In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Melchizedek Priesthood is viewed as the priesthood authority of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and other Old Testament prophets, higher than that of the Aaronic authority of John the Baptist and of the Levites. According to the Book of Mormon, the prophet Melchizedek preached repentance to the people of a wicked city, and established peace in the land. According to Alma 13:18, Melchizedek's efforts earned him the title of "the prince of peace". Of particular importance is the parallel Hebrew meaning of "prince of peace" and "king of Salem", another of Melchizedek's titles, and his association with (or typology of) Jesus Christ, who is also called the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:2) as well as the Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14). Later, Melchizedek's people were, according to Joseph Smith, Jr., caught up, or "translated", to meet the city of Enoch (Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 14:34). The priesthood is referred to by the name of Melchizedek because he was such a great high priest (Doctrine & Covenants Section 107:2). The Doctrine and Covenants states that before Melchizedek's day the Priesthood "was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God. But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too-frequent repetition of his name, they, the church, in the ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek, or the Melchizedek Priesthood" (Doctrine & Covenants Section 107:3-4). Initially, the only Melchizedek Priesthood office in the LDS Church was elder. Later revelations extended the office complement to Seventy, High Priest, Patriarch and Apostle.
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