Within Christian environmental ethics, there is a concern to carefully describe and name the role of humanity within creation in a way that promotes ecological justice. Notably, Orthodox theologians have taken up the language of “priests” to describe humanity as those to whom God gives the responsibility to care for creation, and, more specifically, to offer creation back to God in praise. However, Richard Bauckham rejects this language, arguing that it is an “arrogant” inflation of the role of humanity which denies that creation has its own relationship with God apart from humanity. Humanity, Bauckham argues, joins the creation in its praise of God, a praise which is offered even if humanity fails to do so.
This paper aims to enter this debate through a consideration of the language of priest within its Scriptural context. While Bauckham’s rejection of the term priest assumes the meaning that it takes within Orthodox theology, this paper will assess the comprehensiveness of that meaning, particularly through the examination of the idea of the priesthood of all believers. This paper will consider the shape of the office of priesthood under the new covenant, demonstrating that the priesthood of all believers precludes any arrogance based on status or role as it recognizes the other’s own relationship to God. Here, mutuality and reciprocity are key for priestly members of God’s covenant community.
This paper will argue that this understanding has implications for how God’s covenant people understand themselves in relation to the non-human creation. Through a consideration of the idea of priest within the Scriptures, this paper will demonstrate that the language of priest need not be jettisoned in order to promote ecological justice, but can enrich humanity’s understanding of their role in relationship to all of creation.