"In the History of the Church, no account is given of the date when the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored." Doctrines of Salvation Vol. 3 page 95 Joseph Fielding Smith
The Doctrine and Covenants 27:12
is cited as proof that the Melchizedek Priesthood was conferred at a very early date: "And also with Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles .... "
This verse, however, did not appear in the revelation when it was published in the Book of Commandments in 1833. It was added into the Doctrine and Covenants, and therefore cannot be cited as proof that the Melchizedek Priesthood was in the church at the time the revelation was given
Hyperlink is the Original section of 27 before 12 verses were added.
Visitations
of John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John conferring the priesthood
apparently were not known in the church until sometime after 1834. If
restoration of priesthood was such a significant event, wouldn’t Joseph have
mentioned it earlier? “I never heard that an Angel had ordained Joseph and
Oliver to the Aaronic Priesthood until the year 1834, 5, or 6—in Ohio… I do not
believe that John the Baptist ever ordained Joseph and Oliver…” – David Whitmer
(Early Mormon Documents, 5:137). “I joined the church in 1831. For years I
never heard of John the Baptist ordaining Joseph and Oliver. I heard not of
James, Peter, and John doing so… I never heard of it in the church for years…”
– William McLellin (An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins, pp.224-25). The
revelation referring to the Aaronic restoration is missing from the Book of
Commandments, as well as from the original church history as published in The
Evening and Morning Star (edition dated March 1833, p.6). The only known
manuscript copy of the revelation makes no reference to the LDS priesthoods
either (Origins of Power, p.16).
The account
of the Melchizedek restoration is entirely missing. B.H. Roberts writes that
“there is no definite account of the event in the history of the Prophet
Joseph, or, for matter of that, in any of our annals…” (History of the Church,
1:40fn).
The
information that is available about the Melchizedek restoration creates a
problem. Many LDS scholars who have studied the event place the ordination
within a few weeks of the Aaronic priesthood ordination date, which was in May
1829 (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 2:885-86). There is a brief mention of the
event in Oliver B. Huntington’s journal, which places the Melchizedek
ordination on a night after Joseph and Oliver had been on trial in Colesville,
New York (Journal of Oliver B. Huntington, 13 January 1881). Joseph Smith dated
this incarceration in mid-to-late June of 1830 (History of the Church 1:84-85,
92-94). Wesley Walters located the court bill for this trial, which was dated
“July 1st 1830” (Joseph Smith’s Bainbridge, N.Y., Court Trials, p.125). That
date is several weeks after the Church was organized. But LDS sources are
emphatic that Smith could not have legally organized the Church unless he had
received the Melchizedek priesthood first. At the time of church organization,
Joseph Smith gave himself the title of FIRST ELDER of the church. That creates
an irreconcilable problem for the LDS claim of authority.
The first
mention of Melchizedek Priesthood in the scriptures of the church is Doctrine
and Covenants 68, which was recorded in November 1831. Verse 15 says,
“Wherefore they shall be high priests who are worthy, and they shall be
appointed by the First Presidency of the Melchizedek Priesthood, except they be
literal descendants of Aaron.” Nowhere before 1831 is there any such notion of
a Priesthood of Melchizedek on the records of the church.
Other changes in Doctrine and Covenants
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
1This Melchizedek
was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God. When
Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against many kings,
Melchizedek met him and blessed him; 2then Abraham took a
tenth of all he had won in the battle and gave it to Melchizedek.
Melchizedek’s name
means “Justice,” so he is the King of Justice; and he is also the King of Peace
because of the name of his city, Salem, which means “Peace.” 3Melchizedek had no
father or mother£ and there is no
record of any of his ancestors. He was never born and he never died but his life
is like that of the Son of God—a priest forever.
(a) Even Abraham, the
first and most honored of all God’s chosen people, gave Melchizedek a tenth of
the spoils he took from the kings he had been fighting. 5One could
understand why Abraham would do this if Melchizedek had been a Jewish priest,
for later on God’s people were required by law to give gifts to help their
priests because the priests were their relatives. 6But Melchizedek was
not a relative, and yet Abraham paid him.
(b) Melchizedek placed
a blessing upon mighty Abraham, 7and as everyone
knows, a person who has the power to bless is always greater than the person he
blesses.
9(d) One might even say
that Levi himself (the ancestor of all Jewish priests, of all who receive
tithes), paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham. 10For although Levi
wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham when Abraham paid
the tithes to Melchizedek.
11(e) If the Jewish
priests and their laws had been able to save us, why then did God need to send
Christ as a priest with the rank of Melchizedek, instead of sending someone with
the rank of Aaron—the same rank all other priests had?
12-14And when God sends
a new kind of priest, his law must be changed to permit it. As we all know,
Christ did not belong to the priest-tribe of Levi, but came from the tribe of
Judah, which had not been chosen for priesthood; Moses had never given them that
work.
15So we can plainly
see that God’s method changed, for Christ, the new High Priest who came with the
rank of Melchizedek, 16did not become a
priest by meeting the old requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but on
the basis of power flowing from a life that cannot end. 17And the psalmist
points this out when he says of Christ, “You are a priest forever with the rank
of Melchizedek.”
18Yes, the old system
of priesthood based on family lines was canceled because it didn’t work. It was
weak and useless for saving people. 19It never made
anyone really right with God. But now we have a far better hope, for Christ
makes us acceptable to God, and now we may draw near to him.
20God took an oath
that Christ would always be a Priest, 21although he never
said that of other priests. Only to Christ he said, “The Lord has sworn and will
never change his mind: You are a Priest forever, with the rank of
Melchizedek.” 22Because of God’s
oath, Christ can guarantee forever the success of this new and better
arrangement.
23Under the old
arrangement there had to be many priests so that when the older ones died off,
the system could still be carried on by others who took their places.
24But Jesus lives
forever and continues to be a Priest so that no one else is needed. 25He is able to save
completely all who come to God through him. Since he will live forever, he will
always be there to remind God that he has paid for their sins with his
blood.
26He is, therefore,
exactly the kind of High Priest we need; for he is holy and blameless, unstained
by sin, undefiled by sinners, and to him has been given the place of honor in
heaven. 27He never needs the
daily blood of animal sacrifices, as other priests did, to cover over first
their own sins and then the sins of the people; for he finished all sacrifices,
once and for all, when he sacrificed himself on the cross. 28Under the old
system, even the high priests were weak and sinful men who could not keep from
doing wrong, but later God appointed by his oath his Son who is perfect
forever.
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