Benedict Andersen OSB

“The anti-cultic attitude is rooted in the theology of Martin Luther. Protestant scholars have dominated modern biblical scholarship until recently. This is especially true for German scholarship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which is still influential today. Aversion to ritual dominates this scholarship.”
― Nicholas Perrin, Jesus the Priest

“As important as Jesus’ royal messianic aspect may be, the evidence suggests that he subordinated his royal identity to his primary identity as priest. Jesus sought to implement not a theocracy but a hierocracy under the God of Israel.”
― Nicholas Perrin, Jesus the Priest

“Yet the distinctive nature of that ‘privileging’ is the convergence of priesthood and suffering, for as Davies also observes: ‘If Christian interpreters have tended to see priesthood in terms of missionary service, a typically Jewish reading is to see it in terms of suffering.”
― Nicholas Perrin, Jesus the Priest