https://mormondiscussionpodcast.org/tag/greg-prince/
Bill asked Greg about the priesthood restoration, and Greg had interesting things to say. He said something to the effect, the priesthood is two things 1) authority, and 2) supernatural power. He went on to say that the church's take on authority has been very fluid throughout all of history, and it seems like the priesthood restoration was mainly a matter of authority rather than power. Greg cited a 1931 improvement era article titled "Why Priesthood at All?", which I found and have added as note below. Greg seems to make the case that the importance of priesthood is authority, not power. It seems to me that Greg doesn't want to talk much about the supernatural characteristics of priesthood that TBMs now seem to primarily attribute to Mormon priesthood.
I'm curious what you all think about Greg Prince's, and any others in his camp for that matter (Givens, Bushman), view on Mormon supernaturalism. Do you think he believes the priesthood actually gives you supernatural power? Today, whenever there are talks on priesthood it seems to always go hand in hand with the "power of God given to man" idea. But maybe this is a paradigm of modern Mormonism and they were much more concerned with authority back in the day? Maybe answers to this question are in his book which I haven't read due to its $ tag on Amazon.
The need for authority and organization makes sense to me in a growing church, as Quinn and Prince have both talked about. I personally believe Joseph and Oliver made up the part of heavenly beings appearing to them. But... maybe they experienced a mushroom-trip experience and actually saw John the Baptist, and Peter, James, and John; being primed for the experience in all their religious zeal.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
The priesthood nuances have always been interesting to me, and ultimately was the last piece of information that broke my shelf.