Slightly OT, but it's interesting to note that there's a somewhat-developed thread of decentralization and independent thought running through the New Testament

Slightly OT, but it's interesting to note that there's a somewhat-developed thread of decentralization and independent thought running through the New Testament. The most famous is probably Jesus being asked to weigh in on a political/religious debate ("which city has religious supremacy for Jewish people?") and answering effectively "What matters is individuals following God sincerely wherever they are," in John 4:19-24. Paul also communicates something to the effect of "human teachers are fine, and may do good, but seeking God and following Jesus is what matters, not what a human teacher says to do," in 1 Corinthians 3. I think there are other spots that develop similar themes too, but I'm rusty (and no longer relate to the text as I did when I was an evangelical Christian anyway). My point is just that "the priest as arbiter of truth and central power in a church" is in fact the opposite of what the NT actually preaches, despite its commonality in Christian religious communities from Catholicism to independent Baptist churches. It's almost like humans have something to gain from power and use whatever levers they can to gain it...