Church and State as Seen in the Formation of ChristendomAllies, T. W. (Thomas William)
Religion
Church and State as Seen in the Formation of Christendom
Allies, T. W. (Thomas William)
Church and state; Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600; Religion and state
"Holiness to the Lord;" and pouring on his head the oil of unction, he
anointed and consecrated him. Thus the whole Jewish priesthood descended
from above, being gathered up in one person, from whom all succeeding
priests were drawn, and the sous of the first High Priest were to
continue the line for ever according to primogeniture.
The High Priest's office had in it four points peculiar to him beyond the
office of the ordinary priest. First, once in the year, on the great day
of the atonement, he alone entered into the most holy place, "not without
blood, which he offered for his own sins and the sins of the people"
(Heb. ix. 7), inasmuch as he sent into the wilderness one he-goat,
charged with the sins of all the people, and sacrificed the other, whose
blood he carried into the sanctuary, sprinkling it seven times over
against the oracle, to expiate the sanctuary from the uncleanness of the
children of Israel (Lev. xvi. 15, 16). He thus once every year
represented in his person the whole sacred nation in that most remarkable
act of confessing its guilt before God, and offering an expiation of it,
which pointed even more to a future Redeemer. Secondly, he consecrated
the whole body of the priests and Levites for their several work. The oil
of unction poured upon his head was the palpable sign of priestly power
transmitted from him to the priest, in which, again, he was an image of
the future High Priest. Thirdly, whenever the civil rulers of the nation
required advice in matters concerning the good of the whole people, it
was the office of the High Priest to inquire for them by means of the
breastplate of light and truth, which he carried upon the ephod. The
relation of the Civil to the Spiritual Power was symbolised in the first
bearer of the former after Moses, to whom Moses was commanded by God to
communicate "part of his glory." God said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son
of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and put thy hand upon him, and he
shall stand before Eleazar the priest (who had then succeeded his father
Aaron in the high priesthood), and all the multitude, and thou shalt give
him precepts in the sight of all, and part of thy glory, that all the
congregation of the children of Israel may hear him. If anything be to be
done, Eleazar the priest shall consult the Lord for him, he, and all the
children of Israel with him, and the rest of the multitude, shall go out
and go in at his word" (Num. xxvii. 18). Thus David afterwards consulted
God by Abiathar, the High Priest in his day. Fourthly, on all questions
concerning the decalogue, or commands in the moral law, or the ceremonial
law, which embraced the whole field of the divine worship, or the
judicial law, which concerned reciprocal rights and duties between man
and man, the High Priest possessed a supreme and decisive jurisdiction,
from which there was no appeal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account