Rezension
«
Priests of My People
is a fresh contribution to our understanding of the historical development of the ‘priesthood.’ Bryan A. Stewart shows that the Christian bishop was not, as is commonly held, called priest because he presided at the sacrifice of the Eucharist. Rather it was as head of the community, the new Israel, the Christian
polis
that the term priest came into general usage. This provocative book breaks through the shibboleths that have marked Protestant and Catholic debates to offer an ecumenical understanding of the Christian ministry.» (Robert Louis Wilken, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of the History of Christianity Emeritus, The University of Virginia)
«This book is valuable simply for challenging the widespread assumptions that the Christian ‘priesthood’ came to be around 200 due to pagan models or to a new understanding of the Eucharist as a sacrifice. Far more than this, however, Bryan A. Stewart demonstrates that the late-second- and early-third-century designation of Christian ministers as ‘priests’ richly exemplifies development of doctrine – not merely the development of ideas, but rather ideas thoroughly contextualized within Christian material culture, sacred space, and religio-political worldview. As Stewart makes clear, the newly developed typological connections with the Levitical priesthood accord with the trajectory of the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers, in a manner that prior scholars overlooked. This erudite and rewarding book is a major step forward for those interested in how doctrine developed in the early Church.» (Matthew Levering, Perry Family Foundation, Professor of Theology, Mundelein Seminary)
«Bryan A. Stewart deploys a supple ‘religio-political ecclesiology’ and notions of sacred space to explain the emergence of a new, Christian form of priestly leadership in the early church. Understanding the church as itself a
polis
provided the context in which early Christians drew parallels between the Levitical, Aaronic priests of Israel and the new ministers who presided over Christian communities. Stewart’s historical case is compelling, and along the way he makes an important contribution to long-standing ecumenical debates concerning the nature and sources of the Christian ministry.»
(Peter Leithart, President, Theopolis Institute, Birmingham, Alabama)
