Apologetics for the Masses - #278

Topic

Korah's Rebellion and Protestantism

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General Comments

Hey folks,

Two things:

1) Apparently the last batch of blank CD's that we used for dubbing my talks had a whole lot of duds in it. We've had complaints of bad CD's from time-to-time in the past, but nothing like we've received in the last couple of months. So, we've switched our supplier and have ordered a new brand of CD. I just wanted to let you know that if you have received any bad CD's from us, please let me know and we will get new ones to you, at absolutely no cost. And I apologize to any of you who have received bad CD's. We aim for 100% customer satisfaction, so if you have a bad CD, let us send you a new one.

2) We just finished up an awesome conference on evangelization here in Birmingham. Speakers included Dr. Scott Hahn, Dr. Ralph Martin, Tim Staples, Kelly Wahlquist, Dan Burke, and others. EWTN taped the conference and will hopefully be making these talks available on DVD within a couple of months - I'll let you know if and when they are available. You absolutely have to have the talks by Hahn and Staples!

Introduction

One of our subscribers sent in an email about Korah's Rebellion (Numbers 16:1-40), which brings up a very good point. Here's the email and my response to it...

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Wolfgang

What is the difference between Korah’s rebellion in the old testament, with the result that the earth opened up and swallowed Korah and all his followers, and the protestant revolt? As I recall, Korah argued that he and his group could burn incense and pray the same prayers at a temple of their own instead of having to travel and offer homage through the priests at the official Temple in Jerusalem. It seemed he thought the authority of the priests was something he could arrogate to himself, that their abilities were no better than his own and he would do things his way. I may be missing something here - it’s been a while since I read through the story of Korah, but wasn’t he starting his own strain of Judaism on his own presumed authority? Isn’t this the same error the “reformers” made? This question has probably come up before because the comparison seems so obvious, but I’ve never heard it discussed by anyone. Any thoughts on that?

My Comments

First of all, let's make sure we have the facts straight on Korah's Rebellion (Numbers 16:1-40). Wolfgang has it mostly right. Korah was a Levite, and was the first cousin to Moses and Aaron. (Think maybe there was a little family jealousy involved here?) The rebellion he led was, essentially, a rebellion against the idea of a separate priesthood - against having priests that are set apart from the people and who have specific roles reserved to them in the worship of God and the offering of sacrifice. Korah felt that all the Levites should be priests. No distinction should be made among them. Moses and Aaron and the other priests should not be set apart and should not have any kind of special role in the worship of God. Everyone should share equally in the role of the priests. So, Wolfgang is right about that part of it.

However, this rebellion happened while the Israelites were wandering in the desert, so it had nothing to do with Jerusalem and the Temple - which wouldn't be built until a few hundred years later. At the time, the tabernacle, which contained the Ark of the Covenant, was housed in a tent - the tent of meeting. So, worship of God was centered around the tent of meeting, not the Temple in Jerusalem.

Now, to his question of what is the difference between Korah's Rebellion and the Protestant revolt, the answer is: not a whole lot. Yes, the details are different, but, essentially, Korah's Rebellion was a rebellion against authority - the authority of Moses and Aaron. It was a rebellion against the authority of those that God had placed in charge of His people. Which is, at it's essence, what the Protestant revolt was all about. Martin Luther ultimately rejected the authority of those whom God had placed in charge of His people - the Pope and the bishops in union with him.

People will of course say that Martin Luther and the other deformers were protesting against what they considered to be false doctrines and lax morality within the Church, which Korah doesn't seem to be protesting against, but that misses the point. That Luther was not rebelling because he wanted to be a priest, like Korah and the others did, is irrelevant to the underlying cause of the rebellion. The underlying cause of the rebellion - in both instances - is a rejection of the authority of those that God has placed over you. Korah's rejection of what Moses and Aaron commanded, was grounded, first and foremost, in the rejection of their authority.

Luther may not have, at first, rejected the authority of the Pope, but he eventually did. And Luther may have retained some sort of ordained clergy, but eventually many within Protestantism - such as those I've referenced below - came to reject the idea of an ordained clergy that had separate and specific functions that were not meant for all of the people to perform. So, regardless of whether his initial protest had some merit to it or not, ultimately, his great offense boiled down to the rejection of authority. And, as Protestantism spread, the rejection of authority became its hallmark characteristic. Henry the VIII split from the Church because he rejected the Pope's authority. This or that denomination exists because its founder rejected the authority of this or that other denomination that he came from. Each denomination results from the rejection of the authority within some other denomination.

And to reject the authority of those who have been given authority over you by God - as Korah did and as the deformers did - is to implicitly reject the authority of God - whether you're aware of it or not. If I reject the message sent to me by the king's herald, then I reject the authority of the king himself.

So, yes, there are definitely parallels between Korah's Rebellion in the Old Testament, and the Protestant revolt of the 1500's. The interesting thing is, and this is something that we, as Catholics, need to bring up more often than we do, is that the essence of Korah's Rebellion also existed in New Testament times. We read in Jude 10-11 that there are men who "revile whatever they do not understand..." and who "perish in Korah's rebellion."

I point to that passage from Jude fairly often whenever I'm discussing the priesthood with Protestants - especially those who are not very liturgical, such as Baptists, Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, non-Denominationalists, and so on. Why do I use that passage? Because a great many Protestants will tell you that the tearing of the temple curtain from top to bottom that occurred when Jesus died (Matthew 27:51) meant that there was no longer any need for intermediaries between God and man...no longer any need for the priesthood. That we all now have equal access to God in worship and we no longer need priests to offer sacrifice on our behalf. We can now go directly to God. According to these folks, the ordained priesthood is a false doctrine of the Church because we are all equal members of the royal priesthood of believers (1 Peter 2:9).

These folks have told me, in no uncertain terms, that there is no separate priesthood, no ordained priesthood - like that of the Catholic Church - mentioned anywhere in the New Testament. Which means that the priesthood, as the Catholic Church defines it and practices it, since it's "not in the Bible," is a false teaching and a false practice. Yet, what do we take away from Jude 10-11? There were people, in the New Testament era, perishing in Korah's Rebellion. What was Korah's Rebellion? It was a rebellion against having a separate priesthood...an ordained priesthood...a priesthood that is set apart, in certain ways, from the royal priesthood of believers. It's a rebellion against a priesthood that didn't include all of the people.

So, if that's what Korah's Rebellion was about, then how could Korah's Rebellion be occurring in the New Testament era, unless there was an ordained priesthood? A priesthood that reserved certain liturgical functions...certain acts of worship...for these men who were set apart to be priests? This passage from Jude makes absolutely no sense unless there was, from the earliest moments of the Church, an ordained priesthood. You can't have Korah's Rebellion in 1st century Christianity if there was no ordained priesthood - if there was no distinction between the royal priesthood of all believers and the ordained priesthood.

So how could Jude be talking about people perishing in Korah's Rebellion if there was no longer a separate and distinct priesthood? He couldn't. Which means, there was a separate and distinct - an ordained - priesthood in early Christianity. In other words, the priesthood as the Catholic Church has it today - an ordained sacramental priesthood - is in the Bible!

And this was not some false teaching or false practice, because Jude says that those who are rebelling against this priesthood are perishing. Which should serve as a very grave warning to any Christian who claims that there is no such thing as an ordained, or a sacramental, priesthood. He, too, may perish in Korah's Rebellion.

Point this out to your Protestant friends. Ask them these couple of questions: 1) What was Korah's Rebellion in Numbers 16:1-40 all about? Then, if they get it right by sending it was a rebellion against a separate and distinct priesthood, take them to Jude 10-11 and ask them: "How could Korah's Rebellion be occurring in the New Testament era if there was no such thing as an ordained priesthood?" Or, you could just send them this newsletter and simply say, "I'd love to get your opinion on this..." I can guarantee you that most, if not all, of your Protestant friends will have never "seen" this passage from Jude about Korah. Use it to plant some seeds...

Closing Comments

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