Place in Latter Day Saint Hierarchy
In practical terms, the priesthood office of seventy is one which has varied widely over the course of history. As originally envisioned by Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr. in the 1830s, the seventy were to be a body composed of several separate quorums of up to 70 seventies each, all of which would be led by seven presidents. These presidents, chosen from the first quorum, would appoint and direct the other quorums of seventy.
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest of the Latter Day Saint denominations, the quorums of the seventy are directed and supervised hierarchically by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who are in turn directed by the First Presidency. As introduced by Joseph Smith, the apostles and the seventy had authority only outside the main body of Latter Day Saints in Zion, and in the outlying stakes. Members in Zion and the stakes were led by the High Council of Zion (under the direction of the First Presidency) and stake high councils.
As a body, the seventy in the LDS Church are considered to be equal in priesthood authority with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This presumably means that if the apostles were killed or incapacitated, the seventy could take over the function of the apostles. However, in such circumstances, the seventy would be required to act unanimously.
Read more about this topic: Seventy (Latter Day Saints)
Famous quotes containing the words place, day, saint and/or hierarchy:
“The poem is lonely. It is lonely and en route. Its author stays with it. Does this very fact not place the poem already here, at its inception, in the encounter, in the mystery of encounter?”
—Paul Celan [Paul Antschel] (1920–1970)
“The day in his hotness,
The strife with the palm;
The night in her silence,
The stars in their calm . . .”
—Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)
“Child in the womb,
Or saint on a tomb
Which way shall I lie
To fall asleep?”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“In the world of the celebrity, the hierarchy of publicity has replaced the hierarchy of descent and even of great wealth.”
—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)