Of what worth is the Priesthood?

[Anonymous]

Of what worth is any priesthood? I was attending a Lutheran funeral service and was struck by this idea as I sat and watched the priest conduct the service. There seems to me to be two ways of looking at the “priesthood.” The LDS approach of the priesthood provides the saving ordinances to mankind. In a spiritual sense, the priesthood gives people comfort in the hope that whatever ritual they are performing is being recognized by god and is being counted for their salvation.

Other churches look at this a bit differently in that the primary role of the priest is that of a ritual expert, the one who has a special and sometimes secret knowledge of the techniques of worship, including incantations, prayers, sacrificial acts, songs, and other things that are believed to bridge the separation between the divine or sacred.

Since I am really no longer a believer, I am looking at the priesthood with a more critical eye when I ask what the worth of any priesthood is. To me, if priesthood had true powers to heal then that would be something of worth to many people. Why isn’t the priesthood used more to heal people’s vast physical problems?

On the one hand, you can make the case that spiritual needs are what the purpose of a priesthood does in administering to the soul, but I would argue that many people help others with empathy, acts of kindness, a listening ear or even donations that don’t involve any priesthood. Christ in 3rd Nephi healed the people by asking if there were any sick among them. He fed the multitude before he taught them in the New Testament.

I’m perhaps much more of a cynic now but as I was sitting through this service; the priest could only offer words and ritual. What if a priesthood holder actually healed people? I’ll bet that the word would get people out. I’m sure they would start listening also to what was being preached. Imagine, a blind person urged by a friend to come to a service because there is a priesthood holder with the power of god to heal you, and the person shows up and after a life time of being blind gets healed. The healer tells the blind person that god’s power has given them sight and now they are free to listen to his words or they could just go on their way but always know that there is a godly power on earth that did them good once. Or less dramatic, how about someone with just a common flu? How about a priesthood holder actually “healing” that person? I’m not trying to be flippant about this but rather actually asking the question, wouldn’t this power of the priesthood be of much more worth?

Seems a lot more powerful than the warm fuzzy of ritualistic ordinances that you won’t know are any good until you die.

[Anonymous]

I’ve got no idea what to say so I’ll give in to that crazy inner voice. The atheist in me says that a priest has as much power as people give them. The theist in me says that a priest has as much power as people give them.

As for the healings… could that be considered a sign that a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after? Could frequent and miraculous healings create an imbalance in the equilibrium between faith and knowledge. If so why did Jesus do it?

[Anonymous]

I use to ask the same question all the time. I wanted the priesthood to actually do something miraculous. I wanted something anything to be able to see god in action. Then time goes by and slowly I realize that there is no real priesthood. Not in the sense Mormons think. Disappointing though it may be, there never was anything that gave men the power of god. The priesthood is a construct of men to elevate themselves above other men. It is not more complicated than that.

As far as healings go, again they never really happen in the sense we think. No amputated limbs were restored. No blind people see. No cripples walk. Most healings stay relegated to recovering from an illness after the doctors have done all their work. It is sort of like eating a pice of cake and being amazed at how it miraculously it appeared on the table but giving no credit to the baker.

Would have been nice if the priesthood really did have substance, and maybe I am wrong but I do not see how. There just really is nothing to point to and say “see what the priesthood can do”.

[Anonymous]

I’ve thought about this a bit. I see the priesthood as nothing more than an authority to perform ordinances, I don’t believe there is any actual power associated with it. Of course that authority is only recognized by the LDS church, but so be it – Catholicism is similar in that respect.

[Anonymous]

whatever worth someone gives it

I don’t mean that flippantly. I really do believe, however, that the worth of anything is the worth given to it. For those who value the Priesthood highly, it has tremendous worth – and I know people who are MUCH better people than they would be naturally because of the responsibility they feel to “live up to” their vision of and the value they place on the Priesthood; for those who don’t value it, it has no worth.

I see it much more as a formal structure through which perspective is taught, understood and animated than as a unique or exclusive power. I believe every person ever born has the right to say they can act in the name of God, as a child of God, so I believe all have access to priesthood authority – that baptism includes a commitment to take God’s name upon us, so every baptized Christian can act in the name of God in accordance with that promise – that the endowment includes a symbolic bestowal of authority on all who participate, man or woman, so every endowed member of the LDS Church “holds a share in the Priesthood” and has authority to act in the name of God; etc. I see “The Priesthood” as an organization to perform ordinances and officiate in the LDS Church, and “Priesthood keys” as symbolic authority to authorize who and how those ordinances are performed and the Church is officiated – so limits on who can perform ordinances and officiate in the Church are reflective of the perspectives / views / biases of the leaders who symbolically possess those keys. I believe in a Priesthood of ordinal performance and a priesthood of believers – and I think we obsess so much over the Priesthood that we devalue and short-change the priesthood. I’d like the Priesthood to be open to more members, but I also would like all members to understand and act within the priesthood much more than happens currently. For example, I see Relief Society as a priesthood quorum already, and I wish deeply that fewer (or no) people viewed it simply as a class with a few social activities now and then. (I think a Bishop who really understood that concept could symbolically use his keys to open that door, so to speak, and initiate an important change in the ward.)

[Anonymous]

If anyone wants to read the Sunday School lesson I taught last year about the two P/priesthoods, here is the link:

“Sunday School Lesson Recap: “P”riesthood and “p”riesthood – Power, Authority and Keys” (http://thingsofmysoul.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-sunday-school-lesson-recap.html)

[Anonymous]

I am definitely in that place still where half of me doesn’t believe any of the truth claims of the church anymore, and the other half of me just can’t shake the feeling that there truly is God’s official church under all the imperfections. Is it possible that the church has been in an era, since the days of Brigham Young, where faith simply isn’t strong enough for any real revelation or miracles to be manifested yet? As Mormon (or Moroni, I forget) put it, there can only be miracles if there is faith.

Will the day come when the church is truly tried and real faith starts to emerge that finally allows miracles to appear? Some old TBM part of me wants to believe this, yet I can’t really anymore. At this point in my life, I feel like I am left to choose what I believe and live with integrity with those beliefs. Sometimes I think God is less concerned with how many facts we have right in this life, and more concerned with how sincere and devoted we are to following the things that we believe to be good and worthy.

In fact, this reminds me of a near-death experience where the person clearly stated that God often allows mortals to continue in false beliefs about Him if it serves them well in receiving the growth they were sent here to experience. To be clear, they didn’t say that God caused the false beliefs, but didn’t go out of His way to correct the false beliefs. I got the impression that this life is not the time for correct facts, but for growth, experience, and making choices. The next life is the time to get the facts straight, because at that point, much of our character growth will have already taken place.

If that is true, then perhaps the priesthood is simply a structure designed to get us to believe in divine service and live according to it. It is meant to promote faith and love, even if the power it claims is not literal. Who knows. Sometimes I get tired even bothering to figure out what is true from an objective standpoint, because it seems rather apparent that nobody ever gets to figure that out.

I am reminded of a quote from one of my favorite sci-fi movies, Serenity, where a character is on his death bed and says to his friend: “I don’t care what you believe. Just believe it.” It is reminiscent of what Joseph Smith said about people being damned for not believing and never for believing too much. I kind of take that to mean it is okay to believe false things as long as they lead you to do good. But the failure to believe and exercise faith leaves you in a place where your heart is no longer able to receive divine goodness and hope.

Perhaps to believe does not mean to believe in the correct facts, but simply to have a believing heart. A believing heart will always be ready to receive truth when the person sees it, and when your heart is in this place, then you will be ready to believe all of the true facts when they are presented to you in the next life. If you have an unbelieving heart, perhaps you will not even believe the facts when they are presented to you in the next life. Or perhaps you will believe them, but not be ready to exercise faith to follow them. Anyway, I am just thinking out loud here now. 🙂

[Anonymous]

The LDS church uses priesthood power in somewhat vague terms. There seems to be two approaches to priesthood “power”.

1. The priesthood is the authority to administer in ordinances. Also, you can argue that these functions are found in the Aaronic priesthood. The Melchizedek priesthood having more to do with the powers of heaven.

Ray – I read your lesson. I thought it was great. You can correct me if I am wrong but I think you take the approach of the priesthood/Priesthood as the authority and the calling for administration of ordinance work and for doing good.

I have no problem with this approach. Every church can define their set of rules for priesthood functions and service.

2. The power of the priesthood as referring to a power from heaven. This is used in the LDS vernacular as a distinct power. The power that god created the universe and so forth.

I went to https://www.lds.org/topics/priesthood?lang=eng” class=”bbcode_url”>https://www.lds.org/topics/priesthood?lang=engand read what the church defines as priesthood power. If you look at the sub links such as “the world needs the priesthood” – https://www.lds.org/topics/priesthood/world-priesthood?lang=eng” class=”bbcode_url”>https://www.lds.org/topics/priesthood/world-priesthood?lang=eng

This section talks about the miraculous “power” of the priesthood. I have to side with Cadence on this in asking where is the power evident of the priesthood that the church talks about here? I am not talking about sign seekers either. I don’t buy the argument that healings or other manifestations of priesthood power are denied because of everyone being a sign seeker. Just to be clear, I think a sign seeker should never see anything because of curiosity. However, sincere believers are a different case. Didn’t Christ ask the man, “do you believe” and the man responded “I believe Lord please bless my unbelief.”

I would love to believe that there exists a “power” from god on earth. It would truly be great if the priesthood were something that really did bless the entire world ecclesiastically and physically. Sadly, I think the whole priesthood thing is an invention of man. There is no real power where limbs are re-grown or sickness is healed. Science and medicine have made much more advances than all of the priesthood blessings. I also don’t buy the argument when blessings don’t work that a person’s faith is not sufficient or maybe they were just given their problem as a way to learn something. I think that is just a crock.

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