Hi Carlos Bravo. I have a great desire to learn all I can and keep my covenants with the lord. I have read the book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl or Great Price, the Gospels. I am new to all this. I have never done this before. Now I have a book Treasures from the Journal of Discourses by Paul Skousen. Okay…problem JD 13:309 November 13, 1870, Ogden Tabernacle insinuating Jesus was a polygamist? JD 1:50 April 9, 1852 Salt Lake City Tabernacle Adam was a polygamist? Are these things said by Prophets? It is freaking me out.
2 Responses to “Hi El Santo Gringo. I have a great desire to learn all I…”
Carlos Bravo
2013-09-29 15:19:06
President Thomas S. Monson has served as the 16th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 3 February 2008.
Hi sister. It was good to hear from you again. I'm happy you continue to make progress in your spiritual life. It's excellent that you've really dedicated yourself to studying the scriptures.
I don't know about the specific quotes you mentioned, but the fact that they concern you suggests to me that you may have an inaccurate view of what a prophet really is. Some people think the church is like a train, the prophet is the conductor, and God has laid down the train tracks. In this revelatory model, the prophet is really more of a figure head, since the train can't deviate from the correct path anyway.
The truth is, the church is more like a ship in a storm. The prophet is the captain, and God is the lighthouse. While prophets are certainly righteous men who do a remarkable job of steering the church on the right course, they're still human beings. They are not infallible. But whenever the ship starts to deviate from the right course, the prophet looks to the lighthouse and makes the required course correction. Over time, the ship moves ever closer to God's Truth.
I don't know if past leaders have really taught the things you mentioned, but look at the dates on the quotes you provided. The ship's been at sea for 150 years since then, and we've made a lot of progress along the course towards the lighthouse. I don't know that the church ever taught Christ was married, let a lone a polygamist, but it certainly doesn't teach that now. I don't believe the church has ever taught there was a "second Eve" either. Regardless, if these things were taught here and there in the past, they have clearly now been abandoned thanks to continued revelation from God that has corrected and continues to correct the well-intentioned mistakes that human church leaders might make.
"Not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. A single statement made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole Church. With divine inspiration, the First Presidency (the prophet and his two counselors) and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the second-highest governing body of the Church) counsel together to establish doctrine that is consistently proclaimed in official Church publications. This doctrine resides in the four "standard works" of scripture (the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price), official declarations and proclamations, and the Articles of Faith. Isolated statements are often taken out of context, leaving their original meaning distorted."
The Church is led by prophets and apostles, just as Christ’s original church was led anciently.
In the early days of the Restoration, when the number of Latter-day Saints were few and everybody knew everyone, it was not uncommon for General Authorities to air their speculations at the podium.
Members could and did approach the speakers afterwards, and request clarification. Sometimes this would cause the speaker to rethink their positions, because at no time did the LDS consider our leaders infallible. Brigham Young, for instance, was famous for returning to the pulpit (sometimes the same day, sometimes later) to report that he'd aired his opinion; and that the Lord had corrected him.
Think it's tough being corrected by our supervisors? Consider the Prophet being corrected by HIS supervisor!
A decade or so of this, and we all began to realize that we shouldn't theorize at the pulpit. The membership grew so large that we couldn't just walk up to the Prophet (for instance, I'm in Texas; he's in Utah) and ask him what he really meant. It was time to speak plainly only the Gospel and no speculations.
That's where we are now. And we members, including our prophets, still make mistakes. If the Church wasn't true, if the Lord wasn't in charge, we'd have messed it up a long time ago.
I don't know about the specific quotes you mentioned, but the fact that they concern you suggests to me that you may have an inaccurate view of what a prophet really is. Some people think the church is like a train, the prophet is the conductor, and God has laid down the train tracks. In this revelatory model, the prophet is really more of a figure head, since the train can't deviate from the correct path anyway.
The truth is, the church is more like a ship in a storm. The prophet is the captain, and God is the lighthouse. While prophets are certainly righteous men who do a remarkable job of steering the church on the right course, they're still human beings. They are not infallible. But whenever the ship starts to deviate from the right course, the prophet looks to the lighthouse and makes the required course correction. Over time, the ship moves ever closer to God's Truth.
I don't know if past leaders have really taught the things you mentioned, but look at the dates on the quotes you provided. The ship's been at sea for 150 years since then, and we've made a lot of progress along the course towards the lighthouse. I don't know that the church ever taught Christ was married, let a lone a polygamist, but it certainly doesn't teach that now. I don't believe the church has ever taught there was a "second Eve" either. Regardless, if these things were taught here and there in the past, they have clearly now been abandoned thanks to continued revelation from God that has corrected and continues to correct the well-intentioned mistakes that human church leaders might make.
It's also important to distinguish between the personal opinion of a given church leader (past or present) and what constitutes actual "doctrine." Here's a helpful definition of "doctrine" posted on the church's official website:
"Not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. A single statement made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole Church. With divine inspiration, the First Presidency (the prophet and his two counselors) and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the second-highest governing body of the Church) counsel together to establish doctrine that is consistently proclaimed in official Church publications. This doctrine resides in the four "standard works" of scripture (the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price), official declarations and proclamations, and the Articles of Faith. Isolated statements are often taken out of context, leaving their original meaning distorted."
I hope this answer helps! Please don't hesitate to ask any further questions if you have them.
Members could and did approach the speakers afterwards, and request clarification. Sometimes this would cause the speaker to rethink their positions, because at no time did the LDS consider our leaders infallible. Brigham Young, for instance, was famous for returning to the pulpit (sometimes the same day, sometimes later) to report that he'd aired his opinion; and that the Lord had corrected him.
Think it's tough being corrected by our supervisors? Consider the Prophet being corrected by HIS supervisor!
A decade or so of this, and we all began to realize that we shouldn't theorize at the pulpit. The membership grew so large that we couldn't just walk up to the Prophet (for instance, I'm in Texas; he's in Utah) and ask him what he really meant. It was time to speak plainly only the Gospel and no speculations.
That's where we are now. And we members, including our prophets, still make mistakes. If the Church wasn't true, if the Lord wasn't in charge, we'd have messed it up a long time ago.