Item Detail
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28627
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1
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13
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English
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"Kingdom of Priests" : Priesthood, Temple, and Women in the Old Testament and in the Restoration
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Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought
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Winter 2003
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36
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no.3
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41-59
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IN THIS PAPER I WILL ATTEMPT to consider priesthood as portrayed in Old
Testament texts. One of the common fallacies of historical interpretation
is to base our understanding of an early phenomenon on later understandings
and institutions, which generally reflect a changed, developed
point of view and which may have gained wide currency for any number
of reasons. The earliest documents, reflecting a somewhat unfamiliar
state of things, are then treated with benign neglect, at best. In religion,
an institution often achieves a successful doctrinal-historical synthesis
(after years or decades or centuries of difficult work, development, and
change), but then institutional historians project that synthesis back into
early history. If one analyzes the early documents carefully, however, the
pattern of development and change is clearly found. In my opinion, the
institutional church could regard the process by which the church came
to its synthesis as an inspiring story of man seeking guidance from God
and getting it bit by bit, step by step, through a process of human striving
(including possible mistakes) mixed with divine revelation. Looking
at the earliest sources is first a matter of scholarly honesty (and of course,
honesty is never antithetical to the gospel); second, it provides an authentically
faith-promoting view of men and women's struggles as they
receive guidance from God, step by step, line by line. -
An American Prophet's Record : The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith
Leaders to Managers : The Fatal Shift
Mormon Women Have Had the Priesthood since 1843
Oliver Cowdery's Kirtland, Ohio, 'Sketch Book'
On the Potter's Wheel : The Diaries of Heber C. Kimball
Power from on High : The Development of Mormon Priesthood
Priesthood and Salvation : Is D&C 84 a Revelation for Women Too?
Sisters in Spirit : Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective
The Reality of the Restoration and the Restoration Ideal in the Mormon Tradition
The Women of Mormondom
Trials of Discipleship : The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon
Woman and the Priesthood
Women of Covenant : The Story of Relief Society