Mormon Scripture – The Articles of Faith/Part 22

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The ninth LDS Article of Faith clearly states that Mormons believe in revelation outside of the Bible and their other scriptures for divine guidance. But they limit the source of such revelation to the President of their Church whom they believe is also a prophet. Gordon B. Hinckley, the current LDS Prophet said, “The same keys and authority given to Joseph Smith have been passed to each succeeding President of the Church” (Teachings of the Living Prophets, p. 12, a manual for the LDS Educational System). On the next page of the same manual it says, “The Living Prophet Alone May Speak Authoritatively to and for the Whole Church…Neither his counselors nor members of the Quorum of the Twelve nor any person in any position in the Church may declare official doctrine, change policies, or speak as the Lord’s representative for the entire Church, without the Prophet’s authorization…He is God’s sole mouthpiece on earth for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the only true Church.” This view of the Prophet is taught in all official Mormon publications on this subject. So, if some BYU professor or other high profile Mor­mon says something that differs from official Mormon doctrine, people should not assume that Mormonism is changing or becoming more Biblical.

In Teachings of the Living Prophets it says, “The Lord Will Never Permit the Living Prophet to Lead the Church Astray” (p. 15). On the same page, Heber J. Grant, the sev­enth LDS Prophet declared, “Always keep your eye on the President of the Church, and if he ever tells you to do anything, and it is wrong, and you do it, the Lord will bless you for it. But you don’t need to worry. The Lord will never let His mouthpiece lead the people astray.” Such claims raise a few questions. If a Mormon is blessed for doing something wrong that the LDS Prophet told him to do, will a non-Mormon also be blessed if he does the same thing? Does God really “bless” people when they do “wrong”? And if the Lord won’t ever let His Mouthpiece (the LDS Prophet) lead the LDS people astray, was the second LDS Prophet, Brigham Young, teaching the truth when he declared: “The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, p. 269)? If what Brigham Young said is true, LDS Prophets are now leading their people astray when they have polygamists excommunicated from the LDS Church since membership in that “one true church” is also a requirement for Godhood. Both cannot be right.

Brigham Young also said, “Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is Michael, the Archangel, the Ancient of Days! about whom holy men have written and spoken—He is our Father and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do” (Journal of Discourses, vol. I, p. 50). However, Spencer W. Kimball, the twelfth LDS Prophet declared, “We warn you against the dissemination of doctrines which are not according to the scriptures and which are alleged to have been taught by some of the General Authorities of past generations. Such, for instance is the Adam-God theory. We denounce that theory and hope that everyone will be cautioned against this and other kinds of false doctrines” (Ensign, Nov. 1976, p. 77). Who is telling the truth? Is it Heber J. Grant,
Brigham Young, or Spencer W. Kimball? Since they contradict each other, they can’t all be right. The “Adam-God” doctrine was taught and published by LDS Prophets and other General Authorities for more than 50 years, so it was far more than an “alleged theory.”

Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet was written by Ezra Taft Benson, the thirteenth LDS Prophet. Below are his first five “Fundamentals” and our comment after each one.

• “First: The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything.” That puts one man above all others, but the Bible says all men are sinners. See our comments on LDS prophets and prophecy in this article as well as in previous articles.
• “Second: The living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works.” The “standard works” are the LDS scriptures, including the Bible. No man’s words today are more important than Jesus’ words revealed in the Bible. Jesus said in John 12:48, “The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him (man) in the last day.”
• “Third: The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet.” The living prophet of Mormonism is now Gordon B. Hinckley. But many Mormons accept the word of Joseph Smith, who died in 1844, as more important than Hinckley’s or even Biblical prophets!
• “Fourth: The prophet will never lead the Church astray.” This article discusses that claim.
• “Fifth: The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or creden­tials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time.”

Anyone can speak on any subject, but it may not be reliable! LDS Prophet Brigham Young spoke about the lasting qualities of different material from which the Salt Lake Temple could be built when he said, “Being a chemist in theory, I should say, according to my mind, when the San Pete rock is washed into the Jordan (River), the other buildings will still be standing, and be in moderate condition. The red sand stone will go the next, and the other two still remain, the bastard marble or lime stone will be in pretty good preservation; and when that is all decomposed and washed away into the Jordan, you will find that temple which is built of mud or adobies, as some call them, still remains, and in better condition than at the first day it was built” (Journal of Discourses, vol. I, p. 219). Some Mormon leaders disagreed with Brigham Young so the temple was built out of Granite instead of adobe!

But, Ezra Taft Benson said, “I testify that these Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Living Prophet are true” (Fourteen Fundamentals, p. 30; as published in Teachings of the Living Prophets, p. 16).

For those who want to read more on this subject see our four previous articles in this series entitled “Prophets and Prophecy in Mormonism.” Next article we will discuss the tenth Article of Faith concerning Israel and Zion.