Truth about the Mormon Church

Mormonism Got off to the Worst Start, Joseph Smith Claiming to have Restored the Aaronic Priesthood and the Apostate Church

 

In 1829, Mormon founder, Joseph Smith, claimed that when John the Baptist appeared in a vision to confer the priesthood on him and Oliver Cowdrey, the by-then-apostate church was being restored. John the Baptist, they said, was a priest through the lineage of his father Zacharias.  Six years later Smith said was the Aaronic priesthood. In 1838 Smith claimed another vision resulted in him receiving the new church name: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The title “Mormons” derives from one of the prophets in the Book of Mormon. This priesthood is passed on in a number of ways in the Mormon church. “Mormon men with the office of deacon or higher claim to hold the priesthood of Aaron” (Henry Brigman), and Mormons claim that only those with this true priesthood conferred on them can baptize people into the church.

        This priesthood claim is so incorrect, and destroys Mormon foundations, for at least three reasons:

 

1.     The Aaronic priesthood could only be conferred on those of the Jewish tribe of Levi.

        Joseph Smith was not a Jew or a Levite. He was a Gentile. The following Scriptures tell us who can be priests. Numbers 16:8-10; 18:20-24; 2 Chronicles 26:17-18; Hebrews7:5. Though Mormons claim some are ordained as priests because they have direct descent from Aaron, the fact is that the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 70 destroyed all family records, meaning that nobody could know what tribe they belonged to, even if of Jewish descent.

2.     John the Baptist was not a priest. Yes, he was a Levite. His father, Zacharias, was a priest. Luke 1:8-9,21-23. Not all Levites were priests. Only descendants of Aaron could be priests. Levites had a variety of duties. Numbers 1:50-53; 3:6-9; 4:1-33; Deuteronomy 17:8-9; 24:8; 33:10; I Chronicles 23; 2 Chronicles 34:13. An angel tells Zacharias what his son, John, will be ordained to do, Luke 1:5-17, and serving as a priest is not part of that! John was in the wilderness until his public ministry. Luke 3:1-2. There is no indication John was ever trained for priestly duties. The Levites and the priests sent messengers out to John asking him who he was. If John were a priest, other priests would know this, and questioning would not be necessary. Also the ruling elders asked him by what authority he did what he did. See John 1:19-31. Again, same problem as before. Finally, John certainly didn’t wear priestly attire. Matthew 3:1-4. John was a Nazarite and a prophet, and not a priest who could confer the priesthood on Joseph Smith.

 

3.     The Old Covenant with its tribal privileges passed away at the cross. Ephesians 2:14-16;  Hebrews 7:12; 10:5-9. Anyone connected with the Law of Moses must die to that Law in order to be joined to Christ. Romans 7:4-6. Resurrecting the Aaronic priesthood makes no sense.

Every claim Joseph Smith made stems from a so-called angelic vision he personally received. This includes the origin of the Book of Mormon. However, the New Testament tells Christians not to take their stand on angels and visions. Galatians 1:6-9; Colossians 2:18-19. Basing your argument for the true church on such subjectivism as angels supposedly appearing in visions, bringing revelations that contradict Jesus’ New Testament revelation, should surely raise huge suspicions that this stuff might have existed in Smith’s mind, but not in God’s inspired revelations.

 

Yes, there are heretics – those who choose to leave the church to go their own way. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 2 Timothy 4:10; Titus 3:10-11; 1 John 2:19. There are false churches, and we should by all proper means try to restore the church to its original purity. 2 Corinthians 11:2-6; Revelation 2-3. But at every turn, Joseph Smith’s attempts to restore the original church were doomed to failure because they were based on his own dreams and not on God’s true revelations in the Bible. 1 Timothy 3:15; 2 Timothy 3:14-17.

 

From the start, this issue of the priesthood is the only point you need to argue with Mormons, and if they cannot successfully refute it, then there is no need to advance further arguments. If the Aaronic priesthood could not possibly have been conferred on Joseph Smith, then Mormonism is a lie.

 

     Sources for some material in this article:

• Henry Brigman, Joseph Smith: Prophet or Pretender, Star Bible and Tract Corp., 1978
• Wikipedia.
• La Vista Church of Christ web pages on biblical priests and levites.

 

David Carr