Question Regarding Priesthood Quorums
Posted by Michelle on July 22nd, 2007I ran across something today that I don’t understand. Why is there an increasing number of members of priesthood quorums up through the office of an elder (quorums of deacons have up to 12 members, teachers = 24 members, priests = 48, and elders = 96 (see Doctrine and Covenants 107:85-87). And then, to make things even more interesting, high priest quorums don’t have age restrictions (beyond the need to be a Melchizedek Priesthood holder), and there isn’t a limit to the size of the quorum.
Anyone know why this is?
Absolutely no idea. Time for idle speculation.
Many things in the church are a product of Joseph Smith’s fascinations. Ancient languages, thus the Pearl of Great Price and the JST. Womens groups, thus the Relief Society. What was proper to eat and drink, thus the Word of Wisdom. Why Abraham had so many wives, thus polygamy. This is not a bad thing in and of itself, a lot of very good stuff came from these fascinations. In the cultural mileau at the time numerology was something that is more widely accepted than it is now and more accepted as science. Note that the numbers increase exponentially, suggesting larger power or dominion by the leader of each group, another fascination of JS. Hebrew words also have numerological meanings, thus a fascination with numbers is not unusual for the time and context in which he was involved in. It would be almost surprising if stuff like this wasn’t in the DC. Idle speculation.
On a perhaps more concrete side, as men progress in the gospel hierarchy perhaps they are more able to deal with more people. In the early stages a small group (think Grade 1 classes… mine had 20 people in them at most) but as one increases in age one gets to attend American History at BYU with 400 other smiling scrubbed faces. More idle speculation.
Good luck… and if you have some kind of solid scriptural proof as to what the ‘white stone’ or the ‘one mighty and strong’ are… well you can send the fundamentalists into a tailspin…lol
Comment # 1 left by angrymormonliberal on July 22nd, 2007
To add another questino to your queation:
Are the High Priests a quorum, per se, on the local level? I always hear it referred to as the “High Priests’ group.”
Comment # 2 left by Naiah Earhart on July 22nd, 2007
Naiah,
Good question. The High Priests quorum is stake wide and the Stake President is the quorum president. That is why we call it a “group” at the ward level. It is not the full quorum and the High Priests group leader is not the president of the quorum.
Comment # 3 left by Jacob J on July 22nd, 2007
And then, to make things even more interesting, high priest quorums don’t have age restrictions
I’m not sure what you mean by this. None of the Quorums have age restrictions (beyond the current non-scirptural policies).
I’m not sure that we have any good explanation for the quorum numbers. Though it is interesting in history how the Church has used quorums and how they implemented the numerical requirement. We wouldn’t think of having a Quorum of the 12 with half the amount of apostles in it today, but we don’t really care about that in the Elder’s or Teachers quorums.
Comment # 4 left by J. Stapley on July 23rd, 2007
Jacob J: Thanks!
Michelle: I guess the answer is really just “because the Lord revealed it thus.”
Comment # 5 left by Naiah Earhart on July 23rd, 2007
J.,
Good point about the Q12. Though really, they seem to be an exception. We would think it strange to have fewer than 12 in the Quorum of the 12 — but it’s perfectly normal to have fewer than Seventy in the Quorum of the Seventy. (Any of them.) And the First Presidency has fluctuated in size over the years as well — with more counselors, then fewer.
Comment # 6 left by Kaimi on July 23rd, 2007
To add another questino to your queation:
Lol. “questino to your queation”??
Was that on purpose? Either way it made me chuckle.
Comment # 7 left by Geoff J on July 23rd, 2007
I’m not sure what you mean by this. None of the Quorums have age restrictions (beyond the current non-scirptural policies).
What I meant was that there is at least a minimum age requirement, particularly for the Aaronic Priesthood quorums and the Elders as well.
Comment # 8 left by Michelle on July 23rd, 2007
Something I don’t think has been mentioned, the decons are the least experienced and could use the most individual instruction. And when they progress they require less and less supervision, thus the numbers in the (common) quorums can grow as individuals advance.
Comment # 9 left by Eric Nielson on July 24th, 2007
Eric,
Interesting thought. Thanks.
Comment # 10 left by Michelle on July 25th, 2007
Test. I’ve never blogged before. Can I start a blog or do I need to do something else besides filling out the Post a comment?
Comment # 11 left by Jared on July 26th, 2007
Jared, welcome to Blogger of Jared, and welcome to blogging!
Some tidbits:
A blog is the whole site. You can start your own in various ways. One of the easiest is at www.blogger.com — set up an account (they tie in with gmail) and pick a template and go!
A post is an “article” on a blog. Here at BoJ, we have posters who share the writing tasks. But we on occasion have “guest posts” — you could send us one, although that might be better to try after you have hung around here for a while and decided if this is the right kind of blog for you. (Let us know if you are interested. We do reserve the right to say no, though.
)
A comment is what you just did…adding a comment to the discussion on a certain post posted on a blog.
How’s that for a brief primer?
Comment # 12 left by Michelle on July 27th, 2007
Michelle,
Thanks for the primer. I’m beginning to see how blogging works. If I were to send you something to be considered for use in the “Quest Bloggers”–how and where would I send it?
Comment # 13 left by Jared on July 28th, 2007