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one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious
rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities. Their
office or position is the priesthood, a term which also may apply to such persons
collectively.
Priests and priestesses have existed since the earliest of times (see Proto-indoEuropean trifunctional hypothesis) and in the simplest societies, most likely as a
result of agricultural surplus and consequent social stratification. The necessity to
read sacred texts and keep temple or church records helped foster literacy in many
early societies. Priests exist in many religions today, such as all or some branches
of Judaism, Christianity, Shintoism,Hinduism. They are generally regarded as having
positive contact with the deity or deities of the religion to which they subscribe,
often interpreting the meaning of events and performing the rituals of the religion.
There is no common definition of the duties of priesthood between faiths; but
generally it includes mediating the relationship between one's
congregation, worshippers, and other members of the religious body, and its deity
or deities, and administering religious rituals and rites. These often include blessing
worshipers with prayers of joy at marriages, after a birth, and atconsecrations,
teaching the wisdom and dogma of the faith at any regular worship service, and
mediating and easing the experience of grief anddeath at funerals - maintaining a
spiritual connection to the afterlife in faiths where such a concept exists.
Administering religious building grounds and office affairs and papers, including any
religious library or collection of sacred texts, is also commonly a responsibility - for
example, the modern term for clerical duties in a secular office refers originally to
the duties of a cleric. The question of which religions have a "priest" depends on
how the titles of leaders are used or translated into English. In some cases, leaders
are more like those that other believers will often turn to for advice on spiritual
matters, and less of a "person authorized to perform the sacred rituals." For
example, clergy in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxyare priests, but
in Protestant Christianity they are typically minister and pastor. The
terms priest and priestess are sufficiently generic that they may be used in
an anthropological sense to describe the religious mediators of an unknown or
otherwise unspecified religion.
In many religions, being a priest or priestess is a full-time position, ruling out any
other career. Many Christian priests and pastors choose or are mandated to
dedicate themselves to their churches and receive their living directly from their
churches. In other cases it is a part-time role. For example, in the early history of
Iceland the chieftains were titled goi, a word meaning "priest". As seen in
the saga of Hrafnkell Freysgoi, however, being a priest consisted merely of offering
periodic sacrifices to the Norse gods and goddesses; it was not a full-time role, nor
did it involve ordination.
In some religions, being a priest or priestess is by human election or human choice.
In Judaism the priesthood is inherited in familial lines. In atheocracy a society
is governed by its priesthood.
Contents
[hide]
1Etymology
2Historical religions
2.2Ancient Egypt
2.3Ancient Rome
2.4Ancient Greece
3Abrahamic religions
o
3.1Judaism
3.2Christianity
3.2.2Anglican or Episcopalian
3.2.3Protestantism
3.3Islam
4Eastern religions
o
4.1Hinduism
4.2Zoroastrianism
4.3Taoism
5.1Shintoism
5.2Africa
6Neo-Paganism
o
6.1Wicca
7Dress
8Assistant priest
9See also
10References
11External links
Etymology[edit]
The word "priest", is ultimately derived from Greek, via Latin presbyter,[1] the term
for "elder", especially elders of Jewish or Christian communities in Late Antiquity. It
is possible that the Latin word was loaned into Old English, and only from Old
English reached other Germanic languages via the Anglo-Saxon mission to the
continent, giving Old Icelandicprestr, Old Swedish prster, Old High German priast.
Old High German also has the disyllabic priester, priestar, apparently derived from
Latin independently via Old Frenchpresbtre. The Latin presbyter ultimately
represents Greek presbyteros, the regular Latin word for "priest" being sacerdos,
corresponding to Greek hiereus.
That English should have only the single term priest to
translate presbyter and sacerdos came to be seen as a problem in English Bible
translations. The presbyter is the minister who both presides and instructs a
Christian congregation, while the sacerdos, offerer of sacrifices, or in a Christian
context the eucharist, performs "mediatorial offices between God and man". [2]
The feminine English noun, priestess, was coined in the 17th century, to refer to
female priests of the pre-Christian religions of classical antiquity. In the 20th
century, the word was used in controversies surrounding the ordination of women.
In the case of the ordination of women in the Anglican communion, it is more
common to speak of "priests", regardless of gender.
The Sumerian word NIN, ERE in Akkadian, is the sign for "lady."
NIN.DINGIR (Akkadian entu) "divine lady," a priestess.
In Sumerian epic texts such as Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, Nu-Gig were
priestesses in temples dedicated to Inanna and may be a reference to
the goddess herself.[4]
Control of the "holy" city of Nippur and its temple priesthood generally meant
hegemony over most of Sumer, as listed on the Sumerian King List; at one
point, the Nippur priesthood conferred the title of queen of Sumer on Kugbau,
a popular taverness from nearby Kish (who was later deified as Kubaba).
In the Hebrew Bible, ( )Qedesha or Kedeshah,[5] derived from the root QD-[6][7] were temple prostitutes usually associated with the goddess Asherah.
Ishtaritu specialized in the arts of dancing, music, and singing and they
served in the temples of Ishtar.[8]
En-hedu-ana, Akkadian 2285 BC 2250 BC was the first known holder of the
title, "En Priestess."
Ancient Egypt[edit]
In Egyptian ideology, the right and obligation to interact with the gods belonged to
the pharaoh. He delegated this duty to priests, who were effectively bureaucrats
authorized to act on his behalf. Priests staffed temples throughout Egypt, giving
offerings to the cult statues in which the gods were believed to take up residence
and performing other rituals for their benefit. [9] Little is known about what training
may have been required of priests, and the selection of personnel for positions was
affected by a tangled set of traditions, although the pharaoh had the final say. In
the New Kingdom, when temples owned great estates, the high priests of the most
important cultthat of Amun at Karnakwere important political figures.[10]
High-ranking priestly roles were usually held by men. Women were generally
relegated to lower positions in the temple hierarchy, although some held specialized
and influential positions, especially that of the God's Wife of Amun, whose religious
importance overshadowed the High Priests of Amun in the Late Period.[11]
The Pythia was the title of a priestess at the very ancient temple
of Delphi that was dedicated to the Earth Mother. She was widely credited for
her prophecies. The priestess retained her role when the temple was
rededicated to Apollo, giving her a prominence unusual for a woman in the
male-dominated culture of classical Greece.
Abrahamic religions[edit]
Judaism[edit]
Main article: Kohen
In ancient Israel the priests were required by the Law of Moses to be of direct
paternal descendency from Aaron, Moses' elder brother. In Exodus 30:2225 God
instructs Moses to make a holy anointing oil to consecrate the priests "for all of
eternity." During the times of the two Jewish Temples in Jerusalem, the Aaronic
priests were responsible for the daily and special Jewish holiday offerings and
sacrifices within the temples, these offerings are known as the korbanot.
In Hebrew the word "priest" is kohen (singular kohen, plural kohanim),
hence the family names Cohen, Cahn, Kahn, Kohn, Kogan, etc. These families are
from the tribe of Levi (Levites) and in twenty-four instances are called by scripture
as such (Jerusalem Talmud to Mishnaic tractate Maaser Sheini p. 31a). In Hebrew
the word for "priesthood" is kehunnah.
Since the destruction of the Second Temple, and (therefore) the cessation of the
daily and seasonal temple ceremonies and sacrifices, Kohanim in traditional Judaism
(Orthodox Judaism and to some extent, Conservative Judaism) continue to perform a
number of priestly ceremonies and roles such as the Pidyon HaBen (redemption of a
first-born son) ceremony and the Priestly Blessing, and have remained subject,
particularly in Orthodox Judaism, to a number of restrictions, such as restrictions on
certain marriages and ritual purity (see Kohanic disqualifications).
Orthodox Judaism regard the kohanim as being held in reserve for a future restored
Temple. In all branches of Judaism, Kohanim do not perform roles of propitiation,
sacrifice, or sacrament. Rather, a kohen's principal religious function is to perform
the Priestly Blessing, and, provided he is rabbinically qualified, to serve as an
authoritative judge (posek) and expositor of Jewish halakha law.
Christianity[edit]
See also: Priesthood of all believers
Some clergy and religious, such as these, who are Canons Regular of the Order of
the Holy Cross and live in the Netherlands, wear distinctive clothing which
distinguishes them from other clergy, whether secular or religious
century applied to bishops and only in a secondary sense topresbyters, began in the
6th century to be used of presbyters,[14] and is today commonly used of presbyters,
distinguishing them from bishops. [15]
Today the term "priest" is used in Roman Catholicism, Eastern
Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, Oriental Orthodoxy, theChurch of the East, and some
branches of Lutheranism to refer to those who have been ordained to a ministerial
position through receiving the sacrament of Holy Orders, although "presbyter" is
also used.[16] Since the Protestant Reformation, non-sacramental denominations are
more likely to use the term "elder" to refer to their pastors.
However, nowhere in the New Testament is a Christian pastor (besides Christ) titled
"hiereus," the distinctive Greek word for "priest," and thus its rendering into English
is seen as an etymological corruption of the Greek word "presbuteros," which means
"elder," and which is the word for the lead category of Christian leaders in the New
Testament church,[17] under the Lord Jesus Christ, the great High Priest (archiereus).
In the New Testament, it is taught that as Christ made the perfect sacrifice for the
forgiveness of sins, then believers have direct access to the Father through Him,
(Hebrews 10:19) with the only priesthood that is named under Christ in the church
being that which consists of all believers. [18]
The New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews in particular draws a distinction between
the Jewish priesthood and the high priesthood ofChrist; it teaches that the
sacrificial atonement by Jesus Christ on Calvary has made the Jewish priesthood and
its prescribed ritual sacrifices redundant, along with the rest of the ceremonial acts
of the Mosaic law, see Christian views on the Old Covenant for details. Thus, for
Christians, Christ himself is the only high priest, and Christians have no priesthood
independent or distinct from participation in the priesthood of Christ, the head of
the Church. The one sacrifice of Christ, which he offered "once for all" (Hebrews
10:10) on the Cross, provides eternal sanctification and redemption. Roman
Catholics,[19] Eastern Orthodox,[20] High Church Anglicans,[20]Lutherans,[citation needed] and
some Methodists[citation needed] consider the sacrifice to be "re-presented" in
the Eucharist. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) claims to
uphold all priesthood positions of the primitive gospel by the laying on of hands.
The most known form of distinctive clothing for the priest is the easily
identifiable clerical collar (or Roman collar), which takes form in either the
traditional cassock, or modern day clerical shirt. The typical modern version consists
of a white plastic tab, inserted into a specially made collar of a black shirt, although
traditional cloth collars are still worn.
Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy[edit]
Main articles: Priesthood (Catholic Church) and Priesthood (Orthodox Church)
The most significant liturgical acts reserved to priests in these traditions are the
administration of the Sacraments, including the celebration of the Holy
Mass or Divine Liturgy (the terms for the celebration of the Eucharist in the Latin
and Byzantine traditions, respectively), and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, also
Hinduism[edit]