Really shoddy scholarship represented in this article. I have no desire to elevate the idea of a dictator pastor or of pastor devotion, but one must admit that those are extremes. Pastor, properly understood is a legitimate position in the New Testament, and increasingly so as 1st era Christianity moved outward into the world.
Pastor is in the list of “gifts” in 1 Co 12 & 14. Elders were to be appointed in all the churches. The elders, pastors, overseers, were interchangeable terms.
Paul says that the ox shouldn’t be muzzled. Why and in what context?
Paul says that he refused payment when, in reality, it was due him. In that early church he didn’t want anyone to get the impression he was preaching the gospel for financial gain.
When I first laid eyes on my present Pastor I heard an audible voice with no preconceived notions say to me in my head “Help Him”. It has been a Joy!
No kidding. The guy comes up with an idea and then attempts to find the evidence to prove he is right.
A good example of Eisegesis. A bad example of scholarship.
I found this tidbit of nonsense rather interesting:
"Ekklesia was used about 100 times in the Greek translation of the New Testament to translate the Hebrew word qualal, which referred to the Israelite 'assembly.'"
Since the autographs of the New Testament were written in Greek, where does this guy get off saying that the New Testament was translated from Hebrew?
There are a lot of straw man arguments he uses to denigrate the office of pastor. He's just a disgruntled parishioner who thinks he can undo 2000 years of tradition by starting his own.