**Common Consent.** Every officer of the Priesthood, though properly nominated, holds his position in the Church only with the consent of the people. Officers may be nominated by the presidency of the Church, but unless the people accept them as their officials, they can not exercise the authority of the offices to which they have been called. All things in the Church must be done by common consent. This makes the people, men and women, under God, the rulers of the Church. Even the President of the Church, before he can fully enter upon his duties, must be sustained by the people. It is the common custom in the Church to vote on the officers in the general, stake and ward conferences. This gives every member an opportunity to vote for or against the officers. Meanwhile, the judiciary system of the Church is such that there is ample provision whereby any officer of the Church, if found in error, may be brought to justice and if found guilty be removed from his position.
The doctrine of common consent is fundamental in the Church; and is coincident with the fact that the Church belongs to all the people. Since the authority of the Priesthood is vested in all the people, it follows that the officials of the Priesthood must be responsible to the people. The responsibility and work of the Church are not only for but by the people as a whole.
**Bestowal of the Priesthood.** On the earth the Priesthood was first conferred on Adam and was handed down directly from Adam through his descendants to Noah. Every link in this progression of the Priesthood has been preserved. Similarly, after Noah, it was continued for many generations. Moreover, Jesus conferred the Priesthood directly upon his disciples. At various times in the history of the world, the Priesthood has been given by God to man and continued for various lengths of time. In these latter days of the restored Church, John the Baptist appeared in person and conferred the Aaronic Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Later, Peter, James and John, who had received the Priesthood from Jesus Christ, and who represented the Presidency of the Priesthood in those days, appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and conferred upon them the Holy Priesthood and the apostleship which carried with it authority in the lower divisions of the Priesthood. In the Church of Christ the authority of the Priesthood may always be traced back directly to God, from whom it radiates and whom it represents.
CHAPTER 20.
THE AUTHORITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD.
The authority of the Priesthood is often misunderstood, and it is frequently the rock upon which many men and women suffer spiritual shipwreck.
**The Foundation of Authority.** The power or right to command or to act, is authority. In the beginning, man, conscious and in possession of will, reached out for truth, and gained new knowledge. Gradually as his intelligence grew, he learned to control natural forces, as he met them on his way. Knowledge, properly used, became power; and intelligent knowledge is the only true foundation of authority. The more intelligence a man possesses the more authority he may exercise. Hence, "the glory of God is intelligence." This should be clear in the minds of all who exercise authority.
**Absolute Authority.** Such high authority, based on increasing intelligent knowledge, may be called absolute authority. All other forms of authority, and many forms exist, must be derived from absolute authority, for it is the essence of all authority. Nothing in the universe is absolutely understood, and absolute authority does not mean that full knowledge or full power has been gained over anything in the universe. Forever will the universe reveal its secrets. By absolute authority is meant the kind of authority that results directly from an intelligent understanding of the things over which authority is exercised. Authority can therefore, be absolute only so far as knowledge goes, and will become more absolute as more knowledge is obtained. The laws of God are never arbitrary; they are always founded on truth.
**Derived Authority.** Anyone possessing the absolute authority resting on high intelligence, will often find it necessary or convenient to ask others to exercise that authority for him. This may be called derived authority. It does not necessarily follow that those who are so asked understand the full meaning of the authority that they exercise. The workman in a factory carries out the operations as directed by the chief technician, and obtains the same results, though he does not to the same extent understand the principles involved.
Every person who has risen to the earth-estate possesses a certain degree of absolute authority, for he has knowledge of nature which gives him control over many surrounding forces. Every person possesses or should possess certain derived authority, which is exercised under the direction of a superior intelligence, though it is not always wholly understood.