Priesthood: an Overview
Cross-cultural use of the terms priest and priesthood is an example of a familiar pattern in modern description of religion. Frequently, terms with European meanings and linguistic derivations are pressed into service for the description of a range of phenomena worldwide. If we pay attention to this fact, we can often enhance our appreciation not only of the terminology itself but of the material to which it is applied.
Usage in the West
In the case of priest, we can discern a "core" meaning in the Western use of the term. At this core, one may argue, are two.....
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