the mystical theology of valentin weigel - DataSpace at Princeton ...

Luther did not ever use the exact phrase the “Priesthood of all believers,” he did expand
the role that laypeople were allowed to play in religious life. 670 That said, Luther found
that his “universal priesthood” was frequently misunderstood: he did not mean that
everybody should be a priest, just that everybody who was baptized could potentially
serve as a priest because, for Luther, the priesthood is an office, not a status. Similarly,
any American-born citizen could be President, but this does not mean that every
American-born citizen can actually exercise executive powers. By being elected and then
sworn in, a citizen becomes the President, and after he has served his term, becomes a
regular citizen again because there was no change to his essence. He holds an office, and
it is in the office that power is vested rather than his person. Likewise, every baptized
Christian can be called to be a preacher, but he must be approved by his congregation and
“sworn in” (i.e. consecrated by a bishop or by a more senior member of the clergy);
should he resign from his position, he will be a baptized Christian as he was before, no
more and no less. Luther emphasized each side of this equation differently throughout his
career, depending on what circumstances called for, but the two elements are always
present: every Christian can be a priest, but no Christian is a priest until he is called upon
by his fellow Christians. By contrast, consecration of a priest was, in the Roman Catholic
Church, a sacrament like baptism, and conferred a permanent change of status and nature
on the person who received it.
Priesterschaft verstehen die Widersacher nicht das Predigamt und das Amt die Sakrament zu reichen und
auszuteilen, sondern verstehen von Priestern, die zu opfern geordent sein.” Die Bekenntnisschriften der
evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1979), 293.
670 Wengert, 1. The clearest discussion of Luther’s views on the laity is Timothy Wengert, "The Priesthood
of All Believers and Other Pious Myths," in Institute of Liturgical Studies Conference Proceedings
(Valparaiso, IN: http://scholar.valpo.edu/ils_papers/2, 2005).
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