n Mormon theology, priesthood keys are essen-tial to administer the ordinances of salvation andto organize and superintend the Church. For thisreason, the restoration of the priesthood haslong been viewed as one of the most importantevents in the establishment of the Church. Yet,

though the Church commemorates the restorationof the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, little ifanything is ever said about the restoration of thepriesthood "by the hand of Elijah the prophet." ForJoseph Smith, however, Elijah’s mission was of theutmost importance to the Church, since Elijah re-

16 SUNSTONE/JULY 1985

THE

the forgottenplace ofqueens andpriestessesin theestablishmentof Zion

BYMARGARET M. TOSCANO

stored the keys of the fulness of the priesthood.Significantly, among Joseph’s first revelations

from Moroni, given in 1823, appears the pronounce-ment that it would be by Elijah, not John the Baptistor Peter, James, and John that the priesthood wouldbe revealed (D&C 2). Though Elijah appeared in

April of 1836, it was not until May 4, 1842, thatJoseph began transmitting to other men the keys ofthis priesthood by means of the temple endowment.Later, Joseph organized these newly endowed mem-bers into a group most commonly referred to as "thequorum."

JULY1985/SUNSTONE

Sincein Joseph’s

view, priest-hood is essen-

tual for full sal-vation, it seems

inconceivablethat he could

withhold it fromwomen.

A year later, on the evening of September 28,1843, Joseph Smith "was by common consent &unanimous voice chosen president of the Quorum& anointed & ordained to the highest order of thepriesthood (& Companionmd[itt]o" (D. MichaelQuinn,"Latter-day Saint Prayer Circles," BYU Studies,Fall 1978, p. 85). Perhaps the most significant aspectof this important event is contained in the last twowords of this reportmwords which are added paren-thetically: "(& Companion--d[itt]o."

These words mean that Joseph’s companion,Emma Smith, was also anointed and ordained to thehighest order of the priesthood. She had, prior tothis date, received her endowment from Joseph,making her the first woman to receive these ordi-nances; and she was the first woman to be admittedinto the quorum. Thereafter, she was in charge ofadministering to other select women the endow-ment ordinances which not only transmit priest-hood power and keys to those who receive them, butwhich are a necessary prerequisite to the bestowalupon both men and women of the fulness of thepriesthood. It was Joseph’s intent that all faithfulwomen were to receive what Emma received whenshe was "anointed and ordained to the highest orderof the priesthood" with her husband. (See Teachings ofthe Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 137, 226.) Women, then,can and do hold the priesthood. But this fact hasbeen obscured and overlooked much in the sameway that Emma’s ordination was subordinated inthe report just quoted.

In Joseph’s view, women needed the priesthood asmuch as the men did because the priesthood was notmerely a status or fraternity, but a requirement forfull salvation. Unlike the modern Church, whichtends to regard priesthood as a managerial systemfor the purpose of correlating and controlling theworldwide Church and as a means of insuring ahomogeneous and cost-effective organization, Josephsaw priesthood as raw spiritual power. For him itwas inextricably entwined with God’s spirit thatpermeates the universe. Priesthood is a necessaryprerequisite to handling and controlling the powersof heaven. (See D&C 121:36.)

While Joseph taught that the reception of the giftof the Holy Ghost brings with it such spiritual giftsas revelations, visions, and tongues, he also taughtthat the reception of the fulness of the priesthood bya holy anointing brings similar but higher gifts: reve-lations of greater knowledge and wisdom, includingthe discernment of spirits, the reception of the min-istry of angels, the voice of Jehovah, the visitation ofthe Father and the Son, and, finally, the power of anendless life. (See Words of Joseph Smith, pp. 42, 245, 246,253.)

The anointing to the fulness of the priesthood isamong the very last ordinances of salvation on acontinuum that begins with faith in Jesus Christ andends with the washing of the feet. The purpose ofthese ordinances is to sanctify an individual by giv-ing to him or her one degree of spiritual power uponanother until he or she is able to bear the full weight

18 SUNSTONE/JULY 1985

of God’s glory and come into union with God him-self and with other sanctified individuals. (See WJS,pp. 341, 350, 365-66.)

For Joseph, the main purpose of the keys restoredby John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John wasto administer the ordinances which would eventu-ally allow men and women to be endowed andanointed kings and priests and queens and priest-esses, so that they could have direct and personalcontact with God. For Joseph, this was the wholepoint of religion. He stated, "this is why Abrahamblessed his posterity: He wanted to bring them intothe presence of God .... Moses sought to bring thechildren of Israel into the presence of God, throughthe power of the Pristhood, but he could not." (SeeWJS, p. 9.)

Since contact with God is the essence of religion,then personal revelation is an indispensable ingre-dient of the religious life. For Joseph the "spirit ofrevelation" and the "priesthood" were very closelylinked. (See WJS, pp. 212, 230.) With the reception ofthe fulness of the priesthood, a man and womanreceive the spirit, power, and calling of Elijah:

Now for Elijah, the spirit power & calling of Elijah is that yehave power to hold the keys of the revelations ordinances, oriclespowers & endowments of the fulness of the Melchezedek Priest-hood & of the Kingdom of God on Earth & to receive, obtain &perform all the ordinances belonging to the Kingdom of God evenunto the sealing of the hearts of the.., fathers unto the children& the hearts of the children unto the fathers even those who are inheaven. (WJS, p. 329.)

No person can "attain to the Joint heirship with JesusChrist with out being administered to by one havingthe same power & Authority of Melchisedec." (WJS,p. 245.) By receiving the keys of the fulness of thepriesthood through the holy endowment and thesecond anointing, a man and woman make theircalling and election sure and may receive the visita-tion of God the Son and be initiated by him into thepresence of God the Father. (See WJS, p. 330.)

Since in Joseph’s view, this priesthood is essentialfor full salvation and for contact and union withGod, it seems inconceivable that he could withhold itfrom women. And, in fact, he did not.

Joseph saw the offices of the priesthood in theChurch as necessary appendages to the fulness ofthe priesthood (see WJS, p. 59; TPJS, p. 167), andmale Church members were ordained to these offi-ces to prepare them to receive their anointings. ButJoseph did not ordain women to these offices. How-ever, he did have a plan to prepare the female mem-bers of the Church for the fulness of the priest-hood. The organization of the Female Relief Societyof Nauvoo lay at the heart of this plan, whichthe Prophet unfolded in the discourses he gave tothe Relief Society between March 17 and August 31,1842.

In the first of these speeches, the Prophet directedthe Relief Society women to follow the pattern ofthe priesthood quorums By establishing in theirorganization a presidency and other officers. WhenEmma Smith was elected president, Joseph explained

that she was to teach the "female part of the com-munity." (WJS, p. 105.) This remark constitutes aninterpolation of Doctrine and Covenants 25, whichactually told Emma she would be ordained "toexpound the scriptures, and to exhort the church,"not just its female members (D&C 25:7). Elsewhere,however, Joseph expanded women’s sphere of influ-ence by saying that, although their administrationsshould be confined to their close acquaintances, theirknowledge and preaching could "extend to all theworld." (See WJS, pp. 118-19.) Joseph emphasizedthat Emma and women in general have the calling tolearn, write, and teach by virtue of their havingrecieved the gift of the Holy Ghost. (WJS, p. 10,5.)Thus, women are not simply told to stay in the homeand content themselves with "the things of theworld" (D&C 25:10).

In Joseph’s next speech, he advised the ReliefSociety to make a careful selection of its newmembers; for he saw the organization as a means toprepare women for the fulness of the priesthood--anecessary step in building Zion, which was to bepatterned after the "ancient order of things." Hesaid: "The society should move according to theancient Priesthood, hence there should be a selectsociety, separate from all the evils of the world,choice, virtuous and holy" (WJS, p. 110). The term"ancient priesthood" refers to the priesthood of theAncient of Days, Adam and Eve, the priesthoodgiven to men and women jointly (see Moses 6:7;D&C 113:8; TPJS, p. 237). Hence, Joseph could tellthe Relief Society that they should "move accordingto the ancient Priesthood," because they too wouldshare in it. The Relief Society was clearly to be aschool to prepare women for the holy order, just asthe offices and quorums of the priesthood in theChurch were organized to prepare men for the samepurpose.

That the ancient order is connected with the build-ing: of Zion is indicated by Joseph’s stated intention"to make of this society a kingdom of priests as inEnoch’s day--as in Paul’s day" (WJS, p. 110). Theoriginal version of this statement was later edited sothat the word "society" was changed to "Church" toread: "The Lord was going to make of the Church ofJesus Christ a kingdom of Priests." This was doneperhaps because it seemed incredible that Josephwould have said that he intended to make ReliefSociety women into "priests."

But I don’t believe that the original statement wasin error. I think Joseph used the masculine form herein the same way Jesus did in the apocryphal Gospelof Thomas. In that text, Peter objects to the fact thatJesus seems always to be in the company of Mary.Jesus answers this criticism, declaring: "I myself shalllead her in order to make her male" (James N.Robinson, ed., Nag Hammadi Library, p. 130). Jesus didnot mean that he was going to change Mary’s sexbut that he was going to make her one with him, afact he explained when he says: "When you makethe two one, and when you make the inside like theoutside and the outside like the inside, and the abovelike the below, and when you make the male and

female one and the same, so that the male not bemale nor the female female.., then will you enter[the Kingdom]" (Nag Hammadi, p. 121). When a manand woman become one in God, the outer loses itsidentity as outer, and the inner is no longer innerbecause they have merged into one eternal entity.The female does not become a male, nor the male afemale, but rather both become one. They bothbecome a whole person, a holy person, a divinebeing, a "Man" of Holiness. The term man is usedhere in the same sense it was used in Genesis: itembraces both the male and the female counter-parts. Thus, Joseph Smith, in applying the masculineterm priests to the women of the Relief Society, wasnot merely making an oversight or indulging in malechauvinism; rather he was using a shorthand ex-pression to refer to an ancient and complex spiritualteaching.

One month later, in his speech of April 28, 1842,Joseph directly addressed the question of woman’srelationship to the priesthc~od by discussing thepractice of women giving blessings. He observedthat women have the right to administer to the sickbecause of the ordination and authority they receiveby virtue of the gift of the Holy Ghost conferred bythe laying on of hands. Joseph explained that theability to cast out devils, speak in tongues, and healthe sick are given to all, "whether male or female,"who believe and are baptized (W]S, p. 115). The factthat God honors the administration of women byhealing the person blessed, said Joseph, shows thatthere is no harm in the practice. "It is no sin for anybody to do it that has faith, or if the sick has faith tobe heal’d by the administration" (WJS, p. 116).

Joseph, however, did not leave the matter there.He added a second justification for women layinghands on the sick by implying that women wouldsoon have an even greater right to administer inspiritual gifts than that given them by virtue of thegift of the Holy Ghost. This greater right was toconsist of the priesthood which was to be conferredupon them in the temple. But because Joseph hadpremonitions of his death, he felt an urgency tobegin the work of conferring this priesthood onwomen before the temple was completed: "He saidas he had this opportunity, he was going to instructthe Society .... He spoke of delivering the keys tothis society and to the Church--that according to hisprayers God had appointed him elsewhere." (WJS, p.116.) The keys that Joseph spoke of in this passageare those priesthood keys, revealed in the temple, bywhich the heavens are opened so that spiritualpower and knowledge may be received and thesource of revelations tested.

That Joseph intended women to receive the priest-hood is further demonstrated by his statementfound in the History of the Church:

At two o’ clock I met the members of the "Female Relief Society,"and.., gave a lecture on the Priesthood, showing how the sisterswould come in possession of the privileges blessings and gifts of thePriesthood, and that signs should follow them, such as healing thesick, casting out devils, &c., and thai they might attain unto these

itseemedincrediblethat Josephwould have saidthat he intendedto make ReliefSociety womeninto"priests."

JULY 1985/SUNSTONE 19

Whydid Joseph

create forwomen a route

to the fulness ofthe priesthood

that was differ-ent from that

charted for themen?

blessings by a virtuous life, and conversation, and diligence inkeeping all the commandments. (HC, 4:602.)

In this and other discourses to the Relief Society,Joseph spoke at length on the subject of: charity andshowed its connection to the spiritual gifts and thepriesthood. Joseph taught that charity as the purelove of Christ was the root of purity and the begin-ning of unity. If the kingdom of God was to be built,it would be founded on Christ’s love. For this reasonhe warned the members of the Relief Society toavoid fault-finding and self-righteousness. Josephobserved that charity not only brings unity of feel-ing but is indispensible to achieving unity with God.

This is an important temple concept. By ad-dressing charity, Joseph was, once again, preparingthe women for the higher ordinances leading to thefulness of the priesthood. For Joseph connectedcharity or "perfect love" with the highest order ofthe priesthood and with the doctrine of makingone’s calling and election sure. He said: "Until wehave perfect love we are liable to fall" (TPJS, p. 9).

Joseph was attempting to expand the view thewomen had of charity and their own priesthooddestiny. For though they initially thought of theRelief Society as an organization dedicated to humani-tarian service, Joseph Smith also saw it as a vehiclefor building the City of God, where women couldcommune with Jesus face to face. He saw womenfunctioning in a priestly role to save. souls, notmerely to administer to their temporal needs: "Awaywith self-righteousness. The best measure or princi-ple to bring the poor to repentance is to administerto their wants--the Society is not only to relieve thepoor but to save souls." (WJS, p. 124.) The "poor" towhich Joseph referred are the "poor in ,;pirit," whoneed the "bread of life," Jesus Christ.

But why couldn’t the women have received thesame preparation as the men, through the priest-hood quorums already functioning in the Church?Why did Joseph create for women a route to thefulness of the priesthood that was different fromthat charted for the men? There are no clearanswers to these questions nor to the question ofwhether or not this difference will always exist.However, there are a few statements that may helpus to understand why women are not ordained topriesthood offices in the Church structure.

One such statement is Joseph’s remark that a"woman has no right to found or .organize aChurch--God never sent them to do :it" (TPJS, p.212). This is related to another statement by Joseph:"The Kingdom of God was set upon the earth in allages from the days of Adam to the present timewhenever there was a man on earth who hadauthority to administer the ordinances of the Gospel"(WJS, p. 155). Elsewhere we read that if there is butone king and priest left upon the earth he couldreorganize the Church (cf. TPJS, pp. 271-72).

In all of these statements, the commoner idea is thatit must be a man who commences the work of thegospel through the administration of ,ordinances.Through their ecclesiastical offices, nten are the

ones who perform the ordinances of rebirth, whichbring an individual into the family of Christ. Inperforming these initial ordinances men are, so tospeak, like physicians who deliver the newborn babeinto Christ’s kingdom. Once a person is in theChurch, however, he or she is nurtured by men andwomen equally; for both can teach and exhort, giveblessings, prophesy, and receive revelation. In short,they both can enjoy all the gifts of the spirit on anequal footing for the edification of the whole body ofChrist.

When a person is ready to recieve the higherordinances in the temple, it is again the man whoinitiates. At the outset of this dispensation, EmmaSmith received her endowment from Joseph. How-ever, once she had been anointed a queen and apriestess, she too could and did introduce otherwomen into the mysteries of the holy endowment.So it appears that women can perform initiationrites under limited circumstances; for women anoint,wash, and convey the tokens of priesthood to otherwomen. But, though it is the duty of the rnale priest-hood holders to commence the work, it is importantto observe that the last ordinances pertaining to thefulness of the priesthod cannot be administered bymen; they must be administered by women.

The anointing to the fulness of the priesthood isdivided into three parts, which do not necessarilytake place in the order discussed here. The first partis an anointing administered by the head of the highpriesthood, who anoints the man to be a king andpriest to God and the woman to be a queen andpriestess to her husband. The second part of thisordinance consists of the washing of feet,, by whichthe king and priest is made clean every whit. Thethird part consists of certain ordinances conferredby the wife upon the husband in which she washesand anoints various parts of his body~last of all hisfeet. From the Heber C. Kimball account of thisportion of the ceremony, the part performed by hiswife Vilate, we learn that this ritual was a reenact-ment of the washing and anointing of tl’te body ofJesus done by one of the Marys. Jesus, in the Gospelof John, is recorded as saying that Mary performedthis ordinance "against the day of my burying" (John12:7). Heber C. Kimball connects this ceremonywith death by saying that the woman does this sothat she might have claim upon her husband in theresurrection. (See "Strange Events" in th~ Heber C.Kimball Journal, Church Archives.) Although thisstatement may be interpreted to mean that thewoman is dependent upon the ~nan for her resurrec-tion, it might also be interpreted to mean that theman must look to the woman for the ordinanceswhich confer the power of endless life. In this view,the woman is the vehicle through which the manobtains power to come forth from the torrtb, even asshe is the vehicle by which he is brought forth fromthe womb. This brings to mind the myth of Osiris,whose resurrection was dependent upon the effortor work of Isis in the Egyptian ceremonies, where,incidentally, a woman had to be present at every"awakening." (Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph

20 SUNSTONE/JULY 1985

Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment, pp. 148-51.)

Thus, in God’s plan men and women possess bal-anced responsibilities. For while males are intendedto :initiate, females are intended to complete andbring to fruition. This interdependence is perhapsbest symbolized in the creation of a new humanbeing: in the creative process, the woman is as vitalas the man; both contribute life. The old cliche thatmen have the priesthood and women have mother-hood is clearly inappropriate; it makes no sense.Women have motherhood, and men have father-hood. Men have priesthood, and women have priest-hood too. Motherhood and fatherhood have to dowith creating physical life, with creating sons anddaughters; priesthood has to do with spiritualmotherhood and fatherhood, which concerns spirit-ual begetting, nurturing, and birth; it has to do withcreating sons and daughters unto God.

Women, then, also have a priestly calling, a life-giving calling, similar to the man’s but not identicalto it. Though there are some ordinances she cannotperform there are others that she may perform; andthere is at least one ordinance which she alone canperform. It is clear, however, that the male andfemale, in their priestly function, must act in unionto realize the fulness of gospel blessings.

Without a proper apportionment of the spiritualcontributions of both the male and female, there canbe no birth, no enduring rebirth, no inner life, nocontinuing contact with God, no significant revela-tion, no balanced manifestation of the spiritual gifts,no mature counsel no triumph over Satan, no equal-ity in which all things are held in common. In short,there can be no city and kingdom of God. It is intothe seamlesss cup of balanced and spiritually regen-erated sexual union that God has promised to pourthe fulness of his priesthood, which is the power ofGod.

In light of the fact that women have an importantand coequal priestly function, it should not be sur-prising to learn that Joseph Smith allowed womensome role in the governance of the Church in themonths just prior to his martyrdom. In Septemberof 1843, Joseph not only gave the women theendowment and the fulness of the priesthood, buthe also included them in the quorum of the anointed,or the holy order. Although it has been argued thatthis quorum never functioned as a priesthood quo-rum in the Church and that it was simply theantecedent to an endowment congregation in today’stemple practice (Quinn, "Prayer Circles," p. 89),there is evidence to the contrary.

If Joseph thought of the holy order merely as anendowment group why did he not treat it as anephemeral body? Why did he meet with them regu-larly? Why did he continue to instruct them? Whywas he chosen as president of the holy order if thequorum itself had no special significance? Why didhe allow this quorum to partake of the sacramentand engage in other activities beyond instruction inthe temple endowment? The quorum conductedprayer circles, not merely for the purpose of in-

structing the members in the details of the prayercircle, but for the purpose of addressing in prayerproblems affecting the whole Church.

Though prayer meetings may not seem as impor-tant as administrative meetings to members of themodern Church, Joseph instilled in the minds of hisfollowers the idea that the true order of prayer wasthe most effective means of bringing about change.Joseph did not have a managerial view, he had asacral one. He believed (as perhaps did St. ThomasMore) that a kingdom could be governed by prayer.For this reason, prayer was not just another privatedevotional; it was an act of spiritual administration, away to call upon God to bring about needed changesand needed action. (See HC, 5:45-46.) BrighamYoung, for example, claimed that it was by the trueorder of prayer that he kept the Church togetherand the mobs at bay after the martyrdom (as cited inJames B. Allen, Journal of Mormon History, 1979, noteon p. 48). And on one occasion in Nauvoo, Newel K.Whitney and Dr. John M. Bernhisel thought thequorum should meet together to pray that theweather might be changed so that sickness wouldnot be spread among the Saints. (Quinn, "PrayerCircles," p. 104.) It is therefore consistent to view theholy order not merely as a prayer body but also as anadminstrative body of the Church.

Joseph instructed the quorum that since they hadthe keys to test revelations, they were to test therevelations of anyone claiming to have received onefor the Church. At the trial of Sidney Rigdon inAugust of 1844, two different members of the quo-rum used this argument to show that SidneyRigdon’s revelations were false (Times and Seasons,5:664). This evidence suggests that the quorum hadreal, if not supreme, priesthood authority in theChurch, for this group, which William Marks re-ferred to as the "first quorum," could pass upon thevalidity of revelations to the Church. This sameview was emphasized by Heber C. Kimball, whoindicated that although Sidney Rigdon had held avery high Church office, he did not have as muchauthority as others who held the fulness of thepriesthood and participated in the "council pertain-ing to the High Priesthood" (T&S, 5:663).

This view of the quorum is further substantiatedby the fact that Joseph Smith, at least on one occa-sion, conducted an important piece of Church busi-ness in a meeting of the"first quorum." On October1, 1843, in a quorum meeting, he anointed WilliamLaw and Amasa Lyman as counselors in the FirstPresidency of the Church (Andrew F. Ehat, "JosephSmith’s Introduction of Temple Ordinances and the1844 Succession Question," BYU master’s thesis, p.119.)

From the time the quorum was first organizeduntil his death, Joseph relied more and more on itto test out his doctrinal innovations and to disclosehis most imporant decisions (Ehat, "Temple Ordi-nances," p. 41). This focus corresponds with Joseph’sviews on the importance of priesthood power for thefull redemption of the individual and of society atlarge.

Though thereare some ordi-nances womancannot perform,there are othersthat she may per-form; and thereis at least onewhich she alonecan perform.

JULY 1985/SUNSTONE 21

UnderBrigham Young,

the anointedquorum and the

concept of voman’s role in

the priesthoodreceived quick

deathblows.

However, Joseph’s vision of priesthood fadedquickly after his death. And as it faded!., so did theimportance of the quorum, the place of women in it,and the role of women as priestesses in Zion. Ironi-cally, though the Quorum of Apostles succeeded toJoseph’s place because of their anointing to the ful-ness of the priesthood (see Ehat, "Temple Ordi-nances," passim), once they assumed leadership,they shifted the preeminent authority away fromthe quorum of the anointed. An apostolic dispensa-tion quickly replaced the "dispensation of the fulnessof the priesthood," a phrase used by Joseph Smith tothe Relief Society (see HC, 5:140). Whether BrighamYoung did this consciously because he believed thatthe time for Zion was not yet, or whether he did itbecause necessity simply dictated this. course ofaction is not clear. It is apparent, however, that itwas under the administration of Brigham Youngthat the anointed quorum and the .concept ofwoman’s role in the priesthood simultaneouslyreceived quick death blows.

Following the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, thequorum met less frequently. As more and moreChurch members were endowed, the quorum ceasedits separate meetings altogether. With its discontinu--ance, women were no longer included in prayercircles, except at that point in the endowment cere-mony when instruction on prayer circle..:.; is given.

Women’s role in Joseph’s system was further cur-tailed in 1844 when Brigham Young suspended theRelief Society organization. When the Prophet’ssuccessor reorganized the society on a churchwidebasis in 1867, the focus of the organization wasmuch more temporal than spiritual.

Thus, while Joseph’s attitude toward the role ofwomen as queens and priestesses and his view of thefunction and place of the anointed quorum wereexpansiw: and tended to widen wome~’s spiritualhorizon, those leaders coming after him were quickto delimit women’s sphere of action in the Churchwith clear, bright lines. As a result of these and otherchanges, Mormons today appear to have abandonedthe quest for Elijah’s order of the priesthood withwhich they might establish Zion and talk with God.

When a male friend of mine heard the title of thispaper, he asked caustically, "What about the forgot-ten place of kings and priests?" His startling com-ment pointed out a little-noticed truth: We live in aday when spiritual powers are on the wane amongboth sexes. Who today really cares about spiritualgifts? Who cares today about the estab]tishment ofZion? Instead of struggling for the right to exercisespiritual gifts and priestly powers like our nineteenth-century counterparts, we women in the Churchtoday seek only administrative power.

And that is precisely the problem. In order forwomen to take their rightful places as queens andpriestesses, the Church must first accept the pri-macy of spiritual power over temporal power, theprimacy of the unseen over the seen, the primacy ofthe sacral over the secular. If we wornen simplydemand ordination to the ecclesiastical offices of the

priesthood as a means of seizing power in the admin-istrative structure, then we have missed the point ofJoseph’s vision and are striving for the wrong objec-tive. We are fighting the wrong battle--tl’te battle ofthe sexes, which is a struggle for power in thisworld, for the whip handle, for the number-onespot, for the management of the corporal.~ion.

But the priesthood does not bring with it the rightto this kind of coercive power. This is "unrighteousdominion." True power--the power of the holypriesthood--is the power of God, the power of life,the power of divine love, the power that restores,unites, harmonizes, and balances extremes. The ful-ness of the priesthood is the power of eternal life,endless life, and endless lives. This is the power weare enjoined to seek. It does not come by male orfemale chauvinism or by militancy. It comes by wait-ing upon the Lord.

Ultimately, I suppose, my position on women’splace in the priesthood, the Church, and the king-dom of God is not that of a political or social activistbut that of a mystic. For though I beliew.~ that theChurch will never be organized properly untilwomen are acknowledged as joint holders of theholy priesthood and are brought into the leadingcouncils of the Church, I feel even more stronglythat to demand these things will only make mattersworse and lead to greater disarray.

So what is my answer to the problem? Charity.Joseph Smith spoke prophetically when he told theRelief Society in every speech he ever gave to themthat it was essential for them to have charity--notthat brand of charity that manifests itself as pettydemonstrations of humanitarian service., but thereal thing: the pure and sacrificial love of Christ, thatis not puffed up, that seeks not its own, that lovesthe truth, and that endures all things.

And what will happen if the women of theChurch endure patiently the deprivation of theirpriesthood rights in charity? In Joseph’s words, "Godshall say to them, come up higher" (WJS, p. 116). It isGod, finally, who must bring this about. It is withHis hands that Zion will be built. It is not in ourhands anymore. "Man cannot steady the ark," saidJoseph Smith, "my arm cannot do it~God muststeady it" (WJS, p. 121). And when at last theseblessing come, they shall come gloria solius Dei--bythe glory of God alone.

MARGARET M. TOSCANO holds a master’s deg;,ee in classicsand is a part-time Latin and Greek instructor at Brigham YoungUniversity.

22 SUNSTONE/JULY 1985