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In this series, we are looking at the LDS manual “Gospel Principles”, which has 47 chapters, all of which tend to build on previous chapters, and/or with later chapters assuming you’ve read and understood previous ones. My posts on this manual are all posted here for easy reference.
When I first clicked on this chapter and saw how long it was (as evidenced by the scrollbar), I was disheartened, thinking it was a huge amount of text. But when I scrolled down, I realized that most of the length was from the inclusion of images of LDS Presidents from JS to Thomas Monson (apparently, this was not updated since his death, to include the current LDS President), so the amount of text is not much different from any other chapter so far.
Glancing through the first few paragraphs, I see that there are several points I agree with, such as that prophets are called by God, and speak for God, and aren’t necessarily distinguished by clothing choice. However, I also found many points to critique, primarily in the non-Biblical “LDS Scriptures” cited, as well as the many assumptions and assertions made. Something that is not really ever said is how we can know that a claimed prophet is a true or false prophet. The chapter assumes that the current LDS President is a prophet, but never says how we can know (except that the LDS Church says he is, which obviously is unacceptable to anyone outside the LDS Church). Contrast this to the Bible which gives objective criteria including that God’s true prophets never give false prophecies, so, people who do give false prophecies should be rejected as false prophets (see False Prophecies of Joseph Smith).
Prophets Are God’s Representatives on the Earth
Not surprisingly, the first Scripture quoted is “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). The problem is, “If it proves anything, it proves too much” — in a nutshell, the LDS Church must accept that there were centuries of no prophets after the death of the Apostles, when they believe there was a Great Apostasy of the Christian church, so how do they consistently argue that there must be one now? If it didn’t violate Amos 3:7 to have 1700 years without a prophet, why not 1800 years or 2000 years?
After a paragraph proclaiming and extolling that, “We know that God communicates to the Church through His prophet“, it goes on to describe prophets and what they do. Though a D&C is here cited, I actually agree with the statement, “When a prophet speaks for God, it is as if God were speaking“. The problem is that we can’t tell when an LDS Prophet is actually speaking for God or not. And indeed, some past LDS Prophets have claimed to speak for God, only for their words to be ignored or discounted now as mere theory or opinion!
The chapter also says, “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.” This is all well and good, but when you ask LDSs for any revelation or prophetic foretelling of future events that their recent prophets have given, they generally can’t come up with any. While some LDSs may try to point to statements by the LDS President in 2019 as evidence of him foreseeing the Great Panic of 2020, the rise and fallout of Covid wasn’t foretold by the LDS leaders and even admittedly caught them by surprise. What good is it for LDSs to have a Prophet, Apostle, Seer, and Revelator, if he doesn’t prophesy, see, or reveal anything?!
The next paragraph says, “A true prophet is always chosen by God and called through proper priesthood authority (see Articles of Faith 1:5)“. While I would agree with the first part, I profoundly disagree with the second. For example, the very Amos they cited as the first verse was not a priest nor “called through proper priesthood authority”, but “was among the herdmen of Tekoa” (Amos 1:1) when God called him as a prophet.
Through the Ages God Has Called Prophets to Lead Mankind
This paragraph mixes Moses and John the Baptist with JS and Nephi in the BOM (putting them in chronological order), and though it does call Moses and Nephi “leaders”, it doesn’t really seem to follow from the header and is thus vaguely unsatisfying.
We Have a Living Prophet on the Earth Today
After asserting that the President of the LDS Church is not just “a prophet” but the only one to have “the authority to direct the entire Church and kingdom of God on earth, including the administration of priesthood ordinances“, it says that the Q12 and the LDS President’s two counselors “are also prophets, seers, and revelators“. It continues:
“We should do those things the prophets tell us to do. President Wilford Woodruff said that a prophet will never be allowed to lead the Church astray:
“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 programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff [2004], 199).“
So, does that mean that JS was leading the Mormon church astray when God removed him out of his place, by allowing his death in 1844? Somehow, I doubt that such an interpretation would be permitted by modern LDSs. How, then, would God remove such a person? See also, my series on false prophets and false prophecy:
- What to do with false prophets?
- Jesus a False Prophet?
- Another reason to think prophets are not for this day
- Why Nineveh doesn’t save Joseph Smith (see also False Prophecies of Joseph Smith in Sept. 2022)
- What *would* qualify as a prophet leading the church astray?
- The LDS Church’s past and present “prophets”
We Should Sustain the Lord’s Prophet
After saying LDSs should pray for the prophet and study his words, etc., it says,
We should follow his inspired teachings completely. We should not choose to follow part of his inspired counsel and discard that which is unpleasant or difficult. The Lord commanded us to follow the inspired teachings of His prophet:
“Thou shalt give heed unto all his [the prophet’s] words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith” (D&C 21:4–5).
The Lord will never allow the President of the Church to lead us astray.
Again, I ask, how can the average person tell whether the LDS President is giving “inspired teachings” or merely “his opinion”? Also, What *would* qualify as a prophet leading the church astray?
Great Blessings Follow Obedience to the Prophet
This final section promises blessings if people obey the LDS Prophet, but doesn’t go further than that (e.g., giving examples of this having happened in the past or happening now).
Edited to add: Starting in early January 2024 ex-Mormon and former LDS bishop Bill Reel began his own series covering the Gospel Principles Manual. It can be found at this YouTube playlist. He not only goes through the current manual but also the 1979 version, pointing out significant differences between the two; he also gives an in-depth look at what the LDS Church teaches now or has taught in the past, that it does not include in this manual, but could have and/or should have.
TOYBOM: The One Year Book of Mormon 