The Necessity of Divine Authority in the True Church

The following is a post I wrote for Christian Debate Network in 2007. Enjoy!

When I was a kid, in the 6th grade, I wanted to be a Boy Scout. The custodian at our school said he was a scoutmaster and several of my classmates and I joined the troop. He had a uniform, he had a book, and he began teaching us the principles of scouting. I earned my Tenderfoot badge in a short time and was beginning to work on my 2nd Class rank.

My mother took me down to the local store that sold the official Boy Scouts of America uniforms and inquired about getting me outfitted. I was so excited. The sales clerk at the store asked to see my BSA membership card. I was confused, because I didn't have one. He explained that I was supposed to get one when I filled out the paperwork to join the troop. My mother explained that we didn't fill out any paperwork to join the troop. I was really disappointed that I couldn't get my scout uniform without the membership card, but we went to the scoutmaster to inquire about it.

We never got a straight answer as to why I had never filled out any paperwork or gotten a membership card. After a call to the local scout council office, my mother discovered that our scoutmaster was not really an official BSA scoutmaster. He had no authority to start a troop, induct new members, or offer rank advancements, etc. He looked legitimate, but he was a fake. He had no authority.

Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI re-released a 2006 statement that startled and offended Protestants all over the world. He wrote:

"On the other hand, the ecclesial communities which have not preserved the valid Episcopate and the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery,are not Churches in the proper sense . . ."

“The Christian faithful are therefore not permitted to imagine that the Church of Christ is nothing more than a collection — divided, yet in some way one — of Churches and ecclesial communities; nor are they free to hold that today the Church of Christ nowhere really exists, and must be considered only as a goal which all Churches and ecclesial communities must strive to reach”. In fact, “the elements of this already-given Church exist, joined together in their fullness in the Catholic Church and, without this fullness, in the other communities”.

Here's the link to the whole statement from the Vatican's web site.

(http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc...)

In a nutshell, the Pope says to Protestants, your churches aren't true. It isn't even permitted for you to imagine that the Christian Church is anything but the Roman Catholic Church. If your doctrine is that the Church of Christ is a loose association of people who believe in Jesus, you're wrong. That's his message.

Catholics say they have authority from Jesus Christ, through Peter down through the Bishop of Rome. They believe the Pope is the successor of the apostle Peter. Protestants deny any need for authority, because their founders were excommunicated from the Catholic Church or never were part of it. They invented a doctrine called "The Priesthood of All Believers" to try to justify their lack of a traceable priesthood line to Jesus Christ and the apostles.

This doctrine was first proclaimed in 1520 (that's 1,520 years after the time of Jesus Christ) by Martin Luther. Luther, as an excommunicated Catholic priest, had to come up with some justification after getting kicked out of the Church. Thus, the Pope is right, in the sense that Protestant denominations and their clergy lost their connection to the ancient Church of Christ. They had no authority.

Since the Roman Catholic Church didn't form officially until 325 A.D, it can be demonstrated historically that they never possessed apostolic authority either. There were times in history where there were three separate popes struggling for dominance of the Church. There was even a brief period when a woman served as a pope. (She was the mistress of one of the popes and had him killed off so their son could eventually accede to the throne of Peter.)

The Roman Catholic Church does not have the authority now. That authority passed with the last of the apostles: John. John was the only apostle who did not suffer a violent death. If there were to be new apostles called, they would have to trace their authority through him. Peter may have ordained bishops, but bishops are not apostles. Apostles held the keys to Christ's kingdom on earth, not the bishops.

A Mormon leader and author, Elder LeGrand Richards related the following anecdote:

“Many years ago a learned man, a member of the Roman Catholic Church, came to Utah and spoke from the stand of the Salt Lake Tabernacle. I became well-acquainted with him, and we conversed freely and frankly. A great scholar, with perhaps a dozen languages at his tongue’s end, he seemed to know all about theology, law, literature, science and philosophy. One day he said to me: ‘You Mormons are all ignoramuses. You don’t even know the strength of your own position. It is so strong that there is only one other tenable in the whole Christian world, and that is the position of the Catholic Church. The issue is between Catholicism and Mormonism. If we are right, you are wrong; if you are right, we are wrong; and that’s all there is to it. The Protestants haven’t a leg to stand on. For, if we are wrong, they are wrong with us, since they were a part of us and went out from us; while if we are right, they are apostates whom we cut off long ago. If we have the apostolic succession from St. Peter, as we claim, there is no need of Joseph Smith and Mormonism; but if we have not that succession, then such a man as Joseph Smith was necessary, and Mormonism’s attitude is the only consistent one. It is either the perpetuation of the gospel from ancient times, or the restoration of the gospel in latter days.’ ” (LeGrand Richards, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder [Deseret Book Co., 1950], pp. 3–4.)

The keys of the Kingdom of God, which Christ gave to Peter and the apostles are necessary for the existence of the Church of Jesus Christ. Without those keys, there is no authority to act in God's name. Christ gave the apostles power to bind on earth and in heaven. That means, if they baptized someone on earth, it counted in heaven. If they remitted someone's sins, it was done in heaven. It was the power to heal, to cast out devils, to receive revelation, and to direct Christ's Church. That authority was lost to mankind through apostasy. This, more than any other reason, is why Christianity is divided today.

The message of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that God the Father and Jesus Christ have appeared to prophets and apostles in our time. The ancient apostles who held those keys anciently have come back to confer them upon mortal men. The keys of the kingdom are in the possession of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints today. We have authority.

When I was that young boy scout, I faced a dilemma. When I learned that my scoutmaster didn't have the proper authority, I quit his unauthorized troop and joined a real one. The scoutmaster in the new troop was an official, recognized boy scout leader. He had authority to teach us the principles of scouting, and to lead us along the path to greater experiences and ranks. Nevertheless, though I had previously earned my Tenderfoot badge, I had to start over. Though I possessed the knowledge, I had not received it through an authorized channel.

It is not the papal crown, nor the priestly collar and robes that give authority. It is not college degrees from a theological seminary. It is not the man with knowledge from a book that can teach "as one having authority." Authority cannot be assumed, it must be conferred as Moses ordained Aaron (Hebrews 5:4). The Bible is replete with scriptures that illustrate these truths. Dathan, Kohor, and Abiram in Deuteronomy and the seven Sons of Sceva in the Book of Acts learned this firsthand.

I bear witness solemnly that God has restored the authority to act in his name again and that this authority resides in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I encourage you to act in accordance with James 1:5-6 and ask God if these things are true. The Holy Ghost will bear witness in your heart and your mind.

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Originally posted on: 3 April 2008
Bumped on: 18 Feb 2009

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