Priesthood Restoration
According to Mormon tradition, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were visited by angels who restoreted the priesthood to the earth. This was said to have happened on May 15, 1829. When did this story first come about?
Overview: Priesthood Restoration
This is a short video encompassing
many of the sources listed below.
Book of Commandments
1833
A Commandment to the church of Christ, given in Harmony, Pennsylvania, September 4, 1830.
LISTEN to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Lord, your God and your Redeemer, whose word is quick and powerful.
2 For behold I say unto you, that it mattereth not what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye doit with an eye single to my glory;
3 Remembering unto the Father my body whichwas laid down for you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins:
4 Wherefore a commandment I give unto you, that you shall not purchase wine, neither strong drink of your enemies:
5 Wherefore you shall partake of none, except itis made new among you, yea, in this my Father’s kingdom which shall be built up on the earth.
6 Behold this is wisdom in me, wherefore marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you, on the earth, and with all those whom my Father hath given me out of the world:
7 Wherefore lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins and be faithful until I come:—even so. Amen.
Joseph Smith
Minutes, 12 February, 1834
"Thursday Evening, February 12. 1834. This evening the high Priests and Elders of the Church in Kirtland at the house of bro. Joseph Smith Jun. in Council for Church business. The Council was organized, and opened by bro. Joseph Smith Junior in prayer. Bro. Joseph then rose and said: I shall now endeavour to set forth before this Council, the dignity of the office which has been conferred upon me by the ministering of the Angel of God, by his own voice and by the voice of this Church. I have never set before any council in all the order in which a Council ought to be conducted, which, prehaps, has deprived the Councils of some, or many blessings."
Oliver Cowdery
(probably recorded summer/fall 1835)
"[Joseph] was ordained by the angel John, unto the lesser or Aaronic priesthood, in company with myself, in the town of Harmony, Susquehannah County, Pennsylvania, on Fryday, the 15th day of May, 1829, after which we repaired to the water, even to the Susquehannah River, and were baptized, he first ministering unto me and after—I to him. but before baptism our souls were drawn out in mighty prayer—to know how we might obtain the blessings of baptism and of the Holy Spirit, according to the order of God, and we diligently saught for the right of the fathers and the authority of the holy priesthood, and the power to admin[ister] the same. . . . Therefore, we retired to the woods . . . and called upon the name of the Lord, and he answered us out of the heavens, and while we were in the heavenly vision the angel came down and bestowed upon us this priesthood; and then, as I have said, we repaired to the water and were baptized. After this we received the high and holy priesthood, but an account of this will be given elsewhere, or in another place."
Oliver Cowdery
Messenger & Advocate
October 1834
"I have seen the fruit of perseverance in proclaiming the everlasting gospel, immediately after it was declared to the world in these last days, in a manner not to be forgotten while heaven gives my common intellect. And what serves to render the reflection past expression on this point is, that from his hand I received baptism, by the direction of the angel of God --the first received unto the Church, in this day."
Note that Oliver Cowdery only mentions one angel, and this in reference to baptism. He does not name the angel.
Doctrine and Covenants
1835
SECTION L.
Revelation given September, 1830.
1 Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Lord, your God and your Redeemer, whose word is quick and powerful. For behold I say unto you, that it mattereth not what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, when ye partake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single to my glory; remembering unto the Father my body which was laid down for you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins: wherefore a commandment I give unto you, that you shall not purchase wine, neither strong drink of your enemies: wherefore you shall partake of none, except it is made new among you, yea, in this my Father’s kingdom which shall be built up on the earth.
2 Behold this is wisdom in me: wherefore marvel not for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth,
and with Moroni, whom I have sent unto you to reveal the book of Mormon, containing the fulness of my everlasting gospel; to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim; and also with Elias, to whom I have committed the keys of bringing to pass the restoration of all things, or the restorer of all things spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began, concerning the last days: and also John the son of Zacharias, which Zacharias he (Elias) visited and gave promise that he should have a son, and his name should be John, and he should be filled with the spirit of Elias; which John I have sent unto you, my servants, Joseph Smith, jr. andOliver Cowdery, to ordain you unto this first priesthood which you have received, that you might be called and ordained even as Aaron: and also Elijah, unto whom I have committed the keys of the power of turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers, that the whole earth may not be smitten with a curse: and also, with Joseph, and Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham your fathers; by whom the promises remain; and also with Michael, or Adam, the father of all, the prince of all, the ancient of days:
3 And also with Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles and especial witnesses of my name, and bear the keys of your ministry: and of the same things which I revealed unto them: unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fulness of times, in the which I will gather together in one all things both which are in heaven and which are on earth: and also with all those whom my Father hath given me out of the world: wherefore lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all ye may be able to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth; having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you, taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my Spirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up that where I am ye shall be also. Amen.
As you can see, the parts of the revelation that pertain to Moroni and the visit of Peter, James and John and concerning Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery's ordination to the first priesthood, were retroactively fitted into the revelation.
David Whitmer
Interview with Zenas H. Gurley
14 January, 1885
"I never heard that an Angel had ordained Joseph and Oliver to the Aaronic priesthood until the year 1834[,] [183]5. or [183]6—in Ohio, my information from Joseph and Oliver upon this matter being as I have stated, and that they were commanded so to do by revealment through Joseph. I do not believe that John the Baptist ever ordained Joseph and Oliver as stated and believed by some. I regard that as an error, a misconception."
[Early Mormon Documents, 5:136; David Whitmer Interview with Zenas H. Gurley, 14 January, 1885]
David Whitmer
An Address to All Believers in Christ
1887
“In August, 1829, we began to preach the gospel of Christ. The following six elders had then been ordained: Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Samuel H. Smith, Hyrum Smith and myself …We preached, baptized and confirmed members into the Church of Christ, from August, 1829, until April 6th, 1830, being eight months in which time we had proceeded rightly; the offices in the church being Elders, Priests and Teachers …We were as fully organized—spiritually—before April 6th as were on that day ….In no place in the word of God does it say that an Elder is after the order of Melchizedek, or after the order of the Melchizedek Priesthood. An Elder is after the order of Christ. This matter of "priesthood," since the days of Sidney Rigdon, has been the great hobby and stumbling-block of the Latter Day Saints. Priesthood means authority; and authority is the word we should use. I do not think the word priesthood is mentioned in the New Covenant of the Book of Mormon. Authority is the word we used for the first two years in the church—until Sidney Rigdon's days in Ohio.”
[David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 1887, pg. 35]
"The next grievous error which crept into the church was in ordaining high priests in June, 1831. This error was introduced at the instigation of Sydney Rigdon. The office of high priests was never spoken of, and never thought of being established in the church until Rigdon came in. Remember that we had been preaching from August, 1829, until June, 1831 — almost two years — and had baptized about 2,000 members into the Church of Christ, and had not one high priest. During 1829, several times we were told by Brother Joseph that an elder was the highest office in the church. In December, 1830, Sydney Rigdon and Edward Partridge came from Kirtland, Ohio, to Fayette, N. Y., to see Brother Joseph, and in the latter part of the winter they returned to Kirtland. In February, 1831, Brother Joseph came to Kirtland where Rigdon was. Rigdon was a thorough Bible scholar, a man of fine education, and a powerful orator. He soon worked himself deep into Brother Joseph's affections, and had more influence over him than any other man living. He was Brother Joseph's private counsellor, and his most intimate friend and brother for some time after they met. Brother Joseph rejoiced, believing that the Lord had sent to him this great and mighty man Sydney Rigdon, to help him in the work. Poor Brother Joseph! He was mistaken about this, and likewise all of the brethren were mistaken; for we thought at that time just as Brother Joseph did about it. But alas ! in a few years we found out different. Sydney Rigdon was the cause of almost all the errors which were introduced while he was in the church."
[David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 1887, pg. 35]
William E. McLellin
One of the original Twelve Apostles
“I joined the church in 1831. For years I never heard of John the Baptist ordaining Joseph and Oliver. I heard not of James, Peter, and John doing so …[A]s to the story of John, the Baptist ordaining Joseph and Oliver on the day they were baptized; I never heard of it in the church for years, altho I carefully noticed things that were said..”
[cited in Grant Palmer's, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, pg. 224-25]
B. H Roberts
History of the Church, vol. 1
1902
"Restoration of the Melchisedek Priesthood.— The promise to confer upon Joseph and Oliver the Melchisedek Priesthood was fulfilled; but as there is no definite account of the event in the history of the Prophet Joseph, or, for matter of that, in any of our annals, the evidences of the fact of their ordination to the higher or Melchisedek Priesthood promised them by John the Baptist, are presented now, together with a consideration of the place where, and the time when, the great event occurred."
D. Michael Quinn
Mormon Historian, published 1994
"A closer look at contemporary records indicates that men were first ordained to the higher priesthood over a year after the church's founding. No mention or angelic ordinations can be found in original documents until 1834-35."
[D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, pg. 15]
Grant Palmer
Mormon Historian, published 2002
"Accounts of angelic ordinations from John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John are in none of the journals, diaries, letters, or printed matter until the mid-1830s"
[Grant Palmer, An Insider's View of Mormon Origins, pg. 223-224]
Was the priesthood actually restored?
Another short video responding to the General Young Men's Presidency concerning the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood through John the Baptist.
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