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APOLOGETICS |
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Prophets in Mormonism - Part 10
By
Marvin W.
Cowan |
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Gospel Principles
is a personal study guide and teacher’s manual
containing basic LDS beliefs. It has been reprinted many
times by the Mormon Church.
In chapter nine, entitled "Prophets of
God," they first quote the Bible: "Surely the Lord God
will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto
his servants the prophets (Amos 3:7)." It then asks,
"What Is a Prophet?" LDS answers are on pages 47-49:
A prophet
is a man called by God to be his representative on
earth. When a prophet speaks for God, it is as if God
were speaking…He receives revelations and directions
from the Lord for our benefit. He may see into the
future and foretell coming events so that the world
may be warned…He may be young or old, highly educated
or unschooled…What then identifies a true prophet? A
true prophet is always chosen by God and
called through proper priesthood authority.
Latter-day Saints sustain [confirm by voting to
support] the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles
as prophets. However, when we speak of "the prophet of
the Church," we mean the President of the Church, who
is President of the high priesthood… We should do
those things the prophets tell us to do. President
Wilford Woodruff [4th LDS Prophet] said that a prophet
will never be allowed to lead the (LDS) Church astray:
"I say to Israel, the Lord will never permit me or
any other man who stands as President of this Church
to lead you astray. It is not in the program. It is
not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that the
Lord would remove me out of my place, and so he will
any other man who attempts to lead the children of men
astray from the oracles of God and from their duty."
This statement by Woodruff is also found
under Official Declaration-1 in the Doctrine &
Covenants which gives it LDS scriptural authority.
Mormons use Amos 3:7 to teach that
prophets are necessary today because God reveals all
He is going to do through them. But is that what Amos
said? All of Amos chapter 3 is about God’s judgment upon
Israel for their sin. The word "nothing" in verse
7 specifically refers to that "judgment." Amos simply
said God would not send judgment upon Israel
without warning them first, and He didn’t.
But God never revealed all of His secrets
to true prophets in the past nor has he revealed
them to LDS "Prophets." If Joseph Smith knew in advance
that the Mormons would be driven out of Missouri why did
he prophesy in Doctrine & Covenants 97:19 that
Zion (in MO) would not be moved? And why did
Prophet Spencer Kimball accept Mark Hoffman’s
forgeries as genuine when Jerald Tanner, an LDS
apostate, was the first to see and declare they were
forgeries? The LDS use of Amos 3:7 is as wrong as their
unbiblical doctrines.
Gospel Principles
said a prophet "may see into the future and foretell
coming events so that the world may be warned," which
sounds good, but what LDS prophets did that? Joseph
Smith was the only LDS prophet who predicted much
about the future, but non-Mormons predicted some of what
he "prophesied" before he did! And most of his other
predictions were false. The first five LDS prophets
after Smith predicted a few things but nearly all of
them were false. The last nine LDS prophets haven’t
prophesied future events, so they are not really
"prophets." Wilford Woodruff, the 4 th
LDS Prophet, said that neither he nor any other LDS
Prophet would lead the Church astray and if they
attempted to do so the Lord would remove them. Is that
why Joseph Smith was "removed" (killed) at age 38?
Woodruff’s statement has been added to LDS scripture in
the Doctrine & Covenants so Mormons are expected
to believe it is true. But consider what Brigham Young,
the 2nd LDS
Prophet said:
How much
unbelief exists in the minds of the Latter-day Saints
in regard to one particular doctrine which I revealed
to them, and which God revealed to me – namely that
Adam is our father and God – I do not know, I do
not inquire, I care nothing about it. Our Father
Adam helped to make this earth, it was created
expressly for him, and after it was made he and his
companions came here. He brought one of his wives
with him, and she was called Eve, because she was the
first woman upon the earth. (Deseret News, June
18, 1873)
By 1873 Brigham had been teaching this
doctrine for over 20 years. The first time he taught it
was on April 9, 1852 in which he said,
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)
But, Spencer
Kimball the 12th
LDS Prophet, in speaking about the Adam-God doctrine
said, "We denounce that theory" (Ensign, Nov.
1976, p.77) and Mormons today reject it. So, did God
reveal the Adam-God doctrine to Prophet Brigham Young or
is it a false theory to be denounced as Prophet Kimball
said? Both cannot be true, so one of them is
leading Mormons astray! This is one of many examples of
contradictions between Mormon Prophets. So, is it true
that Mormon Prophets can’t lead Mormons astray?
The claim that an LDS prophet may be
young or old is also misleading. The only young
prophet the LDS Church has had was the founder, Joseph
Smith. Since then the senior member of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles has always become the next prophet,
which means he has to outlive the other 11 Apostles
which makes him quite old when he becomes a "prophet."
While "a true prophet is always chosen by God," there is
no biblical basis for the LDS claim that they are
"called through the proper priesthood authority." Some
biblical prophets had connections to the Levitical
Priesthood, but most of them did not. No biblical
prophet ever served as President of a church or
priesthood, nor was any "sustained" as prophet by a
church vote like Mormon Prophets are.
To read more about LDS Prophets see
Gospel Principles, published by the LDS Church. We
will continue our discussion of Prophets in Mormonism
next time. |
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