On Christian Priesthood - by Robin Ward (Paperback)

About the Book

A long awaited, up-to-date contemporary theology of priesthood.

Book Synopsis

The ideas which have defined and informed Christian priesthood in the past are now called into question more than at any time since the Reformation. Is there such a thing as a Christian cult? Is Christian worship in any other way sacrificial? How can ordained Christians be seen as part of a ministerial priesthood distinct from other believers? What does it mean to teach with authority within and on behalf of the Church? When Michael Ramsey wrote The Christian Priest Today he could assume that the priest would be seen as a man of the Eucharist, a confessor, an intercessor and an exponent of the Church's teaching. In the contemporary Church none of these things can be taken for granted in the same say. This book seeks to re-pristinate the doctrine of ministerial priesthood by setting it within the context of fundamental moral theology - to recall readers from all Christian traditions to the fundamental soundness of the concept of ministerial priesthood and its importance in contemporary ecumenical duologue, liturgical reform and pastoral planning.

Review Quotes

... new and insightful... Dr Ward writes as an able historian but above all as a man of prayer, experienced in pastoral care as well as theological training of those called by God to become priests.

... should be read, and not only by Anglican Catholics... deserves to be taken seriously, and [Ward's] arguments engaged with.

About the Author

Canon Robin Ward is Principal of St Stephen's House, a Permanent Private Hall of the University of Oxford, UK, where priests have been trained for the Anglican Communion since 1876.