priesthood
priesthood, the office of a priest, a ritual expert learned in a special knowledge of the technique of worship and accepted as a religious and spiritual leader.
Throughout the long and varied history of religion, the priesthood has been the official institution that has mediated and maintained a state of equilibrium between the sacred and the profane aspects of human society and that has exercised a stabilizing influence on social structures and on cultic organizations. The term priest is derived etymologically from the Greek word presbyteros (“elder”), of which it is a contraction, and it is equated with the Latin word sacerdos (the Roman officiant at the sacrifices and sacred rites).
Nature and significance
The primary role of the priest is that of the ritual expert, the one who has a special and sometimes secret knowledge of the techniques of worship, including incantations, prayers, sacrificial acts, songs, and other acts that are believed to bridge the separation between the divine or sacred and the profane realms. The priest gains such knowledge through the institution known as the priesthood, which may be composed of various groups or guilds devoted to all or only a few aspects of the priestly craft. Because the priest gains his special knowledge from a school for priests, he is differentiated from other religious and cultic leaders, such as the magician, shaman (healer and visionary), diviner, or prophet, who obtain their positions by means of individual efforts (e.g., learning from a master magician or diviner; individual ecstatic experiences that are publicly recognized). As a member of the institution that regulates the relationship between the divine or sacred and the profane realms through the various rituals of a particular religion, the priest is the accepted religious and spiritual leader in his society.
At various times in the history of a culture or society the priestly institution may be attacked by other institutions or groups that vie for the religious leadership (and thus sometimes the social, political, and economic leadership) of a people. Such anticlericalism is a phenomenon not only of modern society (as noted in the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Mexican Civil War that began in 1857, and other less dramatic movements) but also in the ancient world, such as in Egypt in the 14th century bce, when the priesthood of the god Amon and the priesthood of the god Aton changed positions. Anticlericalism may be fostered by battles for religious leadership between two or more opposing priestly groups, or by prophets and others who are concerned with religious experiences in their personal rather than in their institutional forms. Among Protestants the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers (i.e., all believers have direct access to God) militates generally against strong anticlerical tendencies within their own ranks. In Islam there is, technically, no priesthood, though there are local spiritual and community leaders, such as the imam, the mullah, the mufti, the qadi, and others.
The priest and his office
The function of the priest as the mediator and maintainer of the equilibrium between the sacred and the profane in human society, and as the stabilizer of the social structures and the cultic organizations, determines the various criteria for holding the priestly office. In preliterate society the functions are accomplished by ritual experts who are trained in the special knowledge and techniques of magico-religious disciplines in which sacred power is believed to be inherent. They also are trained in disciplines that enable them to gain a supernormal psychic knowledge and in the techniques of mystical experience. As agents of the sacred power, they are believed to have the ability to control and manipulate through ritual natural processes and events and to engage in a sacramental relationship between humanity and the sacred order on which the community and its members depend for their sustenance, survival, and well-being.
Because religious institutions and beliefs are intimately connected with other social institutions, those who are set apart to establish efficacious relations with the transcendental powers that are believed to control the universe, as well as human affairs and destinies, occupy a key position at the dynamic centre in the social structure. Thus, in certain types of societies the office and functions of the priest may be limited to those having a particular ancestry, those belonging to certain tribes (such as the Levites in Judaism), families (such as the Eumolpids of the Eleusinian mystery religion of Greece), or castes (such as the Brahmans in Hinduism), and those initiated into certain professional orders (such as the cure doctors among the Maya).
Besides such sociocultural criteria, there are also certain personal requirements in various cultures for those who would become members of a priesthood. Celibacy (as in Roman Catholicism and the Archakas of the Digambara sect in Jainism), asceticism (as in various Buddhist groups), and religious experiences (as among some Holiness Protestant sects) are among the personal requirements for those who aspire to or are chosen to assume the priestly office.
The religious functions of priests are quite varied. In his specific role as the officiant of the rites that unite the sacred and the profane realms, the priest as a pontifex (from the Latin word that means maker of a bridge) celebrates or administers at the rituals of initiation into the cult or church, presides over ritual reenactments of creative, redemptive, or salvatory (salvation-working) events, and offers sacrifices to the gods or to one God. He also functions as a perpetuator of the sacred traditions, practices, and beliefs and as a teacher, healer, counselor, and diviner.
In all their respective offices, functions, and capacities, those who have exercised and manipulated sacred power have attained a uniquely prestigious position as the spiritual and social leaders par excellence. When perplexing and emotional situations that appear to be beyond human control, knowledge, skill, or techniques have arisen in a community, the people have a recourse in the priest, who has the special knowledge of the relationship between the divine or sacred and the profane realms. The priest is often called upon at critical junctures in the lives of individuals (such as birth, puberty, marriage, and death) and in the life of a community (such as seasonal changes or at times of flood, drought, and famine).