We believe that a man must be acalled of God, by bprophecy, and by the laying on of chands by those who are in dauthority, to epreach the Gospel and administer in the fordinances thereof.
This Article has a lot going on and so I’ve decided to focus on one word, authority.We believe that the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church upon the earth with the true authority of the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
When Joseph Smith entered the sacred grove he knelt down and asked which church he should join. God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him that he should join none of them, and that he would be the one to restore the Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth once again. The Aaronic Priesthood was restored to the earth by John the Baptist when he laid his hands upon the head of Joseph Smith on May 15, 1829. Peter, James, and John appeared to Joseph Smith a few weeks later to restore the Melchizedek Priesthood.
We believe that this Priesthood Power had to be restored because it was taken from the earth shortly after the death of the apostles ordained by Jesus Christ due to widespread apostasy in the Church of Jesus Christ. Men must be called by God, and then ordained by one who has previously been ordained with the priesthood by one who was called of God.
LDS missionaries frequently encounter individuals who claim that they have felt personally called by God, and according to TH a reference to law enforcement is frequently used. If someone has read and studied up on all of the laws, it does not give them the right to pull people over for speeding. That power is conferred upon each individual policeman by another who is in authority to do so.
The Restoration of the Gospel by Joseph Smith allowed a chain of authority to remain unbroken all the way back to God. All of the prophets and apostles in the old and new testament not only received a personal manifestation of their calling, but also had the priesthood power confirmed upon them by another who held the authority.
June 14th, 2009 on 1:05 am
Thank you, Jenna, for sharing your faith with us again. It is always nice to read about your beliefs and I enjoy all your postings (from LDS to photography to fruit flies). Have a blessed Sunday.
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June 15th, 2009 on 11:23 am
How does the LDS faith view Timothy, Titus, Silas, or Barnabas; all considered apostles of Christ, though not part of the original 12. There is no evidence, that I found at least, in the Bible of personal manifestation being received by these men. Timothy, however, was ordained by Paul, who I would contest held the authority you speak of. He saw Jesus on the road to Damascus (see Acts 22:6-10) and was called by God (verse 14) to preach God’s word. Is not Paul an apostle? With whom did the chain in the priesthood break? Or rather, who was the last apostle which the LDS church recognizes?
How is it that the Aaronic Priesthood was bestowed upon Smith, when he was not a Levite? For it was the Aaronic priesthood which was bestowed based on ancestry (Hebrews 7). I also wonder why it was necessary to bestow the Aaronic Priesthood upon Smith, as we are told in Hebrews 8, that the old covenant is obsolete because Jesus came to establish a new covenant, of which He is the High Priest, in the order of Melchizedek.
I believe that a priesthood is no longer needed. When Christ was sacrificed for our sins, the curtain in the temple which separated the Holy of Holy’s was torn from top to bottom to signify that man need to not come to God through an earthly priest any longer. As the High Priest, Jesus serves as our mediator (Hebrews 9:15).
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Jenna Reply:
June 16th, 2009 at 3:44 am
I just learned about this FAIR Wiki tonight so I’m all over it. I don’t feel comfortable using it in my posts because it isn’t coming from the actual Church, but it does a much better job of answering your questions than I ever could!
Patristic Evidence of Apostasy-http://en.fairmormon.org/Apostasy/Patristic_evidence_of
Evidence of Apostasy in the Bible-http://en.fairmormon.org/Apostasy/Evidence_of_in_the_Bible
Prediction of Apostasy-http://en.fairmormon.org/Apostasy/Prediction_of
And I think the key to your question about Timothy and Paul: http://en.fairmormon.org/Apostasy/Individual_versus_organizational
The LDS Church does not recognized individuals as being the “Church” it is the organization itself that is the Church of Jesus Christ.
And to answer your questions about the Aaronic Priesthood: http://en.fairmormon.org/Hebrews_7_and_the_Aaronic_Priesthood
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote:
“When the Lord first gave the law of carnal commandments, the preparatory gospel, to school Israel for a future time when again they could enjoy the gospel fulness, of necessity a lesser order of priesthood was conferred to administer the lesser law. (Heb. 7:12; Inspired Version, Ex. 34:1–2.) This lesser priesthood (D. & C. 85:11) was conferred upon Aaron and his sons after him (Ex. 28; 29; 30; Lev. 1:11; 3:2; 13:2; Num. 18), as ‘an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.’ (Ex. 40:15; Num. 25:10–13.) It was also conferred upon substantially the whole house of Levi who were between 30 and 50 years of age. (Num. 3; 4.) Hence it is called the Aaronic or Levitical Priesthood; the two names are synonymous. (D. & C. 107:1, 6, 10.)
“Aaron and his sons after him held the key of the Aaronic Priesthood and acted in the full majesty and power of this Levitical order; many of their functions were comparable to those of bishops and priests in this dispensation. Though the rest of the ordained Levites held the fulness of the Aaronic Priesthood (Heb. 7:5) and participated in the offering of sacrifices, they did not hold the keys of the Aaronic ministry; many of their functions were comparable to those of teachers and deacons in this dispensation. (Num. 3; 4; 2 Chron. 29; Mal. 3:3; D. & C. 13; Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 3, pp. 111–114.)” (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 9–10.)
Is there any scripture that states that the Aaronic/Levitical priesthood was to be conferred solely upon descendants of Levi? From what I understand the House of Israel was broken up into different “sections” each having their own responsibilities. During that time period, the responsibilities of those in the House of Aaron was to hold that specific priesthood, but conferring it to them was not meant to be an exclusive act. It was just a way that the Lord divided up peoples responsibilities at the time.
Man I love that Wiki! Thanks for your questions I learned a LOT reading through the articles I linked to here.
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Kristin Reply:
June 16th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Thanks for all the links J. I’ll be checking them out today.
)
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Evelyn Reply:
June 20th, 2009 at 10:29 am
This is another Wiki that is pretty good. A common disclaimer given for the site is: The contents of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, a joint product of Brigham Young University and Macmillan Publishing Company, do not necessarily represent the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. =)
http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Aaronic_Priesthood
Aaronic Priesthood: Powers and Offices (Everything below is a direct quote from this section, although I have not included the whole section. I thought this was most relevant to the discussion regarding Joseph Smith not being a Levite.)
Distinctive LDS insights into the origins of the Aaronic Priesthood stem from modern revelations indicating that when Moses led Israel out of Egypt, the Lord purposed to confer upon worthy men of all tribes the higher Melchizedek Priesthood. Disobedience and loss of faith and worthiness, however, caused the Israelites to harden their hearts against the Lord and Moses. Therefore, the Lord eventually took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also; and the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel; which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until John [the Baptist], whom God raised up [D&C 84:25-27].
The Israelites, unwilling to abide by the higher law of the fulness of the gospel with its greater priesthood, were given the law of carnal commandments, as a portion of the Law of Moses, with its emphasis on offering symbolic, redemptive sacrifices to prepare them to receive the divine Redeemer, and they were given the lesser priesthood to administer that law. The Lord called aaron and his sons to be the priests and preside over this lesser priesthood (Num. 8). Only direct descendants of Aaron could be ordained priests. The firstborn among the sons of Aaron would preside over the other priests. To assist Aaron and his posterity, particularly with the tabernacle and the preparing and offering of sacrifices, the Lord also called other male members of the tribe of Levi (not of the family of Aaron) to receive and carry out assignments in the lesser priesthood (Num. 3:5-13). The Levites held lesser offices of the Aaronic Priesthood and functioned under the keys or directive authority of that priesthood conferred upon Aaron and his sons (Widtsoe, pp. 12-17). Hence, the lesser priesthood was called the Aaronic Priesthood, after Aaron, but a portion of that priesthood was also called the levitical priesthood because all those to whom it was given belonged to the tribe of Levi. This type of priesthood organization and service continued in Israel until Jesus Christ came.
John the Baptist, a descendant of Aaron through both parents and thus a Levite, was the son of Zacharias, a righteous priest in Israel at the time of the birth of Christ. It was this John whom God chose to prepare the way for Christ’s ministry on earth. From John’s birth his mission was set and his priesthood functions anticipated (D&C 84:28; Luke 1:5-17).
After being baptized by John, Jesus called his apostles (some of them from among John’s disciples) and ordained them (John 15:16); later he conferred upon Peter, James, and John the keys of the kingdom of God and a higher priesthood (see Mount of Transfiguration). Following his death, resurrection, and ascension, Christ continued to direct his Church by giving commandments to the apostles through the power of the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:2) and through the authority of the higher Melchizedek Priesthood that he had conferred upon them. After the death of the apostles there followed a general apostasy, during which many gospel principles were lost and all the powers of the priesthood were withdrawn from the earth (2 Thes. 2:1-4; 2 Tim. 3:1-5).
On May 15, 1829, John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery as a resurrected messenger from God and conferred the ancient “Priesthood of Aaron” upon them (D&C 13). As the organization of the Church proceeded through the following months and years, many male members received the Aaronic Priesthood and were organized into quorums of priests, teachers, and deacons. In the Restoration, the Aaronic Priesthood has not been restricted to those who are literal descendants of Aaron or of Levi, since those lineages are not at present identified and the priesthood authority that implemented the ordinances of the Law of Moses has been replaced by the higher priesthood and laws and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Beginning with the reorganization of the priesthood in 1877, the Church established the current practice of ordaining boys to the Aaronic Priesthood during their early teenage years, organizing them at the ward level into priesthood quorums by age group and priesthood office, and advancing them periodically to higher offices and eventually to the higher priesthood. The bishop of each ward presides over the Aaronic Priesthood in the ward.
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MrsW Reply:
June 16th, 2009 at 9:18 am
“Is there any scripture that states that the Aaronic/Levitical priesthood was to be conferred solely upon descendants of Levi?”
The book of either Ezra or Nehemiah (I can’t remember which right now, maybe both) has a passage which tells of how a number of men in the restoration were excluded from the priesthood and/or temple service because they could not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt their descendence from the proper house of Levi. The priesthood, IIRC, was only within Aaron’s line, and Aaron’s extended relatives, the Gershonites, and the clans of Merari and Kohath handled more day-to-day pastor/deacon/worship leader roles, as well as the carrying of the tabernacle during the desert period. Then also, there was the time in Exodus when God struck down Aaron’s two sons for attempting to usurp the high priestly position from their father. So yes, there is substantial scriptural evidence that the Aaronic priesthood was ONLY for the house of Aaron, which is probably why (as that genetics article you linked me to in your BOM Week 2 post) there are still people today who can trace their heritage to Aaron’s house. So I have to say that no offense to Elder McConkie, but when he says “It was also conferred upon substantially the whole house of Levi who were between 30 and 50 years of age. (Num. 3; 4.)” he is wrong. I just went back and read that passage — the house of Levi is given duties of carrying the tabernacle, not being priests.
Oh my gosh, there is SO much here… I’m reading through some of the links now and I think you might be getting sick of me and my questions and rebuttals pretty soon.
One thing I noticed in reading through the first link is that a lot of the apostasy proof seems to come from the controversy between those who sought to retain a purely Jewish understanding of Christianity and those who sought to understand the truths discovered by Greek and Roman philosophers. This controversy still exists in the Reformed church today… Pre-suppositionalists vs. Classicalists. My husband is a philosopher who is very passionate about classicalism — basically what he has said to me in its defense is that all truth is God’s truth (a quote from St. Thomas Aquinas, I believe), and thus when we find wisdom in the works of Greek or Roman philosophers, or in modern times, scientists, we need to examine how it works with the revealed Truth of God in Scripture, not discard it or run away from it. I think from my reading of the genetics article (the section “Fundamentalist Suicide Bombing” especially) you gave me that this is a concept Mormons believe in.
I won’t read any more now because then I know I would want to write on it and then I’d probably just overwhelm everyone. But I’ll definitely be looking over these links in the future!
Reply
Evelyn Reply:
June 20th, 2009 at 10:30 am
This is another Wiki that is pretty good. A common disclaimer given for the site is: The contents of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, a joint product of Brigham Young University and Macmillan Publishing Company, do not necessarily represent the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. =)
http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Aaronic_Priesthood
Aaronic Priesthood: Powers and Offices (Everything below is a direct quote from this section, although I have not included the whole section. I thought this was most relevant to the discussion regarding Joseph Smith not being a Levite.)
Distinctive LDS insights into the origins of the Aaronic Priesthood stem from modern revelations indicating that when Moses led Israel out of Egypt, the Lord purposed to confer upon worthy men of all tribes the higher Melchizedek Priesthood. Disobedience and loss of faith and worthiness, however, caused the Israelites to harden their hearts against the Lord and Moses. Therefore, the Lord eventually took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also; and the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel; which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until John [the Baptist], whom God raised up [D&C 84:25-27].
The Israelites, unwilling to abide by the higher law of the fulness of the gospel with its greater priesthood, were given the law of carnal commandments, as a portion of the Law of Moses, with its emphasis on offering symbolic, redemptive sacrifices to prepare them to receive the divine Redeemer, and they were given the lesser priesthood to administer that law. The Lord called aaron and his sons to be the priests and preside over this lesser priesthood (Num. 8). Only direct descendants of Aaron could be ordained priests. The firstborn among the sons of Aaron would preside over the other priests. To assist Aaron and his posterity, particularly with the tabernacle and the preparing and offering of sacrifices, the Lord also called other male members of the tribe of Levi (not of the family of Aaron) to receive and carry out assignments in the lesser priesthood (Num. 3:5-13). The Levites held lesser offices of the Aaronic Priesthood and functioned under the keys or directive authority of that priesthood conferred upon Aaron and his sons (Widtsoe, pp. 12-17). Hence, the lesser priesthood was called the Aaronic Priesthood, after Aaron, but a portion of that priesthood was also called the levitical priesthood because all those to whom it was given belonged to the tribe of Levi. This type of priesthood organization and service continued in Israel until Jesus Christ came.
John the Baptist, a descendant of Aaron through both parents and thus a Levite, was the son of Zacharias, a righteous priest in Israel at the time of the birth of Christ. It was this John whom God chose to prepare the way for Christ’s ministry on earth. From John’s birth his mission was set and his priesthood functions anticipated (D&C 84:28; Luke 1:5-17).
After being baptized by John, Jesus called his apostles (some of them from among John’s disciples) and ordained them (John 15:16); later he conferred upon Peter, James, and John the keys of the kingdom of God and a higher priesthood (see Mount of Transfiguration). Following his death, resurrection, and ascension, Christ continued to direct his Church by giving commandments to the apostles through the power of the Holy Ghost (Acts 1:2) and through the authority of the higher Melchizedek Priesthood that he had conferred upon them. After the death of the apostles there followed a general apostasy, during which many gospel principles were lost and all the powers of the priesthood were withdrawn from the earth (2 Thes. 2:1-4; 2 Tim. 3:1-5).
On May 15, 1829, John the Baptist appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery as a resurrected messenger from God and conferred the ancient “Priesthood of Aaron” upon them (D&C 13). As the organization of the Church proceeded through the following months and years, many male members received the Aaronic Priesthood and were organized into quorums of priests, teachers, and deacons. In the Restoration, the Aaronic Priesthood has not been restricted to those who are literal descendants of Aaron or of Levi, since those lineages are not at present identified and the priesthood authority that implemented the ordinances of the Law of Moses has been replaced by the higher priesthood and laws and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Beginning with the reorganization of the priesthood in 1877, the Church established the current practice of ordaining boys to the Aaronic Priesthood during their early teenage years, organizing them at the ward level into priesthood quorums by age group and priesthood office, and advancing them periodically to higher offices and eventually to the higher priesthood. The bishop of each ward presides over the Aaronic Priesthood in the ward.
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Kristin Reply:
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:19 am
Thanks for your comments as well MrsW. I’m taking great interest in reading all the links.
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