Chapter One Authority A revelation to the three-year-old Church of Christ (also called Mormon) declared in 1833 that God would "give unto the faithful line upon line precept upon precept."1The concept of authority was not initially addressed in the Restoration movement2but developed gradually, or "line upon line." Now viewed as the founding Restoration event, the epiphany known as the "first vision" resulted from Joseph Smith''s mourning "for my own sins and for the sins of the world."3 In response, "the Lord opened the heavens upon me and I saw the Lord and he spake unto me saying Joseph my son thy sins are forgiven thee." Despite the importance attached to the first vision by subsequent generations of Latter-day Saints, it did not serve as Smith''s call to the ministry or claim to divine authorization. That claim began with another vision, in the autumn of 1823, when "an angel of the Lord came and stood before me." The angel called Moroni entrusted to Smith "plates of gold upon which there was engravings which was engraven by Maroni & his fathers the servants of the living God in ancient days and deposited by the commandments of God and kept by the power thereof and that I should go and get them."4 Translating the plates into the Book of Mormon marked the beginning of Smith''s ministry.

It established among his followers his credentials as a prophet. Such authority, however, was implied, for Smith never claimed that Moroni bestowed formal authority by the laying on of hands, the manner sanctioned by ancient and modern Christianity. As the Mormon restoration unfolded, the essence of divine empowerment assumed a more concrete form. Almost six years after Moroni''s visit, angelic beings bestowed authority on Smith and his assistant Oliver Cowdery by the laying on of hands. Although in the Mormon church today the term "priesthood" refers to this bestowed authority, such a relationship did not develop until years after the founding of the church. Initially authority was understood to be inherent in what are now termed "offices." Three offices--elder, priest, and teacher--were present by August 1829, as were the ordinances of baptism, confirmation, and ordination, but the word "priesthood" was not used in reference to these for another three years. In June 1831 a modern "pentecost" occurred in which supernatural powers, similar to those reported in the New Testament book of the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2, were bestowed upon latter-day disciples through their ordination to the "high priesthood," thus coupling the concepts of "authority" and "power.

" Between 1831 and 1835 an organizational consolidation occurred, resulting in the 1835 designation of the "Aaronic Priesthood" and "Melchizedek Priesthood," which incorporated the elements of authority and power which had developed over the prior dozen years. Perhaps the most important and certainly least understood development began in 1836 when Smith and Cowdery recorded a vision of Elijah, the Old Testament prophet. Although Elijah did not become associated with priesthood for another two years, he gradually became the most important figure for Latter-day Saint authority. Indeed, after 1840 Smith never associated Moroni, John the Baptist, or Peter, James, and John--previous angelic ministers--with the concept of priesthood, opting instead to emphasize Elijah. The concept of bestowed authority was present prior to the organization of the church, but the structure and nomenclature developed gradually throughout the remaining years of Smith''s life. Although the development occurred along a continuum, the continuity was punctuated by several key events. In attempting to understand the developmental process, it is useful to divide the continuum into several phases on the basis of those events.