An article in the Salt Lake Tribune came out last week about the attempt by a small LDS feminist group* that sought tickets to this April’s conference of the Church. Specifically, it was for tickets to the Priesthood Session of the conference. The Church’s response was that it would not issue such tickets. I understand the need for feminists in general to confront what they perhaps see as an outdated patriarchy. I also understand the feelings of those who may have doubts about the faith or even leave it for this reason. It is one thing to speak about the joint leadership of Relief Society and the Priesthood, but see the practical aspects of traditional leadership fall most heavily to one side.

Despite this, I believe that these sisters are seriously damaging their spiritual relationship with our Heavenly Father. I do not think this because I feel that God is a big supporter of patriarchy but that we are given adversity to test our faith. As always, my stand dictates that I will stand with God’s prophet on Earth. If it is God’s will that women should receive the Priesthood, then eventually they will receive it. If it is not his will, you build a foundation on shaky ground by demanding that He change to your moral stance. God has shown through many different issues that his ways are most definitely not our ways.

At this moment, however, I also look at my thinking on the issue. I sincerely believe that Priesthood is a male purview because that is what our Father intends and it is what he needs. Priesthood session is often not pleasant as we gather to bond as Brothers in the gospel and hear the warnings of the Lord. Traditionally, they are in sincere need of it. Yet, if Thomas Monson were to tomorrow deliver the news that this group desires, the impetus would then fall on me. Would I have doubts conflicting with my current self, or would I continue my efforts in following the Prophet? My understanding of their struggle stems, no doubt, on what I would be going through if the positions were reversed. It would then be my trial of faith.

*The article notes that 90% of women and 84% of men oppose allowing the Priesthood for women.

*Update – June 14th* – It seems that both Kate Kelly of Ordain Women and John Dehlin of Mormon Matters were excommunicated. A good friend of mine wrote a great article on punishment and its place in the LDS Church. I hope that their path becomes clearer and that this time apart will be a teaching moment.

Recently, Prof. Karen King of Harvard University published a fragment on the internet that indicates that Christ was married. Written in Coptic, the language of Egyptian Christianity, it states, “Jesus said to them, my wife.” Unfortunately, because it is a small fragment, we do not know what Jesus actually said to them about “his wife.” At her blog The Forbidden Gospels, April DeConick correctly points out that this is not new news. We already had the Valentinian Gnostic Gospel of Philip that also hints at the marriage of Jesus.

How does the Church fall on the issue? On this and many other subjects, it has no official position. Many early church leaders did state that they believed Christ was married and that he may even have had children before his crucifixion. Modern uninterest in the topic fueled one anti-Mormon site into questioning the integrity of the Church, saying that it taught the public one thing and members another. In essence, this is a silly criticism to me, because fundamentally the status of Christ’s marriage does nothing to change the gospel message. As my mission president once stated, “Faith, Repentance, Baptism, and the Gift of the Holy Spirit are the pillars of our faith, everything else is mostly peripheral.”

My own personal position on the subject is that Jesus was married. Do I have proof? No, but I have circumstantial evidence that calls out to me. The strongest evidence to me is that the first to see the risen Lord was Mary Magdalene. Now, she could have been a very faithful follower or something more. Also, I believe Christ “fulfilled all righteousness” and provided the guidepost on how we live our lives. To me, this includes marriage. To be honest, we do not have the entirety of the Lord’s biography but are merely rooting around in the dark based on the scriptures and gleaned fragments. I would like more proven evidence to back up my personal belief but in the end my salvation does not hinge on the question.

Update: Jim Davila, at his blog PaleoJudaica (one of my favorites), has come out with the opinion that it is fake. He writes,

So my current judgement, which seems to be what most people are thinking, is that the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife fragment is very likely a fake. If it is genuine, it tells us what one late apocryphal tradition speculated about Jesus, but nothing about the historical Jesus.

See http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2012_09_16_archive.html#4202541771092050516.