Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Here's a great quote from my (actually Monte's) history of Christianity book. It's explaining some of Luther's beliefs about the church and community:
"To be priests [ie. the priesthood of all believers] does not mean primarily that we are our own individual priests, but rather that we are priests for the entire community of belief, and that they are priests for us. Rather than setting aside the need for the community of the church, the doctrine of the universal priesthood of believers strengthens it. It is true that access to God is no longer controlled by a hierarchical priesthood. But we still stand in need of the community of believers, the body of Christ, in which each member is a priest for the rest, and feeds the rest. Without such nourishment, an isolated member cannot live."
I don't think I could say it any better. Way to go Justo L. Gonzalez.
