“The
Honor and Order of the Priesthood”
by
President Boyd K. Packer (President of the Twelve Apostles)
“The
authority and power of the priesthood form the foundation of all that we do in
the Church.”
Compared
to the Bible by Connie Raddon
Color Key:
Quotes from the
LDS Ensign in blue.
Quotes from the
Bible in red.
All my own words
are black.
This
article is found on pg. 21-25 of the June 2012 issue of the Ensign.
The
entire basis of the LDS Church is that it is a “restored” gospel. They believe Mormonism is the religion that
Christ established and was quickly lost from the earth after He died; until it
was restored through Joseph Smith. The
priesthood is also believed to have been restored from the time of Jesus. The problem is this: The Mormon priesthood has absolutely no
resemblance to the Biblical priesthood, and therefore, is NOT a restoration,
but an invention.
The
first words in this article are “The
authority and power of the priesthood form the foundation of all that we do in
the Church.”
In the Bible,
the purpose of the priesthood was for a high priest to represent the people to
God and make sacrifices to atone for their sin.
The high priest was the only one authorized to make sacrifices to God on
behalf of the people. Exodus 28-29
explains that only men in the tribe of Levi can be priests. Priests serve in
the temple – setting things up, cleaning, etc.
Only men in the Levi/Kohath/Amram/Aaron line could be high priests. High priests were the ones who performed the
sacrifices. Those were the only
“offices” of the priesthood.
The LDS Church
has created more “offices” – such as “deacon”, “teacher”, and “elder”. These were not a part of the Biblical
priesthood. Also, every worthy male member over the age of 12
can hold the LDS priesthood, regardless of whether or not they are a descendent
of Levi.
Once Christ
completed the FINAL sacrifice for sin, there was no more need for a
priesthood. Hebrews
10:12 (referring to Jesus) “But this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand
of God;”
Jesus is our
High Priest – and he is the only High Priest.
An Invitation to Prospective Elders
Mr. Packer
speaks to “prospective elders” (those men who are over 18, who for whatever
reason have not been given the Melchizidek priesthood yet). “The office of an elder is a calling of dignity and honor, spiritual
authority and of power.” Remember,
there is no such office in the Biblical priesthood. Everything about the Biblical priesthood
pointed to Christ – it held no dignity, honor, authority, or power for the
individual who held the priesthood – all the glory was to God - for His mercy
and forgiveness.
Packer
encourages young men who may have left the church to return so they can hold
the priesthood. “If you will return to the environment where spiritual
truths are spoken, there will flood back into your minds the things that you
thought were lost…If you make your pilgrimage back among the Saints, soon you
will be understanding once again the language of inspiration…Soon you will feel
complete and adequate in His church and in His kingdom. Then you will know how much you are needed
here and how powerful your voice of experience can be in redeeming others.”
First of all,
Packer claims that returning to an “environment” with “the Saints” is what will
help someone understand spiritual truths.
That is just not true. The only
“environment” where one can learn truth is in the pages of the Bible. God wants us to fellowship with other
believers so we can love, serve and encourage one another – not for
understanding truth.
Second, if
anyone can feel complete and adequate in God’s kingdom, I don’t believe that
they have any idea just how holy God is and how worthless, INcomplete, and INadequate
they are without being in Christ. Think
of how Isaiah felt when he had a vision of the Lord. The first words he said were “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips…”
Third, Packer
says that the prospective elder’s voice of experience can be powerful in
redeeming others. Only Christ can
redeem. If He uses our voice to preach
the gospel to someone, all the glory is His.
I think that Packer’s words only serve to puff up the pride of those who
take him seriously.
Callings in the Priesthood
The Bible
explains that we are given spiritual gifts, and then led directly by the Holy
Spirit.
1
Cor 12:4-11 “Now there are varieties of
gifts, but the same Spirit…For to one is given the word of wisdom through the
Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to
another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one
Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles and to another prophecy, and
to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues
and to another the interpretation of tongues.”
The Holy Spirit
can inspire each one of us to use our particular gift the way God wants us
to. There is no need for a man, a
“priesthood leader” to stand between us and the Holy Spirit.
However, Packer
explains how callings (assignments) come through priesthood leaders – not
directly from the Holy Spirit.
“A call is more than an invitation or a request. It is a call from the Lord through His chosen
servant…We do not call ourselves to offices in the Church. Rather we respond to the call of those who
preside over us.”
The Importance of Ordination
Mr. Packer
explains how the LDS priesthood is passed on.
“The priesthood is
conferred through ordination, not simply through making a covenant or receiving
a blessing. It has been so since the
beginning.”
The priesthood
was NEVER conferred through ordination.
Remember, the priesthood was received by being born in the tribe of
Levi. There was no laying on of hands,
or giving a blessing, or making a covenant.
The Power of the Priesthood
The “power” of the
priesthood was God’s power to forgive sins.
There is no reference in the Bible to the “power of the
priesthood”. Yet Mr. Packer places a
burden on LDS men by telling them that they are responsible to be righteous in
order for the power of the priesthood to be used.
“…power in
the priesthood comes through faithful and obedient living in honoring
covenants. It is increased by exercising
and using the priesthood in righteousness.”
This is what
keeps the LDS people under the control of the Church leadership –they must obey
their leaders in order to have this power.
This can fill a person with pride in their self-righteousness, or fill
them with shame and guilt because of their unworthiness… let me explain.
Let’s say an LDS
Priesthood holder gives a blessing to someone who is sick, and through his
priesthood power promises them that they will be healed. If instead of getting better, they die –
whose fault is it? The priesthood holder
– because either he was unworthy, so his priesthood power had no effect, or he
was unworthy to be in tune with the Spirit, and promised something he shouldn’t
have. On the other hand, let’s say the
sick person got better. This would be
external proof that the priesthood holder was indeed worthy and righteous. Who gets the glory then? He does.
Of course God gets credit, too, but not completely because it’s shared
with the “worthy” man.
“The power
you receive will depend on what you do with this sacred, unseen gift. Your authority comes through your ordination;
your power comes through obedience and worthiness…
Power in the priesthood comes from doing your duty in
ordinary things: attending meetings,
accepting assignments, reading the scriptures, keeping the Word of Wisdom”
True Servants of the Lord
“We do not hear of the priesthood keys being exercised
in other Christian churches. It seems
odd that we are described by some as being non-Christian when we are the only
ones who have the authority and the organization that He established.”
I don’t know how
to make this any more clear. Mr. Packer,
you are described as being non-Christian because your religion has not only created
an entirely different “priesthood” than the one God established in the Bible,
but it has also denied the finality of Christ’s atonement.
Hebrews
7:27 “Christ does not need daily, as
those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for
the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”
Christians
understand that the priesthood was inherited by birth as a Levite, and was done
away with once Christ came. They also
understand that there is only one high priest alive at a time, and that since
Christ is the final High Priest, no one else can be a High Priest (unless they
don’t believe Christ is risen from the dead.)
So you either deny that Christ’s atonement was complete, final, and
sufficient to justify those who believe, OR you deny that Christ is raised from
the dead because you allow others to hold the office of a high priest – (or
maybe both?). Either way, those beliefs
are NOT Christian.
The
teachings in the June 2012 issue of the Ensign
are
NOT Biblical, and therefore,
NOT
consistent with Christian beliefs.
Brigham Young issued a challenge on
May 18, 1873 (as recorded in the Journal of Discourses, Vol. 16 p. 46): “Take up the Bible, compare the religion of
the Latter Day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test.”
I have accepted that challenge from
Brigham Young.
In the June 2012 issue of the Ensign,
the LDS religion FAILS this test.
Resources
used for this article:
The Word of God
(The Bible)
The LDS
magazine, “The Ensign”
“Where Mormonism
Meets Biblical Christianity Face to Face” by Shawn McCraney
