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some one through whom this access shall be gained. The provision of this access is the work of the priest.

It is then briefly the part of the priest to establish a connexion of man with God, and secondarily of man with man.

The priest brings man to God (the unseen power); and he brings God to man.

So it is that the conception which we form of priesthood shapes our whole view of religion (Heb. 7:12).

These thoughts are of universal application, and find manifold embodiments in the experience of mankind.

Of these manifold embodiments we must take account in our endeavour to grasp the full meaning of the Christian Dispensation.

The special training of the Jewish people is one part, the most intelligible part indeed, but yet only one part, of the universal training of humanity for the accomplishment of the divine purpose of creation.

In considering the conception of the prae-Christian priesthood we must therefore notice the priesthood of the Nations (the natural priesthood), and the priesthood of the People (the theocratic priesthood).

II. The Priesthood of the Nations. (The natural priesthood.)

The conception of priesthood in its most general form is recognised universally: it belongs to the constitution of man. The facts of ethnic religions enable us to see the elements which were taken up and purified in Judaism.
i.
Types of natural priesthood. In many cases the idea of priesthood is most rude, imperfect and unworthy—perhaps by degradation—but it exists.

It may be that the agent seeks to coerce or to propitiate hostile powers; or to honour friendly powers.

But the essential idea is the same: he seeks to establish a harmony between those whom he represents and the unseen.

The mediating person is marked out variously according to circumstances, either (1) by superior station, or (2) by superior knowledge.

(1) The chief types of priest in the former case are ( a ) the head of the family: the father;

( b ) the head of the race: the king.
(2) The second class is represented by the ‘medicine-man’: the sorcerer: the guardian of an oracular shrine.

(1) ( a ) The family priesthood was very widely spread. Examples occur in all early history.

( b ) The kingly priesthood was recognised in the great early civilised states: Egypt; Assyria; Greece; Rome.

The form of this royal priesthood was retained even when the royal government was overthrown ( a[rcwn basileuv" , rex sacrificulus ).

(2) The ‘oracular’ type of priesthood was dominant among the Arabian tribes, who had no central government. Notice Balaam (Num. 22).

Gradually the office was delegated to a caste or a class, which exercised more or less power. In classical Greece the power of the priesthood was exceptionally small.
ii.
Examples of natural priesthood in the O. T.


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