How Men and Women Share Priesthood Power

Yesterday's release of the annual statistical report of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints prompted me to update the numbers in my Priesthood Keys illustration (see above). It's already out of date. Since the end of last year, the Church now has 65,000 missionaries in 58 new missions scattered around the globe.

Much has already been said in this 183th Annual General Conference about the priesthood, the keys and how priesthood blesses both men and women. While it is true the priesthood keys of authority operate in a very hierarchical linear fashion emanating from the Godhood down through the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles to the newest Deacons Quorum President, and is very male-dominated, there is a rarely discussed dimension in which this grand set of priesthood keys operates. It the spiritual realm of personal power. 

We will call these “the spiritual keys of power,” because they are the keys to all the spiritual blessings of the Church. (D&C 107:18-19). These keys give all the children of God access to the things of the spirit. Our Father in Heaven is not pleased when women who foment for priesthood keys of authority are confused about their supposed need to preside, when that dimension of the use of priesthood is completely unnecessary and inappropriate. They participate with their husbands in this more important dimension of the use of the priesthood keys. 

There is no competition involved for priesthood power between men and women. Understanding the appropriate use of the priesthood keys is the purpose of the book Scott Strong and I wrote, way back in 1996, entitled Power and Covenants: Men, Women and Priesthood. We've been giving it away to anyone who asks for it ever since. The complete unpublished manuscript is available here, and has risen to the number two slot in all-time popularity on this blog page. I suspect that is because confusion over gender roles in our society and among members of the Church has never been more pronounced than it is now.

The English language sometimes uses the two terms “power” and “authority” interchangeably or synonymously, but the two terms are not true synonyms in the gospel context. Though the keys of the priesthood are the same, their use in Church administration (authority) and personal revelation (power) are very different in the scope of their influence. On the general administrative level they provide inspiration and revelation to direct, organize, call, ordain, set apart and administer. On a personal level, however, they operate only within the purview of an individual’s personal life and family stewardships. While revelation is (or should be) the common denominator in the use of priesthood keys, the scope of personal revelation does not extend into another’s stewardship, one who is called to a position of authority in the Church we do not hold.

We are rather loose in our usage of the names of these priesthood keys, because we have never thought how the simple principles and ordinances of the gospel might be considered priesthood keys. What follows lies at the heart of the matter with respect to women and the professed need by some to ordain them to the various offices in the priesthood men hold. These keys of spiritual power are administered only by the authority of the priesthood to the sons and daughters of God. Men and women receive these keys only from the priesthood, and nowhere else.

These spiritual keys of power are used to obtain access to the mysteries of the kingdom of God in heaven. One will profit from a thorough review of these principles by studying the manuscript cited above. The keys of the oracles of God also redound to the benefit of each individual son and daughter of God. Personal revelation is a hallmark of Mormonism. We believe we are guided by the Holy Spirit and we champion the quest for personal revelation in our Church callings and our personal lives. “Oracles” are simply personal conversations with God. No one, male or female, can commune with God, receive knowledge of the mysteries of Godliness and know God except through these sacred spiritual keys.

Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood Keys

Because there are “two divisions or grand heads,” Melchizedek and Aaronic (see D&C 107:6), it will not be surprising to learn each priesthood has two specific priesthood keys associated with it. The scriptures reveal four spiritual keys of power in the priesthood: The first and second Aaronic Priesthood keys (so-called because they are administered by the Aaronic Priesthood), and the first and second Melchizedek Priesthood keys (so-called because they are administered by the Melchizedek Priesthood). These spiritual keys of power are administered to all worthy persons, male and female, in the Church regardless of position just as Joseph promised they would be. To this day we witness the keys being routinely given to even the “weakest” of saints.

The Aaronic Priesthood’s First Key

Section 13 of The Doctrine and Covenants consists of the words John the Baptist spoke, as he conferred the Aaronic Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery: “Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels. . .” 

Those who have the Aaronic Priesthood conferred upon them, we are frequently taught in the Church, thereby have right to the ministering of angels. The implication is those who do not hold this priesthood have no right to the ministering of angels. We have misunderstood, and obtaining a proper knowledge of these things is absolutely fundamental to the establishment of the latter-day Zion if we will ever be enabled to come into the presence of an “innumerable company of angels.” (See TPJS, 325). 

John said the Aaronic Priesthood holds the key of the ministering of angels. However, John did not say what that key was. What is the key of the ministering of angels?

The Prophet Mormon revealed this first Aaronic Priesthood key:

. . . it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men. . . (Moroni 7:37).

The key is faith, specifically faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the key by which angels appear and minister unto men and women. It is the first spiritual key of power. Like “the Hebrew Church [we must come] to an innumerable company of angels, unto God the Father of all, and to Jesus Christ the Mediator of the new covenant.” (TPJS, 325). 

Upon reflection, this makes perfect sense. Acting in his editorial role in the compilation of the records comprising The Book of Mormon, Moroni reflected on the faith of his forefathers:

I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

For it was by faith that Christ showed himself unto our fathers. . .

Wherefore, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift, if ye will but have faith. . .

It was by faith that they of old were called after the holy order of God. . .

By faith was the law of Moses given. But in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled.

For if there be no faith among the children of men God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith.

Behold, it was the faith of Alma and Amulek that caused the prison to tumble to the earth.

Behold, it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that wrought the change upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

Behold, it was the faith of Ammon and his brethren which wrought so great a miracle among the Lamanites.

Yea, and even all they who wrought miracles wrought them by faith, even those who were before Christ and also those who were after.

And it was by faith that the three disciples obtained a promise that they should not taste of death; and they obtained not the promise until after their faith.

And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God.

And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad. . . (Ether 12:6-22).

All the mighty works recorded in holy writ have come by faith without exception. Without faith nothing happens. Of course it is the first key of power! No other possibility qualifies. From the “Lectures on Faith” in Joseph’s School of the Prophets, we learn:

Faith, then, is the first great governing principle which has power, dominion and authority over all things; by it they exist, by it they are upheld, by it they are changed, or by it they remain, agreeable to the will of God. Without it there is no power, and without power there could be no creation, nor existence! (Lectures On Faith, 1:24).

[Faith] is the principle of power in the Deity as well as in man. . . and without it there is no power, and without power there could be no creation nor existence! (Lectures on Faith, Questions & Answers, Lecture First; also see Hebrews 11:3).

We may be given authority to act in positions in the Church, but without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we really have no power in the priesthood because without faith we can do nothing. (D&C 8:10). 

The Aaronic Priesthood’s Second Key

Returning to the reference of John the Baptist’s ordination of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, we see that he spoke of two Aaronic keys:

Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of [1] the ministering of angels, and [2] of the [preparatory] gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. . . (D&C 13).

The Aaronic Priesthood’s second key is the preparatory gospel:

And the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel; which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins. . . (D&C 84:26).

The preparatory gospel of repentance and baptism by immersion for the remission of sins is the second Aaronic Priesthood key. Our tendency, after dutifully memorizing the 4th Article of Faith in our Primary days, is to separate repentance and baptism in our minds. A thoughtful reading of all the scriptures on this subject, however, indicates the second principle of the gospel, repentance, is linked inseparably to the first ordinance of the gospel, baptism by immersion. Only repentance and baptism produce the remission of sins. It takes both to prepare a person to be born of the spirit. Hence, the reason both together comprise “the preparatory gospel.” 

Baptism, the next natural step following sincere repentance, is an Aaronic Priesthood ordinance, confirmed by D&C 107:20:

The power and authority of the lesser, or Aaronic Priesthood, is to hold the keys of the ministering of angels, and to administer in outward ordinances, the letter of the gospel, the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, agreeable to the covenants and commandments.

Whether we say “the baptism of repentance” (D&C 107:20), or “baptized unto repentance” (Alma 7:14), it is the same. The scriptures confirm that only the effectual combination of both repentance and baptism by immersion comprises the Aaronic Priesthood’s second key known as the preparatory gospel.

The Melchizedek Priesthood’s First Key 

What is the Melchizedek Priesthood’s first key of spiritual power? D&C 84:19 provides our answer:

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.

How do we learn our first lessons in knowing God? What is the first key that gives a person access to the mysteries of godliness? Nephi answers:

For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round. (1 Nephi. 10:19).

The Melchizedek Priesthood’s first key is the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is perfectly consistent with the two Aaronic Priesthood keys we have already examined. The gift of the Holy Ghost is the next ordinance of the gospel following baptism. The gift of the Holy Ghost is the first ordinance of the Melchizedek Priesthood, and the scriptures offer numerous examples to support the spirit as the medium whereby men and women begin to know the mysteries our physical eyes cannot see, nor ears hear. As Paul said:

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things [mysteries] of God.

For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, except he has the Spirit of God.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (JST 1 Corinthians 2:9-14).

Joseph Smith said:

No man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations. The Holy Ghost is a revelator. (TPJS, 328). We never can comprehend the things of God and of heaven, but by revelation. (TPJS, 292).

The scriptural definition of a “mystery” is something that can only be known by the spirit through revelation:

Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God. (Jacob 4:8).

Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.

Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation. . .

Remember that without faith you can do nothing; therefore ask in faith. Trifle not with these things; do not ask for that which you ought not.

Ask that you may know the mysteries of God. . . (D&C 8:2-3, 10-11).

If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things -- that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal. (D&C 42:61).

But great and marvelous are the works of the Lord, and the mysteries of his kingdom which he showed unto us, which surpass all understanding in glory, and in might, and in dominion;

Which he commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the Spirit, and are not lawful for man to utter;

Neither is man capable to make them known, for they are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves before him;

To whom he grants this privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves. (D&C 76:116).

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26).

Not surprisingly, then, the scriptures clearly confirm the Holy Ghost, the first Comforter from whom we begin to learn the mysteries of godliness in mortality, is the Melchizedek Priesthood’s first key of spiritual power.

The Melchizedek Priesthood’s Second Key

Just as John the Baptist provided us with both Aaronic Priesthood keys, Joseph Smith gives us both keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood:

And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth [1] the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even [2] the key of the knowledge of God. (D&C 84:19).

One is tempted to interpret the words “even the key of the knowledge of God” as merely referring to the first key of the mysteries of the kingdom, but a careful reading of these words in context reveals this is a separate second key.

And this greater [Melchizedek] priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of [1] the mysteries of the kingdom [by the power of the First Comforter], [2] even the key of the knowledge of God [by the power of the Second Comforter].

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.

Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God. (D&C 84:19-23).

This second Melchizedek Priesthood key of spiritual power goes far beyond merely beginning to know the mysteries of the kingdom by the power of the Holy Ghost. Joseph learns in this revelation there is a key by which we may see the face of God by being sanctified and entering his rest, “which rest is the fulness of his glory.” This second key has reference to Jesus Christ, who is the Second Comforter. “The rest of God” is a scriptural allusion to those saints who are received into the church of the Firstborn as heirs to the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom. (D&C 76:54, 58). If in mortality these have their “calling and election made sure,” have received “the more sure word of prophecy,” and been “sealed up to eternal life through the oath and covenant of the priesthood,” they receive this priesthood key.

The second Melchizedek Priesthood key is the “Second Comforter,” the final and grand spiritual key of power in the priesthood on the earth.

In his inspired doctrinal commentary on John 14, Joseph Smith said:

There are two Comforters spoken of. One is the Holy Ghost. . .

After a person has faith in Christ, [the first Aaronic key], repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins [the second Aaronic key] and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, [the first Melchizedek key], then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter [the second Melchizedek key], which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the testimony of St. John in the 14th chapter.

. . . Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man [or woman] obtains this last Comforter, he [she] will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him [her], or appear unto him [her] from time to time, and even He will reveal the Father unto him [her], and they will take up their abode with him [her], and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him [her] face to face. . . (TPJS, 149-151).

All of us have been called and elected. We are all called to God’s kingdom and the invitation excludes none of God’s children. We are all elected to become the children of Abraham through the covenant he made with God. President Ezra Taft Benson spoke of the calling and election of women in these words:

Before the world was created, in heavenly councils the pattern and role of women were prescribed. You were elected by God to be wives and mothers in Zion. Exaltation in the celestial kingdom is predicated upon faithfulness to that calling. (Ensign, November 1981, 105).

By priesthood ordinance a man and woman may have their calling and election made sure. This is the “more sure word of prophecy” referred to in D&C 131:5:

The more sure word of prophecy means a man’s [woman’s] knowing that he [she] is sealed up unto eternal life, by revelation and the spirit of prophecy, through the power of the Holy Priesthood. It is impossible for man [woman] to be saved in ignorance.

In his equally inspired commentary on 2 Peter 1 Joseph said:

The principle of knowledge is the principle of salvation. This principle can be comprehended by the faithful and diligent; and every one that does not obtain knowledge sufficient to be saved will be damned. The principle of salvation is given us through the knowledge of Jesus Christ. (TPJS, 297).

The knowledge spoken of in these passages is not merely knowing Christ because we have obtained his presence and his company. It means knowing what Christ knows -- that we are sealed up to eternal life because Christ communicates that knowledge to us personally, face to face.

Joseph Smith also said:

There are three grand secrets lying in this chapter, [II Peter i.] which no man can dig out, unless by the light of revelation, and which unlocks the whole chapter as the things that are written are only hints of things which existed in the prophet's mind, which are not written concerning eternal glory. I am going to take up this subject by virtue of the knowledge of God in me, which I have received from heaven. (TPJS, 304).

Notwithstanding the apostle [Peter] exhorts them to add to their faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, etc., yet he exhorts them to make their calling and election sure. And though they had heard an audible voice from heaven bearing testimony that Jesus was the Son of God, yet he says we have a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light shining in a dark place. Now, wherein could they have a more sure word of prophecy than to hear the voice of God saying, This is my beloved Son.

Now for the secret and grand key. Though they might hear the voice of God and know that Jesus was the Son of God, this would be no evidence that their election and calling was made sure, that they had part with Christ, and were joint heirs with Him. They then would want that more sure word of prophecy, that they were sealed in the heavens and had the promise of eternal life in the kingdom of God. Then, having this promise sealed unto them, it was an anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast. Though the thunders might roll and lightnings flash, and earthquakes bellow, and war gather thick around, yet this hope and knowledge [through this Second Comforter] would support the soul in every hour of trial, trouble and tribulation. Then [this] knowledge through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ [the Second Comforter telling us we are sealed] is the grand key that unlocks the glories and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. (TPJS, 298).

Many who discover this doctrine for the first time are troubled by it because it is seldom taught publicly in the Church. However, Elder Bruce R. McConkie, spoke of it constantly and wrote of it repeatedly. (For example, see fourth verses of Hymns, nos. 21; 134). He gives this added insight:

To have one’s calling and election made sure is to be sealed up unto eternal life; it is to have the unconditional guarantee of exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world; it is to receive the assurance of Godhood; it is, in effect, to have the day of judgment advanced, so that an inheritance of all the glory and honor of the Father’s kingdom is assured prior to the day when the faithful actually enter into the divine presence to sit with Christ in his throne, even as he is “set down” with his “Father in his throne.” (Revelation 3:21). (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:330-31).

When we take upon ourselves all the ordinances of salvation including the blessings of the temple endowment and eternal marriage covenants then live our lives in harmony with the gospel, we may press forward with faith and mature patience waiting upon the Lord for the day when our lives will be crowned with celestial glory. In terms of our eternal opportunities it does not really matter if our calling and election is made sure here or hereafter. “But blessed are they who are faithful and endure, whether in life or in death, for they shall inherit eternal life.” (D&C 50:5). Once again, Elder McConkie:

If we die in the faith, that is the same thing as saying that our calling and election has been made sure and that we will go on to eternal reward hereafter. As far as faithful members of the Church are concerned, they have charted a course leading to eternal life. This life is the time that is appointed as a probationary estate for men to prepare to meet God, and as far as faithful people are concerned, if they are in the line of their duty, if they are doing what they ought to do, although they may not have been perfect in this sphere, their probation is ended. Now there will be some probation for some other people hereafter. But for the faithful saints of God, now is the time and the day, and their probation is ended with their death. (Funeral Service for Elder S. Dilworth Young, July 13, 1981, typescript, 5).

Summarizing, then, the four keys of the priesthood, “the spiritual keys of power,” are: Faith (in the Lord Jesus Christ); the preparatory gospel (repentance and baptism); the First Comforter (the Holy Ghost, key to the mysteries of godliness); and the Second Comforter (Jesus Christ, key to the knowledge of God). Notice how specifically the scriptures describe these keys that have been exercised by the inhabitants of the highest celestial realm:

And again we bear record -- for we saw and heard, and this is the testimony of the gospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just --

They are they who received the testimony of Jesus and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given.

That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;

And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.

They are they who are the church of the Firstborn. (D&C 76:50-54).

When used in the administrative domains of authority in the kingdom, the keys of the priesthood are for the exclusive use of the presiding priesthood as they govern in their various positions. However, each person in the Church (male and female) accesses these priesthood keys of spiritual power in their individual lives for the purpose of growing in the gifts and powers of the spirit. In this sense the keys are inclusive regardless of position.

One common element that pertains to these keys, either administratively or individually, is they are all administered to the members of the Church by the priesthood. To preserve the order in his kingdom God does not authorize the dissemination of these keys except through the priesthood. 

The priesthood holds the exclusive right to administer these keys to mankind. All four keys are obtained only from the priesthood. Every worthy man and woman of record in the Church may enjoy the blessings of these priesthood keys. 

Studying the talks of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, including President Boyd K. Packer, Elder David A. Bednar, Elder M. Russell Ballard, and Sister Elaine S. Dalton's talk, who was just released as the General Young Women's President yesterday, will reveal how consistent all these principles are. Undoubtedly, we'll hear more in today's sessions.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks summarizes this topic in this presentation in one of the videos of the recent Worldwide Leadership Training program. Says he, "Priesthood authority in the Church is a matter of calling, but priesthood power is a matter of choice in the home."

Beware of False Doctrines

In the past week I have been exposed to three false doctrines. I'll confess this is not a rare occurrence, though I wish I could say our members were well grounded in the true doctrines so the false ones wouldn't ever see the light of day.

Here they are:

1. That openly gay men are holding positions of authority in the priesthood and the Church is softening its position over the LGBT agenda. These stories often come as anecdotal references like, "I have a friend who lives in Southern California in a ward where an openly gay man in a relationship with another man is the president of the elders' quorum." Beware of these kinds of stories, because they simply are not true. Someone is soon going to have to start a Snopes page to sniff out these falsities and expose them for what they are.

After responding to the person who shared this latest story with me, the Church issued a statement on its Newsroom Blog page refuting these kinds of claims. In part the blog post said:

"In this period that many are calling another 'Mormon Moment,' Mattingly correctly asserts, 'If people make claims about evolving Mormon doctrines, look for names, titles and clear statements of attribution.'

"There is a lot of interest in the Church and a lot being written about it. It's important for the public to distinguish between fact, opinion and personal advocacy."

2. I received an e-mail from a well-informed young man who is a student of the scriptures. In the e-mail he quoted Heber C. Kimball to the effect that our Heavenly Father was not only the Father of our spirits, but also the Father of our physical bodies.

"I have a question that I’ve been pondering for some time and thought you might be able help me with it.  As I have studied the creation more I find the verses in Moses 2:27-28 and Genesis 1:27-28 perplexing.  When it speaks of creating man it does not mention that they are created of the dust in these verses until the next chapter in verse Moses 3:7 - It mentions that they form man again this time out of the dust and man becomes the “first flesh upon the earth”. So I conclude that the account of the days 1-6 of creation is actually the spiritual creation, and the physical creation happened on the 7th day or at least the creation of man (D&C 77:12).  This brings me to my question, I want to know what the above verses mean when it says '…be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth'? Because Adam and Eve are only spirits at this point… So, Is Heavenly Father teaching them that this will be their role in life…? Or is he asking them to spiritually pro-create at this point? And this would allow them to create spiritual tabernacles in the same way we create physical tabernacles in mortality…?"

Elder Harold B. Lee

His question reminded me specifically of a quote from Elder Harold B. Lee that arose out of his summer lecture series in 1954, where his audience was comprised of Seminary and Institute instructors. During the summer he discussed many and varied doctrinal topics, and in particular this one referenced in the e-mail to me. I responded by saying I had read the entire Heber C. Kimball discourse in its original source and that one statement appeared to me to have been lifted out of context. This is a favorite tactic of anti-Mormon writers who delight in this practice to misrepresent and embarrass current leaders of the Church whose statements are pitted against the early leaders of the Church to create intentional conflict. Said Elder Lee:

"It is just as dangerous for teachers of religion to teach as absolute facts that can't be controverted, something that still is in the realm of speculation and theory, and when you find someone who is writing a book in which they speak with a pedantic authority as though it were an accomplished fact and couldn't be gainsaid, then you put a question mark by it and write 'theory.' I will tell you what I do, as I read these many books that come (and I think the day is here when we have got to be more discriminating in our reading than ever before).

"Let me suggest a method. As you read these books, no matter who writes them, read carefully down the record and where their teaching is in complete agreement with the revelations that the Lord has given us and with the teachings of the scriptures, accept it as being fact, but where they go off into imaginative suppositions or speculations that are not fully proved by the scriptures, write out in the margin, the name of the author. It is his idea, you see. Distinguish as between the individual's idea and that which is supported by scriptures. It is perfectly all right for us to get another's idea. . .

"Talk in simple language -- keep your teachings just as simple as the Lord has told it -- simple for the purpose that he told Moses, 'To bring to pass the immortality and the eternal life of man.' (Moses 1:39). He showed Moses the history of this world, who saw it in vision, but of all things else pertaining to the rest of the universe, he didn't show him. Perhaps if we had the full story of the creation of the earth and man told to us in great detail, it would be more of a mystery than the simple few statements that we have contained in the Bible, because of our lack of ability to comprehend. Therefore, for reasons best known to the Lord, he has kept us in darkness. Wait until the Lord speaks, or wait until that day when he shall come, and when we shall be among the privileged either to come up out of our graves and be caught up into the clouds of heaven or shall be living upon the earth likewise to be so translated before him. Then we shall know all things pertaining to this earth, how it was made, and all things that now as children we are groping for and trying to understand.

"Let's reserve judgment as to the facts concerning the creation until we know these things for sure. Then let us answer those who offer their theories with reference to the creation, which come from men: 'We don't know, and nobody knows.' Label 'theory' by the name of the man who gave us the theory and think of it as has been said by Elder [James E.] Talmage, as merely the scaffolding, until the walls of our faith are built and that glorious day when we are permitted to enter into the presence of the Lord and receive greater instructions."
(Elder Harold B. Lee, manuscript copy of 1954 lecture series at BYU for Seminary and Institute instructors [unpublished], pp. 38, 44).

3. A text message asking if I was aware that the "matriarchal priesthood" was going to be restored to the earth before the Second Coming. When I inquired further into the origins of the statement, I discovered there are many women who have spiritual gifts enabling them to heal physical, emotional and spiritual ailments of all kinds. These women are wonderful examples to me of deeply spiritual and committed individuals who exercise supernal gifts of the Spirit. One of those enumerated gifts in the scriptures (see Moroni 10; D&C 46; 1 Corinthians 12) is the gift of healing. Spiritual gifts, of course, are not distinguishable between male and female, and often operate outside the authoritative priesthood keys that are the domain of men only. They are clearly explained in the context of the spiritual keys of power available to men and women without regard to their free exercise by males or females. In the past Scott Strong and I have written extensively about these distinctions, and I would refer you to our compilation on these topics.

There can be little doubt these spiritual gifts can, do and have always existed among women in the Church. The evidence they are efficacious and beneficial for many is irrefutable. However, there is no need to force the invention of a modality linking this spiritual gift to the priesthood keys of authority to somehow reach for authenticity. Such is a false idea and if pursued would foul the pure channel from which the gift flows to those individuals so endowed.

That said, the exercise of the spiritual gifts and discerning of how the those gifts exercised by others within the boundary of his congregation is clearly within the domain of priesthood leaders and the priesthood keys of authority he holds. (See D&C 46 and 50). However, to assert that women must have something called the "matriarchal order of the priesthood" to freely exercise their spiritual gift is absolutely false on its face.

Ask yourselves, when confronted with such ideas, "In all my life in the Church, have I ever heard anyone in a position of authority offer such an idea?"

If the answer to that simple question is "NO," then leave it where you found it and don't pick it up again. Left unchecked and unchallenged, repeated to the uninformed and gullible, these ideas gain more power than they deserve to garner.

Power and Covenants: Men, Women and Priesthood

Over the next several weeks I will be serializing a book written in 1996, dealing with the marriage covenant between men and women.  There has never been a time in our society when the defining of the true roles of men and women was more urgent.  A complete free pdf copy of the manuscript may be obtained by writing to me at dgoates@yahoo.com. 

Power and Covenants:  Men, Women and Priesthood
by R. Scott Strong and David B. Goates, 1996

Table of Contents:

Prologue

PART 1 -- THE EQUALITY QUESTION

Section 1 -- Sexual Equality

Chapter One:  Equality of the Sexes

Chapter Two:  Equality in Dichotomy

Chapter Three:  Serving the Home

Chapter Four:  Special Situations

Section 2 -- The “Presiding” Question

Chapter Five:  The Presiding Principle

Chapter Six:  The Principle of Order

Chapter Seven:  Righteous and Unrighteous Dominion

PART 2 -- THE PRIESTHOOD QUESTION

Section 3 -- The Priesthood

Chapter Eight:  What is the Priesthood?

Chapter Nine:  Power in the Priesthood

Chapter Ten:  No Power in the Law

Section 4 -- The Keys of the Priesthood

Chapter Eleven:  The Presiding Keys of Authority

Chapter Twelve:  The Spiritual Keys of Power

Chapter Thirteen:  How the Priesthood Administers the Keys

Chapter Fourteen:  Coming Into the Presence of God

Chapter Fifteen:  The Priesthood Keys and True Prayer

Section 5 -- The Patriarchal Order

Chapter Sixteen:  The Patriarchal Order of the Priesthood

Chapter Seventeen:  Temples and Temple Work

Chapter Eighteen:  The Creation of Man

Chapter Nineteen:  Creatorship

Chapter Twenty:  Women and the Priesthood

Conclusion

Epilogue

Appendix A


PROLOGUE

Before their outing to the park one day in early Spring, two children asked their father for some money to buy candy and soda.

Jill, the little girl, was crying as they left because her older brother, Joey, was given four quarters. She was given only one dollar bill. She left home feeling their father wasn’t very fair, because Joey got four and she only got one.

Joey felt he was really lucky getting four, when his sister only got one. He figured he was entitled to more because he was a boy.

In truth, their father had given them exactly equal amounts of money, but he had purposely given them their equal shares in different denominations that day for a reason known only to him. That early in the season the concession stand would be closed. Only the vending machines would be available. He knew the candy machine took only quarters, and the drink machine took only dollar bills. If he had given them each a dollar bill or if each had only four quarters, they would only be able to acquire either drinks or candy instead of both. He told them if they would share they could each obtain the desired treats. Now it was up to them.

Some brothers and sisters in similar circumstances might individually spend their share of the money, then proudly flaunt and consume what each had obtained while secretly envying what the other had. Worse, they might angrily argue over who had the best treat. Other brothers and sisters might do some wheeling and dealing, competitively bartering and manipulating to get more or less than the other based upon who was bigger or smarter.

Still others might lovingly combine their resources, join together, share equally, and gratefully enjoy what their father had generously provided as gifts for each of his children -- a love given freely and equally to a beautiful daughter and a handsome son.


PART ONE

THE EQUALITY QUESTION

Section One -- Sexual Equality

Chapter One

Equality of the Sexes

The Lord has revealed the truth about men and women from the beginning. Men and women are complete and equal partners. In General Conference, taking his text from the creation story in Genesis, President Howard W. Hunter taught:

The Lord intended that the wife be a helpmeet for man (meet means equal) -- that is, a companion equal and necessary in full partnership. (See Ensign, Nov. 1994, pp. 49-51).

The woman is the other half of man, just as man is the other half of woman, and nothing short of a complete man (an exalted couple) comprises the true and full definition of God. Godhood requires parenthood. Gods are parents. Their dominions, principalities and kingdoms comprise their families -- their offspring. Gods have the power of endless (eternal) lives. They possess the power of the seeds (procreation) forever, worlds without end. Other resurrected beings without posterity are not Gods. These beings are not Kings and Queens, for they have no kingdoms, or posterity, to lovingly preside over in the grand order of eternal kingdoms.

Brigham Young said:

The kingdoms [God] possesses and rules over are his own progeny. Every man who is faithful and gets a salvation and glory, and becomes a King of kings and Lord of lords, or a Father of fathers, it will be by the increase of his own progeny. Our Father and God rules over his own children. Where ever there is a God in all the eternities possessing a kingdom and glory and power it is by means of his own progeny. (JD, 11:262).

By definition, then, the Gods are exalted Fathers and Mothers. Wherever we find a father, there must also be a mother. Motherhood is essential to fatherhood, and both are essential to Godhood.

Erastus Snow, said it well:

. . . there can be no God except he is composed of the man and the woman united, and there is not in all the eternities that exist, nor ever will be, a God in any other way. I have another description: There never was a God, and there never will be in all eternities, except they are made of these two component parts; a man and a woman; the male and the female. (JD, 19:270).

The Lord’s chosen servants have always taught this important doctrine.

President Spencer W. Kimball said the term man in the story of creation refers to a complete man which is husband and wife. (Ensign, March 1976, 71). In 1979, he taught marriage is the only true state.  (Ensign, May 1979, 6).

Elder James E. Talmage:

Neither of the sexes is complete in itself as a counterpart of Deity. We are expressly told that God is the Father of spirits, and to apprehend the literalness of this solemn truth we must know that a mother of spirits is an existent personality. . . (The Articles of Faith, 12th ed., 442-43).

President Howard W. Hunter:

It is not good for man nor for woman to be alone. Man is not complete without woman. Neither can fill the measure of their creation without the other. (Ensign, November 1994, 49).

President Hugh B. Brown:

Without the sealing ordinances of temple marriage, man cannot achieve a godlike stature or receive a fulness of joy because the unmarried person is not a whole person, is not complete. (Improvement Era, August 1962, 572).

Only the full partnership of male and female can achieve eternal lives by the power of the seeds. Man or woman without the other is incapable of producing the offspring required to bring to pass the revealed work and glory of God -- the immortality and eternal life of man. (See Moses 1:39).

Absolute equality between two mutually and exclusively dependent halves of one whole is a self-evident truth. Man and woman are truly dependent upon each other to achieve their common goal of Godhood. The work and glory of God is impossible for either to achieve without the other. How can one say to the other, “I am superior to you,” and have it be true?

The other may say with complete integrity, “You will never have what you want without me. I am your only hope, your only option, your only chance at what you want. Everything you hope and desire is absolutely dependent upon your partnership with me. It’s me or nothing.”

Then the first could respond, “You are just as dependent upon me!” The second could rightfully say, “That is exactly my point. Each of us is no bigger, no higher, no more important, no better or more valuable in this common quest than the other. We either take each other, acknowledging each other as the equals we truly are, or we both have nothing.”

This stalemate, where neither has advantage over the other, neither has the requisite power nor capacities without the other, unequivocally confirms the equality of each half of the whole. Being mutually and exclusively dependent upon each other mandates respect and appreciation for the equal value of the other and willing submission and trust in a full partnership.

This is the true condition of males and females. If either the male or the female obtains a fullness of divine potential, it can only be realized in full partnership. There are no exceptions in the highest heavens.

In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; and if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase. (D&C 131:2-4).

“A man” in this context refers to “a person,” man or woman. The reference to “a man” here had to do with the fact the Prophet was speaking to William Clayton at the time. In this context whenever we refer to “man” in a generic way we are speaking about mankind -- men and women.

President Joseph Fielding Smith states the case clearly, so there can be no misunderstanding the necessity for two partners in attaining the fullness of the blessings of the kingdom of God:

In order to fulfill the purposes of our Eternal Father, there must be a union, husbands and wives receiving the blessings that are promised to those who are faithful and true that will exalt them to Godhood. A man cannot receive the fulness of the blessings of the kingdom of God alone, nor can the woman, but the two together can receive all the blessings and privileges that pertain to the fulness of the Father’s kingdom. (Take Heed to Yourselves, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1966], 258).

Throughout history the carnal societies of fallen men have often viewed women as second rate citizens, mere objects of pleasure, to be used and abused at the whim of their supposed male counterparts for sexual gratification and in subservient roles as servants and slaves in the kitchens and bedrooms of society. Even within the churches males have historically arrogated to themselves positions of superiority (as they suppose) by virtue of their gender and priesthood. In this great pluralistic democratic era in America, however, with constitutional support to bolster their cause, the “women’s movement” is successfully seeking greater freedom and equality for all. It is no wonder oppressed women everywhere have risen in rebellion, seeking their rightful equal status with men in society. This new “feminism” is long overdue and clearly warranted. However, Latter-day Saints would be well-advised to exercise caution regarding these sweeping political and social reforms. There are many diverse ideas about what “feminism” is. Most of these ideas do not conform with the revealed truths of the Restoration.

Based upon the flood of light we enjoy, the Latter-day Saints can better define “feminism” within the Church as “partnership.” Men and women with that shared vision would then accept one another as equal brothers and sisters, become true partners, a Zion people who are “of one heart and one mind, and [dwell] in righteousness.” (See Moses 7:18).

Most of the women we know in the Church simply want and deserve acceptance, recognition and participation on equal terms with men. Few women really advocate a need or feel a desire for a priesthood ordination. What seems most apparent, however, is a healthy willingness and assertiveness among women to speak up against intolerance, injustice and insensitivity. If men are listening carefully they will move closer to understanding their role in productive partnering with their wives, daughters and other women in their lives.

Pope John Paul II, an inspiring modern Catholic Church leader had an insightful perspective on feminism:

If our century has been characterized in liberal societies by a growing feminism, it might be said that this trend is a reaction to the lack of respect accorded each woman. Everything that I have written on this theme in Mulieris Dignitatem [the Apostolic letter entitled The Dignity of Woman] I have felt since I was very young, and, in a certain sense, from infancy. Perhaps I was also influenced by the climate of the time in which I was brought up -- it was a time of great respect and consideration for women, especially for women who were mothers.

I think that a certain contemporary feminism finds its roots in the absence of true respect for woman. Revealed truth teaches us something different. Respect for woman, amazement at the mystery of womanhood, and finally the nuptial love of God Himself and of Christ, as expressed in the Redemption, are all elements that have never been completely absent in the faith and life of the Church. This can be seen in a rich tradition of customs and practices that, regrettably, is nowadays being eroded. In our civilization woman has become, before all else, an object of pleasure.

It is very significant, on the other hand, that in the midst of this very situation the authentic theology of woman is being reborn. The spiritual beauty, the particular genius, of women is being rediscovered. The bases for the consolidation of the position of women in life, not only family life but also social and cultural life, are being redefined. (His Holiness Pope John Paul II in Crossing the Threshold of Hope, ed. Vittorio Messori [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994], 216-7, italics in the original).

There is a hopeful tone in those words, as there is throughout the entire book. Perhaps we are at the apex of the change of direction in the swinging of the pendulum in women’s rights.

While we witness real and positive change in the fight to elevate women to their rightful equal status with men, there is alarming evidence we have overreacted in some very unwise and deleterious ways. There was a time in America during this century when political correctness regarding the domestic role of women was not an issue, because no one questioned the traditional family values of a father who worked outside the home and a mother who bore and nurtured the children within the home. Unfortunately, statistics and current social conditions document conclusively the shift from oppression of women to a position nearing selfish irresponsibility.

The data below illustrate dramatic changes in fifty years. The differences over time are startling. Male and female roles have been redefined with the following results. The graphs appeared in the Feb. 12, 1996 issue of USA Today, as compiled by Julie Stacey, from US Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Health and Human Services, and Census Bureau data, and are summarized briefly here:

Marriage rate per 1,000 unmarried women 15 and older: 1946 -- 118.1; 1994 -- 51.5

Percentage of women, age 16 and over, in the labor force: 1948 -- 32.7%; 1995 -- 59.1%

Percentage of “traditional” families (husband works, wife does not): 1940 -- 66.7%; 1994 -- 16.9%

Percentage of dual-income families (both husband and wife work): 1940 -- 9.2%; 1994 -- 42.4%

Single-parent families as a percentage of all families with children under 18: 1950 -- 7.4%; 1994 -- 26.3%

Estimated median age at first marriage: 1947 -- 23.7 (Men), 20.5 (Women); 1994 -- 26.7 (Men), 24.5 (Women)

Average number of children under 18 among married couples with children: 1955 -- 2.2; 1993 -- 1.88

Number of children born out of wedlock (as a percentage of all births): 1946 -- 125,200 (3.7%); 1993 -- 1.24 million (31%)

The Traditional Family

Remember, these are only data from the United States.  The data from other developed countries in Europe, for example, are even more sobering.  The obvious question is, “What happened to the traditional family?” There are multiple answers to that question, but all of them are compounded by the economic realities that have beset the whole world, not just the oft-maligned materialistic Western world. Writing in USA Today on January 27, 1997, Lester C. Thurow, a professor of economics and former dean of MIT’s Sloan School of Management, gives the following assessment in an article entitled Changes in Capitalism Render One-Earner Families Extinct:

The traditional family is disappearing almost everywhere.

Worldwide from 1960 to 1992, births among unmarried mothers doubled for those 20 to 24 years of age and quadrupled for those 15 to 19 years of age. The United States is far from being the world’s leader in this category, ranking sixth. Divorce rates are rising in the developed and underdeveloped world, doubling in Beijing in just four years. Female-headed households or households where females provide 50% or more of total income are becoming the norm.

The reasons are straight-forward. The current economic system is no longer congruent with traditional nuclear family values, just as the Industrial Revolution two centuries earlier was not congruent with the then-traditional extended family values.

In America, 32% of all men 25 years to 34 years of age earn less than the amount necessary to keep a family of four above the poverty line. While male wages are falling at the bottom, the costs of supporting a family are rising. Children need ever more expensive educations for ever longer periods of time if they are to make it in today’s global economy. Economically many men, perhaps a majority, are being told that they should not plan to have a family since there is no probability that they will be able to support a family.

Women are under enormous pressures because the economy gives them one message (go to work and make the money the family needs to survive) and old cultural mores give them another message (stay at home and take care of the children). They feel stressed because they are stressed.

Today, family members support the family less because it is now much less necessary to their own survival. Men end up having strong economic incentive to bail out of family relations and responsibilities because they raise their own standards of living when they do so. Whether it is by fathering a family without being willing to be a father, by divorcing and being unwilling to pay alimony or child support, or by being a guest worker from the Third World and after a short time failing to send payments to the family back home, men are opting out. Among families with dependent children, 25% don’t have a male present.

Women get welfare only if no man is present in the home. Children’s economic standards of living are often higher as wards of the state in foster care than they would be if they stayed in their disintegrating families.

Values follow economic realities. Individual fulfillment now ranks higher than family in public opinion polls. “Competitive individualism” grows at the expense of “family solidarity.” The ideal is “choice,” not “bonds.” In the language of capitalism, children have ceased to be “profit centers” and have become “cost centers.”

The response quite naturally is to form fewer families and to have smaller numbers of children. When children do exist, parents spend less time with them – 40% less than they did 30 years ago. With mothers at work, more than 2 million children under the age of 13 are left completely without adult supervision, both before and after school.

Effectively, no one ends up taking care of the children, but they have to be left alone because paying for day care would use up most of mother’s wages and negate the whole purpose of going to work in the first place.

Historically, the single parent has been the norm in no society, but patriarchal linear life is economically now over. Family values are under attack, not by government programs that discourage family formation (although there are some) and not by media presentations that disparage families (although there are some), but by the
economic system itself. It simply won’t allow families to exist in the old-fashioned way, with a father who generates most of the earnings and a mother who does most of the nurturing. The one-earner, middle-class family is extinct.

Social arrangements are not determined just by economics – there are many possibilities at any point in time – but whatever the arrangements, they have to be consistent with economic realities. Changes within capitalism are making the traditional family less and less compatible with the market.

As a consequence, the family is an institution both in flux and under pressure. Basic questions about how the family should be organized have been put in play by economic reality. (USA Today, January 27, 1997, 17A).

The equal though fundamentally different roles of men and women have been redefined, revalued and reordered, and the home has been the casualty. Whatever else may be said, this much is clear -- perhaps only the Latter-day Saints and a handful of devout leaders and members in other world religions have the only viable hope of balancing the course the world has taken. We have a chance because of the eternal perspective God has rained down upon our heads in the Restoration. Others who are honest in heart among the Christians, Muslims and Jews, will continue to value the traditional family. Pope John Paul II has never wavered in his support of faithful marriages, his renunciation of the sin of abortion and indiscriminate birth control measures, nor his advocacy of women rights, for example. Like our prophets, however, he too has been criticized for his views on women and the priesthood.

President Kimball spoke with penetrating prophetic accuracy, when he said:

Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us. (Ensign, October 1980, 4).

We speak not by way of alarm but by way of gentle counsel. Let us go back to the basics and follow the fundamentals. Thus we will experience a spiritual resurgence in our lives which will help us through these tempestuous times. (Ensign, May 1981, 80).

As fallen mortals we have an innate desire to “want it all,” even when all the choices seem so “good.” The good news is we have more choices as men and women than ever before.

Sometimes forgotten from our pre-mortal experience is the reality we came to earth to make choices here, as we did there. If we will follow President Kimball’s counsel and go back to the basics, we will rediscover the truths about men and women, eternal marriage and the pure absolute equality of the sexes. Such truths will anchor our vision of becoming eternal couples dwelling in celestial glory and creating worlds without end. The realization of such lofty aims is only the result of today’s choices. Those eternal choices have everything to do with our respective but equal roles.