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Why aren’t women allowed to hold the priesthood?
Short answer: We don’t need it, men do.
Longer answer: Women already run the church as it is. We are in charge of the primary, Young Women‘s and Relief Society. We do visiting teaching. We make sure those families in need are taken care of. We also have our own families. Of course, many women work outside the home today as well. Therefore, you want women, to work their full time job, go home and take care of their family, do their Visiting Teaching and whatever other calling they may have, then on top of that you want the women do all the missionary work, the baptisms, confirm people with the Holy Ghost, be the Bishop, the ward clerks, run the Elder Quorums, the Stake Presidencies and ever other male assigned function in the Church. When exactly would we breathe? Are you crazy? What are the men doing, while we are doing everything inside the home and church? Drinking Sprite and watching BYU football? I don’t think so! The men need to do their fair share as well. In our Church, the roles are assigned to all members, and each member has their own duties to perform. To dump more duties on women and less duties on men would be cruel. The women are an integral part of the Church and they have a significant say in the how things are done in the church. We don’t need the priesthood to get things done.
Secondly, women are already in tune with the Spirit alot more than
men. We see this in the Book of Mormon when the Stripling warriors defend their families. In Alma 56:47-48 we read: Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the aliberty of their bfathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their cmothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. 48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their amothers, saying: We bdo not doubt our mothers knew it. It is not that the fathers are unimportant or are not spiritual, but mothers have historically been the spiritual teachers in the family.
I think we have a stronger connection to Heavenly Father because just as he is the Giver of Life, so are we. We understand Him on such a fundamentally different level than men. Men with the priesthood and who exercise it righteously are given a wider understanding of that connection to Heavenly Father, one that we have almost intrinsically. The priesthood is given to men because of the “errand of angels is given to women.” [Sisters in Zion]
How come anyone cannot attend the temple?
Short answer: Anyone can attend the temple. All you need is a temple recommend.
Longer answer: The temple is God’s house. Do you just allow anyone to come into your house? No, you only allow those you know to enter. God is no different, he only allows those he knows to enter. In this case, knows is in reference to, those he recognizes as being obedient to His word and the commandments He has set forth. He doesn’t wish to keep everyone out, but just wants them properly prepared before they enter.
What if we met and you wanted to come over to my house and I told you I live at 314? Well 314 what? I didn’t give you a street name, a city, nothing…just 314. Do you think you are going to make it to my house? Of course not, you don’t have enough information to go on. Well, God has given us all the information we need to enter his house, all we need to do is follow those directions. What if I gave you my address and all the information you needed and told you to turn left on Alexandria, but you decided you knew better than me and turned right on Alexandria. Well you have no cause to get angry with me, I told you left. We often do things our own way and when it doesn’t turn out we blame God, but He made his directions explicitly clear and we decided to ignore them. Anybody can get to the temple. No one is barred from entering as long you have done the things needed to enter the temple. The temple is not meant to keep you from God but to help you get closer to God and all it takes are the right directions.
How can you guys put yourself on the same level as Jesus Christ?
Short answer: We don’t, the Bible does. See Romans 8:16-17
Longer answer: Here is the actual verse from the Bible: The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
That being said, we also recognize that Christ is the only perfect one of us to ever live. It is our intention to be more like Christ and emulate his ways in all we say and do. We often fall short and thankfully, our perfect brother, paid the price for all his imperfect brothers and sisters. His Atonement makes it possible for us to return home to Heavenly Father. We only see ourselves as equal in terms of us being Heavenly Father’s children as well, beyond that we know Christ is the only way we will have salvation and that His grace is sufficient for all of us.
‘Related articles
- 2012 Book of Mormon Sunday School/Relief Society/Priesthood Lesson Schedule Bookmarks (bethanyjensen.com)
- Emboldening Women (Through Identity): an interview with Neylan McBaine, founder of the Mormon Women Project (motleyvision.org)
- Christianity vs. Mormonism: Jesus Christ (anotherchristianblog.org)
- Will America Get Its First Mormon President? Five Facts About Mormons (thegreatone22.wordpress.com)
- Latter-day Saints launch “I’m a Mormon” ad campaign (losangeles.ibtimes.com)
- Review: Women of Faith in the Latter Days, Volume One, 1775 – 1820 (bycommonconsent.com)
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