Priesthood (Latter Day Saints) - Orders of Priesthood

Orders of Priesthood

Latter Day Saint theology has recognized at least three orders of priesthood: (1) the Aaronic Priesthood, (2) the Melchizedek Priesthood; and (3) the Patriarchal Priesthood. Although these are different orders, they are, in reality, all subsumed under the priesthood held by Jesus Christ, that is, the Melchizedek Priesthood.

The Aaronic Priesthood (also called the Levitical Priesthood), is considered to be a lesser priesthood tracing its roots to Aaron the brother of Moses through John the Baptist. In Latter Day Saint theology, it derives from the original Holy Priesthood which Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received on May 15, 1829, when they were ordained by an angel identifying himself as John the Baptist. In 1835, Smith and Cowdery clarified that this authority was the "Aaronic, or Levitical priesthood".

By early 1831, Latter Day Saint theology also recognized a higher order of priesthood, or the high priesthood. This high priesthood had been foreshadowed in the Book of Mormon, which referred to men holding the unique position of high priest in the church organization described in that book, holding the "high priesthood of the holy order of God" (Alma 4:20, Alma 13:8); however, the office of high priest was not implemented in early Mormonism until some days after Joseph Smith, Jr. was joined in his ministry by Sidney Rigdon, a newly-converted Church of Christ minister from Ohio, who merged his congregation with Smith's Church of Christ. Rigdon believed the teachings of the early Mormon missionaries who converted him, but thought the missionaries were lacking in heavenly power. Therefore, the church's first High Priests were ordained at a special conference held on June 1831.

By 1835, Latter Day Saints began referring to this High Priesthood as the Melchizedek Priesthood, or, the "Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God". This priesthood was so named, according to a revelation, because Melchizedek "was such a great high priest" and "..out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name..." This priesthood was thought to be the order of priesthood held by Jesus, and a distinction was made between the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, which derives in part from the Epistle to the Hebrews, whose author argues that Jesus arose "after the order of Melchizedec, and not...after the order of Aaron." (Heb. 7:11).

Although there were generally considered to be only two orders of priesthood during most of the life of Joseph Smith, Jr., toward the end of Smith's life, on August 27, 1843, he referred to a third order of priesthood called the Patriarchal Priesthood. This one of the "3 grand orders of priesthood", Smith said, was second in greatness between the lower Aaronic and the higher Melchizedek. The priesthood included, according to Smith, the "keys to endowment—tokens, etc.", the ability to "walk with God", and the authority of the "order of prayer". Smith taught that this order of priesthood was passed from father to son, and held by Abraham and the biblical patriarchs. However, Smith provided little further information about this third order. Although Smith instituted an office of Patriarch in the church, most modern Latter Day Saint denominations classify the Patriarchal priesthood as an office within the Melchizedek Priesthood, rather than a separate order.