Mormons often ask others "Where did you
get your authority?" By that they mean authority to
preach, baptize, ordain, etc. Latter-day Saints [LDS]
don’t believe that God will accept such work unless it
is performed by one who has the priesthood.
The sixth LDS Article of Faith says, "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." Mormons believe that men must
be ordained to the priesthood by the laying on of
hands of other men who have priesthood authority.
In our last article we discussed the
Bible texts LDS use for their view of priesthood and
found that none of the texts really support what LDS
teach. But Mormonism claims to have biblical priesthood
since they have the Aaronic or lesser priesthood and the
higher Melchizedek Priesthood. Those two priesthoods are
in the Bible, but they are very different from
Mormonism’s.
Aaronic, or Levitical, Priesthood was a
very important part of Judaism in the Old Testament
because those priests offered sacrifices for the sins of
the people (Ex. 29:38-44). But the Aaronic Priesthood of
Mormonism offers no sacrifices at all. In the LDS
Church, 12-year-old boys are ordained to the Aaronic
Priesthood by the laying on of hands. But Aaronic
priests in the Bible were mature men who inherited
their priesthood by being born Hebrews in the
tribe of Levi and of the family of Aaron
(Ex. 29:9; Num. 3:10). No one else could serve as a
priest. Other requirements also had to be met to serve
as priests, so not all male descendants of Aaron became
priests.
When Mormons go through their temple
ceremony the first time, most of them are told they are
Israelites who belong to either the tribe of Ephraim
or Manasseh. Those tribes had no right to the
priesthood, so that would disqualify LDS from holding
the Aaronic Priesthood. Aaronic Priesthood was a part of
Judaism but it was never a part of the New
Testament church. Some Aaronic "priests became
obedient to the faith" or became Christians in Acts 6:7,
but they did not function as priests in the church.
Melchizedek is only mentioned twice
in the Old Testament: Once in Genesis 14:18 and once in
Psalm 110:4. He is identified as "king of Salem" and
"priest of the Most High God" in Genesis14:18-20, where
Abraham paid tithes to him. In that text Melchizedek was
a picture of Christ who is also called a King and Priest
in the New Testament. The Aaronic priests were
descendants of Levi who descended from Abraham. Hebrews
7:4-10 says when Levi was not yet born and only
genetically a part of Abraham, Abraham paid tithes to
Melchizedek and was blessed by him, showing that
Melchizedek was greater than the Levitical Priesthood
since the lesser person is always blessed by the greater
person.
The other Old Testament reference to
Melchizedek is in Psalm 110:4 which is a Messianic
Psalm. It says, "Thou art a Priest forever after
the order [likeness] of Melchizedek." That verse is
quoted in the New Testament in Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20;
7:17, 21, where it refers to Christ. So, Melchizedek was
the only man in the Old Testament who had
Melchizedek Priesthood and the Lord Jesus is the only
One who had it in the New Testament.
Hebrews 7:23-24 compares the Old
Testament Aaronic priests to the higher priesthood of
Jesus Christ when it says, "And they truly were many [Aaronic]
priests, because they were not suffered [allowed] to
continue by reason of death; but this man [Christ],
because He continueth ever [lives forever] hath
an unchangeable priesthood (an untransferable
priesthood that is not passed on to others
because of death since Jesus lives forever].
The LDS Church has ordained thousands of
men to their Melchizedek Priesthood, but those men all
die and need to be replaced just like the Aaronic
Priests in the Old Testament. Hebrews, chapters 5-7,
says Christ lives eternally and is the only
Melchizedek Priest forever so He didn’t need a
successor like Aaronic Priests had. Hebrews 7:27 also
says that Christ "needed not daily, as those [Aaronic]
high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for His own
sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once
when He offered up Himself." Thus the need for other
priests or sacrifices ended when Christ sacrificed
Himself, once for all, on the cross for "our sins."
LDS priesthood claims contradict the
Bible in the following ways:
1. LDS claim God requires priesthood in
order for Him to accept baptism, ordination, etc., but
the Bible doesn’t say that.
2. High priests in Mormonism are part
of their Melchizedek Priesthood, but High Priests in
the Bible were part of the Aaronic Priesthood.
3. The LDS Aaronic Priesthood doesn’t
offer sacrifices, but that was the main function of
the Aaronic priests in the Bible.
4. Members of the LDS Aaronic
Priesthood are not descendants of Aaron, but that was
a requirement of Priests in the Old Testament.
5. The LDS Church has thousands of
"High Priests," but there was only one legal High
Priest on earth at a time in the Bible.
6. LDS have ordained thousands to the
Melchizedek Priesthood, but in the New Testament Jesus
Christ is the only Melchizedek Priest forever.
7. Until 1978 black men were excluded
from the LDS Priesthood and women still are excluded
from it, but 1 Peter 2:5, 9 says that all believers
(regardless of race or gender) are part of a holy or
royal priesthood that is neither Aaronic nor
Melchizedek Priesthood.
Our next article will discuss the highest
office in the LDS Priesthood which is that of prophet.
Those who want to know more about the difference between
LDS Priesthood and biblical priesthood can read about it
in my book, Mormon Claims Answered.
