LDS Priesthood Critique
Downloaded March 16, 2026 from churchofjesuschrist.org
Priesthood
The word priesthood has two meanings. First, priesthood is the power and authority of God.
Correction: Jesus Christ is the power of God.
For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to
the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians
1:22-24
Correction: Jesus Christ is the authority of God.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28:18
It has always existed and will continue to exist
without end. Through the priesthood, God created and governs the
heavens and the earth.
Correction: Jesus Christ created and governs the universe.
For by Him all things were created that are in heaven
and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through
Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things
consist. Colossians 1:16-17
Through this power, He exalts His obedient children, bringing to pass “the immortality and eternal life of man.”
Correction: Eternal life is found only in Jesus Christ.
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you
have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are
not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” John 5:39-40
Second, in mortality, priesthood is the power and
authority that God gives to man to act in all things necessary for the
salvation of God’s children. The blessings of the priesthood are
available to all who receive the gospel.
Correction: The gospel is strictly about Jesus Christ.
Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I
preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by
which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached
to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all
that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the
third day according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
Name of the Priesthood
In the spring of 1835, Joseph Smith received a
revelation explaining the name of the priesthood: “There are, in the
church, two priesthoods, namely, the Melchizedek and Aaronic, including
the Levitical Priesthood.
Note: There are no true prophets after Jesus Christ.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in
time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken
to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through
whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and
the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word
of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than
the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they. Hebrews 1:1-4
Why the first is called the Melchizedek Priesthood is
because Melchizedek was such a great high priest. Before his day it was
called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.
Correction: Melchizedek is Jesus Christ.
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most
High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and
blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being
translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem,
meaning “king of peace,” without father, without mother, without
genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made
like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. Hebrews 7:1-3
But out of respect or reverence to the name of the
Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they,
the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek,
or the Melchizedek Priesthood. All other authorities or offices in the
church are appendages to this priesthood.
Correction: Melchizedek is Jesus Christ.
And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath
(for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by
Him who said to Him: “The LORD has sworn and will not relent, ‘You are
a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’”), by so much
more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. Also, there were
many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But
He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.
Therefore, He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to
God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:20-25
… The second priesthood is called the Priesthood of
Aaron, because it was conferred upon Aaron and his seed, throughout all
their generations. Why it is called the lesser priesthood is because it
is an appendage to the greater, or the Melchizedek Priesthood, and has
power in administering outward ordinances.”
Correction: The Aaronic priesthood and the law have been replaced.
Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical
priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further
need was there that another priest should rise according to the order
of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? For
the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of
the law. For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another
tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. For it is evident
that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing
concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident if, in the
likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest who has come, not
according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the
power of an endless life. Hebrews 7:11-16
Restoration of the Priesthood
The authority of God to organize His Church and perform
ordinances of salvation was lost because of apostasy after the death of
Jesus Christ and His Apostles in the first century AD. However, it was
restored by the Lord to Joseph Smith through heavenly messengers during
the 19th century.
Correction: There was never a complete apostasy per Jesus Christ.
Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are
you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are
Peter, and on this rock (confession) I will build My church, and the
gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:16-18
Correction: There was never a complete apostasy per the Apostle Paul.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in
us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations,
forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Keys of the Priesthood
The keys of the priesthood are the right to preside and
direct the affairs of the Church within a jurisdiction. Jesus Christ
holds all the keys of the priesthood pertaining to His Church. He has
conferred upon each of His Apostles all the keys that pertain to the
kingdom of God on earth.
Correction: Confession of Jesus Christ gives you the kingdom keys.
But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your
mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your
heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For
with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever
believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction
between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who
call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be
saved.” Romans 10:8-13
The senior living Apostle, the President of the Church, is the only person on earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys.
Correction: The apostles were the foundation not the roof of the church.
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the
household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets (writings), Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows
into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built
together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22
Authority and Power of the Priesthood
There is a difference between the authority of the
priesthood and the power of the priesthood. Priesthood authority comes
through ordination to the priesthood or through Church callings and
assignments given by Church leaders who hold priesthood keys. Power
comes from personal righteousness.
Correction: The gospel is the power of God to salvation in faith revealing the righteousness of God.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is
the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew
first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is
revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by
faith.” Romans 1:16-17
The World Needs the Priesthood
The Church provides the organization and means for
teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to all of God’s children. The
priesthood includes the authority to administer ordinances of salvation
to all human beings who are willing and worthy to accept them. Without
the priesthood and the saving ordinances thereof, “the whole earth
would be utterly wasted.”
Correction: The Holy Spirit teaches about God and salvation.
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s
wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual
judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who
has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have
the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:13-16
Jesus Christ is the best example of how to use the
authority and power of the priesthood to serve and bless others.
President M. Russell Ballard taught, “Not only is the priesthood the
power by which the heavens and the earth were created, but it is also
the power the Savior used in His mortal ministry to perform miracles,
to bless and heal the sick, to bring the dead to life, and, as our
Father’s Only Begotten Son, to endure the unbearable pain of Gethsemane
and Calvary—thus fulfilling the laws of justice with mercy and
providing an infinite Atonement and overcoming physical death through
the Resurrection.”
Correction: Jesus Christ created the universe.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things
were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
John 1:1-3
The Priesthood Strengthens the Family
The family is ordained of God. It is the most important
unit in time and in eternity. As part of our Heavenly Father’s plan, we
were born into families. He established families to bring us happiness,
to help us learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and to
prepare us for eternal life. Parents have the vital responsibility to
help their children prepare to return to Heavenly Father.
Correction: There are no eternal families.
Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not
knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection
they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels of God
in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not
read what was spoken to you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the
dead, but of the living.” Matthew 22:29-32
Each husband and father in the Church should strive to be worthy to
hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. With his wife as an equal partner, he
presides in righteousness and love, serving as the family’s spiritual
leader.
Correction: The husband’s love for his wife should reflect Christ’s love for us.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved
the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse
her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to
Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such
thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So, husbands
ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his
wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes
and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. Ephesians 5:25-29
Women Participate in the Work of the Priesthood
President M. Russell Ballard taught: “In our Heavenly
Father’s great priesthood-endowed plan, men have the unique
responsibility to administer the priesthood, but they are not the
priesthood. Men and women have different but equally valued roles. Just
as a woman cannot conceive a child without a man, so a man cannot fully
exercise the power of the priesthood to establish an eternal family
without a woman. In other words, in the eternal perspective, both the
procreative power and the priesthood power are shared by husband and
wife.”
Correction: Authority in the church is not determined by marriage.
Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen
Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If I am not an
apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of
my apostleship in the Lord. My defense to those who examine me is this:
Do we have no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along
a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the
Lord, and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to
refrain from working? 1 Corinthians 9:1-6