Priesthood Restoration

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe Joseph Smith received divine power and authority from God to administer ordinances and govern the church. This power and authority is called priesthood.

While translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery read several passages concerning authority and baptism, prompting them to pray about those subjects. According to later accounts, John the Baptist appeared to Smith and Cowdery on 15 May 1829 and bestowed on them the “priesthood of Aaron,” which gave them the authority to baptize; he then promised that they would later receive a higher authority to bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The events surrounding the restoration of this higher authority, later called the Melchizedek Priesthood, are more difficult to reconstruct. (For information on the lack of contemporary documentation, see “Joseph Smith Documents Dating through June 1831.”) Some accounts describe Peter, James, and John—three of the apostles called by Jesus Christ in the New Testament—appearing to Smith and Cowdery and bestowing on them the high priesthood. Other accounts describe an event at the home of Peter Whitmer Sr. when the voice of God commanded Smith and Cowdery to ordain one another to the office of elder in a public meeting of baptized believers. The exact dates when these events took place are unknown.

The following finding aid provides links or citations to the earliest records describing or alluding to the restoration of the priesthood. They are listed in chronological order.

For a compilation of accounts by Joseph Smith’s contemporaries, see Brian Q. Cannon and BYU Studies Staff, “The Earliest Accounts of the Restoration of the Priesthood,” and John W. Welch, “Documents of the Priesthood Restoration,” in Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820–1844 (Second Edition), ed. John W. Welch (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2017), 229–279.

Joseph Smith History, circa Summer 1832, 1. Mentions the reception of the holy priesthood by ministering of angels and then a confirmation and reception of the high priesthood.

Minutes, 12 February 1834 (Minute Book 1). Records Joseph Smith recounting that priesthood office was conferred on him by an angel, by the voice of God, and by the voice of the church.

Minutes and Discourse, 21 April 1834 (Minute Book 1). Gives Joseph Smith’s account of “the revelation of the priesthood of Aaron” and “the revelation of the high priesthood.”

Joseph Smith History, 1834–1836, 17, 5 December 1834. Mentions an angel giving the lesser priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.

Oliver Cowdery, Norton, OH, to William W. Phelps, 7 Sept. 1834, in Messenger and Advocate, 1:15–16; copied in Joseph Smith History, 1834–1836, 48–49. Describes an angel conferring priesthood authority after Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery read passages from the Book of Mormon and prayed.

Revelation, circa August 1835 [D&C 27:8–14] (Doctrine and Covenants, 50:2–3, published 1835). Includes a revised and expanded version of a revelation originally dating to circa August 1830. The text published in 1835 mentions John the Baptist bestowing the first priesthood and Peter, James, and John ordaining Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to be apostles.

Patriarchal Blessings, 1:8–9 (probably recorded summer/fall 1835). Oliver Cowdery recounts how Joseph Smith was “ordained by the angel John, unto the lesser or Aaronic priesthood, in company with myself, in the town of Harmony, Susquehannah County, Pennsylvania, on Fryday, the 15th day of May, 1829, after which we repaired to the water, even to the Susquehannah River, and were baptized, he first ministering unto me and after I to him. But before baptism, our souls were drawn out in mighty prayer to know how we might obtain the blessings of baptism and of the Holy Spirit, according to the order of God, and we diligently saught for the right of the fathers, and the authority of the holy priesthood, and the power to admin in the same: for we desired to be followers of righteousness and the possessors of greater knowledge, even the knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Therefore, we repaired to the woods, even as our father Joseph said we should, that is to the bush, and called upon the name of the Lord, and he answered us out of the heavens, and while we were in the heavenly vision the angel came down and bestowed upon us this priesthood; and then, as I have said, we repaired to the water and were baptized. After this we received the high and holy priesthood: but an account of this will be given elsewhere.”

Blessing to Oliver Cowdery, 2 October 1835 (Patriarchal Blessings, 1:12, recorded 2 Oct. 1835). Mentions ordination to the lesser and holy priesthoods under the hands of those who received the priesthood from Jesus Christ.

Joseph Smith History, vol. A-1, 17–18, 26–27, 37; compare History, circa June–October 1839, [1], [7]–[8] [Draft 1]. John the Baptist bestows the Aaronic Priesthood on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on 15 May 1829 and promises the Melchizedek Priesthood will be conferred at a later time; Smith later hears the voice of the Lord in Peter Whitmer Sr.’s chamber, commanding him and Cowdery to ordain each other as elders; account of the 6 April 1830 meeting at which Smith and Cowdery ordained each other as elders.

Orson Pratt, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions (1840), 23. Secondhand account from Pratt recording Joseph Smith’s account of the reception of the lower priesthood.

Letter to “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” 7 September 1842 [D&C 128:20–21]. Joseph Smith summarizes the restoration of priesthood and keys and mentions Peter, James, and John; he also briefly describes the voice of God in the chamber of “Father Whitmer.”

Discourse, 10 March 1844. Reports Joseph Smith discourse on receiving priesthood authority.

Oliver Cowdery, Tiffin, OH, to Phineas Young, Nauvoo, IL, 23 March 1846, CHL. Cowdery recounts standing in the presence of John and Peter to receive the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods.

Reuben Miller, Journal, 21 October 1848. Account of Oliver Cowdery discourse recounting that he was with Joseph Smith when angels bestowed the lesser and greater priesthoods.

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