Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
Fundamentals Six and Seven: A Refresher

Fundamentals Six and Seven: A Refresher

Last updated on: August 20, 2021 at 10:19 am by Dan Peterson

Fundamentals Six and Seven: A Refresher 2021-08-20T10:19:07-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: President Russell M. Nelson, center; first counselor, President Dallin H. Oaks, left; second counselor, President Henry B. Eyring, right. All three are sustained by faithful members of the Church as prophets, seers, and revelators. Here, though, is another way of thinking about them if you’re worried that they’re medically uninformed or constitutionally illiterate:: Russell M. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D.; Dallin H. Oaks, J.D., formerly acting dean of the law school at the University of Chicago, associate justice of the Utah Supreme Court, and prospective nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States; and, oh yes, for good measure, Henry B. Eyring, who earned a Ph.D. from Harvard Business School and formerly served on the faculty at Stanford University.

***

To repeat:

“The First Presidency Urges Latter-day Saints to Wear Face Masks When Needed and Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19: “We can win this war if everyone will follow the wise and thoughtful recommendations of medical experts and government leaders””

to urge: “to try earnestly or persistently to persuade (someone) to do something” (Oxford)

***

Ezra Taft Benson (1899-1994), a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1943-1985), fifteenth United States Secretary of Agriculture (1953-1961), and thirteenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1985-1994).
Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph

From Ezra Taft Benson, “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet”:

Sixth: The prophet does not have to say “Thus saith the Lord” to give us scripture.

Sometimes there are those who argue about words. They might say the prophet gave us counsel but that we are not obliged to follow it unless he says it is a commandment. But the Lord says of the Prophet, “Thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you.” (D&C 21:4.)

And speaking of taking counsel from the prophet, in D&C 108:1, the Lord states:

“Verily thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Lyman: Your sins are forgiven you, because you have obeyed my voice in coming up hither this morning to receive counsel of him whom I have appointed.”

Said Brigham Young, “I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call scripture.” (Journal of Discourses, 13:95.)

Seventh: The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know.

“Thou has declared unto us hard things, more than we are able to bear,” complained Nephi’s brethren. But Nephi answered by saying, “The guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.” (1 Ne. 16:1–2.)

Said President Harold B. Lee:

“You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may conflict with your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life … Your safety and ours depends upon whether or not we follow … Let’s keep our eye on the President of the Church.” (Conference Report, October 1970, p. 152–153.)

But it is the living prophet who really upsets the world. “Even in the Church,” said President Kimball, “many are prone to garnish the sepulchres of yesterdays prophets and mentally stone the living ones.” (Instructor, 95:527.)

Why? Because the living prophet gets at what we need to know now, and the world prefers that prophets either be dead or worry about their own affairs. Some so-called experts of political science want the prophet to keep still on politics. Some would-be authorities on evolution want the prophet to keep still on evolution. And so the list goes on and on.

How we respond to the words of a living prophet when he tells us what we need to know, but would rather not hear, is a test of our faithfulness.

Said President Marion G. Romney, “It is an easy thing to believe in the dead prophets, but it is a greater thing to believe in the living prophets.” And then he gives this illustration:

“One day when President Grant was living, I sat in my office across the street following a general conference. A man came over to see me, an elderly man. He was very upset about what had been said in this conference by some of the Brethren, including myself. I could tell from his speech that he came from a foreign land. After I had quieted him enough so he would listen, I said, ‘Why did you come to America?’ ‘I am here because a prophet of God told me to come.’ ‘Who was the prophet?’ I continued. ‘Wilford Woodruff.’ ‘Do you believe Wilford Woodruff was a prophet of God?’ ‘Yes, sir.’

“Then came the sixty-four dollar question, ‘Do you believe that Heber J. Grant is a prophet of God?’ His answer, ‘I think he ought to keep his mouth shut about old-age assistance.’

“Now I tell you that a man in his position is on the way to apostasy. He is forfeiting his chances for eternal life. So is everyone who cannot follow the living prophet of God.” (Conference Report, April 1953, p. 125.)

***

And, incidentally:

“The Young And Secular Are Least Vaccinated, Not Evangelicals”

***

I have to admit that I’m increasingly sympathetic to this point of view:

“Opinion: I’m tired of ‘taking one for the team’ because some people refuse the vaccine: Like Gov. Cox, I’m grateful for those willing to dig even deeper into their well of patience. I’m just not sure I’m one of them anymore”

But I’ll try to be more like my more charitable friend and Interpreter Foundation colleague Dr. Jeff Lindsay:

“How to Talk to Concerned Church Members Who Are “COVID Policy Doubters” (CPDs)”

***

The Interpreter Radio Roundtable for Come, Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 35, “Receive of His Fulness” on D&C 93, featured Terry Hutchinson, Kris Frederickson, and Mike Parker. This roundtable has now been purified of commercial and other interruptions and extracted from the 18 July 2021 broadcast of the Interpreter Radio Show, of which it formed a part. The complete Show may now be heard at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-radio-show-july-18-2021/. More generally, if you’re tuning in from somewhere in the Salt Lake Valley, the Interpreter Radio Show can be heard each Sunday evening from 7 to 9 PM (MDT), on K-TALK, AM 1640. If you’re located elsewhere, or even if you just want to do it because you can, the Show can be heard live on the Internet at ktalkmedia.com.

Uncategorized

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Russell Marion Nelson

Previous Post

August 17, 2021

Light from the West and the Ancient East

Next Post

August 18, 2021 Anybody out there in or near Preston, Idaho, or Lethbridge, Alberta? Or, for that matter, anywhere else in the cosmos?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who fasted and prayed after reading the prophecy of Jeremiah's 70 years?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Joel Daniel Hosea Micah