Aaronic Priesthood 

Summary

The lower or lesser of two orders of priesthood in the church.1 Sometimes called the “Levitical Priesthood.”2 It is named for Aaron, the brother of Moses, “because it was conferred upon Aaron and his seed” in antiquity. This authority holds “the keys of the ministring of angels, and to administer in outward ordinances—the letter of the gospel—the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”3 JS said that the Aaronic Priesthood was conferred upon Oliver Cowdery and himself by John the Baptist on 15 May 1829.4