Letters Exhibiting the Most Prominent Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

by Orson Spencer

You will admit that God is the righteous Ruler over all the moral and intelligent creatures of the universe. His government is both temporal and spiritual. Not even a sparrow falls to the ground without His notice. He clothes the lilies of the field; much more doth He watch over all the varied interests of intelligent beings both in heaven and upon earth.

I shall then define priesthood to be that order of authoritative intelligences by which God regulates, controls, enlightens, blesses or curses, saves or condemns all beings. To it, under God, all things are subservient in righteousness, whether in heaven, earth, or hell. God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is at the head of all genuine priesthood. But as it is His will that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father, Jesus now stands accredited as the Apostle and High Priest of our profession. Subordinate priests in the same apostolic order of the Son of God, are such as he has put in his church. These are called apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, &c.

Now, sir, by means of this order, extending from Jesus the High Priest, to the lowest grade of priesthood in conjunction with the Holy Ghost, God teaches and governs all things. Out of the line of this order, there is no power whatever that is acknowledged and approved of God. Magistrates, rulers, kings, potentates and principalities, if not legitimately ordained and clothed with the authority of this priestly order of the Son of God, are usurpers and not of God—for the scriptures declare that there is no power that is not of God. Even the angelic order is in the line of subordination to Jesus Christ, and in the same chain of priesthood with apostles and prophets upon the earth.

The priesthood exhibits a regular gradation of knowledge and authority from Jesus the great High Priest in heaven, to the lowest description of ordination in the church below. Jesus said that "all power was given him in heaven and upon earth." But how did he propose to exercise all that power which was given him both among the nations of the earth and in heaven? My answer is, that he proposed to do it through a delegation of power to the different orders of his priesthood. We are told distinctly what the priesthood consists of, which is established on the earth, viz., apostles, prophets, evangelists, &c. The heavenly order, minister to the authorities of the earthly order. The ruling object to be accomplished by the latter is, the work of the ministry, the perfecting of the Saints, the edifying of the body of Christ.

The first object of this priestly order is to teach all nations to become loyal and good citizens of the kingdom of God, observing all the commandments of God. One universal commandment of God is, for all men every where to repent and be baptized, and keep all other laws of God, as they shall be dispensed from the great High Priest through the delegated authorities. Now if all men do not obey these commands, they are liable to be dealt with as transgressors, and punished as evil doers. The command to obey is imperative upon all men. Hence whatever orders of civil government—or order of domestic compact—or order of business transaction—or order of religious worship—or rule of commercial transaction may contravene the established order of priesthood, the same must bow to the requisition of the inspired priesthood of God; and God acknowledges no other power with approbation.

Now, dear sir, it is this imperative attitude of authority and power, which the Almighty boldly claims, and fearlessly attempts to exercise, through a chosen priesthood over all mankind, Jews and Gentiles, that greatly displeases the rebellious portion of our race. They cannot bear that this "man should reign over them." False notions of independence and liberty rise against an order of delegated authorities claiming inspiration and officiality from God. The rebellious profess that they are ready to obey the Almighty God, but as for these men claiming priesthood, we will not have them, to reign over us.

The abuses practised by an apostate and uncalled priesthood for the last seventeen hundred years, has wrought an honest but wofully misguided prejudice against the true priesthood; and a large portion of mankind demand also, that God shall communicate with themselves directly, without the intervention of agencies chosen from mere men like themselves. And this captious spirit of dictation, as to the manner in which God shall teach and govern them, has been fostered in their minds by the erroneous notion that God is such a centreless, boundless spirit of ubiquity, that he can teach and govern all worlds without the aid of other agencies. We might as well suppose that he can see without eyes, or hear without ears. But God's being like man, though infinitely exalted above him, and unspeakably perfected in every faculty and power, puts to shame these dark vagaries about the inutility of delegated powers.

During the whole period of the world, God has ever and invariably attempted to teach and govern mankind by means of an established priesthood consisting of men; and this priesthood has been as invariably resisted from the days of righteous Abel till now. By this priesthood, it is the design of God to establish a Divine government upon the earth, even as it is established in the heavens. All other forms of government have proved a complete failure in every nation and period, in which the experiment has been attempted.

But the most humiliating feature in the whole history of governments is, that many have sought to ape the Divine government with an uninspired priesthood. They have thereby made every species of religious government a stink and confusion in all the earth. Their uninspired systems have been like a fair woman without discretion, or like jewels in a swine's snout. Sometimes they have united church and state, and swayed a sceptre of oppression; at other times they have been passive and non-resistant, even to the utter extinction of thousands whose defenceless blood has crimsoned the earth. But the time for experimenting upon false forms of government, civil or religious, has nearly gone by never to return, "save for a little season."

A priesthood chosen not of men, but chosen first of God, and inspired with his wisdom, truth, and power, is now called and ordained to teach all nations, and fill the earth with the knowledge of God. By means of this order, and this order alone, the kingdoms of this world, whether temporal or spiritual, pagan or christian, are all to be merged in one universal kingdom. And this will be the best and greatest kingdom ever known this side of heaven. Its constitution, laws, and method of administration will be after the model of the heavenly order. It will embrace politics, arts, war, merchandize, science, and religion—- things temporal and things spiritual. And the energy and wisdom of Omnipotence will, like the little leaven in meal, increase and magnify in the priesthood, till the whole world is brought into happy subordination to this plan of government. The nations of the earth will then become one family and brotherhood. Kings and rulers, of all grades, will then be chosen of God through the priesthood, of which priesthood rulers will be a part and portion; and without being ordained to the priesthood, no man ever can rule in this great kingdom.