Ministering to Mormons: The Restoration of the Priesthood

In the previous entry in this series, A Pattern of Prophets, we saw that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints teaches that God has always led His people through prophets, without which the Church lacks proper direction. In contrast, we discovered that the Bible teaches that the Church was founded upon the message of prophets and priests from the past, but that whereas they were finite and temporal servants of an inferior ministry, Jesus Christ is the infinite, everlasting servant of the superior ministry that replaced it. He is the ultimate priest and prophet, the fulfillment of the types and shadows from the past, and His Holy Spirit indwells the Christian, revealing to him the truth contained within Scripture. Thus, the Bible teaches, we have all the guidance we ultimately need in Jesus.

However, the doctrine of authority peculiar to Mormonism is complex and multifaceted, and is argued to be supported by more scriptural evidence than we've looked at thus far. They believe that prophets are bestowed a particular kind of authority, that of the priesthood, and that the Bible indicates that this pattern of priests handed down by God, like the alleged pattern of prophets, is to continue to this day. Let's take a closer look.