Abstract
Prophets and priests were distinct orders in early Christianity. In its first stages, the Christian movement depended for the production of its religious ideas upon the work of charismatic, itinerant individuals called prophets. Gradually, as organisation and consolidation of dogma became of vital importance, leadership passed to a hierarchical order of priests and bishops. The transfer of power progressed in an ever more intense strain between the two types of leadership which ended with the elimination of the order of prophets. Comparative work has helped to develop prophets and priests as essential analytical concepts in the field of the sociology of religion.
The present paper traces the major stages in the formation of the early Christian leadership and argues that the qualities of the prophet were transformed rather than actually eliminated. The task of edifying the masses after the conversion of the empire led to radically new techniques in moral instruction. The imposition of religious ideas through constant preaching became a valuable weapon to priests, but the initial exploration of the human conscience required a prophetic sensitivity. Prophets and priests, it is finally argued, may be viewed as producers and transmitters of new knowledge respectively not only in strictly religious matters but in the educational system at large.
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