Priesthood (Latter Day Saints)

The priesthood includes the power Jesus gave his apostles to perform miracles such as the casting out of devils and the healing of sick (Luke 9:1).

Latter Day Saints believe that acts (and in particular, ordinances) performed by one with priesthood authority are recognized by God and are binding in heaven, on earth, and in the afterlife.

In addition, Latter Day Saints believe that leadership positions within the church are legitimized by the priesthood authority.

An exception is the Community of Christ, the second largest denomination of the movement, which began ordaining women to all of its priesthood offices in 1984.

In Latter Day Saint theology, it derives from the original holy priesthood which Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received on May 15, 1829, when they were ordained by an angel identifying himself as John the Baptist.

[3] In response to Rigdon's concern, the church's first high priests were ordained at a special conference held in June 1831.

[9] Smith taught that this order of priesthood was passed from father to son, and held by Abraham and the biblical patriarchs.

In his Wentworth letter, Smith stated, "We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands, by one who is in authority... to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof."

In some situations, Latter Day Saints believe that a person may also be called through their lineage, so that they have a legal right to a priesthood office by lineal succession.

The Book of Mormon refers to priests that were "called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works."

This view is based primarily upon the Book of Mormon, which states that "it was by faith that they of old were called after the holy order of God".

Thus, Latter Day Saints generally believe that priesthood originates with Jesus, and is passed to others through a line of succession.

Later, Smith also claimed to have received the Melchizedek priesthood from the apostles Peter, James, and John, who were given their authority by Jesus.

Typically, in an ordination ceremony, before a person is ordained for the first time to a particular office such as elder, deacon, teacher, or priest, the person performing the ceremony will lay their hands upon the recipient's head and in the name of Jesus Christ and by the authority of his priesthood confer upon the recipient the Aaronic or Melchizedek priesthood.

[18] This view was expressed in 1884 by Eliza R. Snow, president of the Relief Society, who stated: A similar view was also expressed by LDS Church apostle James E. Talmage in 1912, who wrote: Female priesthood authority was closely associated with the Relief Society.

Joseph F. Smith, an LDS Church apostle, argued that though Mormon women were not ordained as general authorities, elders, or high priests, they are admitted to an "ecclesiastical or priestly authority" through the Relief Society, which may include holding offices within the church through that organization.

The existence of keys makes possible a church hierarchy, in which particular priesthood holders specialize in a particular ecclesiastical function organized in a top-down manner.

Latter Day Saints believe that ancient prophets and apostles conferred the priesthood directly upon Smith and other early members of the movement.

[27] In 1835, Joseph Smith described the event as follows: [W]e ... went into the woods to pray and inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins, that we found mentioned in the translation of the plates, The Book of Mormon.

While we were thus employed, praying and calling upon the Lord, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light, and having laid his hands upon us, he ordained us, saying: Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.

No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery, than the Holy Ghost fell upon him, and he stood up and prophesied many things which should shortly come to pass.

[29] Though specific details were lacking, by the turn of the 20th century, Latter Day Saint theologians were convinced that such a conferral had occurred prior to the organization of the Church of Christ on April 6, 1830.

As evidence for such a pre-organization angelic conferral, writers referred to a revelation in which Smith said he heard "[t]he voice of Peter, James, and John in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county, and Colesville, Broome county, on the Susquehanna river, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times!

[32] When Smith's official history was first published in 1902, the compiler, B. H. Roberts, thought that this was a mistake, because it would not be consistent with the then-common Mormon belief that the priesthood had been conferred prior to the church's founding in 1830.

[34] This conference had been a very significant event in the early church history, coming soon after the conversion of Sidney Rigdon, who believed that Mormon missionaries lacked the necessary power to adequately preach the gospel.

[35] Thus, in January 1831, Smith issued a revelation where he wrote that after Mormons relocated to Kirtland, Ohio, they would "be endowed with power from on high" and "sent forth".

[37] One of Smith's associates that was present at the conference expressed the view that this ordination "consisted [of] the endowment—it being a new order—and bestowed authority",[38] and later that year, an early convert who had left the church claimed that many of the Saints "have been ordained to the High Priesthood, or the order of Melchizedek; and profess to be endowed with the same power as the ancient apostles were".

[39] In 1835, the historical record was muddled a bit when the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants altered pre-1831 revelations to make a distinction between the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, and to classify the offices of elder and apostle as part of the latter.

Smith dictated the following passage as a revelation following the dedication of the Kirtland Temple: After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us; and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.

After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said: Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.