Quote
The angel Moroni had stated in 1823 that after the Prophet and others had been commissioned with authority to proclaim the gospel and baptize in water, they would receive “power to give the Holy Ghost by the laying on of their hands.” Power to perform this essential function is centered in the Melchizedek Priesthood which John the Baptist promised Joseph and Oliver would be given to them in due time. This higher priesthood was conferred upon them by Peter, James, and John, who received it from Jesus Christ …The Prophet wrote that Peter, James, and John came and restored the Melchizedek Priesthood “in the wilderness between Harmony, Susquehanna county [Pennsylvania], and Colesville, Broome county [New York], on the Susquehanna river.” Of the circumstances associated with the coming of these ancient apostles, Erastus Snow, an early convert and an intimate friend of the Prophet, later said: “It was at a period when they [i.e., Smith and Cowdery] were being pursued by their enemies and had to travel all night, and in the dawn of the coming day when they were weary and worn who should appear to them but Peter, James and John, for the purpose of conferring upon them the Apostleship, the keys of which they themselves had held while upon the earth, which had been bestowed upon them by the Savior.”Share
Sign In to comment on this quote
