Oh, Say What Is Truth
I think one of the major changes in my faith over the last
few years has been centered basically in the question of how correct the
prophets are. Are prophets correct when my heart, testimony, and conception of
God are in conflict with them? Are prophets correct when history shows their
actions to be based in prejudice, bias, and other incorrect motivations?
My husband’s favorite joke about Mormonism is that the
Catholics teach that their Pope is infallible, but none of them believe it and
Mormons teach that their prophets are fallible, but none of us believe it. A
member of our Presidency recently said in General Conference that LDS leaders
have made mistakes and in the same session, another person quoted the, “the
leaders of the church will never lead you astray” quote. So there is undeniable
ambiguity. The recent essays that have come out of Joseph Smith’s polygamous
wives, and race and the Priesthood test this tension.
Were prophets right when they took priesthood away from
black men who held it? What about when they took away women’s ability to bless
their children and sisters? What about when Brigham instituted polygamy as a
universal teaching and canonized section 132? What about when he taught the
Adam-God theory and incorporated that into the temple ceremonies? What about
when he taught Blood Atonement - that members of the church were capable of
sinning to an extent that only the spilling of their own blood would redeem
them? Most if not all of these teachings are now disavowed, if not outright
condemned as heresy. Many members of the church won’t even believe that many of
these things even happened. But they did. People used to not believe that
Joseph Smith had over 20 wives, but now the church has admitted that as truth.
The historical documents are all there, and they don’t lie.
I don’t bring these topics up to challenge testimonies. I
bring them up because they are real, valid questions and they DO challenge
testimonies, when those testimonies are based on the infallibility of prophets.
The answer that I have come to is one that some more traditional members of the
church may dislike, but I feel that clinging to the infallibility of our
leaders is untenable in the light of history. I also feel that our penchant for hero/leader worship does not always necessarily lead us to truth.
My conclusion is that human beings are flawed, even ones who
are called and ordained. All human beings have their biases, their prejudices,
their vices, their idiosyncracies, (myself included!) and when human beings are
given extreme amounts of power, those things are only magnified. That is why I
believe that the ONLY way we can know truth is not by blindly believing every
word that the prophets say, but by living close to the Spirit as individuals,
so that we will be able to discern truth for ourselves. I believe that prophets
have made grave mistakes. I believe that they have taught heresy. I believe
that they have propped up and canonized traditions of men and tried to turn
them into doctrine. I also believe that Priesthood power is real, that ordinances are binding on earth and heaven, and the Spirit doesn’t lie. Truth is eternal and I know when I feel its power. You can’t take that away from me without destroying the entire basis of my testimony.
So I advocate for a greater level of responsibility in our interaction with prophets. I advocate for a greater ability to question and even challenge teachings of prophets. I believe that “because I say so” doesn’t mean anything to me unless the Spirit witnesses of its truth to my heart, mind and soul. I stay for the many great truths in this church that my heart witnesses are truth of Divine source, and I wait for several things that I feel are not, to change.
So who decides what is truth? I do, for me. That is the privilege and responsibility of sentient beings who have been endowed with a conscience.
Quotes on the subject:
"We have heard men who hold the priesthood remark that they would do anything they were told to do by those who preside over them -- even if they knew it was wrong. But such obedience as this is worse than folly to us. It is slavery in the extreme. The man who would thus willingly degrade himself should not claim a rank among intelligent beings until he turns from his folly. A man of God would despise this idea. Others, in the extreme exercise of their almighty authority have taught that such obedience was necessary, and that no matter what the Saints were told to do by their presidents, they should do it without any questions. When Elders of Israel will so far indulge in these extreme notions of obedience as to teach them to the people, it is generally because they have it in their hearts to do wrong themselves."
(Apostle Charles Penrose, 1852, Millennial Star, vol 14, num 38, pgs 593-595)
"...the people should each one stand for himself...that righteous persons could only deliver their own souls...if the people departed from the Lord, they must fall--that they were depending on the Prophet, hence were darkened in their minds..."
(Joseph Smith, May 26th,1842, History of the Church, v5 p19)
"What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not. This has been my exhortation continually."
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 9, p. 150, 12 January 1862)
"The greatest fear I have is that the people of this Church will accept what we say as the will of the Lord without first praying about it and getting the witness within their own hearts that what we say is the word of the Lord."
(Brigham Young, "The Prophet, Seer, and Revelator," quoted at BYU, July 8, 1964)
“Some may say, ‘Brethren, you who lead the Church, we have all confidence in you, we are not in the least afraid but what everything will go right under your superintendence; all the business matters will be transacted right; and if brother Brigham is satisfied with it, I am.’ I do not wish any Latter-day Saint in this world, nor in heaven, to be satisfied with anything I do, unless the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spirit of revelation, makes them satisfied...Suppose that the people were heedless, that they manifested no concern with regard to the things of the kingdom of God, but threw the whole burden upon the leaders of the people, saying, ‘If the brethren who take charge of matters are satisfied, we are,’ this is not pleasing in the sight of the Lord.”
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 3:43-51)
“Do not, brethren, put your trust in a man though he be a bishop, an apostle, or a president. If you do, they will fail you at some time or place."
(Apostle George Q. Cannon, Millennial Star, v 53, p 658-659)
"President Wilford Woodruff is a man of wisdom and experience, and we respect him, but we do not believe his personal views or utterances are revelations from God; and when 'Thus saith the Lord', comes from him, the saints investigate it: they do not shut their eyes and take it down like a pill."
(Apostle Charles Penrose, Millennial Star 54:191)
"You cannot accept the books written by the authorities of the Church as standards of doctrine...Every man who writes is responsible, not the Church, for what he writes. If Joseph Fielding Smith writes something that is out of harmony with the revelations, then every member of the Church is duty bound to reject it."
(Joseph Fielding Smith, Mormon Doctrine, p. 547, also in “Are the General Authorities Human” 1966)
"...if a man rejects a message that I may give to him but is still moral and believes in the main principles of the gospel and desires to continue in his membership in the Church, he is permitted to remain...so long as a man believe in God and has a little faith in the Church organization, we nurture and aid that person to continue faithfully as a member of the Church though he may not believe all that is revealed."
(President Joseph F. Smith, Reed Smoot Hearings, US Congress, 1903-1907, pg 97)
So I advocate for a greater level of responsibility in our interaction with prophets. I advocate for a greater ability to question and even challenge teachings of prophets. I believe that “because I say so” doesn’t mean anything to me unless the Spirit witnesses of its truth to my heart, mind and soul. I stay for the many great truths in this church that my heart witnesses are truth of Divine source, and I wait for several things that I feel are not, to change.
So who decides what is truth? I do, for me. That is the privilege and responsibility of sentient beings who have been endowed with a conscience.
Quotes on the subject:
"We have heard men who hold the priesthood remark that they would do anything they were told to do by those who preside over them -- even if they knew it was wrong. But such obedience as this is worse than folly to us. It is slavery in the extreme. The man who would thus willingly degrade himself should not claim a rank among intelligent beings until he turns from his folly. A man of God would despise this idea. Others, in the extreme exercise of their almighty authority have taught that such obedience was necessary, and that no matter what the Saints were told to do by their presidents, they should do it without any questions. When Elders of Israel will so far indulge in these extreme notions of obedience as to teach them to the people, it is generally because they have it in their hearts to do wrong themselves."
(Apostle Charles Penrose, 1852, Millennial Star, vol 14, num 38, pgs 593-595)
"...the people should each one stand for himself...that righteous persons could only deliver their own souls...if the people departed from the Lord, they must fall--that they were depending on the Prophet, hence were darkened in their minds..."
(Joseph Smith, May 26th,1842, History of the Church, v5 p19)
"What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not. This has been my exhortation continually."
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 9, p. 150, 12 January 1862)
"The greatest fear I have is that the people of this Church will accept what we say as the will of the Lord without first praying about it and getting the witness within their own hearts that what we say is the word of the Lord."
(Brigham Young, "The Prophet, Seer, and Revelator," quoted at BYU, July 8, 1964)
“Some may say, ‘Brethren, you who lead the Church, we have all confidence in you, we are not in the least afraid but what everything will go right under your superintendence; all the business matters will be transacted right; and if brother Brigham is satisfied with it, I am.’ I do not wish any Latter-day Saint in this world, nor in heaven, to be satisfied with anything I do, unless the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, the spirit of revelation, makes them satisfied...Suppose that the people were heedless, that they manifested no concern with regard to the things of the kingdom of God, but threw the whole burden upon the leaders of the people, saying, ‘If the brethren who take charge of matters are satisfied, we are,’ this is not pleasing in the sight of the Lord.”
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 3:43-51)
“Do not, brethren, put your trust in a man though he be a bishop, an apostle, or a president. If you do, they will fail you at some time or place."
(Apostle George Q. Cannon, Millennial Star, v 53, p 658-659)
"President Wilford Woodruff is a man of wisdom and experience, and we respect him, but we do not believe his personal views or utterances are revelations from God; and when 'Thus saith the Lord', comes from him, the saints investigate it: they do not shut their eyes and take it down like a pill."
(Apostle Charles Penrose, Millennial Star 54:191)
"You cannot accept the books written by the authorities of the Church as standards of doctrine...Every man who writes is responsible, not the Church, for what he writes. If Joseph Fielding Smith writes something that is out of harmony with the revelations, then every member of the Church is duty bound to reject it."
(Joseph Fielding Smith, Mormon Doctrine, p. 547, also in “Are the General Authorities Human” 1966)
"...if a man rejects a message that I may give to him but is still moral and believes in the main principles of the gospel and desires to continue in his membership in the Church, he is permitted to remain...so long as a man believe in God and has a little faith in the Church organization, we nurture and aid that person to continue faithfully as a member of the Church though he may not believe all that is revealed."
(President Joseph F. Smith, Reed Smoot Hearings, US Congress, 1903-1907, pg 97)
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