This archive Sunday post originally appeared at fMh on January 30th, 2011. To see the original post and comments, go here.
by: Matthew Chapman
Originally posted on Matthew’s personal blog, here.
Abraham wrote, “”Finding that there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same… and desiring instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.”
Abraham sought for the priesthood, and was ordained a High Priest.
There are those within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who feel that the time has come for women to be openly ordained to offices within the priesthood. But how can a woman appropriately “seek for the blessings and the right to administer”?
Clearly, within the Church today, women already teach and preach the gospel, administer sacred ordinances, receive revelation, and perform miracles through some sort of divine authority. Fifty years ago, it was not uncommon to hear General Authorities and the general membership say that women “hold the priesthood with (or through) their husbands”. More recently, a distinction has been drawn between Priesthood authority and “other divine authority”. One clear distinction between men and women in the Church is that women are not ordained to priesthood offices: Deacon, Teacher, Priest, Bishop, Elder, Seventy, High Priest, Patriarch, and Apostle. Women are, however, foreordained to priesthood offices, a promise which will apparently be fulfilled for all the faithful in the resurrection. Men are similarly foreordained, but hold the lesser offices mentioned above while in this earth life.
In our pre-mortal life, many were foreordained to priesthood offices. (Alma 13:3, Abraham 3:23) Joseph Smith taught that anyone who receives a priesthood office in this life was foreordained to such in the pre-existence. Clearly, in September of 1978, there were men living on the earth who were foreordained to hold priesthood offices, but under the policies of the Church, were unable to fulfill that fore-ordination. For upon the revelation being received, many faithful black brethren, previously denied the priesthood, were immediately ordained.
Is it possible that there are women living on the earth today, who are fore-ordained to be Elders, Bishops and Apostles? Is this the reason that their hearts long for the priesthood?
President Kimball’s words in Declaration-2 are instructive.
“The expansion of the work of the Lord over the earth… has inspired us with a with a desire to extend to every worthy member of the Church all of the privileges and blessings which the gospel affords…
“He has heard our prayers, and has confirmed that the long-promised day has come when every faithful, worthy man in the Church may receive the holy priesthood…”
President Kimball always had a great zeal for missionary work, and particularly for brining the gospel to “all the world”. Yet as the gospel spread the question presented itself, “How shall we establish stakes in northern Brazil, the Caribbean, and Africa, where so many men are excluded from holding the priesthood?” This desire grew within him, and he petitioned the Lord, pleading “long and earnestly” with “extended meditation and prayer in the upper rooms of the temple.” (Declaration-2)
President Ezra Taft Benson had a great zeal for the Book of Mormon, and that the Saints fully receive and enjoy the promises contained therein. As a consequence, a change was made to the Sunday School curriculum, focusing more closely on the scriptures, and hopefully inspiring the membership of the Church to more diligent scripture study and application.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, shortly after becoming President of the Church received a strong impression or revelation (the details have never been made public, as far as I know) concerning the need for more temples throughout the world. Initially, he saw no way to fulfill this desire or commandment, but later received direction concerning the building of smaller, less costly temples—and by the end of his presidency, more than doubled the number of operating temples, exceeding one hundred worldwide.
The Lord has taken the existing desires of the prophets, and turning them, by circumstances, into his own desires, having the prophets plead for those things which they had not considered before.
I do not know if the time has come for women to be ordained to priesthood offices. It is not for me to know. I know there are many who feel the time is come, and is far spent. President Hinckley saw no doctrinal reason why it might not someday be the case.
Yet brothers and sisters who share the desire that the priesthood might be more fully extended to women might unite in a special fast throughout the world, on an ordinary Fast Sunday, to petition the Lord that that day might be hastened.