Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today bear witness that the church is true. But what does this mean exactly? While members could be referring to many different things, the biggest claim to the truthfulness of the church is the unique priesthood authority that the leaders hold. This authority traces back to Jesus Christ through Peter, James, and John, who gave it to Joseph Smith. Along with this came revealed understandings of priesthood offices and church organization. While it is common to think that the understand of priesthood and church organization have been the same since the beginning--existing just like Christ's New Testament church--these concepts have actually evolved over time as Joseph Smith sought revelation to solve contemporary problems. Understanding the evolution of the priesthood that we see today is essential in gaining a deeper testimony of the truthfulness of the church.
There are a few things we can learn from this history.
One thing we can learn from this timeline is that the story of John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John has evolved over time. The first Book of Commandments published in 1833
did not have any descriptions about these visitations or the priesthood restoration . In fact, the word priesthood is not even mentioned.The first contemporary record of Joseph Smith and others being ordained to the high priesthood is in 1831 at a June conference [3]. The role of president of this high priesthood is established in what seems to be as a result of tensions/questions with Elder Partridge about what authority a bishop holds [4][5].
Counselors are chosen later, but what is interesting is that Oliver Cowdery was not apart of this appointing [6]. One would think that Cowdery should have been apart of this appointing because of the terms "first" and "second" elder that show up in D&C 20, but those terms don't make it there until the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants [7].
In 1834 is when we finally get a description of the reception of the priesthood to Joseph and Oliver from an Angel. This description first comes from Oliver Cowdery [3]. Soon after, Oliver is ordained as co-president of Joseph Smith [8]. In 1835 we get better descriptions about these visitations and the names John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John are given
.People have come to different conclusions about what this says about the authenticity of these stories. Richard Bushman, an LDS historian, gives his take:
"[Joseph's] reticence may have shown a fear of disbelief. Although obscure, Joseph was proud. He did not like to appear the fool. Or he may have felt the visions were too sacred to be discussed openly. They were better kept to himself. The late appearance of these accounts raises the possibility of later fabrication. Did Joseph add the stories of angels to embellish his early history and make himself more of a visionary? If so, he made little of the occurrence. Cowdery was the first to recount the story of John’s appearance, not Joseph himself."- Richard Bushman