A Biblical Critique of Hierarchical Priesthood

Throughout history, various Christian traditions – notably the Roman Catholic Church and, by extension, Anglican churches with their English bishops – have developed elaborate hierarchies of popes, cardinals, bishops, and priests. These offices claim spiritual authority and often bear lofty titles such as “Holy Father” or “High Priest.” But a careful look at Scripture (King James Version) reveals a different picture of leadership and mediation before God. The Bible elevates God alone as the “Holy Father” and Jesus Christ alone as the eternal High Priest and sole mediator. Human-ordained hierarchies that place clergy as necessary intermediaries between God and people find little support in the New Testament. This post will examine lesser-known but powerful Bible verses to argue that the hierarchical priesthood is illegitimate – God is the only true Holy Father, and Christ is the sole, eternal High Priest. We will critique the Catholic and Anglican ecclesiastical structures in light of Scripture, distinguishing human traditions from the priesthood of Christ revealed in the Bible.

God Alone Is “Holy Father” – Not the Pope or Any Bishop

In Catholicism, the pope is commonly addressed as “Holy Father,” and priests are often called “Father.” However, Jesus explicitly taught against bestowing such spiritual titles on men. In Matthew 23:9, Jesus warns: “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” Here Christ is forbidding His followers from elevating any religious leader to the status of father in a spiritual sense. The reason is clear: only our Father in heaven deserves that kind of honour and authority. In fact, Jesus used the term “Holy Father” exclusively in reference to God. While praying to God the Father, Jesus said: “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me” (John 17:11) Nowhere do we see Christ or the apostles addressing a human leader with titles like “Holy Father.” The early Christians reserved such reverence for God alone (The Trinity Foundation - Who Is the Holy Father?).

The application is unmistakable: calling the pope “Holy Father” or referring to clergy as spiritual fathers directly contradicts Jesus’ teaching. The Father in Heaven is uniquely holy and worthy of that title. As one Reformation writer noted, a true believer will speak “to God alone” as “Holy Father,” and it is an alarming substitution that the Church of Rome calls her pope by this title. Similarly, even Anglican bishops or priests, who sometimes are addressed as “Father,” stand on shaky ground when compared to Christ’s command. The Bible even declares of God: “Holy and reverend is His name” (Psalm 111:9), indicating that holiness and reverence belong to God’s name, not to titles for men. By insisting on such honourifics for clergy, hierarchical systems risk placing men in the seat of God, however unintentionally. The scriptural mandate is to recognize God alone as our Holy Father and to approach Him directly as His children, without elevating a human as an earthly proxy for God’s fatherhood.

Catholic and Anglican hierarchies maintain a class of priests who claim to mediate between God and the people – offering sacrifices (the Mass in Catholicism), pronouncing forgiveness, and so on. But the New Testament presents Jesus Christ as the one High Priest whose priesthood cannot be passed to others. The Epistle to the Hebrews emphasizes that, unlike the multiple priests of the Old Testament, Jesus’ priesthood is unique and everlasting: “But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.”

(Hebrews 7:24-26)The term “unchangeable” here is especially important – in the original Greek it carries the meaning of “permanent” or “untransferable.” In other words, Jesus holds a priesthood that does not pass to anyone else (The Catholic Priesthood: Mystique and Scandal? – Berean Beacon)

Why is Christ’s priesthood not transferable? Hebrews explains that unlike mortal priests who died and had to be succeeded by others, Jesus lives on forever: “he continueth ever” (Hebrews 7:24-26) Because He defeated death and lives eternally, His priestly office never ends and needs no successor. Early Christian scholars noted this contrast: “The Levitical priests were mere mortal men and, therefore, needed successors; Christ, in contrast, is an eternal Priest and His priesthood is untransferrable and needs no successor.” The Old Covenant had many high priests because each eventually died; but Jesus, our New Covenant High Priest, “ever liveth” and thus “hath an unchangeable priesthood”.

 This means His priesthood is permanent and cannot be transferred to another. Apostolic succession, especially as taught in Roman Catholicism, claims that Christ’s authority and priestly role are passed down through an unbroken line of bishops. But Scripture says Christ's priesthood is unique, eternal, and exclusive—He alone makes intercession, and He alone qualifies as holy, undefiled, and exalted above the heavens. There is no need for successors, because the role of High Priest is already filled forever. Any claim to continue or share in that priesthood is a contradiction of the very nature of Christ's finished and ongoing work.

Because Christ holds this exclusive priesthood, He alone performs the work of salvation and intercession needed for us to approach God. Hebrews 7:25 continues: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:24-26) Jesus’ continual life and intercession mean that no other priest is needed to bridge the gap between God and humanity. He is the perpetual bridge, always alive to intercede on our behalf. By contrast, if any human priest claims to be a “high priest” "bridge builder" or essential mediator, that claim competes with Jesus’ ongoing work. The New Testament pointedly does not appoint a new high priest on earth after Christ – He is the final High Priest forever. Even church leaders in the New Testament (like elders and bishops) are never described as “priests” offering sacrifices for sin. There is a deliberate shift: with Jesus’ sacrifice completed, the old priestly system is fulfilled and brought to an end (signified dramatically when “the veil of the temple was rent in twain” at Christ’s death, indicating free access to God). No ordained man has any right to continue or re-create Christ’s atoning work—(least of all those who reject His eternal covenant by profaning the Sabbath). – “this he did once, when he offered up himself” (Hebrews 7:27). Thus, any notion that Catholic priests “re-present” Christ’s sacrifice in the Mass or that bishops hold a share in Christ’s priesthood runs contrary to the once-for-all, non-repeatable, non-transferable nature of Jesus’s priestly ministry.

A central claim of hierarchical priesthoods is that clergy act as mediators or go-betweens – conveying God’s grace to the laity and mediating the laity’s worship or confessions to God. Catholic teaching, for instance, often portrays the priest as an intermediary in sacraments (like confession or communion). However, the Scripture is unambiguous that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and humanity. 1 Timothy 2:5 declares: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” This verse is straightforward: there are not many mediators, only one – Christ. No priest, no saint, not even Mary, can occupy the role of mediator in the way Jesus does. To suggest otherwise would be, as one commentary puts it, to “seek redemption elsewhere” than the one way God provided (One God, One Mediator | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org). Since there is one God, He has provided one Mediator and one way of salvation, and “only the fool would seek redemption elsewhere”.

What about intercession for believers? The New Testament again points to Jesus’ unique role. We saw in Hebrews 7:25 that Christ “ever liveth to make intercession” for those who come to God through Him (Hebrews 7:24-26). Similarly, Romans 8:34 asks: “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” In other words, the risen Christ is actively interceding for His people at God’s right hand. Additionally, the Holy Spirit is given to all believers and “makes intercession” from within our hearts according to God’s will (Romans 8:26-27). No human priest can fulfill a role that Christ and the Holy Spirit are already perfectly accomplishing. When a Catholic penitent confesses sins to a priest and the priest pronounces absolution, the implication is that the priest mediates God’s forgiveness. Yet Scripture assures us that forgiveness is through Christ’s blood and His advocacy alone: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). Jesus is our advocate or intercessory high priest when we sin – not an earthly confessor.

To rely on a human hierarchy for mediation is to misunderstand Christ’s present ministry. He didn’t retire from High Priestly work after ascending to heaven; He continues it eternally. The Bible pointedly states that after His sacrifice, Jesus “sat down on the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12) – a sign that His redemptive work is finished and fully sufficient. Now He “by himself purged our sins” and intercedes for us (Hebrews 1:3, 7:25) (The Trinity Foundation - Who Is the Holy Father?). There is simply no gap left for a human priest to fill in terms of mediation or intercession. Every Christian can go directly to God through Jesus. As Hebrews 4:14,16 encourages, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, …Jesus the Son of God, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace”, obtaining mercy from God firsthand. We do not come timidly through a human intermediary; we “come boldly” through Christ. This renders an ordained priestly caste unnecessary for access to God.

Access to God through Christ Alone, Not Through Human Priests

One of the most liberating truths of the New Testament is that every believer has direct access to God through Jesus Christ. Under the Old Testament Law, people had to approach God’s presence via priests and sacrifices, and only the High Priest could enter the innermost sanctuary (and that only once a year). But when Jesus died, the barrier was removed – literally. At the moment of Jesus’ death, “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:51). That torn curtain symbolized that the way into God’s presence was now open for all who come through Christ’s finished sacrifice. The Book of Hebrews makes this application explicit: “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith…” (Hebrews 10:19–22). Notice that believers enter the holy place (God’s presence) by Jesus’ blood and because Jesus is our High Priest. We are invited to “draw near” to God directly, with confidence. No mention is made of drawing near through a human priest. The “new and living way” has been opened by Christ Himself.

In light of this, insisting that believers must approach God through an earthly priest or bishop is not only unnecessary – it undermines the bold access Christ purchased for us. A Protestant Reformer once vividly stated: trying to go “through earthly sacrificial priests” now is like choosing death over life, because such priests “have no place in the New Testament” order (The Catholic Priesthood: Mystique and Scandal? – Berean Beacon). That language is strong, but it underscores the seriousness of the issue: to require a human priest for access to God is to effectively deny the sufficiency of Christ’s work. The New Testament church did have leaders (apostles, elders, teachers), but their role was pastoral and instructive – not to re‑insert a veil between God and His people. Peter, who Catholics consider the first pope, actually taught that all believers share a direct relationship with God as a priesthood. He writes to ordinary Christians: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5). And again: “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Peter 2:9). Rather than teaching a special priestly class, Peter says every Christian is part of a holy, royal priesthood. We all can offer spiritual sacrifices (praise, prayer, service) directly to God through Jesus. In Revelation 1:5–6, the apostle John likewise praises Christ for loving us and making us “kings and priests unto God”. Scripture democratizes the priesthood – it is “the birthright of every believer” to be able to approach God as a priest in Christ.

By contrast, the Catholic system (and the Anglican, though to a slightly lesser degree) creates a distinction between clergy (who perform priestly functions) and laity (who must receive grace through those functions). This clergy-laity divide was a later development and was not part of the original New Testament church. The New Testament Greek word for “priest” (hiereus) is never used to describe ordained Christian ministers in the early church, only to describe believers generally or Old Testament priests. The common term for church leaders was “elder” (presbyteros) or “overseer” (episkopos, i.e. bishop) – roles focused on teaching and guiding, not standing as mediators of grace. The very word “priest” in English is derived from “presbyter” (elder), not from the word for a sacrificial priest. Over time, however, as liturgical practices grew, clergy began to be seen as a separate sacerdotal (sacrifice-performing) class – more akin to the Old Testament priests. They alone could preside over Communion or pronounce forgiveness in confession, etc. This clericalism effectively reversed some of the gains of the Gospel by re-erecting a human barrier. But biblically, “in the New Testament, the only priests we find are Christ Himself…and the priesthood that belongs to every single Christian.”

The Rise of Hierarchy: Human Tradition vs. Biblical Teaching

If hierarchical priesthood and lofty titles find little support in Scripture, how did they become so entrenched in churches? A brief historical insight shows that this was a development over time, not an original feature of Christ’s church. In the first century, the apostles led the church under Christ’s headship, and they appointed plural local elders (presbyters) and deacons in each congregation (see Titus 1:5, Philippians 1:1). There was no single worldwide head (Peter himself did not act as a “bishop of bishops” – in Acts, the apostles operated collegially, and Christ alone was recognized as Head of the Church (Pope is not Holy Father)). Early on, all pastors/elders were on essentially equal footing, seen as fellow-servants of Christ. Even as late as ~AD 250, church leaders like Cyprian of Carthage wrote, “No one [of us] sets himself up as a bishop of bishops… for every bishop… has his own proper right of judgment… let us all wait for the judgment of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Article – The Leadership Structure of the Early Church – Live Great Things). This shows that the idea of one supreme bishop (pope) was not the practice of the early church, and a hierarchical chain of command was still resisted.

However, as time went on, a hierarchy “began to emerge”. By around AD 100-150, churches in large cities often had one lead overseer (bishop) coordinating multiple house congregations. This in itself wasn’t yet a papal hierarchy, but it laid groundwork. Over the first few centuries, some bishops grew in influence and “began to forget their position as first among equals, gravitating towards more power and authority.” Larger city bishops (like Rome, Alexandria, Antioch) claimed honour over smaller-city bishops. Ambition and rivalry entered: “Many bishops of larger cities clamored for jurisdiction over smaller cities, eventually creating a hierarchy that was never intended by Jesus and the apostles.” (Article – The Leadership Structure of the Early Church – Live Great Things). This man-made hierarchy solidified into an institutional structure by the 4th and 5th centuries, forming the backbone of what became the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. In short, a model of top-down authority grew up, but it was an “innovation, indeed an aberration” from the New Testament pattern. The simplicity of the early church – where leaders were servants and all believers were a royal priesthood – gave way to a stratified system resembling the old covenant priesthood or even secular governance.

The title of “Supreme Pontiff” (Pontifex Maximus) that the pope bears is telling. Pontifex Maximus was originally a title for pagan high priests and later used by Roman Emperors (The Trinity Foundation - Who Is the Holy Father?). The Bishop of Rome eventually adopted this title, indicating how the church hierarchy absorbed trappings of imperial power. The papacy as an office claiming universal jurisdiction was a later development – centuries after Christ. Even Catholic historians acknowledge that it was “four centuries” after Christ before the Bishop of Rome openly claimed to be Peter’s sole successor with supreme authority. By contrast, the Apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, never greets any “pope” or indicates a singular head in Rome. The rise of the papal hierarchy was gradual and historical – not based on an explicit biblical mandate.

The Anglican hierarchy (Church of England and related churches) inherited much of this structure. When King Henry VIII broke from Rome in the 16th century, he rejected the pope’s authority but kept the Catholic ecclesiastical framework largely intact (The Church in the Reign of King Henry VIII). Henry made himself “Supreme Head” of the Church of England, but “as head of the Church, Henry was effectively in charge of the Archbishops, Bishops and all the clergy that the English Church still retained.” In plain terms, the titles and ranks—archbishop, bishop, priest—remained firmly in place, exposing just how deeply entrenched the lust for power was within the church, and how easily the masses could be manipulated. The so-called “Reformation” in England merely transferred control from Rome to the English Crown, while the corrupt hierarchy itself remained untouched. Contemporary Anglicanism still maintains bishops and priests in apostolic succession, closely mirroring Catholic structure (though without a papacy). Thus, the Anglican hierarchy is subject to the same biblical critiques: nowhere does the New Testament establish archbishops or metropolitans, and nowhere does it suggest that a national monarch can be “Head of the Church” (in fact, Christ is the head of the Church – Ephesians 5:23, “Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Pope is not Holy Father)). The English Reformers retained hierarchical offices for various reasons (some believed in episcopal governance, others for political necessity), but they could not base those offices on direct New Testament command.

In summary, the elaborate hierarchies seen in Catholicism and Anglicanism are products of historical evolution and tradition. They reflect human attempts to organize and wield authority in the church, more than the servant-leadership model Jesus taught. Jesus told His apostles, “ye are all brethren” and “whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased” (Matthew 23:8,12). Yet, over centuries the church came to exalt certain offices excessively.

Christianity at its core teaches that God himself has provided everything necessary for our salvation and relationship with Him. God is our loving Father; Christ is our all-sufficient High Priest, mediator, and King. Any religious hierarchy should ultimately point people to God and to Christ – never insert themselves as indispensible channels of grace. The Bible’s lesser-known verses shine a bright light on this truth: Christ’s priesthood cannot be transferred  Christ alone mediates and intercedes, God alone is our Holy Father (Matthew 23:9), and all believers have priestly access through Jesus. Human-ordained priestly hierarchies, when they claim powers and titles reserved for God and His Christ, are operating outside their scriptural warrant.

This is not to say that churches do not need leaders or teachers – Scripture does speak of pastors, teachers, elders who feed and care for the flock. But there is a vast difference between servant-leaders and a sacral hierarchy that claims to dispense grace or stand as gatekeepers to God. The New Testament calls Christian leaders shepherds and ministers (meaning servants), not an elite priestly caste. Jesus Christ is the Church’s one supreme priest and pastor; all others serve under Him and point directly to Him. When we grasp this, it becomes clear that terms like “Holy Father” or the notion of a “chief pontiff” are not just incidental labels – they are symptomatic of a mindset that doesn’t align with the Bible’s teaching about Christ’s preeminence.

In the end, the gospel invites each of us to come to God freely through Christ. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16) – with no veil, no human high priest standing in the way. The hierarchical priesthoods of men may impress with pageantry and claims of authority, but they cannot bring us any closer to God than the nail-scarred hands of Jesus already have. God the Father, the only Holy Father, has opened His arms to us. Jesus, our eternal High Priest, has torn down every barrier. In Him, we are a kingdom of priests and children of God, called to a direct relationship with our Lord. Any hierarchy that obscures these truths must yield to the authority of Scripture and the supremacy of Christ.

The Blood-Stained Cross and the Blasphemy of Usurping Christ’s Priesthood

“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”— Hebrews 10:12

The hill of Calvary was not adorned with gold, silk, or clerical garments. There were no jewelled mitres, no incense, no procession of robed men. There was only a naked man — bloody, torn, spat upon — hanging on two beams of rough wood. That man was Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, offering Himself as the final and perfect sacrifice to redeem sinners. He did not hang there to make room for successors in splendid robes, seated in thrones of cathedrals, surrounded by the wealth and influence of noble families. He hung alone, so that no man would ever again dare claim the right to stand between God and His people.

Yet what do we find, not centuries later but even today? Men rising up, clothed in power, crowned in human tradition, daring to call themselves “His Holiness,” “Holy Father,” “Pontiff,” and even “Alter Christus” — another Christ. These self-exalted mediators claim authority to forgive sins, to re-offer Christ’s sacrifice, to stand as earthly high priests — roles Scripture reserves for Christ alone.

This is not merely the error of misplaced honor — it is spiritual treason.

Christ Did Not Die for Pretenders to Take His Place

The New Testament is clear:

“For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”— Hebrews 10:14

Jesus offered Himself once. The work is complete. The curtain was torn from top to bottom. He did not leave behind a priesthood of men — He established access to the Father by His own blood.

What, then, must Christ see from heaven, when mere men, often drawn from aristocratic bloodlines or clerical dynasties, are voted into power by conclaves or ecclesiastical appointments, seated on ornate thrones and clothed in vestments of pomp, pretending to be His representatives on earth?

What must Christ think when they demand to be addressed as “Holy Father” — a title Jesus explicitly forbade men to accept (Matthew 23:9) — while He, the one true Holy Son, hung exposed and humiliated to purchase our reconciliation?

What must Christ feel when bishops and cardinals, many groomed in luxury and influence, stand between the people and God, declaring themselves mediators of grace, speaking words of absolution with lifted hands, as though His pierced hands were not enough?

This is not ministry. It is blasphemy in the garb of tradition.

Paul declared:

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…”— Galatians 6:14

To add to the cross is to rob it of its sufficiency. To share in the priesthood of Christ is to diminish the blood of the Lamb.To offer again what He has already completed is to call His final words — “It is finished” — a lie.

Yet this is what the earthly hierarchy does. It is offensive not merely in theology, but in heart. It elevates man, not Christ. It whispers to the world that Jesus started something great — but we must finish it.

No! Jesus finished it. He did not bleed for men in crimson robes to act as co-saviors.

Woe to Those Who Usurp His Place

God is patient — but He is not mocked. When men step into Christ’s office, they step onto dangerous ground.

“Every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down…”— Hebrews 10:11–12

He sat down because the work was done.Those who still stand, still offering, still absolving, are not continuing His ministry — they are competing with it.

And worse: some of them take titles that belong only to God.

“Holy and reverend is his name.” — Psalm 111:9

Yet men call themselves “Reverend Father,” “Your Eminence,” and “Holy Father.” These titles were never given by Christ. They are relics of Rome, not the Upper Room; of Constantine, not of Calvary.

Jesus came in humility. He washed feet. He wore a crown of thorns, not gold. He laid aside glory to serve. And He told His disciples, “It shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.” (Matthew 20:26)

The true minister is a servant, not a sovereign. A shepherd, not a king. And a Christian priest is one only in the sense that all believers are — able to approach God directly through Christ, not through ritual or robe.

To exalt oneself into Christ’s unique role is to trample the blood of the covenant. To claim His priesthood is to stand where only He may stand. To receive honour meant only for God is to steal what belongs to heaven.

Christ Is Watching

Christ is not unaware of what is done in His name. He sees the incense rising in cathedrals where His finished work is re-offered. He hears the confessions whispered in booths where men dare to forgive sins He already died for. He knows the hearts of those who wear crosses on their chests while ignoring the cross He bore on His back.

And He waits.

“Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” — Romans 12:19

For those who exalt themselves in His place, a reckoning is coming. For those who cast off human titles and cling only to His, grace is overflowing.

Let no man take His place. Let no hierarchy replace His throne. Let no bishop, pope, priest, or prince dare to put himself where only Christ belongs.

The cross was bloody. The cost was everything.

Let us never forget who truly paid it.