Empire in the first and second centuries may be learned from the imperial letters found by J. T. Wood among the inscriptions of Ephesus (see Hicks, Ephesus, p. 150): autokratwr Kaisar Qeou Traianou Parqenikou uioj, Qeou Neroua uiwnoj, Traianoj Adrianoj Sebastoj
[“autocrate Ceasar, God of Gods, Only Begotten Son of God, Nero son of Trainos Adrian Reverend” -David Cox editor I am not sure of the translation Trainos Adrian, it is a name I believe] The honours decreed to the emperor (Hicks, p. 162) were to autokratori qew qeoij sebastoij (ib., p. 169). Martial (v. 8) says of Domitian, "edictum domini deique nostri." No Christian, none at least of Jewish origin, could have read such inscriptions day after day without a shock to his inbred monotheism.
Suetonius (Domitian, xv.) says a formal edict began with the words "Dominus et Deus noster fieri jubet." The whole Book of Revelation is a trumpet-call to steadfastness, with a veiled reference to the worship of the deified emperors. It is true that the later portion of the book speaks of the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven and the City of God in heaven. This comes as an encouragement and reward, showing the faithful that if they were rejected from the citizenship of the Roman Empire in martyrdom, they were thereby enrolled as honoured and blessed citizens of the City of God, eternal in the heavens. On this view the mark of the Beast, the chief puzzle of the book, becomes intelligible. As three was the number of heaven, as four was the number of earth, so seven became the number of the relation of God to men the number of sacrifice, the perfect number. The number which fell short of perfection, not once but three times, was 666. In Hebrew letters the name would read " Nero Caesar."
Dr. Swete says: " Certainly Nero Caesar suits the context well: the beast or persecuting world might fitly be named after the emperor who began the policy of persecution, and was himself an incarnation of its worst characteristics. Nor is this unsuitable as applied to Domitian, for the Romans them selves called him "Nero redivivus."
Juvenal (iv. 37), writing of Domitian, says:
Quum jam semianimum laceraret Flavius orbem Ultimus et Calvo serviret Roma Neroni. His own Rome called Domitian a " bald Nero." Tertullian (Apology, v.) calls Domi tian "portio Neronis de crudelitate." The Seer of Patmos had his feet on earth, with seven existing churches before his eyes across the blue Mgean Sea, as his spirit reached to the invisible. The Apocalypse is the supreme example of Christian prophecy. The visions permitted to the spirit of St. Paul, the outpourings of the charismatic ministry, are made vocal and surpassed by the Seer of Patmos in the Apocalypse so fortunately preserved to us. In this light the book has some important references to early church organisation. It has not often been remarked that there are seven Beatitudes in the Book of Revelation (cf. Revelation 1:3; Revelation 14:13; Revelation 16:15; Revelation 19:9; Revelation 22:7; Revelation 22:14). The first Beatitude refers to the early Christian congregation assembled for worship: "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy of this book" (Revelation 1:3). Dr. Harnack, in his Sources of the Apostolic Canons (p. 76), has much to say on the office of reader in the Early Church.
"The Revelation of St. John, as it lies before us, begins (Revelation 1:1-2) with a short announcement of the contents, origin, and communication of the book; then it says (Revelation 1:3): makarioj o anaginwskwn, kai oi akouontej touj logouj thj profhteiaj. The distinction would have been an empty pedantry if the reader had not then possessed a peculiar and prominent position in the congregations. Thus the verse is of significance for the date and for the original position of the reader. There were certainly readers about the year A.D. 100, and at that time congregations could, in view of edification, be divided into reader and hearers.
"But what we seek the Second Epistle of Clement provides for us. This writing, now that it has been made known to us by Bryennios, claims, as is well known, to give us the copy of a sermon, and that of the oldest sermon which we possess, not later than the middle of the second century. That it was not delivered by a bishop or a presbyter is to be seen from xvii. 3, and still plainer from xix. 1. And let us not think to give heed and believe now only, while we are admonished by the presbyters; but likewise when we have departed home (xvii. 3). There fore, brothers and sisters, after the God of truth hath been heard, I read to you an exhortation to the end that ye may give heed to the things which are written, so that ye may save both yourselves and him that readeth in the midst of you (xix. 1).
"On the strength of this passage I had in my edition (1876) ascribed the sermon to a 4 teacher. As I was certain that a presbyter or the overseer could not have preached the sermon, and as I then knew nothing of the readers of the oldest time, there remained to me no other alternative. But even then I remarked that the author read his sermon, and that the statement was contrary to what had elsewhere been conjectured on the oldest sermons.
"Now, for the first time after the reader has come into clearer light, is it possible to decide on this passage.
"The author announces (1) that before his sermon he read a portion of the Holy Scriptures; he remarks (2) casually that he also read his sermon, relating to this portion, and he calls himself (3) he that readeth among you, 5 and makes the same distinction ( you the hearers he who is reading among you ) which we have found in the Revelation of St. John."
Dr. Harnack then quotes from the original sources of the Sources of the Apostolic Canons, 16-28 (p. 15):
“For reader, let one be appointed after he has been carefully proved of plain utterance, and capable of clearly expounding, mindful that he rules in the place of an evangelist: for whoever fills the ear of the ignorant will be accounted as having his name written with God."
Thus we may conclude that we have in the Second Epistle of Clement not the unrestrained speech of a spiritual teacher, but the elaborate sermon of a congregational reader, like those which Source A has made known to us.
Dr. Harnack goes on to say:
“A completely organised congregation at the end of the Apostolic Age possessed (1) prophets and teachers, who were awakened by the Spirit, and announced the Word of God; (2) a circle of elders, who in all emergencies which affected the congregation would come forth to guide them, and who had watch over especially the life, or the evangelical character of the congregation, and hence admonished, punished, and com forted; (3) the administrative officials bishops and deacons who possessed the charisma of government and public service, and who had to act especially in divine service in the care of the poor. But be sides these were active in the congregations the most varied charismata (1 Cor. xii.) 4 powers, gifts of healings, kinds of tongues.
Each individual gift or talent, which aimed at the edification of the congregation, was considered as a charisma of the Holy Ghost, but among these only the apostles, prophets, and teachers held a special rank in the congregation. Among the various “men of gifts "there were even in the earliest times readers and exorcists. The public reading of the Old Testament formed an integral part of the service. Also other writings, apocalypses, epistles, and soon even gospels, were to be read in the church. Many highly esteemed prophets and teachers who could edify by free speech were not able to read the Holy Scriptures. Thus readers were necessary, and the exist ence of such we find presupposed even in the Apocalypse of St. John. The art of reading and of delivery for the object of the edification of the congregation was considered a gift of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Schiirer says:
“By the side of the elders, who had to direct in general the services of the Jewish congregation, special officers had to be appointed for special objects. But the peculiar thing here is, that just for the ordinary divine service, reading of the Scrip tures, sermon, and congregational prayer no special officers were appointed. These acts were performed more often by the members of the congregation alternately." The reader, then, according to Dr. Harnack, was essentially what we should call a lay reader, possessing a charismatic gift for edifying the congregation in that way. Afterwards, reader, doorkeeper, exorcist appear among the minor orders of the Church.
Passing on we find in the Apocalypse the following statements as to the general priesthood of all Christians: "He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests into his God and Father" (Revelation 1:6).
Dr. Swete discusses the question whether "kingdom" in this passage means a nation under the government of a king or a nation of kings. He says: "The Apocalypse is largely a protest against the Caesar cult and the attitude of the empire towards the Church, and at the outset it places the divine kingdom in sharp contrast to the imperial power. As Israel, when set free from Egypt, acquired a national life under its divine king, so the Church, redeemed by the blood of Christ, constitutes a holy nation, a new theocracy." The members of the Church, a kingdom in their corporate life, are individually priests. Baptism inaugurates this priestly service (Ephesians 5:26, Hebrews 10:22, Titus 3:5), which is fulfilled by the offering of living, reason able, and spiritual sacrifice (Revelation 12:1, Hebrews 13:15, 1 Peter 2:5). The Church, like Israel, is a great sacerdotal society. That there are special ministries within the body which belong to an ordained "clerus," a ierourgia tou euaggeliou, committed to apostles and their successors (Rom. xv. 16), in no way conflicts with the reality of the priesthood of every baptized member of Christ. On Rev. v. 10, "and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests, and they reign on the earth," Dr. Swete makes the interesting remark: " The fact that this chord is struck thrice in the Apocalypse seems to imply special familiarity on the part of both writer and readers with the words as well as the thoughts: possibly they entered into a primitive hymn, which may have run:
Epoihsaj hmaj basileian
iereij tw qew kai Patrisou
kai basileusomen epi thj ghj
“In the passage before us the present is used they reign on the earth, and the more difficult reading basileuousin is to be preferred. The reign of the saints had begun in the life of the Spirit, though in the fuller sense it was still future."
Christ, by a supreme act of self-sacrifice, has purchased men of all races for the service of God, founded a vast spiritual empire, and converted human life into a priestly service and a royal dignity. The third passage (Revelation 20:6), "But they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years," is explained thus: The destiny purchased by the Christ for all Christians will be realised in those who partake in the first resurrection: for their priestly service, in the glory of its ideal perfection, is an accomplished fact. The inclusion of Christ with God in the object of divine service is peculiar to the passage, but it agrees with what has been said in Revelation 5:8 as to the joint worship of God and of the Lamb by heavenly beings, and with the general tendency of the book to regard Christ as an equivalent of God.
There is another reason for the Beatitude of the martyrs and confessors: they shall reign with the Christ during the thousand years (mentioned in 20:4). Priesthood and royalty are the mutually complementary service of God ("cui servire est regnare"). As to the millennium, it is important to notice that no hint is given as to where this service is to be rendered and this royalty to be exercised. The words, "on the earth," of Rev. v. 10 have no place either in xx. 4 or in xx. 6, and must not be read between the lines. St. John does not commit himself to a reign on earth. We have symbolised the victory of the principles for which the martyrs died and the confessors endured hardship and loss.
Dr. Swete says: " Blessed and holy indeed were those who by their brief resistance unto blood secured for the Church so long a continuance of peaceful service: they would live to reign with Christ as kings and priests in the hearts of all succeeding generations of Christians, while their work bore fruit in the subjection of the civilised world to the obedience of the faith." That the age of the martyrs, however long it might last, would be followed by a far longer period of constant supremacy, during which the faith for which the martyrs died would live and reign, is the essential teaching of the present vision. When, under what circumstance, or by what means this happy result should be attained St. John does not foresee, and does not attempt to explain. It might have been well if students of his book had always followed the example of this wise reserve.
Passing to other notes of Christian organisation, we turn to Rev. i. 10, " I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day." The exile of Patmos, shut out from the weekly breaking of bread in the Christian assembly in Ephesus, finds the Lord’s presence in his solitude. This early reference to the Christian Sunday as the Lord’s Day is in keeping with the language of 1 Corinthians 11:20, "It is not possible to eat the Lord’s supper." In the Didache (xiv.), written but a short time afterwards, is the injunction: "Being assembled on the Lord’s Day to break bread." In Revelation 1:20, "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches," Archbishop Trench sees the presiding bishop, and labours to prove that Polycarp may have been the Bishop of Smyrna at this time. Dr. Weymouth, in his interesting book, New Testament in Modern Speech, renders "the seven stars are the ministers of the seven churches," "To the minister in the Church of Smyrna write."
Dr. Swete says: " The Apocalypse uses aggelloj some sixty times (excluding the expression angel of the church or (‘churches’), and always in the technical sense of a superhuman being employed in the service of God or Satan. There is, therefore, a strong presumption that the angels of the churches are angels in the sense which the word bears elsewhere throughout the book. In Daniel 10:13 angels preside over particular nations. That John should have extended this conception to churches is not surprising, especially in view of the highly developed angelology of the book. It is hardly possible to prove from this expression the establishment of diocesan bishops at so early a period."
There is an interesting reference to the power of the keys in Revelation 3:7. We learn that the power of the keys is reserved for divine hands. "These things saith he that hath the key of David, He that openeth and none shall shut, and that shutteth and none openeth." In Revelation 8:3 another angel stood over the altar, having a golden censer. The celestial messenger takes the place of the priest and offers the incense. The altar here is the altar of incense. For there is an altar in heaven, and thither our prayers and oblations are directed; but the only sacrifice is the Lamb, who was slain. In Revelation 6:9: "I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held." This is the altar of burnt offering, and the victims which have been offered on it are the martyred members of the Church, who have followed their Lord in the example of His sacrificial death. In Revelation 21:3: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His peoples, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God."
One important and deliberate change has been made in the terms of these prophecies. The writer has substituted laoi for laoj the many peoples of redeemed humanity for the single elect nation, the world for Israel. In Leviticus the promise was: "I will set My tabernacle among you... and will be your God, and ye shall be My people" (Leviticus 26:11). In the sublime description of the heavenly city many of our most precious privileges are superseded by the enjoyment of the divine reality. "And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb are the temple thereof." The passport to that heavenly city is character and the testimony to Jesus. Only "they shall enter which are written in the Lamb’s book of life." The river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeds from the throne of God and the Lamb. The tree of life is not only for the service of the citizens of the New Jerusalem, but its leaves are for the healing of the nations. The functions of the Church on earth are twofold: she builds up her own children, and, so far as she fulfils her true office, she is the healer of the diseases of humanity. The Seer repeats, like a refrain, the absence of night in the Ideal City and the supersession of light natural or artificial by the revelation of the glory of God. His servants shall reign, not for a limited period implied by a thousand years, but for ever and ever. Neither the age of the martyrs nor the age of Constantine witnessed the full revelation of the kingdom of God, which is reserved for the Church in her perfect state.
Perfect service will be accompanied by perfect sovereignty. Already the many colours of the New Jerusalem and the flashes of its crystal light may be seen by those whose eyes are not closed against the heavenly vision. Men already slake their thirst in the river of life, and nations find healing in the leaves of the tree of life. It is noteworthy that even in the visions of this book, which came to him when he was apparently alone in Patmos, St. John associates himself with the whole body of the Christian prophets. The esprit de corps thus revealed is interesting. At the same time it is to be observed that he does not isolate the prophetic order from the rest of the Christian society. If in the first place it comes to the prophets only, it comes to them for the benefit of the Church at large; it is their duty to communicate it to all the servants of God. "The Lord Himself is the Spirit of the prophets." The angel says, "I am a fellow-servant with thee, and with thy brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book." The Apocalypse, like the Epistle to the Hebrews, shows us all sacrifices consummated by One Sacrifice, all priesthoods in One Priest. The priesthood of all Christians is asserted and yet when it says (Revelation 7:15), "His servants shall serve Him," the priestly word leutourgein is not used, but latreuein. The conception is that of one vast worshipping multitude. The use of leutourgein would have rather suggested that of an exclusive priesthood admitted to the sanctuary while the great majority were content to pray without. The Israelite who was not priest or Levite did not proceed beyond the ieron, one tribe alone having access to the naoj. But in the Eternal Temple the Seer sees the whole Israel of God admitted to the naoj, and the occasion for the leitourgia of a tribal or special priesthood has disappeared, all being priests and all serving in the presence of their God. But the vision of ceaseless worship is realised only when life itself is regarded as a service. The consecration of all life to the service of God is the goal to which our present worship points, and is symbolised by the apocalyptist’s words: " Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His tem ple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them."