{"id":3723,"date":"2014-11-17T17:59:24","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T00:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newcoolthang.com\/?p=3723"},"modified":"2020-01-09T04:16:23","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T11:16:23","slug":"amen-to-the-priesthood-or-the-authority-of-that-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newcoolthang.com\/index.php\/2014\/11\/amen-to-the-priesthood-or-the-authority-of-that-man\/3723\/","title":{"rendered":"“Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

34 Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?<\/p>\n

35 Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson\u2014<\/p>\n

36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.<\/p>\n

37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.<\/p>\n

38 Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.<\/p>\n

39 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.<\/p>\n

40 Hence many are called, but few are chosen.<\/p>\n

-D&C 121<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It has become all too common within the bloggernacle for\u00a0those who see any and all appeals to priesthood authority as\u00a0intrinsically immoral\u00a0to misrepresent their relationship to the church with an inaccurate reading of the passage above. \u00a0Accordingly, I think it will be helpful to disentangle some issues that have consistently and perhaps intentionally been run together.<\/p>\n

1) \u00a0All priesthood leaders are unqualified – and you are no different.<\/strong> \u00a0The church is supposed to be run by revelation, not reason. \u00a0Thus, any person’s experience, qualifications, graduate degrees, etc. are largely irrelevant. \u00a0Like the illiterate fisherman of old, it is usually the case that the least qualified – by worldly standards – are the best priesthood leaders for the simple reason that they aren’t as tempted to rely upon whatever training the world has provided them. \u00a0It’s when the decisions of our priesthood leaders make perfect sense to our worldly learning that we ought to be worried.<\/p>\n

2) \u00a0It is unrighteousness – not irrationality or incompetence – that negates priesthood authority.<\/strong> \u00a0Since the church is being run according to (from a worldly perspective) irrational revelation passed down through incompetent, yet authoritative channels, there is a huge temptation for priesthood leaders to abuse that authority. \u00a0The world’s solution to this problem is to dissolve and\/or constrain that authority through\u00a0the use of reason. \u00a0This, however, is not the Lord’s solution. \u00a0The fact that what a priesthood leaders says seems patently absurd does not make it any less authoritative. \u00a0Not one bit. \u00a0What does make his words and actions less authoritative is personal unrighteousness on his part, especially any use of authority which is meant to further his own interests rather than those of the Lord.<\/p>\n

3) \u00a0There is such a thing as righteous dominion.<\/strong> \u00a0This is really what lies at the heart of such willful\u00a0misunderstandings, since we have been trained in our modern, democratic world – especially within the social sciences, arts and humanities – that any kind of dominion is necessarily unrighteous… \u00a0But D&C 121 suggests otherwise. \u00a0Yes, any priesthood dominion that is aimed at steering authority to one’s own advantage at the expense of others’ is clearly\u00a0unrighteous. \u00a0But those forms of priesthood dominion that do not fall under this category are perfectly legitimate. \u00a0I don’t pretend to know exactly where the line between the two camps is – the main point is that there are<\/em> two camps here. \u00a0Thus, the idea that any form of “pulling rank” automatically counts as unrighteous bullying is totally unfounded.<\/p>\n

4) \u00a0Our duty to follow our righteous leaders is totally separate from their duty to not bully us.<\/strong> \u00a0Too often we see people using the passage above as a pretext for not hearkening to their priesthood leaders’ council – but the two are not at all the same thing. \u00a0Throughout the scriptures and church publications we are consistently told to sustain, hearken to, follow and even\u00a0obey our duly ordained and righteous priesthood leaders. \u00a0I’m not saying that there aren’t any scriptures that ever tell us to withhold or tone down our loyal obedience – only that this passage isn’t one of them.<\/p>\n

5) \u00a0The only way to check a priesthood authority is through\u00a0an appeal to a higher priesthood authority.<\/strong> \u00a0In other words, at no point is the priesthood authority supposed to be sidelined, dissolved or merely “taken into consideration”. \u00a0An appeal to authority is not a fallacy within the church, let alone a sin. \u00a0If we have an issue with the council of a righteous priesthood leader we can either take the issue to him, his priesthood leaders or go directly to the top of the priesthood chain by way of prayer. \u00a0But in no sense is the worldly appeal to reason and critique of authority justified within the Lord’s church.<\/p>\n

Those who specialize in reasoning about and critiquing religious beliefs\u00a0have always been the most vocal opponents to the Lord’s prophets. \u00a0This should come as no surprise since this just is the power struggle between reason and authority – a struggle that never has and never will completely end in this fallen world. \u00a0The scholars have always mocked the saints for the exact same reason that they feel threatened by them: \u00a0They superstitiously follow their authorities without feeling any apparent need to rationally justify their discipleship. \u00a0I’d like to think that this post helps us understand both sides of this ongoing struggle.