PROPER ORDER IN THE PRIESTHOOD, Part 1 of Chapter 4 of Holy Priesthood Vol 3

PROPER ORDER IN THE PRIESTHOOD, Part 1 of Chapter 4 of Holy Priesthood Vol 3

Pages 45- 49

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Women’s relationship to the Priesthood has been a controversial issue in the Church for decades. The generally accepted, but very restrictive, position today is illustrated in the following story told by Leah Widtsoe about a conversation between a small boy and his sister:

The boy stated he could be an engineer when he grew up and drive a huge engine. The girl said she could be a great musician and thrill great audiences with the joy of her art. The boy retorted that he could be President of the United States. For a while the little girl was somewhat silenced for surely here her brother had the better of the argument. Suddenly a bright thought came. “When I grow up, I can be a mother and have a baby all my own and nurse it!” That seemed to silence the lad until this bright thought came, “But I can hold the Priesthood!” (“Priesthood and Womanhood,” Relief Society Mag., Oct. 1933, p. 598)

This young boy, like most Elders in the Church, had acquired a narrow view of the relationship of women to the Priesthood.

The Apostle Paul gave a more liberal interpretation– “Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.” (I Cor. 11:11) He took the position that both men and women share in the divine blessings of the Priesthood.