In a recent article, one liberal scholar and historian wrote the following against Latter-day Saint claims to authority:
For Latter-day Saints, one of the striking and surprising characteristics of the New Testament church is the almost complete absence of priesthood in its doctrine, structure and history. Certainly, there are references to priests and concepts related to priesthood, such as Sadducees, Levites, the Jerusalem temple and cultic worship (which was performed by priests). But these priests were usually not followers of Jesus or members of the early church. If we take a concordance of the King James Bible and look at all the uses of “priesthood” in the New Testament, we find that the word is not found in the Gospels or Acts, or in the letters of Paul. In fact, it is found in only two chapters in the entire New Testament: Hebrews 7 and 1 Peter 2. The concept of priesthood is not a key doctrine in the New Testament. It is barely mentioned, outside of Hebrews (and in that book, priesthood is applied only to Jesus). There was certainly a church structure in the early church and offices, but these were not viewed as priesthood offices. (Todd Compton, “’Prominent among the Apostles’: Women, Priesthood, and Position in the New Testament,” Restoration Studies volume XIX [2018]: 181-214, here, p. 196, emphasis added)
Compton’s claims are similar to those of Raymond Brown (whom he quotes in the article) and other liberals in Catholicism and other groups that, as with Latter-day Saints believe in an ordained, ministerial New Covenant Priesthood. However, Brown, as great a scholar he was on many issues, and Compton et al., are simply incorrect in their assessment of New Testament theology of the Priesthood and other topics.
For a book-length treatment showing the opposite to be true, see my book:
