Brief History of the Melchizedek Priesthood

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOOD* By Elder W. H. Boyle, Assistant Professor of Education, Brigham Young University In giving briefly the history of the Melchizedek Priesthood, I have assumed that it is impossible to show that there has been a con- tinuous, unbroken chain of this authority from Adam until Christ, or from Christ to this last dispensation. In fact the contrary is apparent. The facts which follow are not new. All I have attempted to do is to organize them for our purpose today. "The earliest revelation recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, section 2, refers distinctly to the Priesthood as essential in any dispensation to the up-building of God's kingdom on earth. Since the authority of the Priesthood is the authority to act for God, it would of necessity be the first consideration in Church organization." Y. M. M. I. A. Manual, 1906-7. The Lord, speaking through Joseph the Prophet, concerning the twelve apostles, said (quoting from Doc. and Cov., Section 112): "For unto you, the Twelve, and those, the First Presidency, who are appointed with you, to be your counselors and your leaders, is the power of this priesthood given, for the last days and for the last time, in which is the dispensation of the fulness of times. Which power you hold, in connection with all those who have received a dispensation at any time from the beginning of the creation; for verily I sayt unto you, the keys of the dispensation, which ye have received, have come down from the fathers, and last of all, being sent down from heaven unto you." Further, in an address given to the Church, September 6, 1 842, quoted in the 21st verse of section 128, it is said: "And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old father Whitmer, in Fayette, Seneca county, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all the travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! And the voice of Michael, the archangel; the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of the divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present time, all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; here a little, and there a little; giving us consolation by holding forth that which is come, confirming our hope!" Again in a revelation given through Joseph Smith, the Prophet, at Kirtland, in September, 1832, concerning the Church established in the last days for the restoration of his people and the gathering of his Saints to stand upon Mount Zion, he said: *An address given in the Utah Stake Tabernacle, Sunday, February 21, 1926.

934 IMPROVEMENT ERA (Section 84:5-22.) "For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house. And the sons of Moses, according to the Holy Priesthood which he received under the hand of his father-in-law, Jethro; and Jethro received it under the hand of Caleb; and Caleb received it under the hand of Elihu; and Elihu under the hand of Jeremy; and Jeremy under the hand of Gad; and Gad under the hand of Esaias; and Esaias received it under the hand of God. Esaias also lived in the days of Abraham, and was blessed of him — which Abraham received the) Priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage. of his fathers, even till Noah; and from Noah till Enoch, through the lineage of their fathers; and from Enoch to Abel, who was slain by the conspiracy of his brother, who received the priesthood by the commandments of God, by the hand of his father Adam, \who was the first man — which priesthood continueth in the church of God in all generations, and is without beginning of days or end of years. And the Lord confirmed a priesthood also upon Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations, which priest- hood also continueth and abideth forever with the priesthood which is after the holiest order of God. And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And _ without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; for without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live." From the scripture just quoted, we can conclude that the dis- pensations of the gospel all have possessed the priesthood or authority delegated to man. The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the first presidency and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the creation before the world was formed. And God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." And God said unto them, "Multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." We see by this scripture that he had dominion given him over every living creature. "He is Michael the archangel, spoken of in the scriptures. Then to Noah, who is Gabriel, who stands next in authority to Adam in the priesthood. He was called of God to this office and was the father of all living in his day. And to him was given the dominion. These men held the keys, first on earth, and then in heaven." Manual, 1906-7. "A dispensation, theologically speaking, is defined as one of the several systems or bodies of law in which, at different periods, God has revealed his mind and will to man, such as the Patriarchal Dispensation, the Mosaic Dispensation." "The word is also sometimes applied to the periods of time during

HISTORY OF THE MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOOD 935 which the said laws obtain. That is, the period from Adam to Noah is usually called the Patriarchal Dispensation. From Noah to the calling of Abraham the Noachian Dispensation; and from Abraham to the calling of Moses, the Abrahamic Dispensation. But the word dispensation as con- nected with the gospel of Jesus Christ means the opening of the heavens to men; the giving out, or dispersing to them, of the word of God; the reveal- ing to men, in whole or in part, of the principles and ordinances of the gospel; the conferring of divine authority upon certain chosen ones, by which they are empowered to act in the name, that is,, in the authority, of God, and for him. This is a dispensation as relating to the gospel." Seventy's Manual, 1908, p. 37. Dispensations in their order, and in the which has been delegated to man the authority of God, are: 1. Adamic or Patriarchal. 4. Abrahamic. 2. Enochian. 5. Mosaic. 3. Noachian. 6. Messianic, Christian, or Meridian. 7. Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. The Jareditic Dispensationand the Nephitic Dispensation would fall, more than likely, under the Noachian, Mosaic and Christian, re- spectively. The Priesthood is an everlasting principle and existed with God from eternity and will to enternity, without beginning of days or end of years. The keys have to be brought from heaven whenever the gospel is sent. When they are revealed from heaven it is at Adam's authority. Before step9 had been taken to organize the church, the Prophet Joseph had been ordained to the Priesthood. On May 15, 1829, John the Baptist appeared and restored the Aaronic Priesthood. (Read Sec. 13.) About June, 1829, the Apostles Peter, James and John appeared and conferred on the Prophet the Melchizedek Priest- hood. The following from the Hktory of the Church makes the matter clear. The promise to confer upon Joseph and Oliver the Melchizedek Priesthood was fulfilled; but as there is no definite date of the event in the history of the Prophet Joseph, or, for that matter, in any of our annals, the evidences of the fact of their ordination to the higher, or Melchizedek, Priesthood, promised them by John the Baptist, are presented now, together with a consideration of the place where, and the time when, the great event occurred. "The Prophet Joseph, in a communication to the Church under date of September 6, 1842, makes undoubted allusion to the restora- tion of the Melchizedek Priesthood. In the course of a review of the great things God had revealed to him. He said, 'And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the prophetsi — the book to be revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca county, declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book! The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, * * * de-

93 6 IMPROVEMENT ERA claring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom and of the dispensation of the fulness of times.' (See Doctrine and Covenants, Section 128:20.) "In one of the early revelations given to the Prophet Joseph, the Lord makes most direct reference to the restoration of the higher Priesthood through the ministration of Peter, James and John. The subject matter of the revelation is the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper; and in the course of it the Lord promises to drink of the fruit of the vine with his servants on earth to whom the revelation is addressed: 'and with Moroni, and also with Michael, or Adam, the father of all, and also with Peter, James and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be Apostles, and special witnesses of my name, and bear the keys of your ministry, and of the same things which I revealed unto them; unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fulness of times.' (Doctrine and Covenants, Section 27:12-13.) This revelation was given some time early in August, 1830, but only the first four verses were written at that time. The rest of it was written in September of that year. These two allusions — the one by the Prophet and the other bv the Lord — to the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood not only clear the fact that the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored in ac- cordance with the promise of John the Baptist, when conferring the Aaronic Priesthood, but they made it possible to fix upon the place where the ordination was performed. It was on the banks of the Susquehanna river, in the wilderness between Colesville, in Broome county, New York, and Harmony, in Susquehanna county, Pennsyl- vania; for it is there the Prophet says the voice of Peter, James and John was heard declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times; for which appearance and declaration there could be no othetf occasion than the ordination of Oliver and Joseph to the Melchizedek Priesthood, in fulfilment of the promises made by John the Baptist. The time at which the ordination took place was evidently between the 15 th of May, 1829, and August, 1830. The last named date is the one under which the Lord so definitely referred to the circumstances of having sent Peter, James and John to ordain Joseph and others to be apostles, even special witnesses of his name, and unto whom he had committed the keys of the kingdom. Hence, the time of the ordination must have been between those two dates. "From information contained in other revelations, however, this period within which the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored may be considerably reduced. In April, 1830, a revelation was given concerning the organization and government of the Church, and in the revelation the Lord said: 'Which commandments (i. e. to

HISTORY OF THE MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOOD 937 organize the Church) were given to Joseph Smith, Jr. who was called of God, and ordained an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to be the first elder of this Church; and to Oliver Cowdery, who was also called of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to be the second elder of this Church, and ordained under his hand.' (Doctrine and Cove- nants, Section 20:2, 3.) "This allusion to the ordination of these men to the apostleship reduces the time of their ordination to the period between the 15 th of May, 1829, and April 6, 1830. But the time within which the ordination took place may still further be reduced. In a revelation bearing the date of June, 1829, making known the calling of the Twelve apostles in these last days, and addressed to Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, the Lord said: 'I speak unto you, even as unto Paul mine Apostle, for you are called even with that same calling with which he was called.' As this could scarcely be said of men who had not been ordained to the same holy apostleship as that held by Paul, and consequently to the Melchizedek Priesthood, the con- clusion is reasonable that the ordination promised by John the Baptist doubtless occurred some time between May 15, 1829, and the expira- tion of the month of June of the same year." (History of the Church, Vol. 1, pp. 40-41.) Ip giving, then, this brief history of the Melchizedek Priesthood, I have shown that the authority to act for the Lord on earth has been given to men in each and every dispensation. I have given in their order all the gospel dispensations, and as near as possible the date when Peter, James and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood on the Prophet Joseph Smith, in order to bring about the high purposes of God in the last and greatest of all dispensations. Provo, Utah. My Resolve Every day and every night I say: No matter how hot and fierce the fight, I must not, I will not, swerve nor stray From those who defend eternal right. Every day and every night I pray: No matter how error's hosts pursue, Keep me true, to the end of life's way, To thy sacred laws and hallowed truth. Every day and night I will strive To think, say, and do, my very best, To uphold all things holy and high, And emulate all that's pure and blest. Nephi Jensen