FAQ 74
Should the Messianic
Community be Led by a
Prophet or by Apostles?
NCW 2, October 1992
Q. The Church restored by Jesus Christ was led by a prophet yet yours is led by apostles. Why? [from a Mormon]
This is not true. There is no evidence anywhere in the New Testament that the Messianic Community (Christian Church) was led by institutional prophets. Indeed, Paul says the very opposite when he declares:
"And Elohim (God) hath set some in the Messianic Community (Church), FIRST APOSTLES, secondarily nevi'im (prophets), thirdly teachers...." (1 Cor.12:28, AV).
There is your hierarchy of ministry:
- 1. Apostolic
- 2. Prophetic
- 3. Teaching
Anything else simply isn't scriptural. (For a more detailed analysis of apostles, see NCCW 1:23-26, August 1992).
The New Testament Community (Church) was not as centralised as your {Mormon} church would have us believe. Let me give an example. Let us say that one of your apostles came on a visit to a Branch or a Ward (an LDS congregation) in the LDS church and the bishop or branch president (the LDS equivalent of a pastor) refused to receive him - what would happen to that bishop? He would be disciplined and probably 'released' and/or excommunicated. And yet we find just that happening.
If you turn with me to the Third Letter of John you will find it describes the situation in one of the assemblies (churches, wards/branches) where a man called Diotrephes was Pastor or Overseer (bishop/president). He was refusing the apostle Paul the right to speak in his assembly (church) and was even excommunicating people who supported the apostle! Notice that Diotrephes was not hauled before an LDS-type Stake Court (since none existed) nor did Paul instruct that he be removed, as would happen in a Mormon situation. The situation is left remarkably open as one would expect of a relatively decentralised 'church' apparatus.
Mormons and Catholics both join in claiming that Peter was the supreme head of the 'Church' (the Mormons would say he was the 'Prophet, Seer and Revelator'). Yet by the time of Acts 12:17 we find Peter acknowledging the authority of James, the half-brother of Yah'shua (Jesus), and this is confirmed when in Acts 15:19 (see also vv.1-21) James presides over the Council of Jerusalem as the senior-most apostle. Note that it is not Peter who passes "judgment" (v.19) which he should have done if he was a Mormon-type President of the Church. Would one of the LDS Quorum of the Twelve Apostles pass judgment in a doctrinal debate? Never! The final decision is always made by the LDS president, because he is at the pinnacle of the LDS pyramid of authority.
These are questions that Mormons need to honestly face. That Peter had a special position is not denied (Matt.16:18) but to say that he had the final and ultimate authority in the Messianic Community (Christian Church) as a 'prophet-president' figure is simply contradicted by the New Testament. Peter is repeatedly referred to as "the apostle" Peter, never as "President Peter". Do we ever hear of the Mormon president being called "apostle Benson?" Never! (Not since he was promoted from the LDS Quorum of 12).
We even have Paul overriding and chastising the 'president of the Church' over the question of the Judaisers who wanted to retain circumcision and the other ordinances of the Law of Moses! Could you imagine an LDS apostle like Boyd K. Packer rebuking the Mormon President Ezra Tafft Benson and getting away with it??! Impossible! Indeed, in Mormon history, we read of LDS apostles getting excommunicated for standing up to the 'prophet'.
If Diotrephes had been an LDS bishop, he would have been cast out of the church before you could say 'Jack Robinson'.
We see, then, that the apostles were the final authority in the mission field and that they only referred matters to a higher authority when agreement could not be reached among them. And we also see that this higher authority was not Peter but James, the half-brother of Yah'shua (Jesus). Was Peter demoted? Or did James have an authority higher than a 'prophet-president'? You will notice that the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) was not an inner sanctum of a first presidency and apostles but consisted of "apostles and elders" (Acts 15:6), i.e. 12 men plus a multitude of Elders, and that ordinary members also had voice (Acts 15:5). The New Covenant Assemblies of Yahweh (NCAY) has an Apostolic Council of Elders following the same tavnith (pattern) in the New Testament, which meets to resolve such matters.
These are questions that Mormons cannot answer, indeed dare not answer, for fear of upsetting the Mormon doctrinal apple-cart, which claims to be a perfect restoration of the New Testament 'Church'. As to the true position of James in the early Messianic Community (Church), this is a question we will happily answer for our LDS friends if they will sincerely ask with a desire to really know the emet (truth) and not just to refute a teaching which contradicts a preconceived doctrine.
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Last updated on 10 June 2018
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