|
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the President of the Church is generally considered to be the highest office of the church. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, founder of the movement, and the office assumed by many of Smith's claimed successors, such as Brigham Young, Joseph Smith III, Sidney Rigdon, and James Strang. Several other titles have been associated with this office, including First Elder of the church,〔 Presiding High Priest,〔 (LDS Church edition).〕 President of the High Priesthood,〔 Trustee-in-Trust for the church,〔''History of the Church'' 4:517.〕 Prophet,〔 (LDS Church edition).〕 Seer,〔 Revelator,〔 and Translator.〔 Joseph Smith was known by all of these titles in his lifetime (although not necessarily with consistency). Smith died in 1844 without having indisputably established who was to be his successor. Therefore, his death was followed by a succession crisis in which various groups followed leaders with succession claims. Years later, the office of President was reorganized in many of the resulting , the largest of which are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), and The Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite). Some smaller denominations, such as the Church of Christ (Temple Lot), reject the office as an unscriptural creation.〔William A. Sheldon, ("A Synopsis of Church of Christ Beliefs as compared to other Latter Day Saint churches" ) (Church of Christ, n.d.).〕 ==Joseph Smith: the first president== The concept that the Church of Christ would have a single presiding officer arose in late 1831. Initially, after the church's formation on April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith referred to himself as merely "an apostle of Jesus Christ, and elder of the church."〔''(Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ )'', June 9, 1830; see also: (LDS Church edition).〕 However, there was one other apostle—Oliver Cowdery—and several other elders of the church, making the formal hierarchy of the church unclear. In September 1830, after Hiram Page claimed to have received revelations for the church, a revelation to Smith stated that "no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses."〔 (LDS Church edition)〕 This established Smith's exclusive right to lead the church. In early June〔Different accounts of this meeting give the date as June 3, 4, or 6. Bushman considers June 3 to be the "best guess" for the date.〕 1831, Smith was ordained to the "high priesthood",〔〔Note that in the Minute Book 2 entry, Smith first ordains Lyman Wight and four other men "to the high priesthood", and Wight in turn ordains eighteen other men, including Smith, "to the high priesthood".〕〔Compare this with the Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood, where Smith first baptizes Oliver Cowdery, and is then in turn baptized by Cowdery.〕 along with twenty-two other men, including prominent figures in the Latter Day Saint movement such as Hyrum Smith, Parley P. Pratt, and Martin Harris. As "high priests", these men were higher in the priesthood hierarchy than the elders of the church. However, it was still unclear whether Smith and Cowdery's calling as apostles gave them superior authority that that of other high priests. On November 11, 1831, a revelation to Smith stated that "it must needs be that one be appointed of the high priesthood to preside over the Priesthood and he shall be called President of the high priesthood of the Church ... and again the duty of the President of the high priesthood is to preside over the whole church."〔 (LDS Church edition)〕 Smith was ordained to this position and sustained by the church on January 25, 1832, at a conference in Amherst, Ohio.〔 In 1835, the ''Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ'' were revised, changing the phrase "an ... elder of the church" to "the first elder of this Church."〔 (LDS Church edition)〕 Thus, subsequent to 1835, Smith was sometimes referred to as the ''First Elder'' of the church. The 1835 revision also added a verse referring to the office of "president of the high priesthood (or presiding elder)",〔 (LDS Church edition)〕 which had since been added to the church hierarchy. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「President of the Church」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|