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Oliver K. Olson
In a world hostile to the gospel, the ecumenical movement is bringing us closer together. The closer Christians
are, of course, the oftener the ideas that once separated us, reappear. Among other matters, the several
traditions about the relationship between clergy and lay persons have also reappeared. For sorting among the
competing ideas, the following collection of quotations from Martin Luther should be helpful for those who
trust his judgment as teacher of the Bible.

ALL CHRISTIANS ARE PRIESTS

By Luthers time, infected by pagan ideas, the church had been gradually reorganized as a hierarchy. From the
bottom, the clergy was divided in eight ranks porter, lector. exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon, deacon, priest and
bishop. An important part of Luthers historical accomplishment was leveling the hierarchy. He relied
especially on the teaching of St. Peter:
"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, Gods own people. [I Peter 1.9]
Therefore, Luther wrote, we are all priests, as many of us as are Christians. So we obtain this right and
power to teach the word that we have from him, and confess, each one according to his office and vocation.
So should and must every Christian teach, instruct, admonish, comfort, punish through Gods word, when and
where someone needs it.2
That meant that ordination did not bestow a loftier rank. A pastor is a pastor, Luther taught, only as long as he
carries out the office to which he is called.
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1 Weimarer Ausgabe. (D. Martin Luthers Werke. Kritische Gesamtausgabe) Weimar, 1883ff. 6, 564. The number below refer to the WA and to its Briefe series.
2 .41.211. 14ff.

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So I cannot understand at all why one who has once been made a priest cannot again become a layman, for
the sole difference between him and a layman is his ministry... .For that fiction of an indelible character has
long since become a laughingstock. 3
You will ask, if all who are in the church are priests, how do these whom we now call priests differ from
laymen? I answer: injustice is done those words Priest, cleric, spiritual, ecclesiastic, when they are
transferred from all Christians to those few who are now by a mischievous usage called ecclesiastics. Holy
Scripture makes no distinction between them, although it gives the name minister, servant, steward to
those who are now proudly called popes, bishops and lords and who should according to the ministry of the
Word serve others and teach them the faith of Christ and the freedom of believers.4

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Well-known as the universal priesthood of all believers, Luthers teaching has become famous. His insight
has had a lasting influence on both church and societybut sometimes misinterpreted. Some people, for
instance, assumed he was simply about democracy. . Brian Gerrish noticed that the term has been used to
support a bewildering variety of practices, such as Congregational polity, the Quaker meeting, pietistic
ecclesiolae, and the Methodist commissioning of lay preachers. Sometimes, again, it has become associated
with such slogans as the right of private judgment or immediate access to God, and interpreted so
individualistically that any institutional or corporate expression of it becomes unthinkable.5
But Luther was not concerned with the universal rights of the American, or, especially, the French
revolution. In fact, the universal priesthood of believers cannot be understood as a bold assertion of rights
at all. Quite the opposite! Unlike the revolutionary propaganda, the Bible talks about sacrifice. The New
Testament priest is expected to crucify self, as an offering to God.(Romans 12.1, Revelation 1,6; 5.10; 206).
The expression, universal priesthood, does not reflect the thought of Thomas Jefferson or the American
constitution, but, (with Luther) the mind of the Bible.
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3 6, 567, 17.
4 7. 58. 12f.
5 Brian A. Gerrish. Luther on Priesthood and Ministry. Church History 34. 1965. 402-22. Here, 404.

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RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF BELIEVERS

According to Luther, lay persons may practice those things that are necessary for salvationteaching of the
Word, baptism, and absolution, always avoiding competition with the pastoral office.
Baptism. Baptism in emergency by any Christian had been a long-established practice. Luther found nothing
wrong with the tradition. (In his time, it was called womens baptism, since it was practiced by midwives. It
was opposed by Calvinists, who did not believe baptism was necessary.)
Absolution, not to be confused with psychological counseling, is authorized by Jesus himself in Mathew 18.18.
In the Smalcald Articles (IV) the practice is called the mutual conversation of brothers. Jesus words apply
to all Christians:
Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth
shall be loosed in heaven. [Matthew 18.18] Absolution in the mouth of a good friendspoken in Gods
nameis exactly as valid as that of the office-bearer.6
So then Christ shows that we all may forgive sins. Thus the Gospel is preaching which forgives sins. Let the
spirituals take not from where they take the power alone to forgive sins, for the Gospel makes it clear that
we all may absolve. Who will oppress or stop up the Gospel? Whoever now has faith and is a Christian, he
also has Christ, and who has Christ, all the goods of Christ are his. Thus he has also the authority to forgive
sins. 7
Teaching the Word. Luther had in mind the private sphere. Care should be taken, he wrote, that it [the
common priesthood] not interfere with the public office of the pastor. 8 The distinction is reflected in Article
XIV of the Augsburg Confession: It is taught among us that nobody should publicly teach or preach or
administer the sacraments in the church without a regular call.

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6 10 III, 195,25ff..
7 10. 394. 24.
8 1, 184, 21ff.

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THE UNIVERSAL PRIESTHOOD IS NOT AUTHORIZED TO CELEBRATE THE

LORDS SUPPER
Luther forbade lay celebration of Holy Communion. That sacrament is a public function, requires a public
call. It is true that all Christians are priests, Luther taught, but not all are pastors. For to be a pastor one must
be not only a Christian and a priest but must have an office and a field of work committed to him.. He often
emphasized that no one may take what is common upon himself without the common will and mandate. The
distinction between the responsibilities of the universal priesthood and the public ministry was one of Luthers
constant emphases. Theologian Hellmut Lieberg comments, The binding of the functions of the office on
particular persons called to it, is based on Gods will and command; therefore it is by divine right. That is
Luthers clear teaching.
Without the common will and command no one may take on himself that which is public, Therefore, let
everyone who knows that he is a Christian, know for certain, that we in the same manner are priests, that is,
that we have the same power on the word and that sacrament, that it is not fitting to appeal to this power
without the consent of the whole, or through the call of an authorityfor what belongs to all may no one take
to himself as individual, until he is called to it. 9
Though we are all equally priests, we cannot all publicly minister and teach. We ought not do so even if we
could. Paul writes accordingly in I Cor. 4[:1]: This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and
stewards of the mysteries of God.10
Therefore some must be chosen and ordained to it, who are suited to preach and exercise themselves in the
Scriptures, who carry out the teaching office and who can defend it..11

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS LAY PRESIDENCY

The idea of a president of the eucharist implies a certain rank, and is not a Lutheran idea. The teaching
that the clergy belong to an order, implies that they are elevated above the rest of the people. According to
one commentator, that idea is at the bottom of the recent sex scandals of the Roman Catholic clergy.
Accustomed to this deferential thinking, todays mismanagers of the clerical abuse scandals do not see
themselves as ill-intentioned, ignoring the victims of abuse grows out of the ideology that holds that clergy are
different from ordinary people. 12
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9 6. 566.
10 American Edition 31.
11 BR 7, 3381.
12 Paul E. Dinter. A Catholic Crisis, Bestowed From Above. NYT January 1, 2003.

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Some writers have observed that Roman Catholic bishops have chosen to prefer the welfare of priests above
the rights of children because they believed that priests have a higher rankthat they are betterthan others.
Opposition to the notion that ordination is a promotion to a higher rank has led in Anglican circles to the
assertion of Lay Presidency, the right of lay persons to preside over the sacrament. The word, president,
however, presupposes that a certain person is present--in Anglican theology, a person with ordained rank.
Although psychological or sociological reasons may lead to resentment of the clergy, there is no basis for
clerical superiority it in Lutheran doctrine. Thus, in a Lutheran context, it is absurd for lay persons to struggle
for their rights to preside.
The operative word in Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession, which limits Holy Communion to those with a
call is not preside, but administer..

A CALL IS NOT A CASUAL MATTER, NOR EVEN STRICTLY

CONGREGATIONAL AFFAIR
Long accustomed to democratic assemblies, Americans have been known to interpret the word, call as a
temporary appointment by a democratic gathering. Luthers reaction to such an idea is not available, since
democratic assemblies were not usual in the Reformation period. But the whole context of the discussion
shows that a call is a very solemn matter, leading to a permanent office.
If anyone without a call thinks he must preach, to sense an inner call of the Spirit without being called
externally, he is being seduced by the devil13
Even if you are able to convert the whole world and also to revive the dead, still you should not teach unless
you have been called.14
When Luther required that the call be issued by the whole congregation, he was not thinking of a single
local congregation, because he also talked about the necessity of the consent of the church, universal
consensus, a wider basis than one single congregation.
One must distinguish the preaching office or ministry from the common estate of priests of all baptized
Christians. For such office is nothing else than a public office to which one is commended by the whole
congregation, which at the same time all are priests. 15
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13 17 II, 256, 24ff.
14 17 I, 508, 20ff.
15 41, 210 22ff.

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It is one thing to perform publicly, and another thing to do it in necessity. To perform it publicly is not allowed,
unless with universal consensus, or the consent of the church. 16

HOLY COMMUNION IS NOT NECESSARY FOR SALVATION

Although Luther recognized the ancient tradition of Emergency Baptism, he never talked about Emergency
Communion. In 1535 he categorically rejects the administration of the sacrament of the altar by lay persons,
for three reasons: (1) it is not necessary for salvation, because it is a public action, requiring called servants,
and because lay administration would be an occasion for scandal and sect-building.17

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It is not said: the sacrament is made through the Word, and therefore I may practice it at home. For that is
not Gods ordinance and command, He wills that the sacrament be offered through the public office.18
In his famous Letter to the Bohemians, he advised private baptism and teachingbut, since they had no
pastors, abstention from Holy Communion.19
For eucharist is not necessary under the peril of [loss of salvation; The gospel and baptism suffice, since faith
alone sanctifies.... 20
The Sacrament of the Altar is a means of grace, it is not the only one. .For Luther, Lieberg observes, being
deprived of the sacrament of the altar is not to be cut off from Gods grace. The nature of grace itself plays a
role, overflowing richness of grace, which shows itself in many forms.21
Since Gods grace is otherwise abundant, Holy Communion is not necessary for salvation. He gave the same
advice in his letter to Pastor Wolfgang Brauer. 22 - even if throughout their life they did not care or could not
receive the eucharist. For the eucharist is not so necessary that salvation depends on it. The gospel and
Baptism are sufficient, since faith alone justified and love alone.
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16 12. 189. 251.
17 Lieberg 137.
18 Briefe 7, 366, 42ff.
19 12,171, 17ff.
20 12,171,21f.
21 50.240, 32f.Lieberg 73.
22 Briefe 7 338, 1.

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ORDINATION IS VALDIATION OF A PREVIOUS CALL

Ordination is not a promotion to a higher rank, but a certain rite by which the church chooses its
preachers.23 The word, ordination, is not at totally satisfactory word. Taken absolutely literally, it suggests
initiation into an order. But in Lutheran doctrine, it means being entrusted with a responsibility, an office. (In
fact, we use other less than satisfactory terms. When we say the word,altar, for instance, we dont mean a
place for fire to burn animals.)
The important thing to remember is that most important is not ceremony, but the call. The ceremony we call
ordination, according to Luther, is a validation of a previous call.24
Let everyone, therefore, who knows himself to be a Christian, be assured of this, that we are all equally
priests, that is to say, we have the same power in respect to the Word and the sacraments. However, no one
may make use of this power except by the consent of the community or by the call of a superior. (For what is
the common property of all, no individual may arrogate to himself, unless he is called.) And therefore this
sacrament of ordination, if it is anything at all, is nothing else than a certain rite whereby one is called to the
ministry of the church.25

THE CALL TO PUBLIC OFFICE IS ESSENTIAL TO THE CHURCH

The ministry of preaching according to the Bible, Luther says, is a public office. The office is exercized coram
ecciesia (within the church) and in nominee ecclesiae (in the name of the church.)26 Without this office the
church cannot live. It must be established; otherwise the church will go under.27 Within the congregation,

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the pastor has the pulpit, baptism, sacrament, and all pastoral care [in his parish] is entrusted to him.
Luther feared that other arrangements would result in scandal and sectarianism.28 Worse, they would be a
denial of the Office of the Ministry, instituted by God himself.
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23 6.564.15f.
24 Lieberg 171.
25 6.566.26ff.
26 12, 189,22f. 49600, 11ff.
27 50 641 181.

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Our theological tradition has it straight. We do not talk about ecclesiastical orders, but an ecclesiastical
office. Here is the heretical mistake of the Call to Common Mission The historical episcopate. assumes
the higher rank of the order of bishops. Lutheran pastors are set aside not because of an indelible character,
but a different assignment.
Luther, Lieberg writes, understands the concrete office, which is transmitted to individuals, as a permanent
institution that belongs to the essence of the church and derives the institution immediately from the divine
will and Christs institution.29 He often emphasized that although it is mediated by humans, the call to
pastoral office is a call by Christ himself.
I hope that you will have understood so much of Christian (doctrine) that the pastoral office, preaching office
and the gospel do not belong to us, nor to some people.. .but alone to God the Lord, who has . . . instituted
it.30
The concrete office is by divine right.31
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28 Lieberg. 73.
29 Ibid. 106
30 257.87ff.
31 28. 470. 39ff.

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