Question
Gramps,
In D&C 7:7 it says: “…and unto you three I will give this power & the keys of this ministry until I come.” Peter, James & John were given the keys of the priesthood until Christ comes. Now, Peter/James died, but John is still alive and he holds the keys until Christ comes. But in the temple interview we are asked the question: Do you believe Russell M Nelson is the only living man who holds the keys of the priesthood for this earth. Answer: YES. But what about John? He holds the keys as well.
Amy
Answer
Dear Amy,
We have to pay careful attention to the details when dealing with this sort of thing. Let’s look at the current text of the temple recommend interview question:
Do you sustain the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet, seer, and revelator and as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys?
So now the question is not whether John has keys, but whether he is on the earth and authorized to exercise all priesthood keys. We can’t know whether he’s on the earth at any given moment, so we’ll just skip that one and focus on the second part.
In the General Handbook (3.4.1.1), we learn that all the apostles (the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) have all the keys:
The Lord has conferred on each of His Apostles all the keys that pertain to the kingdom of God on earth. The senior living Apostle, the President of the Church, is the only person on earth authorized to exercise all of those priesthood keys (see Doctrine and Covenants 81:1–2; 107:64–67, 91–92; 132:7).
But note that only the President of the Church is authorized to exercise all of them. This tells us that in John’s day, he operated under Peter’s authority and only Peter was authorized to exercise all priesthood keys. We have no indication that anyone (John or another) became President of the Church after Peter’s death. Indeed, we know that following the deaths of the other apostles, the world fell into apostasy. Therefore, we must assume that John never gained the Presidency nor the authority to exercise all his priesthood keys.
Finally, we should note that there are many priesthood keys (see the Topical Guide entry for examples), and we cannot be certain those in John’s dispensation were all the exact same keys as prophets and apostles hold in this dispensation. (I don’t know of differences, but there may be differences.)
From these facts, we can be certain that there really is only one person on earth today who is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys: the President of the Church. If John happens to be on earth at this time, whatever other authority Christ has given him, John is not the President of the Church and so cannot exercise all priesthood keys.
I hope this clarifies the temple recommend interview question for you, Amy. Also, it has been my experience that discussing questions like this during a temple recommend interview can lead to greater insight and increased faith, so please don’t hesitate to bring them up during your interviews.
Gramps
