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11 ——————
The RLDS Priesthood System
Apart
from an understanding of Joseph Smith's occult orientation, there is perhaps
no greater single RLDS topic worth exploring than his concept of a restored
priesthood. And the Christian will lose nothing by such exploration, for in
the process, the power of Jesus' unique role in history and in our salvation
becomes even more beautiful and vivid. In addition, the topic of priesthood
may well be the most fruitful area of discussion with RLDS. Unlike Joseph
Smith's occult life, which relies on historical documentation and can always
be objected to as inaccurate, discussions on priesthood come primarily from
scripture. And once Joseph's priesthood is shown to be un-Christian, then his
fundamental claim of having authority from God becomes moot. Practically all
RLDS are at least aware of their priesthood orders and offices. And so the
topic of priesthood also provides a good point of entry for discussion with
them.
Exclusive Authority
As we have discussed in previous chapters, Joseph Smith claimed to be
the channel through which God was restoring primitive first century
Christianity to the earth again. The central feature of this “restored”
church was the institution of an intricate system of priesthood offices
together with their exclusive authority to represent God on earth
through the ordinances of the church.[1]
We can therefore not overstate the importance of the RLDS priesthood system,
for it completely embodies their claim of authority to represent God on
earth—to the exclusion of virtually all other churches.[2]
This is an amazing claim. If it is true, we would expect the RLDS priesthood
system to pass the most rigorous Biblical scrutiny with flying colors. We
would then have some reason to evaluate more of Joseph Smith's other claims
and teaching. But if this priesthood system fails the scrutiny of the Bible,
we are compelled to reject Joseph Smith as a false prophet. And we would then
have no reason to consider him—or his claims—any further. The RLDS Priesthood
System—an Overview
Origin
. Nowhere is Joseph's claim of restoring
first century Christianity more evident than in his account of how priesthood
authority itself was restored. This authority came in two stages, (1) the
Aaronic priesthood and (2) the Melchisedec priesthood.
In May 1829 Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery report that in response to
their prayers, a messenger claiming to be John the Baptist came to them, laid
his hands on them and conferred upon them the Aaronic priesthood with these
words, “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.”[3]
This messenger said he was acting under the direction of the apostles
Peter, James and John who held the Melchisedec priesthood. He further
indicated that this Melchisedec priesthood would also be conferred, but at a
later time.[4]
Later in 1829 Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery report that they indeed
received this Melchisedec priesthood through additional supernatural
instruction. But the historical accounts of this event are at best vague, and
at worst contradictory. There are at least three different versions of it, (1)
the word of the Lord came to simply give ordination instructions, (2) an holy
angel came to confer this priesthood and (3) the apostles Peter, James and
John came and ordained Joseph and Oliver. The first version is given to us by
Joseph Smith himself in his personal history, “we had not long been engaged
in solemn and fervent prayer when the word of the Lord came unto us in
the chamber, commanding us that I should ordain Oliver to be an elder [a
generic title occasionally used by Joseph to refer to Melchisedec priesthood
members] in the Church of Jesus Christ, and that he also should ordain me to
the same office, and then to ordain others as it should be made known unto us,
from time to time.”[5]
The second version comes from Oliver Cowdery in his own account of the
same event, “I was also present with Joseph when the higher or
Melchisedec priesthood was conferred by the holy angel from on high. This
priesthood was then conferred on each other, by the will and commandment of
God.”[6]
The third version comes from a revelation Joseph received the following
year, 1830, “...for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the
vine with you on the earth ... and also with Peter, and James, and John,
whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you
to be apostles and especial witnesses of my name, and bear the keys of your
ministry.”[7]
So how did it happen, simply by a word of instruction by the Lord, by a
single angel or by the three named apostles? A variety of theories have been
debated over the years in an attempt to harmonize these divergent accounts,
which we will not go into here. Because in the final analysis it really
doesn't matter what happened, as we will discover in chapters 13 and 14. But
it is interesting to note that there are such different accounts being given
on such a foundational experience for the church. And by the very people who
were involved. There were only two people involved who have generated three
different accounts of the same event.
Structure
. The RLDS priesthood system continues to
be divided into these two major priesthood orders, Melchisedec and Aaronic.
The Melchisedec order is often referred to as the “higher” priesthood,
while the Aaronic order is referred to as the “lesser” priesthood.[8]
These two orders are comprised of five primary priesthood offices, High
Priest, Elder, Priest, Teacher and Deacon. Secondary offices include Seventy,
Bishop, Apostle, Evangelist/Patriarch and Prophet, Seer and
Revelator/President of the High Priesthood.[9] For example, High Priests may also become
ordained to the yet higher offices of Apostle or Bishop. And Elders may be
additionally ordained as Seventy. The President of the church, also known as
the Prophet, has the dual designation of Prophet, Seer and Revelator as well
as President of the High Priesthood. RLDS pastors do not receive an additional
ordination as such, but are normally Elders or High Priests who have been
selected to serve as the congregational leader for a specific term, and are
generally referred to as Presiding Elders.[10]
With fairly minor exceptions, this organization is identical to that of the
Utah Mormon church as well.[11]
This overall structure is illustrated in the following chart. The RLDS Priesthood Structure
Authority
. The RLDS church teaches that the authority
to represent God was restored once again to earth by John the Baptist and by
Peter, James and John, as described above. It had been removed from the earth
centuries before due to the complete apostasy of the early Christian church.
This authority was first conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, who
were to then transmit this authority to others. The key, then, to the
continuation of this restored priesthood authority is a carefully preserved
transmission from one generation to another. Successful transmission is based,
at least in part, on an acceptable degree of continued doctrinal purity.
The RLDS church is not the only institution claiming to have preserved
this authority. As recently as 1982, over 100 organizations claim to be the
faithful followers of Joseph Smith, having preserved the purity of his restored
gospel and the authority of the priesthood.[12]
For the most part, each of these groups do not recognize the priesthood
authority of the others. Why? Because of doctrinal disputes. For example, the
RLDS church does not recognize the authority of the Utah Mormon priesthood. This
is because RLDS believe that under Brigham Young the Mormon church apostatized
from the original doctrine, and consequently lost their priesthood authority.
Since 1984 priesthood authority has once again become a central issue for
RLDS. At that time the church, after a hotly debated controversy, voted to begin
ordaining women to priesthood. That action triggered a major split in the church
which led to many people leaving authorized congregations to meet independently.[13] As a result of this falling-out a number of
new formal church organizations have developed over the last several years. Each
new group claims to have preserved Joseph's priesthood authority. The major
question in the midst of all this reorganizing is: Who has priesthood
authority—and who doesn't? The underlying question is really: Who has
maintained the pure doctrine? Whoever is deemed to have maintained the pure
doctrine has also preserved the spark of priesthood authority and the ability to
pass it on to future generations. Whoever is thereby deemed to have Joseph's
priesthood authority has the exclusive right to represent God on earth.
Calls to Priesthood
. No one may become a RLDS priesthood member
of their own initiative. They must receive a priesthood “call” from one in
authority above them. According to the RLDS Epitome of Faith (Appendix
C) “5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by
the laying on of hands, by those who are in authority to preach the Gospel and
administer in the ordinances thereof.” RLDS proudly quote Heb. 5:4 in
defense of this system, “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he
that is called of God, as was Aaron” (KJV). This is a popular RLDS proof-text
which has been taken out of its original context and consequently does not
support their system of priesthood calls in any way. We will discuss this
scripture at length in its proper context in our discussion of the Melchizedek
priesthood in chapter 13.
RLDS therefore believe that each priesthood member needs to be “called
of God, as was Aaron.” The normal expectation, therefore, is that each call to
priesthood be supernaturally manifested, thereby evidencing its divine origin.
In a normal congregational environment, priesthood calls are supposed to come
through the pastor, or presiding elder. After deliberation, the call is then
presented to the candidate for either acceptance or rejection. If accepted, the
candidate is presented to the congregation for acceptance and then ordained.
A wide variety of supernatural experiences have come to be offered as
divine evidence of these calls, including dreams, visions, visitations, audible
voices and spiritual impressions. These experiences are supposed to be had
primarily by the presiding elder—the one doing the calling. They may or may
not be confirmed through related experiences by others, including the candidate.
If the candidate has had no such supernatural experience of his own, he is told
to rely on the faith and experience of the presiding elder, or others, who have
had experiences.
The processing of priesthood “calls” in the Mormon church, on the
other hand, is quite different. There it is a fairly automatic process where
boys are routinely ordained as Deacons at age 12, Teachers at 14, Priests at 16
and Elders at 18. This is based on an acceptable level of behavior and
commitment to the Mormon church. If a young man is not ordained as an Elder by
the time he is 18, it results in a certain amount of humiliation and ostracism,
especially by aspiring young Mormon ladies. This is because in their view of the
afterlife, the highest “glory” is reserved only for ladies who are married
to Mormon Elders.
Function
. In the RLDS church, the priesthood alone
have the authority to baptize, confirm, bless children, serve communion, call
other priesthood, ordain and lay on hands. It is illegal for an unordained RLDS
member to perform any of these functions. And not every priesthood office may
perform every function. See D&C 17:8–26 for the functions of each
specific office.
Decision Making
. Authority in the RLDS priesthood structure
is very much “top-down.” Power and authority increase as you move to the
right in the above chart. The least powerful office in the church is Deacon; the
most powerful is that of Prophet. Decision making power is mediated through an
elaborate system of “checks and balances” based on a structure of priesthood
“quorums.” Each priesthood office is subdivided into separate groups, called
“quorums.” Each of these quorums is to be of a specific size and has a
“presidency” comprised of a quorum president and two counselors.[14]
This concept of a presidency is carried over to most other jurisdictions of the
church as well, including local congregations. Therefore, each congregational
Presiding Elder (or Pastor) normally has two counselors, who, together with him
form the local leadership.
There is also a well-defined “pecking order” to these priesthood
offices. Each office is directed to bow to the authority of higher offices in
some well defined ways, each office having its own prerogatives and duties.[15]
The whole system is rigidly hierarchal and legalistic.
Outline of Our Approach
At first glance, the collection of offices included in the chart on page
123
looks most impressive. Every one of these
names can be found somewhere in the Bible. Here now in one organization, each
name represents a unique office to which one can be ordained. And each of these
offices has a well defined and unique ministry to perform. Perhaps there is
something to this claim of a restored priesthood. After all, there seems to be
no other organization on earth which has such a complete and Biblically sounding
collection of ministerial offices. One has to ask why no other church has them
all.
Yes, each of these names is in fact in the Bible. But the real question
is this: does each name represent a legitimate office or function in the
Christian church? And were these offices actually a part of the primitive first
century Christian church to begin with? The answers to these questions can be
quite involved, but well worth the effort. When we are done we will find that
Joseph Smith did not in fact restore the original priesthood of the early
Christian church. What we will find is that he engaged in a rather convoluted
attempt to combine the Old Testament priesthood of Israel with that of
Melchizedek and functions from early Christianity.[16]
Our analysis will begin in the next chapter by looking at the actual
ministry of the early Christian church. The following two chapters will
concentrate on the two major, and comprehensive RLDS priesthood orders,
Melchizedek and Aaronic, including the specific offices of High Priest and
Priest to see if there is any Biblical basis for them being a part of the
Christian church today. We will then look at the basis for Joseph Smith's
priesthood system, and examine its departure from the word of God. We will conclude by looking at the truest sense in which God has declared each Christian a priest, and discover what constituted the actual priesthood of the early Christian church.
[10].
For a detailed
discussion of the specific duties of each office see D&C 17:7ff.
Joseph Smith occasionally referred to Melchisedec priesthood generically as
“elders” (D&C 17:8b). This designation is not to be confused
with the specific office of Elder.
[11].
One exception is
that Mormon Bishops usually fulfill the function of a local pastor over a
congregation, or “ward” as they are called in the Mormon church.
[13].
The women in
priesthood issue was actually seen as the “final straw” in a growing
liberal-fundamental conflict which had been brewing in the church since the
1960s.
[14].
This decision
making system is quite involved and is laid out in D&C
104:11–15,30–43; 107:46. Serious disputes in the RLDS church have arisen
over the years regarding the proper interpretation of this complex system.
[16].
This, of course,
is consistent with Joseph's concept of his church actually being the
restoration of Israel prophesied to come about just before Christ returns to
usher in His millennial reign. This concept of “latter day Israel” is
perhaps the central tenet of Joseph Smith's theology and was explored more
fully in chapter 3. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||