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Question

 

Gramps,

Are you a Mormon? Where are you getting your information? Is the Mormon church the only one with proper authority to baptize?

Amanda

 

Answer

 

Dear Amanda,

Thanks for your questions. If you follow the “About Gramps” link on the AskGramps.org site, you can read about the original Gramps, Clay Gorton. Brother Gorton was indeed a Latter-day Saint; his Church service “includ[ed] six LDS missions, service as the mission president in Argentina and president of the Missionary Training Center in Santiago, Chile.”

Brother Gorton passed away in 2008. Today, “Ask Gramps” is staffed by a volunteer team of faithful Latter-day Saint men and women who act as Gramps individually, or sometimes collectively, to research and answer the questions people send in. Gramps uses scripture and quotes General Authorities or other relevant sources, and almost always provides references to the sources used, often using clickable links (as in the response you are currently reading).

In answer to your last question, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on Earth, and thus is the only organization through which one finds the authority to baptize in Christ’s name. We do not question the sincerity or the good intentions of others, but we maintain that divine authority is conferred by God through His authorized channels, and not simply through sincere desire.

It might be worth drawing a narrow but important distinction: The Church provides access to baptismal authority, but does not itself provide that authority. Rather, Jesus Christ himself is the source of that authority, and he has restored the Church as his vehicle for proclaiming the gospel. The men who hold and exercise the Priesthood receive it from another Priesthood holder through the laying on of hands, who received the authority of the Priesthood in the same manner. This line of authority stretches back through Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to the ancient apostles Peter, James, and John, and from there to Jesus Christ himself. All men on Earth today who hold any sort of Priesthood authority hold it through this line. Only through ordination from such a line of authority can a man receive the Priesthood, and this can be done only within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through which the Priesthood and the keys to its use are provided to mankind on the Earth today.

FInally, please note that Ask Gramps is not an official mouthpiece of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As stated previously, we are a volunteer organization of several faithful LDS men and women who research and answer questions as best we can. If you perceive any difference between what Ask Gramps says and what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches, we urge you in every case to follow the Church’s teachings.

 

Gramps

 

 

 

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