Question:

Why do Roman Catholic churches have priests and evangelical protestant churches have pastors?

Answer ( Posted by Chris Villi ):

     At first glance, using the title “priest” versus “pastor” for a church leader may seem like a small

distinction or insignificant matter. However, upon closer review, we see several striking implications

to consider.

     Our first step is to examine how these two words are used in the Bible. The word “priest” is

used 689 times in the Old Testament. Priests were a special group of Israelite men appointed by God

during the time of Moses. Without exception, they had to be of the lineage of Levi (Levites). Their

duty was to represent the people before God and to perform various rituals and animal sacrifices that

symbolized atonement for sin. However, the term “priest” is only used several times in the New

Testament and is never used in the context of church government or organization. In fact, in all of

Paul's writings, he never used the noun “priest.” Additionally, the way other apostles used the term is

strikingly different that its use in the Old Testament. Christians (all true believers) are referred to as a

“royal” and “holy” “kingdom of priests” (1Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6, 5:10), and Christ is referred to as the

“great high priest” (Heb. 2:17, 4:14-15, 6:20, 7:28-8:1). The word “pastor,” on the other hand, literally

means “shepherd” and is used in the New Testament as a title for a church leader who hold the office

of teacher/shepherd (Eph.4:11). The word “pastor” is synonymous with the commonly used words

“elder” and “overseer” (Titus 1:5, 7) in the New Testament and always refers to a male (1 Tim. 2:12,

3:1) who is appointed to teach, preach, protect, lead, govern, and oversee the church.

     Now that we have laid the groundwork, let’s tie this all together. Although Catholics and

evangelical protestants agree that Christ died “once and for all” (Heb. 9:28), Catholics believe that “the

very same sacrifice that occurred on Calvary is made present on the altar,”1 at each and every mass.

Evangelicals, on the other hand, believe that the Lord’s Supper is a memorial and proclamation of the

Lord’s death to be done “in remembrance of [Christ]” (1 Cor. 11:24-26). Due to the Catholic belief

that the Eucharist is a real sacrifice and that it is held as the central component of the mass, everything

else in the church service points to and accentuates it. The altar (the table on which sacrifices are

placed) is located in the center of the platform, and the one who perform the ceremony and “offers the

sacrifice” wears a priestly robe and is called a “priest.” In stark contrast to this, evangelicals believe

that Christ’s sacrifice is complete and that the central component of the church service is the

proclamation and exposition of the Bible. Due to this, there is no altar in the building and the pulpit

lies in the center of the platform.

     So, what are the implications of this variance in belief? Does it really matter? The

implications lie in the application and extent of Christ’s sacrifice. The Bible teaches that it is perfect,

final, and complete – a one-time event never to be repeated (Heb. 7:27, 9:12, 9:24-26). In fact, when

He finished, He sat down at the right hand of God, because His work was done (Heb. 10:11-13). The

result of that singular sacrifice was to grant complete forgiveness and eternal life to those who believe

immediately upon their belief (Heb. 10:14). In contrast, the Catholic church teaches that Christ’s

sacrifice is imperfect, since it does not cover the sins that a believer has to pay for himself in

Purgatory. It is not final, since it continues to take place week after week. And it is incomplete, since

believers never receive the full benefit of it. In the final analysis, priests continually attempt offer a

sacrifice that only has the power to forgive some sins for people who work to keep themselves in the

grace of God by regularly partaking of that sacrifice. Pastors, on the other hand, focus on proclaiming

that believers are the recipients of the grace of God and complete forgiveness of sins through faith as a

result of the one-time all-sufficient sacrifice offered by “the great high priest.” Big difference!

1 http://www.catholic.com/library/Pillar.asp Pillar of Fire, Pillar of Truth Revised Second Edition

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