Bronze statue in Temple Square, Salt Lake City, representing Saint Peter | Peter, James, son of Zebedee | James, and John the Apostle | John in the act of conferring the Melchizedek priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( Mormon or LDS Church ) who hold the Melchizedek priesthood may use consecrated oil in performing the ordinance of blessing of the " sick or afflicted ", though oil is not required if it is unavailable.

In the absence of a literal descendant of Aaron, a High priest in the Melchizedek priesthood is called to be a Bishop.

The Christian view of Jesus as Messiah goes beyond such claims and is the fulfillment and union of three anointed offices ; a prophet like Moses who delivers God's commands and covenant and frees people from bondage, a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek overshadowing the Levite priesthood and a king like King David ruling over Jews, and like God ruling over the whole world and coming from the line of David.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an evangelist is considered to be an office of the Melchizedek priesthood.

While Mormons do not believe such groups had the fullness of the gospel ( often meaning priesthood authority of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods ), and neither considering themselves Protestant, they do however believe that such groups had many righteous leaders and members who could be considered saints because they followed the light of Christ and sought to follow Him.

Generally, all worthy males at ( or above ) the age of 12 are ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood as deacons, teachers or priests, authorizing them to perform certain ordinances and sacraments, and adult males are ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood, as elders, seventies, or high priests in that priesthood, which is concerned with spiritual leadership of the church.

According to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, either " literal descendants of Aaron ", or worthy Melchizedek priesthood holders have the legal right to constitute the Presiding Bishopric under the authority of the First Presidency ().

To date, all men who have served on the Presiding Bishopric have been Melchizedek priesthood holders, and none have been publicly identified as descendants of Aaron.

Somewhere between Harmony and Colesville, New York, Peter, James, and John bestowed upon Smith and Cowdery the Melchizedek priesthood.

Bronze statue in Temple Square, Salt Lake City, representing Saint Peter | Peter, James, son of Zebedee | James, and John the Apostle | John in the act of conferring the Melchizedek priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, as envisioned by most modern Latter Day Saints.

The Melchizedek priesthood is the greater of the two orders of priesthood recognized in Mormonism.

' All other authorities or offices in the church are appendages to Melchizedek priesthood.

The Melchizedek priesthood is also referred to as the high priesthood of the holy order of God and the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God, or simply as the high priesthood.

In Mormonism, unlike most other Christian denominations, the Melchizedek priesthood is thought to be held by unextraordinary mortals and not solely by either pre-Aaronic priests such as Melchizedek, or Jesus alone, as most Christians interpret the Epistle to the Hebrews.

According to Joseph Smith, Jr., the name of this priesthood became Melchizedek " because Melchizedek was such a great high priest " and " to avoid the too frequent repetition " of the " name of the Supreme Being ".

Unlike this restoration, however, which Smith described in detail and gave an exact date when it happened, Smith never gave a description of any vision in which he saw an angel separately confer the Melchizedek priesthood.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( LDS Church ), the largest Latter Day Saint denomination, the Melchizedek priesthood is one of two governing priesthoods, which is typically given as a matter of course to worthy male members 18 years and older.

A candidate for this ordination is interviewed and often counseled to study the 84th, 107th, and 121st sections of the Doctrine and Covenants to begin to understand the oath and covenant of the priesthood, the covenant a person makes with God when he receives the Melchizedek priesthood.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Melchizedek Priesthood holders may anoint the head of an individual who is ill and has requested a blessing.

Although the holders of the different priesthood offices hold the same Melchizedek priesthood, their assigned rights and responsibilities vary according to their priesthood office.

) In addition to the size and number of local congregations, the creation of a new stake also requires sufficient Melchizedek priesthood holders to fill the required leadership positions.

Typically, the order is: First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, the Quorums of Seventy, Melchizedek priesthood holders, Aaronic priesthood holders, Relief Society members, members of the Young Women organization, and then all members together.

If sufficient number of Aaronic Priesthood holders are not available, Melchizedek priesthood holders may prepare, bless, and pass the sacrament, as required.

* can be understood to teach that souls are already present in the loins, and Hebrews (" When Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.

Priests are sacraments of faith, prefigured in the person of Melchizedek, and must themselves be dispensers of a life other than earthly life ; they must not seek to please men but rather must follow Christian doctrine and life and strive always for holiness and voluntary poverty.

Primat sized bottles ( 27 L ) – and as of 2002 Melchizedek sized bottles ( 30 L ) – are exclusively offered by the House Drappier.

" The bread and wine, offered by Melchizedek in sacrifice in the old covenant ( Genesis 14: 18 ; Psalm 110: 4 ), are transformed through the Mass into the body and blood of Christ ( see transubstantiation ; note: the Orthodox Church does not hold as dogma, as do Catholics, the doctrine of transubstantiation, preferring rather to not make an assertion regarding the " how " of the sacraments ), and the offering becomes one with that of Christ on the cross.

In the LDS Church, there are five offices within the Melchizedek priesthood.

A dismissed cleric is forbidden to exercise ministerial functions under nearly all circumstances, but an indelible priestly character is held to remain on his soul ( as is sung at a priest's ordination, " You are a priest forever, like Melchizedek of old ").

Scholars are uncertain, however, whether Melchizedek was himself intended in the Genesis account to be understood as a Jebusite, rather than a member of another group in charge of Jerusalem prior to the Jebusites-Jerusalem is referred to as Salem rather than Jebus in the passages of Genesis describing Melchizedek.

Elsewhere in the Bible, the Jebusites are described in a manner that suggests that they worshipped the same God ( El Elyon -- Ēl ‘ Elyōn ) as the Israelites ( see, e. g., Melchizedek ).

Although these are different orders, they are, in reality, all subsumed under the priesthood held by Jesus Christ, that is, the Melchizedek Priesthood.

Later in the ceremony, both men and women are clothed in the " robes of the priesthood " and " prepared to officiate in the ordinances of " the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods.

The others are the Melchizedek priesthood and the rarely recognized Patriarchal priesthood.

" Holders of the Aaronic priesthood whom the church considers worthy are advanced to an office in the Melchizedek priesthood as a matter of course around the age of 18, or in the case of adult converts, after approximately a year of active church membership.

All other offices of the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods are accepted ( Apostle, Patriarch, High Priest, Elder, Priest, Teacher and Deacon ), though not all are filled in the current organization due to its extremely small numbers.

Humans are literal children of a Father in Heaven, and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ they can return to him and become literal gods ( Doctrine and Covenants 132, Gospel Principles, chapter 47, LDS 1985 Melchizedek Priesthood study guide, " Search These Commandments ", pp. 151 – 157 / Lesson 21 ).

The two commonly known orders are the Aaronic priesthood and the Melchizedek priesthood.

Boyd K. Packer, Apostle of the LDS Church, has explained that the patriarchal priesthood is included in the Melchizedek priesthood: " There are references to a patriarchal priesthood.

' All other authorities or offices in the church are appendages to Melchizedek priesthood.

Eight years earlier, the prophet had dictated a revelation that declared, " There are, in the church, two priesthoods, namely, the Melchizedek and Aaronic, including the Levitical Priesthood ".