Thesis (S.T.M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 55-60).

Thesis (S.T.M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 55-60).

Joseph Smith organized a group called Seventies in the Mormon Church early in 1835. They are one of three primary groups in the Higher or Melchizedek Priesthood. They were said to be Elders with a special calling to preach the Gospel among the nations of the earth. Their calling was said to be apostolic because they were to assist the Twelve Apostles in preaching the Gospel and administering Church affairs under their direction. They were a general Church Quorum, and not considered a part of stake organization.The Seventies were established in their calling as missionaries in the time of Joseph Smith, and carried about their share or a little more, of the missionary work in the proportion to the other Priesthood groups. Under the auspices of Brigham Young, they became, for the most part, the missionary force of the Church. This was continued until after the turn of the century; at that time the policy changed and the Elders began to carry out most of the foreign missionary work of the Church. Seventies were asked to carry on missionary work in their home stakes and wards. Fundamentally, two reasons were given for the change in policy: First, the Seventies, being older men than most Elders, were hindered from accepting mission calls because of family and financial responsibilities. Second, making most missionaries Seventies had made their number too great in proportion to the other groups, and took too much leadership away from Elders quorums. However, these conditions existed for a long time before the change, and the Seventies were apparently able to fulfill their calling very well.

The study of Melkisedeq has been highly fragmentary among modern scholars, proving to be difficult to discuss over the long Second Temple Period. This study will focus on the social memory of Melkisedeq to understand the evolution of the tradition surrounding his character among sectarian groups in the Second Temple Period. Through an analysis of the components from the Hebrew Bible that compromise the social memory of Melkisedeq a deeper understanding of how his memory is used by later groups can be made. The redaction and expansion of his character changes greatly over time. The study of social memory allows scholars to understand how different memories form within a collective group, thus exploring the societal and ideological elements of disparate groups that form the over-arching memory of Melkisedeq. In order to properly identify these memories, redactional, historical, and textual criticisms will be employed to analyze the texts of Melkisedeq, answering such questions as: Who is Melkisedeq? What is the relationship between Melkisedeq and the king of Sodom? What is a priest-king? Did Abram tithe to Melkisedeq? This study will address the Near Eastern context of Melkisedeq in Genesis 14, in order to examine which features of his social memory are accentuated or excluded in Second Temple literature.

Thesis (M.A.)--B.Y.U. Dept. of Church History and Doctrine.

This thesis is an analysis of the use of combined concepts of covenant and priesthood in some late Second Temple period Jewish and Jewish-Christian texts. In this thesis I investigate 1 and 2 Maccabees, Dead Sea Scrolls, and Hebrews, to see the various ways in which these Second Temple compositions have articulated the combined concepts of covenant and priesthood on the basis of their treatment of various biblical and extra-biblical traditions. The elaborate articulations of the combined concepts of covenant and priesthood in these texts partly reflect the concern of the Second Temple Jewish authors: how significant the priestly institutions and priesthood were, not only in terms of cultic matters, but also in terms of political and identity concerns. By means of this study, I hope to demonstrate that the combined concept of covenant and priesthood is necessary for a better understanding of some Second Temple texts.

This study will present a comprehensive study of the YMMIA from 1939 to 1974. This study includes the emergence of different programs and the changes in age groupings, as well as goals of the program. A short historical background chapter will be included to acquaint the readers with the previous growth and development of YMMIA since it was instituted.

This work concerns the shifts in the perception of the figure of Melchizedek in the Old Testament, Intertestamental sources and the New Testament. It explicates three central biblical texts which are speaking about Melchizedek. These texts are: the book of Genesis 14, Psalm 110 and the Epistle to the Hebrews. The work also aims to notice perceiving Melchizedek{\crq}s figure in non-biblical sources, like Qumran texts, Targums, apocryphs or the testimonies of church fathers. The findings coming from these sources are compared together in the conclusion of the work. Each of traditions is different, so we can not make unambiguous conclusion about figure of Melchizedek. Some non-biblical Melchizedekian traditions still continue, some others have disappeared entirely.