Mormon Church

Mormon beliefs teach that the church is the restoration of the church that existed in the days of the ministry of Jesus Christ. They teach that their priesthood is an unbroken line of authority. This puzzles those who teach that the line of succession comes from Peter and was never broken.

When Jesus chose His apostles, he gave them the authority to act for God. He held the keys to the kingdom, but could distribute them to those called of God.

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16)

These keys, of course, are not physical. They represent the authority to act in God’s name. The verse just quoted does not mean Jesus relinquished the keys, but rather that Peter had use of them during the time he served as an apostle. Many have interpreted the rock to be Peter, but other verses in the New Testament tell us this is not so:

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:4)

In time, Jesus died. His apostles also died, and we don’t read of Peter or any other apostle bestowing those keys on anyone else. This is because after the death of the apostles, the church entered into a lengthy apostasy. This apostasy had been prophesied by many Biblical prophets.

11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:

12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12)

During this time, there wasn’t a prophet, and the keys of the kingdom-the priesthood authority to administer God’s church was taken. It was because of those so many variations of Christianity occurred. With no one to turn to for a certain answer, Christians were forced to decide for themselves what was true. When there was a disagreement, they held councils to hammer out a deal or they just started another Christian denomination. Today, we see thousands of denominations across the world.

God has also promised to restore what was lost.

20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:

21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3)

There couldn’t be a restitution if there had never been a falling away. This restitution began with Joseph Smith in the 1800s. He wanted to know which church to join, and asked God in prayer. God and Jesus Christ appeared to him and Jesus told him not to join any of them, because none had the complete truth. When he was older, an angel named Moroni tutored him in preparation for the restitution of all things that was promised in the Book of Acts.

So how did the keys for the priesthood end up back on earth? While Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were translating the Book of Mormon, they encountered scriptures on the importance of baptism by those in authority. They went to the banks of a river in Pennsylvania, where they were then living, and prayed to know how to go about this. While praying, they heard the voice of the Savior and then an angel appeared to them. This angel was John the Baptist, the Savior’s cousin. He held the keys to the Aaronic priesthood at the time of his death and was therefore able to restore them to the earth by distributing those keys to Joseph and Oliver by placing his hands on their heads and performing the appropriate priesthood ordinace. He did this, 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. (Joseph Smith-History 1:68-74)

With these keys in place, the two men were able to baptize each other. Only the Aaronic priesthood is needed to carry out a baptism.

John had not received the Melchizedek priesthood, however, because it was bestowed on the apostles after his death. Since he didn’t hold those keys, he was not able to restore them. For the line to be unbroken, the keys must come from someone who holds them currently. This higher priesthood would be necessary to confer the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and to organize the church.

The restoration of the Melchizedek priesthood came later. Again, while praying on the banks of the Susquehanna River, they received an angelic visit, this time from Peter, James, and John. These three apostles received the greater priesthood on the Mount of Transfiguration.

We can read about this event in Matthew 17. Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a mountain, where he was transfigured. While this occurred, Moses and Elias appeared to them. The Mechizedek priesthood was restored to the earth by these two prophets, who had received it during their time on earth. They gave it to Peter, James, and John so they would be able to administer the gospel after the Savior died.

Because they held this priesthood, they were able to return to earth as angels and bestow the keys on Joseph and Oliver, again bringing the priesthood back to earth. With these keys, the church could be restored.

This is how the Mormons demonstrate an unbroken chain of authority. Today, every worthy male who is old enough can hold these two priesthoods. They must receive it from someone else who already holds it. The entire priesthood chain has descended from those first two ordinations done by three Biblical apostles.

Tags: Bible, Catholics, Jesus Christ, line of authority, Mormons, priesthood, unbroken authority

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 11:19 am and is filed under Array. You can follow any responses to this entry through the /feed feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.