Priesthood

This page summarizes the topic sentences of the talk's major paragraphs, organized by theme, followed by key doctrinal quotations and scripture citations. Bracketed commentary and asides from the original talk have been condensed and paraphrased throughout; quoted passages are kept short and attributed.

Office in the Church is not the same as priesthood

• Denver distinguishes church offices (Elder, Priest, Teacher, Deacon, Bishop) from priesthood itself, noting the church operated for over two decades under Heber J. Grant ordaining only to office, without conferring priesthood.
• "All priesthood is Melchizedek," per Joseph Smith, "but there are different portions or degrees of it" — a continuum of association with heaven rather than a fixed rank in an earthly hierarchy.
• D&C 84:21-22 ties this authority directly to seeing God's face while still living: the ordinances of the priesthood exist "that you may be able to bear his presence in the world of glory" only if first laid hold upon "in the flesh" (D&C 76:118); failing to do so in this life is called a "wo," not an irreversible loss (D&C 84:42).

Priesthood as fellowship with the Powers of Heaven

• D&C 121's "Powers of Heaven" is read as a proper noun naming actual beings (angels, archangels, principalities, powers, dominions, thrones, cherubim, seraphim) with whom a person can be in fellowship — priesthood, in this reading, is that relationship itself, not a certificate.
• That relationship can only be exercised "by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned"; any attempt to control, compel, or cover sin instantly ends it — "Amen to the priesthood."
• The moment authority is used to dominate rather than persuade, the heavens withdraw and a different, false spirit steps in to reassure the wrongdoer they are justified.
• The word "soul," per D&C 88:15, is defined as the union of spirit and body — a definition Joseph Smith had received by revelation in 1832 and later applied correctly when translating the Book of Abraham's description of premortal "souls."

Three grand orders and the case for renaming the highest

• Joseph Smith's sermon on the three grand orders — Levitical/Aaronic, Melchizedek, and Patriarchal — is reinterpreted by Denver to argue the highest order is best called "Patriarchal," being the original Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God held by Adam and the patriarchs, now returning at the end as it existed at the beginning.
• Each order corresponds to a different fellowship: Aaronic with angels, Melchizedek with the Son, and Patriarchal with the Father Himself, whose recipients are addressed directly as "my son."
• The baptismal prayer's wording, changed by Joseph Smith to "in the water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (D&C 20:73), is cited as an example of a divinely-authorized correction that should give confidence the restoration was never static, but continually refined by revelation.

Three kinds of sealing power

• The first kind belongs only to a dispensation head (Moses, Lehi, Joseph Smith) and cannot be passed from man to man; the second is embodied in ordinances (such as the Church's temple sealings) and persists only so long as the ordinance and covenant are kept unaltered; the third — power to command the elements, as with Enoch, Melchizedek, and Nephi son of Helaman — is given only to those God has proven He can trust absolutely.
• Ordinary faith, exercised by anyone including women, can also seal by the power of the Holy Ghost "of as many as the Father shall bear record" — a category independent of formal priesthood office.
• D&C 132:24-25 is cited to show even sealing tied to marriage covenants is conditioned on obedience and law, not granted unconditionally by virtue of ordinance alone.