CHAPTER VIII.

THE PRINCIPLE OF THE UNIVERSAL PRIESTHOOD OF THE LAITY AS SHEWN IN HOLY WRIT; ITS APPLICATION AT DIFFERENT STAGES IN THE CHURCH'S HISTORY CONSIDERED.

"Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." -EXOD. xix. 6.

"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices."-1 PET. ii. 5.

S. PETER has laid it down for our learning that we,

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as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Here, then, we have, to begin with, a principle stated by S. Peter, according to which we may consider every Christian man, woman, and child, as having been admitted, in some sense, into the sacerdotal office. And this admission into holy office, we know, takes place as each soul is initiated into the mysteries of the holy Faith in the sacrament of Baptism. In thus laying down this principle, S. Peter is really merely echoing that which had been in vogue during previous centuries, and which had been applied to the Church of God under the Old Dispensation. We may find, we may say, its exact counterpart in the gracious words which

God addressed to His servant Moses (Exod. xix. 6), "A kingdom of priests, and an holy nation," said God, His people Israel were to be. How far they succeeded in attaining to this ideal, or, for that matter, how far we ourselves have attained to it, would be beside the mark in our present discussion. We are now only concerned with the fact that it has been laid down as a general principle that, in some sense, every child of God may be considered as exercising a sacerdotal office.

Now, the sacerdotal office combines the threefold duty of governing, teaching, as well as offering sacrifice. But from the formal exercise of this office woman has been definitely debarred by certain canons laid down in Scripture by the holy Apostle. And this disability on the part of woman arises from two facts, which are mentioned by S. Paul in 1 Tim. ii. 12-14. He writes, "I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For (1) Adam was first formed, then Eve. And (2) Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." Woman is therefore reckoned to be inadmissible to the holy office of the priesthood; the actual duties pertaining to this office, therefore, devolve upon the man alone.

And next, it will be instructive to note how this principle of our universal priesthood has been applied. It would seem that General Principles in the early days of our first parents were carried out and strictly applied in the spirit and the letter, as in the case of our Lord's dictum respecting holy matrimony, "A man shall leave his father and mother,

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and cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh." So in this particular of the priesthood, it would seem that every male became ipso facto a priest to offer up sacrifices unto God. For in the earliest authentic records we have, we find that the two sons of Adam, Cain and Abel, offered up sacrifices in addition to those we presume that were offered up by their father. If we may suppose that both these sons lived in the same home with their father, then it would appear every male was not only competent, but was expected to exercise sacerdotal functions. But if we regard these two as living in separate homes, then we may presume they only exercised this office in virtue of the chief government which they held in their respective families, and that it was only as the patriarchs and heads of their own households they assumed the sacred duties of priests.

But in the next stage we come to, we find that the patriarchs, Noah, Abraham, etc., offered their sacrifices to God as being the chiefs of their families; but we find no mention made of the sons having assumed any such functions in their fathers' lifetime, and that independently of their fathers. And, as we well know from the prominent case of dispute between Jacob and Esau, the birthright of the eldest son carried with it the dignity and privilege, as well as the solemn duties, of the priesthood.

But in the third and next stage we come to, we note that this responsibility attaching to the accident of birth was shifted, from the shoulders of the firstborn to those of another person especially consecrated and set apart to bear this sacred burden. And this was the enactment made by God under the Mosaic

dispensation. But we note also that while this change was made, the principle laid down from the beginning remained unchanged; nay, the Mosaic enactment was really only the application of the principle in another way, where the sacred duty devolving as a matter of course upon the first-born was, for certain considerations, imposed upon a special class of men solemnly set apart for this purpose. What these considerations were, as they are not definitely and distinctly recorded, as such, for us in Scripture, we can only gather from the history of those days, and from the special legislation that was enacted affecting this class.

The circumstances of the patriarchs at this time were much altered. The history of the patriarchs inclines us to the belief that hitherto they had led peaceable lives, with the exceptions of Abraham and Jacob, the former having had to pursue the invaders of his country for the rescue of Lot, and the latter having been embroiled in the contests of his more fierce sons, Simeon and Levi, with their neighbours. But we may presume that, neither in these, or other contests that may have happened, did the chief patriarch himself actually draw the sword to shed man's blood, though engaged in legitimate warfare, but that he contented himself with merely leading his followers against the foe.

But at this time circumstances compelled the patriarchs to initiate a different policy from that hitherto followed by their forefathers, and this they were obliged to do at the direct instance of God. For now they were called upon to take possession of the promised land, and to spare none of the inhabitants. Such

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shedding of human blood was altogether incompatible with the character of one who, like Melchisedech, was to be the priest of the most high God, of one who was to be the type of the meek and gentle Being who hath the everlasting priesthood.

Owing to this change of policy it was necessary, therefore, to make a change also affecting the sacerdotal character and status of the warriors, who, indeed, were embarking upon a Divine mission, yet one incompatible with the performance of priestly functions. For God ever manifested a disinclination to men of war approaching His throne, as priests and intercessors for the people, when their hands had been stained with the shedding of human blood in warfare, however lawful and necessary. This we may clearly see in that episode of the Kings, where God manifests a preference for King Solomon building his temple at Jerusalem, in the place of his father David, who had been a man of war during the greater part of his life.

It was evident, then, that men, as warriors, could not devote their time and attention to the sacred ministry, and this charge must be assigned to others specially chosen and dedicated to God. The tribe of Levi was thus set apart for the service of God and His sanctuary. The men of this tribe were accepted by God as substitutes for their compatriots, who should "as for the people, so for themselves," offer for sins. Warriors, from the rude and rough nature of their profession, might prove rather stern and unbending ministers of the Divine mercy. It was fitter, therefore, that men chosen for the sacerdotal order, though not free from the infirmities of human nature, should