Church leaders aren’t receiving revelation!
Lol.
Here are the gymnastics involved in accepting that claim:
Continue reading “The mental gymnastics of revelation denial”Tag: Prophets
How Brigham’s accusers use anchored narratives
Anchored Narratives is a 1993 book written by psychologists who were trying to understand wrongful convictions in courts of law. The authors examined 35 examples of dubious and clearly-wrongful convictions, trying to figure out how prosecutors manipulate judges and juries into accepting false narratives about people.
Continue reading “How Brigham’s accusers use anchored narratives”How not to sustain our leadership
In my presentation on following the prophet, I described what it means to me to sustain the people who are called to the governing councils and committees of the church.
For learning by contrast, below is a list of statements that indicate to me the opposite of what it means to sustain.
Continue reading “How not to sustain our leadership”John the Baptist, preeminent prophet
When Moses was called as a prophet, he had an extraordinary visionary experience where he saw God represented as a burning bush.
When Isaiah was called as a prophet, we read of a dramatic visionary encounter with smoke filling the temple, heavenly figures called the seraphim, and more.
When Ezekiel was called as a prophet, he offered an elaborate description of divine beings that defy any normal description.
But the prophetic call of John the Baptist, who Jesus labeled as greater than any prophet before his time, is described in only seven words that are found in a very short verse in the book of Luke.
Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. (Luke 3:2)
That’s it. No sensational experience, just… the word of God came to John.
Continue reading “John the Baptist, preeminent prophet”Follow the Prophet, Internal vs External Authority
Follow the Prophet is a beloved phrase and a primary song, until it isn’t. And it usually stops being beloved when church members begin to assert their own internal authority:
“I determine my faith commitments”
“The church doesn’t get to dictate to me what I believe”
“I follow Jesus over the church”
“There’s no middle-man between me and God”
“I’m the one who determines what my church participation should look like”
“We’re all cafeteria members, so my choices in the cafeteria are no less valid than someone else’s”
Beware of Sedevacantism in the Church
Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, if a person is not born from on high, that person is not able to see the kingdom of God.
(John 3:3)
Sedevacantism “seat-empty-ism” is a term commonly used to describe Catholics who think the pope is illegitimate because he is apostate, lacking authority, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, etc. In Catholicism, there has long been a rift over Vatican II, where the Catholic church convened a huge council in 1962-1965 and implemented a set of reforms that included no longer doing the mass in Latin. Remember that one of the core elements of fundamentalism is an idea that things were ideal in the past, and we need to return to some past way of doing things, because back then the faith was more pure or whatever. So fundamentalist Catholics typically reject Vatican II and to the extent they still participate in the Roman Catholic church, they constantly clash with popes and other authorities who maintain the reforms of Vatican II.
Continue reading “Beware of Sedevacantism in the Church”Memory, Prophetic Translation, and the Lost 116 Pages
I am unfortunately at an advanced enough age that I have now encountered more than once something I have said, done, or written, that I have no memory of at all. This is a humbling experience. So while I was reading Kent Jackson’s excellent book Understanding Joseph Smith’s Translation of the Bible that Joseph Smith translated some sections of the Bible more than once, apparently having forgotten that he already had done so previously with a different scribe.
How do his second pass translations compare to the first? Did he translate the passages in exactly the same way?
Continue reading “Memory, Prophetic Translation, and the Lost 116 Pages”Yes, Russell M. Nelson is an Authentic Prophet
What do we mean when we affirm that President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God?
In this presentation, we have resources to answer that question.
Slides for viewing and download here:
Continue reading “Yes, Russell M. Nelson is an Authentic Prophet”Yes, Joseph Smith is an Authentic Prophet.
Here are some of my reasons for believing so.
YouTube Narration:
Continue reading “Yes, Joseph Smith is an Authentic Prophet.”Follow The Prophets
Following the Prophets means embracing their current teachings, especially the united voice of the Q15:
As to all of these, the wise cautions of Elders D. Todd Christofferson and Neil L. Andersen in earlier general conference messages are important to remember. Elder Christofferson taught: “It should be remembered that not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. It is commonly understood in the Church that a statement made by one leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, not meant to be official or binding for the whole Church.”
In the following conference, Elder Andersen taught this principle: “The doctrine is taught by all 15 members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. It is not hidden in an obscure paragraph of one talk.” The family proclamation, signed by all 15 prophets, seers, and revelators, is a wonderful illustration of that principle.