THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST AND HIS MINISTERS

Amid the current clamor over the legitimacy of the traditional conception of ministerial priesthood (why priests? women priests? what are priests for?), Catholic biblical scholar Andre Feuillet -- spurred by an assignment from the International Theological Commission -- offers a thorough study of the New Testament basis for priestly ministry. He breaks new ground in basing the traditional conception on the Priestly Prayer of John 17, and its roots in the Servant Songs of Isaiah, rather than on the standard treatment in the Letter to the Hebrews. Strong on exegesis, but anemic in contemporary application, the study is too plodding to quicken the interest of all but those with a special concern for the issue -- priests, seminarians, biblical scholars, theologians.