Jesus Our Priest: A Christian Approach to the Priesthood of Christ

by Gerald O'Collins SJ, Michael Keenan Jones

In recent years many books have been published in the area of Christology (who is Jesus in himself?) and soteriology (what did he do as Saviour?). A number of notable, ecumenical documents on Christian ministry have also appeared. But in all this literature there is surprisingly little reflection on the priesthood of Christ, from which derives all ministry, whether the priesthood of all the faithful or ministerial priesthood. This present work aims to fill that gap by examining, in the light of the Scriptures and the Christian tradition, what it means to call Christ our priest.
Beginning with a study of the biblical material, the book then moves to the witness to Christ's priesthood coming from the fathers of the Church, Thomas Aquinas, Luther and Calvin, the Council of Trent, the seventeenth-century 'French School', John Henry Newman, Tom Torrance and the Second Vatican Council. The two concluding chapters describe and define in twelve theses the key characteristics of Christ's priesthood and what sharing in that priesthood, through baptism and ordination, involves.

Genres: Theology

322 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 2010

Reviews

[Caleb Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read. This work is clear and concise which I greatly appreciate, and covers developments in the theology of the priesthood, as well as a series of authors or “schools” on the topic. Furthermore, this works chapter on some of the Fathers offers some nice quotations. My favorite of these theological “schools” is the 17th century French, which greatly emphasize the priesthood as a service of love and an imitation of the priesthood of Christ. It is very ecumenical, while finishing off with a series of theses that offer a good representation of the Catholic position.

This work does not exhaust its topic, but adds to some other works I’ve been reading about the priesthood recently. I would certainly recommend it to someone interested in the topic.