D&C 107 and Priesthood

[askandanswer]

In our Sunday School lesson last week we looked at D&C 107. Someone read aloud verse 1 and I realized for the first time that this verse is only talking about those priesthoods that exist within the church.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 107:1)

 

1  THERE are, in the church, two priesthoods, namely, the Melchizedek and Aaronic, including the Levitical Priesthood.

 

We learn in another place that there is at least one other “person” who holds a priesthood that is neither Melchizedek or Aaronic and I’ve occasionally heard references to a Patriarchal priesthood, which possibly might exist within families, separately from the church. I note that the wording of this verse suggests that where one type of priesthood is included in, or a part of, another priesthood, eg, the Aaronic Priesthood includes the Levitical Priesthood, the scriptures will make this inclusion clear, as they have done in this instance. I also note that no such suggestion has been made in this verse that the patriarchal priesthood is part of, or included within the Melchizedek Priesthood, thereby opening up the possibility that the Melchizedek and the patriarchal priesthood are different from each other.

It seems that the word priesthood refers to a power that is held by, or attached to someone, eg, the Melchizedek Priesthood is so named because it was held by Melchizedek, the Aaronic Priesthood so named because it was held by Aaron, the Levitical Priesthood because it was held by the sons of Aaron, the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God, because it was held by the Son of God, and the patriarchal priesthood because it is held by patriarchs.

So now I’m wondering:

How many priesthoods there are?

Is the patriarchal priesthood the same or part of or different from the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods?

[Just_A_Guy]

D&C 107 needs to be approached carefully, because it doesn't represent a single cohesive verbatim revelation.  Rather, it is a splicing together of (IIRC) four or five independent documents, and even after its first publication it was subject to additional edits during Joseph Smith's lifetime to reflect the evolving structure of the church hierarchy.  There are also certain nuances to how the term "high priesthood" is used in Section 107 and in other early LDS documents that don't fit neatly into the "Aaronic/Melchizedek" dichotomy that the  modern Church has largely accepted.

Fundamentally, there is only one priesthood--Melchizedek, which is merely shorthand for "The holy priesthood after the order of the Son of God".  It's not really Melchizedek's priesthood; it is Jehovah's own authority and power.  This is why Joseph Smith taught that "All priesthood is Melchizedek".  So the Aaronic priesthood is merely a subdivision thereof; so too are the "patriarchal" functions of the priesthood relating to temple work and the domestic sphere.

The notion that there is a "patriarchal priesthood" that operates independently of the Church, was pioneered by Mormon fundamentalists seeking to justify their rebellion against the 1st Pres/Q12 and explain how they could continue to officiate in priesthood functions even after they had been formally excommunicated. Brian Hales runs a website called "MormonFundamentalism.com" that dealt with some of these arguments, though he has restructured his website quite a bit and I don't have a link for the specific part of his site that addresses the issue.  As I recall, Mormon Interpreter also ran a critique on Denver Sniffer's apostasies a couple of years ago which dealt with that issue, among others (Snuffer poaches a lot of his arguments from the fundies).

 

Edited February 23, 2017 by Just_A_Guy

[askandanswer]

Thanks Jag

[Guest]

"All Priesthood is Melchizedek, but there are different portions or degrees of it" (TPJS, p. 180). 

[CV75]

13 hours ago, askandanswer said:

How many priesthoods there are?

Is the patriarchal priesthood the same or part of or different from the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods?

There is only one power of God. He manifests it in an organized way. He uses orders, offices and keys to do this, and gives them names. The patriarchal order (not priesthood) is the order established in our temples with marriage. One spouse has the Melchizedek priesthood and the other doesn't but they share equally in the order.

"Boyd K. Packer, an LDS Church apostle, has explained that the patriarchal priesthood is included in the Melchizedek priesthood: "There are references to a patriarchal priesthood. The patriarchal order is not a third, separate priesthood. Whatever relates to the patriarchal order is embraced in the Melchizedek Priesthood. 'All other authorities or offices in the church are appendages to [the Melchizedek] priesthood.' [D&C 107:5] The patriarchal order is a part of the Melchizedek Priesthood which enables endowed and worthy men to preside over their posterity in time and eternity." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchal_priesthood

[skalenfehl]

"Patriarchal" priesthood is so called because patriarchs attained it. Adam, Seth, etc. 

[Just_A_Guy]

1 hour ago, skalenfehl said:

"Patriarchal" priesthood is so called because patriarchs attained it. Adam, Seth, etc. 

Adam, Seth, Melchizedek . . .

[skalenfehl]

They obtained the priesthood after the order of the Son of God by the calling of God's own voice (JST Gen 14), though they were first ordained by another. For example, we read in D&C that Adam ordained Enoch. Jethro ordained Moses, etc, etc. But one must still "come unto 'this priesthood'" which is what the patriarchs did as we read in D&C 107. Thus by the "oath and covenant" that God personally makes to each who comes unto this priesthood (D&C 84) after previously being ordained by man, do they obtain that fullness from God directly, which power in the priesthood enables them to turn rivers from their courses, set at defiance the armies of nations, etc. 

[JohnsonJones]

Patriarchal priesthood is a higher manifestation of the Melchizedek Priesthood from one viewpoint.  Someone who has the Patriarchal Priesthood is basically a part of the Patriarchal order.

There are references to a patriarchal priesthood. The patriarchal order is not a third, separate priesthood. (See

D&C 84:6–17; D&C 107:40–57.) Whatever relates to the patriarchal order is embraced in the Melchizedek Priesthood. “All other authorities or offices in the church are appendages to [the Melchizedek] priesthood.” (D&C 107:5.) The patriarchal order is a part of the Melchizedek Priesthood which enables endowed and worthy men to preside over their posterity in time and eternity.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1993/02/what-every-elder-should-know-and-every-sister-as-well-a-primer-on-principles-of-priesthood-government?lang=eng

Those who receive the Melchizedek Priesthood covenant and promise, before God and angels, to magnify their callings, to “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God” (D&C 84:44), to marry for time and all eternity in the patriarchal order, and to live and serve as the Lord Jesus did in his life and ministry.

In return the Lord covenants and promises to give them all that his Father hath, meaning eternal life, which is exaltation and godhood in that eternal realm where alone the family unit continues in eternity.

In return the Lord admits them to his eternal patriarchal order, an order that prevails in the highest heaven of the celestial world, an order that assures its members of eternal increase, or in other words of spirit children in the resurrection. (See D&C 131:1–4.)

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1982/04/the-doctrine-of-the-priesthood?lang=eng

One of the biggest differences between the Patriarchal Priesthood and the Melchizedek as I understand it, is this is one that is actually held jointly, or together.  It is not that the wife has the power like the Melchizedek, but as the husband's companion, she is why it exists and is the joint-inheritor of it.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained the companionship role of the priesthood and women: “In the true Patriarchal Order man holds the priesthood and is the head of the household, … but he cannot attain a fulness of joy here or of eternal reward hereafter alone. Woman stands at his side a joint-inheritor with him in the fulness of all things. Exaltation and eternal increase is her lot as well as his. (D. & C. 131:1–4.) Godhood is not for men only; it is for men and women together. (D. & C. 132:19–20)” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 844).

https://www.lds.org/manual/the-latter-day-saint-woman-basic-manual-for-women-part-a/women-in-the-church/lesson-13-women-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng

[JohnsonJones]

One other interesting item I found in regards to the patriarchal order/priesthood.

The patriarchal order is, in the words of Elder James E. Talmage, a condition where "woman shares with man the blessings of the Priesthood," where husband and wife minister, "seeing and understanding alike, and cooperating to the full in the government of their family kingdom" (Young Woman's Journal 25 [Oct. 1914]:602-603). A man cannot hold this priesthood without a wife, and a woman cannot share the blessings of this priesthood without a husband, sealed in the temple.

http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Patriarchal_Order_of_the_Priesthood