(Artist: Paul C. Swift)
A few years ago I acquired a 1954 vintage copy of “Priesthood and Church Government,” by John Widtsoe. I devoured it. Despite its flaws it’s a fascinating book.
I could
easily sum up the book in one word: patriarchy.
I don’t mean that facetiously. I mean that literally. Patriarchy, as in
a system of government in which men hold the power and women are largely
excluded from it. There are copious passages illustrating the exclusion of
women.
The book
even contains a brief section referencing the ordained patriarchal order of
family dynamics. It’s one of the few references of women in the entire book.
“Wives and
children should be taught to feel that the patriarchal order in the Kingdom of
God has been established for a wise and beneficent purpose, and should sustain
the head of the household and encourage him in the discharge of his duties, and
do all in their power to aid him in the exercise of the rights and privileges
which God has bestowed upon the head of the home. This patriarchal order has
its divine spirit and purpose, and those who disregard it under one pretext or
another are out of harmony with the spirit of God’s law as they are ordained
for recognition in the home. It is not merely a question of who is perhaps the
best qualified. Neither is it wholly a question of who is living the most
worthy life.” (Priesthood and Church Government, p.83)
According to
this, women are not disqualified from ordination due to worthiness and lack of
qualification, but simply because patriarchy is God’s ordained law. No matter
what I do, how I act, or how worthily I live my life, the message is God
doesn’t trust women with “His” power. I was born female and that was more eternally
damning than any sin a man could commit and repent of.
Widtsoe continues
by asserting that motherhood is a gift God has bestowed upon women, making motherhood
tantamount to priesthood authority. He states:
“That grave
responsibility [of motherhood] belongs, by right of sex, to the women who bear
and nurture the whole race. Surely no right thinking woman could crave more
responsibility nor greater proof of innate powers than that! Such power
entrusted to women proves conclusively that they have been recognized and
trusted.” (Priesthood and Church Government, p.85)
Sadly, he
completely neglects the responsibility of fatherhood as an equal compliment to motherhood,
and that parenthood may be one small aspect of a person’s life and identity. He
also neglects women who are unable to conceive, nor does he mention that in
order for a woman to conceive she is still dependent upon a male, while a male
priesthood holder requires no such female dependency to exercise his priesthood.
It’s not
difficult to see why some women with fertility difficulties also struggle with
a sense of self worth. If creating an offspring is her highest priesthood calling
and, through no fault of her own, she can’t, one could easily begin to believe
God simply didn’t trust her with her priesthood power. I understand counter
arguments of women having perfected bodies capable of child bearing in an
afterlife are common rebuttals, but I think we can do better than empty
promises that are contingent upon a woman dying to be able to exercise her
priesthood power. Dead women with perfected bodies bound to eternal pregnancy
hardly seems like a logical, compassionate, or thoughtful response. I
trust godly creation and reproduction would be far more rational and efficient.
Sadly, the
teachings printed in this book written over half a century ago still linger in
our ever evolving policies and practices. I
have not only been taught these things from family and friends, they are still
explicitly and implicitly taught in our meeting houses and temples.
The present
implementation of priesthood authority is perfectly logical when taking into
account the LDS Church’s history of polygamy, correlation, and the imperative
to exclusive priesthood authority in relation to other Mormon sects. In
context, it’s easy to see how we got to this point and why “Priesthood and Church
Government” was even written.
Is the
priesthood simply a man-made tool to further exercise his dominance over women?
Is it one more way men define their religion as more legitimate than another? Is
it just another attempt to subjugate women and confine them to patriarchal
control? Some feminists have reached such conclusions, and frankly, I don’t
blame them. I, too, am highly skeptical of any authority I am blatantly
excluded from on account of my gender. Any power that is used to prohibit worthy
women from participation in religious rituals doesn’t resemble the power of God
that inspires me as a Mormon, and hardly exemplifies a God I would worship or
aspire toward. If that’s priesthood power, count me out.
However,
conflating priesthood power solely with church governance is a narrow approach
to what could be a powerful, inspiring, and sublime tool for all humanity. I
believe it is possible to approach priesthood power beyond patriarchy, asinine
exclusivity, and superstition.
So what does
priesthood power look like independent of patriarchal governance?
The
priesthood power is the knowledge of God, the power by which the universe is
governed, and is the authority to act in the name of God. Doctrine and
Covenants 84:19 states “This greater priesthood administereth the gospel and
holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge
of God.”
John Taylor
comments that the Priesthood “governs all things—it directs all things—it
sustains all things—and has to do with all things that God and truth are
associated with. It is the Power of God delegated to intelligences in the
heavens…and on the earth.” (Millennial Star, Volume 9, p.321)
Brigham Young
declared: “If anybody wants to know what the priesthood is, it is the Law by
which the worlds are, were and will continue forever and ever. It is that
system which brings worlds into existence and peoples them, gives them their
revolutions, their days, weeks, months, years, their seasons and times and by
which they go into a higher state of existence.” (Discourse of Brigham Young,
p.130)
“Priesthood
is the authority…to act officially in the accomplishment of the Plan of
Salvation.” (Priesthood and Church Government, p.35) “Priesthood implies
purpose. The purpose of the Plan, made clear in modern revelation, is the
eternal, progressive welfare of human beings.” (Program of the Church, John
Widtsoe, p.127)
Priesthood
power is God’s work, and that work is clearly illustrated in Moses 1:39, “For
behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and
eternal life of man.” I’m confident that includes women too.
As stated in
the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, “It is the power by which mortal bodies will be
resurrected immortal, to be possessed forever by the spirits who dwelt in them,
glorified by God according to their works while in mortality. It is the power
by which eternal joy may be attained, but always and only through obedience to
the laws and principles of righteousness as exemplified and taught by the
Savior.” (Encyclopedia of Mormonism: Priesthood, 1992) Here we are encouraged
to follow the example of Jesus Christ when exercising priesthood authority.
Alma 13:8-9 suggests those that are ordained take upon them the high
priesthood, becoming high priests forever after the order of Jesus Christ
without beginning or end, “who is full of grace, equity, and truth.” If God’s priesthood power is exemplified
through the example of Jesus, the priesthood power mandates the equal opportunity
for participation, as we have all been invited to be one in Christ.
Mormons are
firm believers that “faith without works is dead,” and by modern revelation it
will be according to our works in mortality whether or not we will be
successful. Cosmoforming, terraforming, resurrection, and immortality are lofty
goals; and I trust humanity would benefit from the equal participation of
women.
Doctrine and
Covenants prophesies the earth “may be prepared for the celestial glory…that
bodies who are of the celestial kingdom may possess it forever and ever.” The
celestial kingdom is prophesied to be right here if we choose to exercise our
priesthood power to bring about the transcendence of the human condition.
This is the
priesthood power that inspires me. This represents a godly power worth
magnifying. I will continue to seek after all priesthood power including
ordination. As Joseph Smith taught, “I advise all to go on in perfection, and
search deeper and deeper into the mysteries of godliness.” (Teachings of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, p.364)
If the
priesthood is reduced to little more than a tool of patriarchy to assert
authority over others with unnecessary exclusions, then indeed a woman’s desire
for ordination would be unrighteous in such context. However, if the priesthood
is the power and authority to act in the name of God to participate in the work
of creation, organization, immortality, and resurrection, I can find no fault
in a woman’s desire to be more fully involved in priesthood responsibilities
and religious rituals that motivate actions toward those goals.
I’ll
respectfully disagree with Widtsoe’s comment that “surely no right thinking
woman could crave more responsibility.” I am a right thinking woman and I do
crave more responsibility. I know I’m in the minority, but being in the
minority doesn’t make a person wrong. Anyone with vision who ever dared to
question, divert, or protest was once in the minority, including Jesus Christ and
Joseph Smith.
If the
priesthood is what they say it is, we should encourage every human being on the
planet to participate in the work of God. If the priesthood is what they say it
is, shouldn’t all who desire to act in God’s name to bring about the immortality
of humanity be commended and ordained? If the priesthood is what they say it is,
I can reach no other conclusion by my Mormon upbringing that to desire to be a
priesthood representative of the Almighty is exactly what God would want me to
do—in all capacities, not just in capacities outlined by patriarchal authority.
If the priesthood is what they say it is, am I not an heir of
God too?
