Authority

Introduction

Imagine sitting in a school classroom when your teacher assigns a group project. You reluctantly slide into a group, unsure of the topic and nervous about contributing anything meaningful. Around the table, everyone seems equally lost—except one person.
As the awkwardness builds, someone tries to start a discussion but only adds confusion. Then the teacher stops by, clarifies a requirement, and the confident student immediately steps in, corrects the misunderstanding, and begins organizing the team. He delegates tasks with clarity. Even you, unsure moments earlier, now feel capable of contributing.

What happened?
This student exercised authority.

Authority is not merely a title or position; it is the ability to bring clarity, direction, and purpose into a situation so that people naturally follow. In this article, we will explore what authority is, how it functions across different areas of life, how it can be used for good or evil, and how to discern legitimate authority from corrupt or misleading forms.

What is Authority?

At its core, authority is the legitimate right and capacity to direct others toward a purpose.
It is:

  • More than charisma
  • More than a role
  • More than power
    • More than confidence

Authority rests on two pillars:

  1. Legitimacy — the right to lead
  2. Clarity of Vision — the ability to show what must be done

Authority itself is morally neutral. It can be wielded for peace or tyranny, righteousness or corruption. What determines morality is the vision behind it. A dictator and a wise leader both use authority, but their purposes diverge dramatically.

Purpose

Authority exists to bring order where there is confusion, unity where there is fragmentation, and progress where there is stagnation.
It has been used for:

  • Harm: domination, deception, selfish gain
  • Good: protection, justice, stability, prosperity

Authority is a tool—like a fire. It can warm a home or burn it down, depending on the hands that wield it.

Authority of God

Most people can easily recognize authority in the physical world. A skilled leader, a wise teacher, or a trained officer stands out. But what about authority from the unseen realm—from God?

Recognizing divine authority often begins with recognizing divine intervention, guidance, or ordering. Three common avenues help us discern this.

A. Personal Preservation and Providence

Surviving a near-death experience often forces people to ask: “Why was I preserved?”
Sometimes we see a pattern of events, opportunities, or warnings aligning in ways that are too coherent to be coincidence. When:

  • circumstances
  • timing
  • people
  • opportunities

align in a way that produces a clear, wise decision or protects from danger, many believers see this as God’s authority working through providence.

B. Historical Movements

Just as individuals experience providence, history sometimes reveals moments where a smaller or weaker group triumphs against overwhelming odds—moments that appear to carry divine influence.

Consider events such as:

  • The American Revolution
  • The abolitionist movement
  • The early Christian councils that shaped the faith

When history shows the right people, with the right skills, emerging at the right time—and where the outcome produces widespread good—believers often see divine authority guiding events.

C. Leadership That Reflects Wisdom

Just as in the classroom example, some individuals lead with clarity, justice, and humility. Leadership marked by wisdom is often a sign of authority rooted in something beyond mere human skill.

Authority in Society

Authority is also woven into daily life. Consider the example of police officers. A badge grants legal authority, but public trust determines whether that authority is respected.

A corrupt officer reveals that a title alone is insufficient. A wise, disciplined officer, however, demonstrates authority through:

  • restraint
  • fairness
  • adherence to the law
  • clarity of judgment

The distinction between rightful authority and corrupt authority often lies in wisdom and integrity—not in the title itself.

Authority for Latter-Day-Saints

Latter-day Saints traditionally define authority as the right to act in God’s name, given through priesthood “keys.”
According to LDS teaching:

  • The President of the Church holds all priesthood keys.
  • Other leaders receive limited keys through hierarchical delegation.
  • Authority is maintained through institutional lines reaching back to Joseph Smith.

In LDS theology, modern prophets interpret scripture and guide the church, meaning contemporary leaders carry more functional authority than earlier biblical figures.

This model is unique compared to mainstream Christianity, where authority is not tied to a restoration narrative or a centralized prophetic figure.

Authority in Christianity

Across Christian traditions, authority revolves around God’s revealed truth. While different branches emphasize different sources, most agree on the following forms of authority:

A. Protestant (particularly Evangelical and Reformed)

Authority rests in Scripture alone (sola scriptura).
No prophet, council, or tradition can override the Bible.

B. Roman Catholic

Authority comes from a threefold structure:

  1. Scripture
  2. Sacred Tradition
  3. The Magisterium — the teaching authority of the bishops in union with the Pope
C. Eastern Orthodox

Authority flows from:

  • Holy Tradition
  • the consensus of the early Church
  • Scripture as interpreted within the life of the Church

In contrast to LDS teaching, mainstream Christianity claims that God preserved the Church’s authority through continuity of doctrine, not a restored line of new prophets.

Authority and Conscience

When I was young, I believed the conscience was the primary test of truth. If something felt good, uplifting, or inspiring, I assumed it was true.

But emotional experiences alone cannot establish truth.
Why?

Because people across different religions—Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Mormons—feel similar experiences and attribute them to their own beliefs.
If feelings alone validated truth, every religion would be equally true.

Therefore, conscience is:

  • A guide, not a ruler
  • A warning system, not an authority
  • A tool that must be shaped by objective truth, not replace it

Truth must be examined, not merely felt.

Authority in philosophy

Philosophy is not itself an authority; it is a tool that helps us reason about what is true. Greek philosophy did not create Christian doctrines such as the Trinity—it provided the logical categories and vocabulary to articulate truths already present in Scripture.

Philosophy can clarify:

  • Logic
  • Definitions
  • Coherence
  • Necessary distinctions

But philosophy cannot fully explain:

  • Miracles
  • Divine mysteries
  • God’s nature
  • Creation from nothing

Philosophy is valuable, but it is not a substitute for divine revelation. It supports truth; it does not determine it.

Conclusion

Authority is one of the most powerful forces in human life. It can organize, guide, uplift, and protect—or it can corrupt, deceive, and destroy. Understanding authority requires recognizing:

  • What authority is
  • Who legitimately possesses it
  • How it is used
  • Whether its vision is righteous or destructive

Whether in personal life, society, theology, or philosophy, the essence of authority rests not merely in power, position, or emotion, but in clarity of truth and rightness of purpose. Learning to discern these things is essential for living wisely in a world full of competing claims on our attention, loyalty, and conscience.