Aaron said:
But one doesn't need the records if one has the Bible. We can easily discern that there is no priest/laity division in scriptures.
Ok, we will use the Scriptures alone to study the question. I cited 5 or so Bible verses in my last post about Priesthood.
Any thoughts?
1. Jude (1:11) says
"they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion." What was Korah's rebellion? [I gave the reference to Numbers 16.] Rebelling against the Priestly Hierarchy. That shows there was a Priestly Hierarchy in Apostle Jude's time.
2. God's Prophecy:
"And I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,” says the LORD. " (Isa 66:21). Again, God reveals there will be Priests and Levites, i.e. Ministerial Priests, in the New Covenant.
3. Mal 1:11:
"My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD Almighty."
This did not happen in Israel. It happens in the Church. It happens through Ministerial Priests who offer the Lord's Body and Blood to God under the forms of bread and wine. Christ commanded His Apostles, and other Presbyters, to do this.
4. The Bible clearly speaks of Bishops and Presbyters in many passages:
"Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood." (Acts 20:28).
"For this reason I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you," (Titus 1:5)
Are you a Bishop or a Presbyter, Aaron? All Christians share a "royal priesthood" but not the "ministerial priesthood".
5. In Rom 15:16, St. Paul says that he, a Presbyter, ministers or officiates as a Priest no less than the Jewish Priests in the Temple used to do; but he does in Christ:
"to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." (Rom 15:16, NASB).
[Strong's Concordance on the above passage in Greek: "
in the priestly service
ἱερουργοῦντα (hierourgounta)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2418: To minister in holy things. From a compound of hieron and the base of ergon; to be a temple-worker, i.e. Officiate as a priest."
https://biblehub.com/romans/15-16.htm] Here, we see that Bishops/Presbyters do minister as Priests.
Again, not every Christian is a Presbyter, and not every Presbyter is a Bishop. Bishops/Presbyters "minister as Priests".
Also, if there is no ministerial Priesthood in the New Testament, no one should receive tithes either. Tithes were always for Priests, right from the time when Abraham tithed Melchizedek the Priest. Does anyone really want to maintain that?
Why did the Lord command tithes to be paid to His Priests? Because He delights in receiving their offerings/sacrifices. And if you read Malachi 1:11, it is clear that Priesthood and offerings (clearly of the Lord's Body and Blood) continue in the NT.
God Bless.