In earliest Christianity, the author shows, the kind of life led by a priest was governed by the needs of his ministry. In later centuries he gradually became siphoned off into the highly professional, celibate class we know today. Audet argues that this process, though both natural and explicable, was in fact alien to the true traditions of the early churches. More importantly, it now effectively inhibits the proper exercise of the Christian priesthood, despite the enormous gains it has brought in the past.