Abstract
The present discussion in German Protestantism about ordained ministry and the concept of church can be seen as a long term consequence of the fact that the question of the origin, nature, and rights of ordained ministry in relation to the priesthood of all believers could not be answered stringently in the 19th century theology. As the protestant theologian J.W.F. Höfling (about 1850) argues, the church as a whole is entrusted with the ministry of preaching the gospel. He doesn't make a distinction between {! sacerdotium} (priesthood) and {! ministerium} (ministry). Höfling states that ordained ministry is derived from the ministry (cf. CA 5 - set by God), which permanently depends on {! the church as a whole}, and in his view obtains to its community. Accordingly, he points to the fundamental difference between Protestant and Roman catholic ecclesiology. In developing his concept of church and ordained ministry he refers extensively to Luther and Melanchthon. Nevertheless his point of view affiliates much more to Schleiermacher than to the theology of Reformation.
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