The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints positively avers that it lays claim to no priestly authority through mortal succession reaching back to the Primitive Church of the East, nor by descent from the Nephite Church of Christ as established on the Western Continent. To the contrary, this Church affirms the complete cessation of Divine commission in churchly organizations, and the consequent necessity of a restoration--a new dispensation from the heavens. This Church disavows any and all derivation of appointment or commission, direct or implied, from other organizations, Catholic or Protestant, "established" or dissenting churches sects or parties. It defends the rights of all men, whether church members or not, to worship as they severally choose to do, and to believe in and advocate the genuineness of any sect or church to which they elect to belong; and, by the same principle of liberty, it claims the right to set forth its own professions and doctrines, the while bespeaking for these a dispassionate and prayerful consideration. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints avows that the Holy Priesthood has been restored to earth in the present age, by means and manner strictly in accord with prophecy; and that through direct bestowal from the heavens the authority to administer the ordinances of the Gospel, which are indispensable to individual salvation, is operative today in preparation for the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is near, as hath been predicted by the mouths of holy prophets and by the coming Lord Himself. -- 8 -- DIVINE COMMAND AND HUMAN AGENCY The Church a Democracy THE compound character of the name-title--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--has elicited inquiries from many thoughtful readers. Does the organization profess to be The Church of Jesus Christ, or The Church of the Latter-day Saints? The answer is--both. As we have already seen, our Lord designated the Church established by Himself in the meridian of time as "My Church," that is to say, His Church--The Church of Jesus Christ. And, as also shown, when the Savior ministered in the resurrected state to the ancient inhabitants of America, He established His Church amongst them, and particularly directed that the institution be called by His name as the only properly descriptive title. See Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 27. When the Church was reestablished upon earth through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith the prophet, in 1830, it was provisionally called the Church of Jesus Christ, in harmony with the principle and practise established by the Savior among the Nephites, and to express the Lord's specific designation of the latter-day body as "My Church." The early revelations given to the Church contain frequent mention of common consent or the voice of the members, as essential in matters of administration. The following excerpts are illustrative: