Scripture in depth: Matthew 17:11

\"And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.\"

For many fellow Christians there is little difference between Elijah, the ancient Israeli prophet, and Elias, widely believed to be a synonym of the former.

Although modern revelation has defined the two and confirmed the broad aforementioned notion as only partly correct, many Latter-day Saints still often confuse the two.

ELIAS: Elder Bruce R. McConkie said the term Elias often comes to us in scripture in garbled and fragmentary forms. He spent five pages defining the two in \"Mormon Doctrine.\"

Even Christ's apostles, as they walked away from the Mount of Transfiguration, showed bewilderment about their identities.

Frequent confusion over the subject doesn't pardon our responsibility to understand it, especially because the subject was not frivolous to the Prophet Joseph. A few months before his death, he spent an entire Sunday sermon outlining the difference between the two spirits, or offices.

Aside from the probability that a prophet named Elias lived during the day of Abraham, the spirit of Elias is the work of the Aaronic Priesthood, specifically meant to prepare the way for a greater work or doctrine. Joseph emphasized that the importance of this spirit, the preaching of repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, did not overstep its bounds. Elias is also a \"composite personage\" of many specific angels, like Moroni, John the Baptist, Moses and Gabriel/Noah, sent to restore doctrine before the Second Coming, according to President Joseph Fielding Smith.

ELIJAH: Especially with the growing popularity of genealogy, Latter-day Saints are more familiar with the \"spirit, power and calling\" of Elijah. It falls under the Melchizedek Priesthood but goes much further to include the \"fullness\" of the priesthood, giving men authority to seal families with their ancestors that they might all come forth in the first resurrection. Joseph Smith said, \"It is one of the greatest and most important subjects that God and revealed.\"

The Prophet concluded his speech saying Elias the \"frontrunner\" is first, Elijah \"building the temple\" is second and \"then the Messiah comes to his temple, which is last of all.\"

E-mail: jhancock@desnews.com