Our
heavenly Father shares his priesthood power with
worthy male members of the [LDS] Church. The
priesthood enables them to act in God’s name
for the salvation of the human family. Through
it they can be authorized to preach the gospel,
administer the ordinances of salvation, and
govern God’s kingdom on earth… We must have
priesthood authority to act in the name of God when
performing the sacred ordinances of the gospel, such
as baptism, confirmation, administration of the
sacrament, and temple marriage. If a man does not
have the priesthood, even though he may be sincere,
the Lord will not recognize ordinances
he performs (see Matthew 7:21-23). These important
ordinances must be performed on the earth by men
holding the priesthood. Men need the priesthood to
preside in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and to direct the work of the Church in all
parts of the world. When Christ lived on the earth,
he chose his Apostles and ordained them so
that they could lead his Church. He gave them the
power and authority of the priesthood to act in his
name (See Mark 3:13-15; John 15:16). Another
reason the priesthood is needed on the earth is so we
can understand the will of the Lord and carry
out his purposes. God reveals his will to his
authorized priesthood representative on earth, the
prophet [of the LDS Church]. The prophet who is
President of the Church, serves as spokesman for God
to all members of the Church and all people on the
earth (pp. 81-82).
The above statement says that priesthood
is necessary for several things. I will list seven of
them in italics and briefly respond to them:
1. God shares His priesthood power
with worthy LDS males. The Bible does not teach that
God has priesthood or that He shares it only with
certain men. In the Old Testament there were male
priests who were Hebrews without blemish from the tribe
of Levi and of the family of Aaron. No such priesthood
existed in the New Testament Church because Christ is
the believer’s only High Priest (Heb. 7:11-28). The only
priesthood Christians share in the New Testament is in 1
Peter 2:5, 9 and Revelation 1:6 and it is the holy or
royal priesthood that all believers have whether
male or female.
2. Priesthood enables LDS men to act
in God’s name for the salvation of mankind, including
preaching the gospel, administering ordinances of
salvation, and governing God’s kingdom. Priesthood
is not required in the Bible to preach the gospel or do
anything else in God’s name.
3. Priesthood is necessary to perform
baptisms, confirmations, administer sacrament
(communion) and participate in temple (eternal) marriage.
In the Bible priesthood is never mentioned in connection
with baptism, confirmation, etc., and temple marriage
isn’t even in the Bible.
4. Without priesthood God will not
recognize anything man does (Matt. 7:21-23). The
Bible never says God recognizes what man does only if he
has the priesthood. Matthew 7:21-23 was used to support
that LDS claim, but it says nothing about priesthood. It
is about those who claim to do great things in
the Lord’s name when they aren’t even His people. In
order to be His people they must put their trust in Him
alone (John 1:12-13).
5. When Jesus was on earth He chose
His apostles and ordained them to the priesthood so that
they could lead His Church (Mark 3:13-15; John 16:15).
Priesthood isn’t mentioned in either of those Bible
texts. But the word "ordained" is in both texts of the
King James Version of the Bible. LDS claim ordained
means that Jesus laid His hands on them and gave them
the priesthood. Most contemporary Bible versions have
the word "appointed" instead of "ordained" since that is
the meaning in the original Greek language. LDS
scripture in Doctrine & Covenants 89:10, 12, 14
also shows that "ordained" does not mean to "lay hands
on someone and give them priesthood" as LDS have been
taught. It says that herbs, flesh of beasts and fowls
and all grain are "ordained for the use of man."
Obviously those items were not given priesthood but were
appointed for certain uses. If Jesus ordained His
12 apostles to lead the church, why was James (a
half brother of Jesus who was not an apostle) leading
the church council in Acts 15? The apostle Paul was also
a church leader but he was not one of the 12
apostles that Jesus chose.
6. Priesthood is needed to understand
the will of the Lord. The Bible says in John 16:13,
"When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide
you into all truth…". In the Bible the Spirit of truth
is the Holy Spirit, not priesthood.
7. God reveals His will only to the
President of the LDS Church who is His authorized
representative on earth and a prophet of God. Since
LDS believe their President is a prophet his word is
just as authoritative as any of their scriptures,
including the Bible. LDS scripture in the Doctrine &
Covenants, Section 21:5 has Jesus saying, "For his
[the LDS President’s] word ye shall receive, as if from
mine own mouth, in all holiness before me."
So, LDS believe their prophets speak for
God, whether or not they have scripture to support it.
There were "prophets" in the New Testament, but they
aren’t called God’s authorized representatives on the
earth. The office of prophet ended with John the
Baptist (Luke 16:16). Hebrews 1:1-2 says that God spoke
in the past through prophets but He has now
spoken through His Son. In John 12:48 Jesus said the
word He had already spoken would judge men
ultimately so no prophet can add anything to that.
Mormonism claims to be Christian and that their beliefs
are based on the Bible (see Mormon Doctrine, p.
513; What the Mormons Think of Christ, p. 2), but
not one of the seven claims above can be found in
the Bible!
Those who want to read more about LDS
priesthood can do so in Gospel Principles,
published by the LDS Church in 1997. Next time we will
continue our discussion of Priesthood.
