Power from on High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood

Power from on High: The Development of Mormon Priesthood
ISBN-10
156085071X
ISBN-13
9781560850717
Series
Power From On High
Category
Religion / General
Pages
231
Language
English
Published
1995
Publisher
Signature Books
Author
Gregory A. Prince

Description

Authority and priesthood were concepts that developed gradually in Mormon theology, not as thunderbolts but as ideas that acquired meaning and momentum over time. Acting initially on the basis of implied leadership, Joseph Smith moved toward explicit angelic authority and an increasingly defined structure drawn from biblical models.

All the while the structure of higher and lower priesthoods fluctuated in response to pragmatic needs. Priests were needed to perform ordinances, teachers to lead congregations, bishops to manage church assets, and elders to proselytize-responsibilities which would be redistributed repeatedly throughout Smith's fourteen-year ministry.

Gregory Prince charts these developments with impressive interpretative skill. Besides the obvious historical significance, he underscores the implications for current Mormon governance. For instance, where innovations have characterized the past, one need not be bound by custom or surprised when church leaders instigate change.

Other editions

Similar books

  • Witchcraft Today: An Encyclopedia of Wiccan and Neopagan Traditions
    By James R. Lewis

    Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC- CLIO, 1992. Green, Miranda J. Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. London: Thames and Hudson, 1992. Spence, Lewis. The Fairy Tradition in Britain. London: Rider and Company, 1948.

  • Religion and the Law in America: An Encyclopedia of Personal Belief and Public Policy
    By Scott A. Merriman

    Provides a collection of essays and alphabetical entries that cover the history of freedom of religion in the United States.

  • Understanding Reception: A Backdrop to Its Ecumenical Use
    By Matthew Charles Ogilvie, Frederick M. Bliss

    London : Darton , Longman and Todd . 1974. A Second Collection : Papers by Bernard J. F. Lonergan , S.J. Edited by William F.J. Ryan and Bernard J. Tyrrell . London : Darton , Longman and Todd . 1976. The Way to Nicea : The Dialectical ...

  • Food & Nutrition Sciences: Answer Key
    By John C. Meagher

    Food & Nutrition Sciences: Answer Key

  • Religion Past & Present: Encyclopedia of Theology and Religion
    By Hans Dieter Betz

    In the D. Emeis & K.H. Schmitt , Handbuch der Gemeindekatechese , northern German dioceses , the most commonly used 1986 • F.-P. Tebartz - van Elst , “ Gemeindliche Katechese , ” in : catechism was B.H. - Overberg's Katechismus der ...

  • Atlas of the bible, by reader's digest association
    By Harry Thomas Frank

    Atlas of the bible, by reader's digest association

  • Festivals and Plays in Late Medieval Britain
    By Clifford Davidson

    128 See John Walton Tyrer , Historical Survey of Holy Week : Its Services and Ceremonial , Alcuin Club Collections 29 ( London : Oxford University Press , 1932 ) , esp . 58 ; and see also this occasion was important for other reasons ...

  • Satanism Today
    By James R. Lewis

    Edmunds, R. David. The Shawnee Prophet. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1983. Edward, Paul, ed. The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Macmillan, 1967. Edwards, Frank. Stranger Than Science. New York: Lyle Stuart, 1959.

  • Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of Religion
    By Thomas A. Tweed

    Theda Perdue and Michael D. Green, eds., The Cherokee Removal: A Brief History with Documents (Boston and New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995). On the artist who painted the image of the Trail of Tears shown in Figure 5, Jerome Tiger, ...

  • 로제타 홀 일기 2
    By 로제타 홀

    로제타 홀 (Rosetta S. Hall) ... Opened a Women's Hospital in Chemulpo Son Sherwood and Marian Bottomley married in Ohio Arrived in Korea, Sherwood and his wife 6 Sherwood hall, Establishment of the Haiju TB Sanatorium Sherwood hall, ...