‘You Are a Priest Forever’: An Exegetical and Biblical Theology of High Priestly Christology1 Clifford B Kvidahl and Dan Lioy2
Abstract The letter to the Hebrews is unique among its New Testament counterparts in that it is the only canonical writing to offer an indepth explanation of the high priestly ministry of Christ within a detailed discussion of Israel’s cultic theology. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, the question of timing with respect to when Christ was installed as high priest is addressed, noting the various answers that have been proposed. It is argued that similar to the ministry of the high priest on Yom Kippur, Christ’s priestly offering is made not at the moment of his crucifixion, but instead his offering of atonement is made upon his entrance into the heavenly sanctuary. The second part of this article attempts to briefly situate Hebrews’ high priestly Christology within a broader biblical theology of the New Testament, specifically focusing on select passages from the Gospels and the writings of Paul that have been imbued with priestly connotations. It is argued that, while often other writings of the New Testament are appealed to for a proper understanding of the cultic theology of Hebrews, this same practice is not often reciprocated in return. If this were so, it would seem to be rather clear that Hebrews offers no support for an earthly Jesus functioning in priestly manner.
Keywords High priest, Christology, atonement, heavenly sanctuary.
1 This article is a MTh thesis summary submitted by Clifford B Kvidahl in 2020. Title of thesis: Atonement, the Heavenly Sanctuary, and the Purgation of Sin: An Exegetical Study of Hebrews 9. Supervisor: Prof Daniel Lioy. Institution: South African Theological Seminary
The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the beliefs of the South African Theological Seminary.
2 About the Authors Clifford Kvidahl obtained his MTh from SATS, where he wrote his thesis on the theology of atonement in the letter to the Hebrews. He currently serves as senior academic acquisitions editor at Fontes Press. Professor Dan Lioy (PhD, NorthWest University) holds several faculty appointments. He is a senior research academic at South African Theological Seminary. Also, he is a professor of biblical theology at the Institute of Lutheran Theology (in South Dakota). Moreover, he is a dissertation project faculty advisor at Portland Seminary (part of George Fox University in Oregon). Finally, he is a professor in the School of Continuing Theological Studies at North-West University.
Conspectus — The Journal of the South African Theological Seminary 8167-ISSN 1996 https://www.sats.edu.za/conspectus/ This article: https://www.sats.edu.za/kvidahl-lioy-you-are-a-priest-forever Conspectus, Volume 29 March 2020
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