Why Is The Priesthood So Important To God?

[zerinus]

It seems to me that mormons place more emphasis on ordinances than any other religion. For LDS, the church isn't just a church. It is literally God's kingdom on the earth. The priesthood ordinances are required for membership in God's kingdom.

Mormons are unique in this way of thinking. The rest of the Christian world doesn't have such a legalistic view of things. For the rest of the Christian world, access to the kingdom of God is much more personal. I've had many people tell me they can find God by just going fishing on Sundays.

God is apparently a very particular god when it comes to His church.

That is not quite true. The Catholic Church comes quite close.

[mfbukowski]

I have a friend who converted to the LDS faith awhile ago from a typical American Protestant upbringing (can't remember which denomination at the moment). We were talking about a related topic just the other day and she stated that the hardest thing to overcome what the idea that she needed anyone to stand between her and God, ie. the Priesthood and Prophet. So there is a very significantly different view about what Priesthood is and its purpose among LDS Christians and many others.

That view is, of course, mistaken. Even in her prayers, in her "Accepting the Savior" there are "correct" forms; in her belief in the Bible, there are "correct interpretations" which differ from others interpretations. These definitions do not "stand between" her and her God- they make communication with him possible, just as traffic laws make driving on the street without getting killed possible.

The very idea that "nothing should stand between her and God" implies what she sees as "correct form"- she herself has accepted that idea as "correct form, even though it contradicts itself. THAT is her "priesthood"- that she needs no priesthood- but yet it implies that there IS a "correct" way of viewing God- which is all that priesthood really is!

Nobody stands between her and her God any more than any law "stands between" her and her government. Laws ARE "the government"; The priesthood IS the equivalent of civil authority in God's kingdom. The police for example, do not "stand between" us and our rights- they help enforce our rights and facilitate peace and harmony. One could just as accurately argue that without police, there would be no law- there would be no authorized authority to enforce what is right.

There is a reason that our sacred ceremonies are called "ordinances" just as laws are termed.

Drivers licenses are like temple recommends- they certify that one is ready to drive; one cannot marry without civil authority, open a business without a license, sell securities or run many businesses without a license.

There is no point for an "ordinance", sacrament or any practice of religion whatsoever unless there is a "correct form" for that - otherwise it would be meaningless.

It is the form which gives the practice a context and therefore a meaning, much like grammar in a language. Without grammar, we could not communicate because grammar defines language. Grammar is a set of linguistic "ordinances" which create meaning.

I am sure that she believes that "one must confess Christ" - whatever that means- to be a Christian. There are certain "correct" practices which define one as being "Christian". That correct practice in itself becomes a kind of priesthood- a set of ceremonies or beliefs which must be done "just so" to qualify as "being Christian".

You can't escape it. As long as there are categories, there are criteria for being IN a category- and that means that there are "correct practices".

Priesthood is precisely that- ensuring "correct practices".

[mfbukowski]

One of the fundamental teachings presented by missionaries of the church is that of the restoration of the priesthood. This helps people to understand the necessity of being baptized again if they have already been baptized.

But it seemed that many people that on my mission had a difficult time grasping this concept. I was sometimes asked why God would be so narrow-minded as to only recognize one type of baptism. Many people I talked to felt that God only cares about a person's intentions and that the idea of exclusive authority to baptize is silly. It seems that the only religions that think priesthood is important is us and the Catholics.

I've always had a hard time with these questions myself. Why is priesthood authority so vital? The best answer I could come up with is this: God is a god of order we conform to his commands. Anybody have better answers?

Just explain it as "ensuring correct form" like issuing driver's licenses, and I bet the objection will go away. Everything requires "correct form" or it has no meaning- it is literally jibberish.

[mfbukowski]

No, "chaos" does not "originate with God". Chaos is the natural state of matter. It must be organized, and that's what God does.

Lehi

As usual,

[LeSellers]

As usual,

You are kind.

Lehi

[Questing Beast]

No, "chaos" does not "originate with God". Chaos is the natural state of matter. It must be organized, and that's what God does.

Lehi

Once again, the concept of "God" is too small. If "God the Father" is merely co eternal with matter then the actual infinity of matter itself is bigger than "God", no matter which "God as organizer" we are talking about. If the sapience of human beings (call it intelligences if you prefer) is infinite as to number and degree, yet is merely a manifestation of matter, then matter is bigger than intelligences. Saying that matter always existed and that "it is all matter" (Joseph Smith) begs the question of why it exists instead of nothing. Since we can conceive of "The Nothing", it cannot be a concept devoid of the Existence of a Necessary Cause; otherwise, we have imagined a trait (our imaginations) that transcends the Necessary Cause. Therefore, the Necessary Cause must be the Cause of our imaginations, i.e. our intelligences.

And finally, therefore, "God the Father" is a manifestation of a Necessary Cause; which is not eternally existing matter but rather the cause of matter manifesting in place of Nothing.

You can worship such a being as an intelligence, made spirit, made flesh, made mortal, attaining immortality, and procreating other spirits into being from some process that is limited to those who have attained "glory". But I will seek for the "God", the Necessary Cause, that such a being worships, rather than worship the being that we are told is a "parent". If I can conceive of a greater being than "God the Father", it makes no sense to me to worship a lesser god than I can conceive of....

[Deborah]

No proof for Melchizedek Priesthood

And the point is?

From the Ensign December 1996 Restoration of MP

The day, month, and year designation that so precisely identifies the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood (15 May 1829) is absent in the case of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Similarly, knowledge of the attendant circumstances of that restoration is limited. Even so, sufficient elements of the historical puzzle can be put together to give us a close approximation of the time sequence. Evidence suggests a date within the 13-day period from 16 May to 28 May 1829.

[LeSellers]

It is claimed by the Mormon leaders that before the church wasorganized Peter, James, and John restored the Melchizedek Priesthood. ApostleLeGrand Richards admits that the exact date of this ordination is not known:"While we are a record-keeping people, as the Lord commanded, neverthelessour records are not complete.... we do not have the date that Peter, James andJohn conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood upon them" (Letter from LeGrandRichards, dated September 26, 1960).

Your use of the word "admits" makes it sound as if this was something we don't regularly understand or know.

That's bunk.

I have been a member of Christ's church for over sixty years. I am absolutely certain I knew this long before I was ordained a deacon in 1960, and it was my father who told me.

We used to have an Aaronic Priesthood Commemoration event every May 15^th, and it was always a feature of that event to remind us that we knew when John came with the commission from Peter, James, and John to restored the Lesser Priesthood, but that when those Apostles returned was not recorded.

I have found, however, information that makes the date much less uncertain.

It was not long afterward, while Joseph and Oliver were fleeing for their lives (again), fearful of the ministrations of their Christians neighbors, that Oliver, weakened and forlorn, in clothing torn by the brambles, sitting on a muddy stump and wet to the skin, asked Joseph, "How long must we endure this?" At that point, Peter, James, and John appeared and ordained them to the Apostleship.

It was still during the translation of the Book of Mormon, but after they were working at the Hales' home. That would make it mid- to late June, 1829.

Lehi