- 4 Nephi 1: 14…When disciples die, others are ordained
- Moroni 3…How to Odain priests & teachers
- “…those who hold the priesthood authority in this life may be assured that they were ordained to the Holy Priesthood After the Order of the Son of God before they were ever born. More specifically, as Alma taught, they exercised exceedingly great faith in the Savior and in the Father’s plan of redemption, the great plan of happiness, and were sent to earth on a redemptive mission: to hold the priesthood, exercise priesthood power, and thereby be a leavening influence in a world that was desperately in need of light and truth and goodness. Theirs was the call, before they breathed the breath of life, to help fulfill the Abrahamic promise that his posterity would truly bless the nations” (Men of Influence, Robert L. Millet, Pg 3)
- “As Joseph Smith the Prophet declared: “Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was ” (Teachings, 365). Elder Parley P. Pratt spoke of the fore-ordination or election of individuals “to certain offices, as written in the scriptures. In other words, certain individuals…were chosen by the Head to teach, instruct, edify, improve, govern, and minister truth and salvation to others, and to hold the delegated powers or keys of government in several spheres of progressive being. These were not only chosen, but were set apart by a hold ordinance in the eternal worlds” (Key to the Science of Theology, 40)” (Men of Influence, 3).
- “I can trace my priesthood in a direct line to this event. It goes as follows: I was ordained by David O. McKay; who was ordained by Joseph F. Smith; who was ordained by Brigham Young; who was ordained by the Three Witnesses; who were ordained by Joseph Smith Jr. and Oliver Cowdery; who were ordained by Peter, James, and John; who were ordained by the Lord Jesus Christ.” Manual, Teachings of the President of the Church: Gordon B Hinckley, Chapter 1 The Restoration of the Gospel the Dawning of a Brighter Day