I give Stephen the point that I can't find a specific scripture showing
one will eventually be ordained a high priest in heaven. However, i still
hold to that point. However, I do have some quotes below.
BTW, it isn't just a "modern office." Melchizedek was a high priest.
Christ was ordained a high priest after the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews
5-7), distinguishing it from the high priest found in the
Aaronic/Levitical Priesthood. Alma also speaks of high priests (chap 13),
who seem distinguished from the teachers and other callings in the
priesthood they had at the time.
So, High Priest is an ancient office within the MP.
BTW, an apostle isn't a deacon, but does have the roles of a deacon given
him, because the Aaronic Priesthood is a subset of the MP (D&C 107). A
subset of a larger group does not mean the individual who is of the
superset belongs directly within that group, but that he encompasses it.
Someone asked about branch presidents. A branch president has keys given
to him to act as a bishop, without having that ordination given him. He
has authority to temporarily preside over the branch. However, one called
as a bishop is always a bishop (and a high priest), and always has the
authority to preside, if called to do so.
Quotes:
"If the bishopric were absent from a ward meeting, and the bishop failed
to appoint anyone to preside, and several high priests and elders were
present, whose right would it be to preside at the meeting?"
The right of presidency in a ward rests with the bishop. If he should
neglect to ask or appoint anyone to preside in his absence, the body of
the Priesthood present at a meeting would necessarily be the authority
which would have the right to call or appoint a temporary presiding
officer, in the absence of the regularly constituted authority. No man,
without the consent of the Priesthood present, would have the right to
assume to preside, unless he was called to do so by the Priesthood
present, who generally choose the senior high priest. It would not be
necessary, however, to submit the choice of a presiding officer, in a
case of that kind, to the Saints for their decision or even approval,
except in case of question or division. It is eminently appropriate and
in order for the Priesthood present to select the senior high priest, by
ordination, to preside. In fact, by practice, it has become a custom, all
conditions being favorable, to call upon the senior high priest present
to officiate on occasions like those in question."
(Improvement Era, 1912, Priesthood Quorum's Table)
"It is well for the Latter-day Saints to understand the principles of the
Holy Priesthood, and the power thereof, that it may be known by you where
the authority rests, who has the right to teach and guide and counsel in
the affairs of the kingdom of God. The Lord has revealed it in plainness,
so that a way-faring man, though a fool need not err therein. Was it
necessary that Elder Taylor should be set apart to preside over this
people? was it necessary that the Twelve Apostles should be set apart to
preside over this people? No it was not, for they already possessed the
power, authority and ordination. Was it necessary for the Prophet Joseph
Smith to set apart Brigham or Heber or Willard, or any of the rest of the
Twelve Apostles? No, for the same reason, they had received the fulness
of the Holy Priesthood, the full endowment and the keys, and the
authority, and the fulness of the Apostleship; therefore it was not
necessary." (Elder George Q Cannon, (Journal of Discourses, 26 vols.
[London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886], 19:230-237).
Oh, here's one from Abraham 1: "...and desiring to receive instructions,
and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High
Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers." This ties in
closely with Melchizedek, the High Priest and King of Salem. How? The
name Malchi-Zedek means 'King of Righteousness', and Salem means 'Peace'.
Abraham sought to be a high priest and king, just like Melchizedek.
"Adam was a great High Priest. So were his sons that were with him—Seth,
Enos, Jared, Canaan, Mahalaleel, Enoch and Methuselah; and a great many
others bore the holy Priesthood. All that Moses did was by the power of
the holy Priesthood. All that Jesus Christ and the Apostles did was by
the power of the Priesthood. Jesus Christ was our great High Priest, and
He came into the world and laid down His life as a great sacrifice for
the redemption of the world." (Wilford Woodruff, Oct 9, 1892, Collected
Discourses 1886-1898, vol 3)
"The System of Melchizedek
"Like Enoch, Melchizedek was also successful in building up the kingdom
of God in his day. "Having been approved of God, he was ordained an high
priest after the order of the covenant which God made with Enoch, it
being after the order of the Son of God." fn He then developed the
economic and political programs of the Holy Priesthood. Economically this
included the law of tithing, which was given "that thereby the people
might look forward on the Son of God, it being a type of his order, or it
being his order, and this that . . . they might enter into the rest of
the Lord." fn Their political system also centered in the Holy
Priesthood, as the expression of the municipal law of that priesthood. fn
Within that divine system, Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem.
Because of his efforts to establish the divine order among his people,
peace was established in the land, and he was called "the prince of
Peace.""
(Hyrum L. Andrus, Doctrines of the Kingdom [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft,
1973], 60.)
"The high priest Jehoiada assembled the rulers of Judah at the temple,
where they made a covenant ("2 Kgs. 11:42 Kings 11:4; "2 Chr. 23:1"2 Chr.
23:2"2 Chr. 23:32 Chronicles 23:1-3). The king was crowned and anointed,
and the "testimony" of the Law placed in his hands, while the people
clapped their hands ("2 Kgs. 11:122 Kings 11:12; "2 Chr. 23:112
Chronicles 23:11). Joash stood by a "pillar" (covenant altar) as trumpets
sounded and music played, amidst rejoicing ("2 Kgs. 11:142 Kings 11:14;
"2 Chr. 23:132 Chronicles 23:13). A covenant was concluded between the
Lord and the king and the people.
"The true anointing is to be both a king and a priest to God. In the
Bible, both the king and the high priest were called by the title Messiah
(Heb. ma.sh, "anointed one"). See also Jansen, "The Consecration in the
Eighth Chapter of Testamentum Levi," 356-65, where he compares Levi's
priestly anointing, washing, investiture, and ordination with the
enthronement of God as King." (John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks,
eds., By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh W. Nibley on
the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 27 March 1990, 2 vols. [Salt Lake
City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and
Mormon Studies, 1990], 2: .)
"Orihah selected. The Brother of Jared felt sorrowful for the people who
accompanied him and Jared, because of their choice. As a seer he saw a
dark picture of strife and loss of freedom in a future time. Jared, less
spiritually minded, joined the majority. But the sons of the Brother of
Jared refused to accept the office of kingship. Three sons of Jared also
declined. Finally, the youngest of Jared's own sons, Orihah, accepted. He
was anointed King. (v. 27)
That he was anointed indicates that the office was considered sacred.
Probably the religious functions of the head of the young state were the
most important. That became the case in Assyria, where the king claimed
to be a high-priest and a mediator between Heaven and Earth. Also in
Babylonia, where kings regarded themselves as the sons of God in a
special sense, a doctrine that found its way into Egypt, and also later
on, into Peru." (George Reynolds and Janne M. Sjodahl, Commentary on the
Book of Mormon, edited and arranged by Philip C. Reynolds, 7 vols. [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1955-1961], 6: 118.)
"Every Israelite priest (Lev. 8:30Lev. 8:30; Lev. 10:7 10:7), high priest
(Ex. 30:30Ex. 30:30), and king (1 Kgs. 1:341 Kgs. 1:34) was a messiah,
meaning each was anointed with the holy anointing oil. As such, they were
figures or types for Jesus, the Messiah. (Joseph Fielding McConkie and
Donald W. Parry, A Guide to Scriptural Symbols [Salt Lake City:
Bookcraft, 1990], .)
"When Moses received the order to make his brother a High Priest, after
washing him with water he anointed him, and he was called a Christ,
because of the anointing which was the type. Thus also Solomon, being
called to the Kingship, was anointed after a bath in Gihon by the High
Priest. For them it was a type (making them kings and priests), but for
us it is not symbolical but real, since you really have been anointed by
the Holy Ghost. " (Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri:
An Egyptian Endowment [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1975], 280.)
Hopefully, these will help to show the importance of the future
ordination of all of us brethren as high priests and kings unto God the
Father.
K'aya K'ama,
Gerald/gary Smith gszion1 @juno.com http://www
.geocities.com/rameumptom/index.html
"No one is as hopelessly enslaved as the person who thinks he's free." -
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Stephen:
You didn't respond to many other points I brought up, but the main one
is: Please show some scriptural substantiation for the doctrine you
taught that all men must be ordained to the modern office of high priest
in order to progress in their exaltation in the eternities.
Stephen
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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