“Church structure and organization” — Section 11
How is the Church of Jesus Christ structured and organized?
Representative of a Christian church:
Young men, I would present a major discrepancy in your beliefs. In Hebrews 9:16-17 it teaches that Christ was the Testator of the New Covenant or New Testament and yet the Doctrine and Covenants 135:5 states that Joseph Smith and his brother are the “Testators” of the new Covenant. Also, Ephesians 1:22-23 names Christ as the head of the Church, but your ‘revelation’ in Doctrine and Covenants 28:6 names Joseph Smith as the head of the Church. It appears to me that Joseph Smith is to your religion what Jesus Christ is to all other religions. According to the New Testament, Jesus is the Testator and the Head of the Church. To members of your church, Joseph Smith is the Testator and the Head of the church. Which is it, young men, Christ or Joseph Smith?
Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
My friend, we could answer that both are the heads of the Church and the Testators and still be right. You will notice that Ephesians 2:20 places Christ as the cornerstone of the Church, and the apostles as the foundation. This was the ruling body of the Church with Christ at the head. When Christ was taken to heaven after His resurrection, He led the Church with revelations but this left the Twelve as the earthly heads of the Church. Christ had told Peter in Matthew 16:19 that he had the keys of the kingdom of heaven and the power to bind on earth what would be bound in heaven. This power was also given to the other eleven apostles (See Matthew 18:18). You will notice that the saints considered this foundation as the “head” of their temporal affairs, along with being their spiritual guides to Christ. This is why their epistles were so enthusiastically accepted. All revelation came from Christ, given through the apostles and prophets, and given to the people (see Acts 6:1-6 and 1 Corinthians 16:2). In Doctrine and Covenants 28:6 the Lord revealed “the earthly head” of the Church, because by evil purposes wicked people had deceived many of the saints by claiming false revelation. We can find almost identical experiences in the Bible. Suppose Simon the Sorcerer in Acts chapter 8 had claimed revelation. How were the people to know whether he was a true or a false prophet, if the Lord had not already designated the leaders they were to follow? Concerning the Testators, Christ built the Church and organized it as mentioned “…on a foundation of apostles and prophets…” and brought a new covenant and testament to the people. He was Lord and Christ, and founder of the eternal principles of truth. With His death, and the death of his chosen twelve Apostles, and their immediate successors, havoc filled the Church. Corruption tainted the plain and simple truths He had given the people. More will be said about the corruption later, but it was in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times that the Lord restored His Church, His organization, and the plain and precious parts of His gospel. Joseph Smith was given power and authority from the Father and the Son, from Peter, James and John, and from John the Baptist, from Elijah and other leaders of ages past, to organize the church in its perfection. Through the guidance of Christ, Joseph Smith chose twelve apostles, and set up an identical organization with the Church of ancient times. With the ‘new and everlasting covenants’ once again established on the earth, new truth was given in the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. Joseph shared his testimony with the world, and was martyred, along with his brother, for the cause of truth. He never recognized himself to be above Christ, or even remotely equal to Christ, but just as an inspired Prophet of our Lord. This is why he can be called a Testator, because it was his blood that sealed a testimony of the restoration of the Church. Christ was a testator, and testator of the early day Church. There have been earthly heads, or prophets of the restoration, since the days of Joseph Smith. However, we boldly declare that the head of the entire body, the founder of truth, the cornerstone, and the Savior of mankind, is Jesus Christ, the founder of this church.
Representative of a Christian church:
You made the statement that you have the same organization as the primitive church of Christ, namely, apostles and prophets. We know that Christ chose twelve apostles and that they were prophets, yet your Church today has twelve apostles and three additional prophets. In the past you have had various numbers of ‘apostles and prophets’. The number seems to fluctuate regularly. Please also explain why you at times have a different number of apostles and prophets than Christ had. Also, you call the head of your church ‘President’. Please show me in the Bible where Peter, James, and John (whom you call the ‘First Presidency’ of the primitive church) are referred to as Presidents. Show me anywhere in the Bible where the term ‘President’ is used. These discrepancies point out major flaws in the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
We state in our sixth Article of Faith that we believe we have the same organization as the primitive church, namely, apostles, prophets, and other offices. We learn in Ephesians 2:20 that the church was founded on apostles, and that they were to remain ‘…until we all come to a unity of the faith…’ (Ephesians 4:11-13). Matthew 10:1-5 points out that the original Quorum of Twelve indeed numbered twelve, and our church today has twelve apostles in that same quorum. However, the church in Ephesians 2:20 was founded on apostles and PROPHETS and nowhere in the scriptures is there a restriction or limit on the number of prophets. Acts 11:27-28 tells us that prophets existed after the time of Christ, and had great authority in the Church. In Acts 21:10, Agabus, one of these prophets, prophesied in the name of the Holy Ghost concerning the future of Paul of Tarsus, of which Paul accepted and believed. The Church today has twelve apostles in the Quorum of the Twelve, and three additional apostles serving in the First Presidency of the Church. Nothing in scripture would indicate that this is out of harmony with the written word. It is more important to consider the service of these men and the office of their calling than to worry about the exact number that are serving. As for the term ‘president’, this is derived from the word ‘president’ or one who presides. It is merely added to the prophet’s title to indicate that he is the ‘presiding’ officer of the Church. In our missions, we have mission presidents who are called presidents because they preside over our missions and our missionaries. To have additional brethren serving in the First Presidency is not out of harmony with scripture. There is no specification as to how many prophets can be serving in the church. We have the same offices as existed in the primitive church, and where numbers are mentioned as a requirement in the New Testament (such as apostles and seventy) we fulfill the qualifications.
Representative of a Christian church:
The scriptures say that “Christ placed some in the Church, first apostles, secondly prophets,” etc. In your church, this order is reversed.
Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
You will notice that Christ, a Prophet (Acts 3:22), placed apostles first in the Church when He organized it almost 2000 years ago. Joseph Smith (a prophet) also placed apostles first in the church when it was organized in 1830. It was the Prophet who chose the apostles under God’s commission. After the church was organized (Acts 1) and Christ ascended, the apostles and prophets chose the new apostles. This is done in the same way today, under the Lord’s guidance. In the Lord’s church today, the apostles as a group are equal in power and authority with the First Presidency. The main difference is that the Lord’s revelations go through the Lord’s chosen Prophet at any given time. This is in harmony with holy scripture (Amos 3:7). That the original church could have had a First Presidency is strongly indicated by Paul’s words in Galatians 2:9, when he said, “James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars.” This scripture seems important, when we stop and think that it was Peter, James, and John who went with Christ to the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-5), to the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives (Mathew 26:29-30), and also into the house of Jairus when Christ raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead.
Click here to return to the Trial
Click here to return to the Challenging Questions index
Click here to return to the Main Menu page