Mormon Standards for Following Top Mormon Leaders
The Importance of the Teachings by Mormon Prophets
The first five items are from Search These Commandments, Melchizedek Priesthood Personal Study Guide, published and copyrighted (1984) by the Mormon Church. It is a teaching manual for Mormon men. The sixth item is from a similar 1983 manual titled Come Follow Me.
The words of the President are more than the advice of man.
Elder George Albert Smith noted: “When we are instructed by the President of this Church, we believe he tells us what the Lord would have us do. To us it is something more than just the advice of man” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1930, p. 66). (p. 272)
We have our marching orders.
President Ezra Taft Benson has said, “Therefore, the most important reading we can do is any of the words of the Prophet contained each week in the Church Section of the Deseret News and any words of the Prophet contained each month in our Church magazines. Our marching orders for each six months are found in the general conference addresses which are printed in the Ensign magazine” (“Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophets,” 1980 Devotional Speeches of the Year [Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1981], p. 27). (p. 273)
We have God’s will for us.
President Ezra Taft Benson has pointed out that “the most important prophet, so far as you and I are concerned, is the one living in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing His will for us” (“Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophets,” 1980 Devotional Speeches of the Year [Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1981], p. 27). (p. 275)
The Lord will never permit the President to lead us astray.
President Wilford Woodruff gave the following assurance, “I say … the Lord will never permit me nor any other man who stands as the President of this Church, to lead you astray” (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p. 212). (p. 276)
Our eternal life depends on his word.
At the conclusion of one general conference, President Kimball said: “Now as we conclude this general conference, let us all give heed to what was said to us. Let us assume the counsel given applies to us, to me. Let us hearken to those we sustain as prophets and seers, as well as the other brethren, as if our eternal life depended upon it, because it does!” (Spencer W. Kimball, in Conference Report, April 1978, p. 117; or Ensign, May 1978, p. 77). (p. 276)
The Prophets speak the mind, will, and voice of the Lord and the power of God unto salvation.
President Harold B. Lee [he was the President and Prophet of the Mormon Church at the time] once said at the close of a general conference, “If you want to know what the Lord has for this people at the present time, I would admonish you to get and read the discourses that have been delivered at this conference; for what these brethren 3 have spoken by the power of the Holy Ghost is the mind of the Lord, the will of the Lord, the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation” (in Conference Report, April 1973, p. 176; or Ensign, July 1973, p. 121). (p. 11)
Wilford Woodruff, Harold B. Lee, and Spencer W. Kimball were Presidents of the Church when they made these statements. The other two men were Apostles, the level just below the President of the Church, when they made their statements, and became President of the Church at a later date.
More Teachings from the Top Leaders
Follow the President even if what he says is wrong.
And President Harold B. Lee stated that “President Grant used to say to us … ‘Brethren, keep your eye on the President of this Church. If he tells you to do anything and it is wrong and you do it, the Lord will bless you for it. But you don’t need to worry; the Lord will never let his mouthpiece lead this people astray.’” (The Ensign, October 1972)
When the leaders speak, the thinking has been done.
When our leaders speak the thinking has been done. When they propose a plan—it is God’s plan. When they point the way, there is no other which is safe. When they give direction, it should mark the end of controversy. (The Improvement Era, under “Ward Teacher’s Message for June 1945,” p. 354; also in Deseret News, Church Section, May 26, 1945, p. 5)
The words of the living Prophets become scripture to us.
The words of our living prophets are also accepted as scripture.… In addition to these four books of scripture, the inspired words of our living prophets become scripture to us. Their words come to us through conferences, Church publications, and instructions to local priesthood leaders. (Gospel Principles, pp. 49, 51–52)
Mormon Scriptures Say the Following:
Give heed to all the Prophet’s words and commandments.
Wherefore, meaning the church, 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.… (April 6, 1830, D&C 21:4)
When elders are moved by the Holy Ghost, it shall be scripture.
And this is the ensample unto them, that they [the elders, see verse 7] shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost. And whatsoever they [the elders] shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation. (November 1831, D&C 68:3–4)
The Lord will do nothing without telling the Prophet.
Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7) 4
What Did Others Say?
No one can say I ever gave wrong counsel.
I see around me a great people. Joseph Smith was called of God, and sent to lay the foundation of this latter-day kingdom. He presided over this people fourteen years. Then he was martyred. Since that time your humble servant has presided over and counselled this people.… For the space of twenty-four years he has watched over their interests.… What man or woman on the earth, what spirit in the spirit-world can say truthfully that I ever gave a wrong word of counsel, or a word of advice that could not be sanctioned by the heavens? The success which has attended me in my presidency is owing to the blessings and mercy of the Almighty. (President Brigham Young, December 29, 1867, Journal of Discourses 12:127)
My words when approved by me are as good as scripture.
Brother Orson Hyde referred to a few who complained about not getting revelations. I will make a statement here that has been brought against me as a crime, perhaps, or as a fault in my life. Not here, I do not allude to anything of the kind in this place, but in the councils of the nations—that Brigham Young has said “when he sends forth his discourses to the world they may call them Scripture.” I say now, when they are copied and approved by me they are as good Scripture as is couched in this Bible, and if you want to read revelation read the sayings of him who knows the mind of God, without any special command to one man to go here, and to another to go yonder, or to do this or that, or to go and settle here or there. (President Brigham Young, at General Conference, October 6, 1870, Journal of Discourses 13:264)
I have never preached a sermon they may not call scripture.
The Lord is in our midst. He teaches the people continually. I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture. Let me have the privilege of correcting a sermon, and it is as good Scripture as they deserve. The people have the oracles of God continually. (President Brigham Young, January 2, 1870, Journal of Discourses 13:95)
There is more scripture than in the standard works.
Millions feel that what is written in the Bible is the total of the revelations of the Lord, in spite of John’s statement that if all that Jesus did were recorded, there would be numerous books. Some Latter-day Saints also make a similar error and feel that what is written in the standard works constitutes the sum total of the revelations in this dispensation. To this error George Q. Cannon, a member of the First Presidency, speaks:
“Some have deceived themselves with the idea that because revelations have not been written and published, therefore, there has been a lessening of power in the Church of Christ. This is a very great mistake.… the servants of the Lord do receive revelations, and they are as binding upon the people as though they were printed and published throughout all the Stakes of Zion. The oracles of God are here, and He speaks through His servant whom He has chosen to hold the keys.… We have been blessed as a people with an abundance of revelation.
Have this people ever seen the day when the counsel of God’s servants has not been sufficient to guide them in the midst of difficulties? No. We never have. There has not been a single minute that this people has been left without the voice of God; there has not been a single minute since this church was founded to this time that the power of God has not been plainly manifested in our midst … (Gospel Truth, p. 332).” The day of revelation has never passed; the Lord continues to communicate with his servants in our own day as always. (Faith Precedes the Miracle, [President] Spencer W. Kimball, pp. 21–22)
The Lord’s will also comes from the Prophet.
We are to give heed to the words of eternal life. In other words, we must understand and live by the revelations the Lord has granted to His prophets. These are contained in the four standard works and the written and public declarations of our current prophet. (“Three Imperative Responsibilities,” London England Area Conference, 19–20 June 1976.) (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, [President] Ezra Taft Benson, pp. 404–5)
Only the President can teach doctrine not in the standard works, but it cannot contradict what is already there.
We have the standard Church works. Why do we call them standard? If there is any teacher who teaches a doctrine that can’t be substantiated from the standard church works—and I make one qualification, and that is unless that one be the President of the Church, who alone has the right to declare new doctrine—.… The President of the Church alone may declare the mind and will of God to His people.
No officer nor any other church in the world has this high and lofty prerogative. When the President proclaims any such new doctrine, he will declare it to be a revelation from the Lord.… It is not to be thought that every word spoken by the General Authorities is inspired, or that they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost in everything they write. I don’t care what his position is, if he writes something or speaks something that goes beyond anything that you can find in the standard church works, unless that one be the prophet, seer, and revelator—please note that one exception—you may immediately say, “Well, that is his own idea.” And if he says something that contradicts what is found in the standard church works, you may know by that same token that it is false, regardless of the position of the man who says it.
We can know or have the assurance that they are speaking under inspiration if we so live that we can have a witness that what they are speaking is the word of the Lord. There is only one safety, and that is that we shall live to have the witness to know. President Brigham Young said something to the effect that “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.” (Stand Ye in Holy Places, [President] Harold B. Lee, pp. 109–10, 162–63)
It is important to understand this concept taught by President Lee. He is saying that only the President of the Church, the Prophet, can teach new doctrine that is not in the standard works. But even his teachings, if they conflict with what is already in the standard works, can be ignored.
But Not All Seem to Agree
But other Mormon voices have at times sounded a cautionary note, calling for current pronouncements to be subjected to the test of being in agreement with the standard works. Consider, for example, these words of Apostle Joseph Fielding Smith:
STANDARD WORKS JUDGE TEACHINGS OF ALL MEN.
It makes no difference what is written or what anyone has said, if what has been said is in conflict with what the Lord has revealed, we can set it aside. My words, and the teaching of any other member of the Church, high or low, if they do not square with the revelations, we need not accept them. Let us have this matter clear. We have accepted the four standard works as the measuring yardsticks, or balances, by which we measure every man’s doctrine.
You cannot accept the books written by the authorities of the Church as standards in doctrine, only in so far as they accord with the revealed word in the standard works. (Doctrines of Salvation, [Apostle] Joseph Fielding Smith, 3:203)
ALL TEACHINGS MUST CONFORM TO REVELATIONS.
It is not to be supposed from this that all that has been written outside of the standard works of the Church is discarded and rejected, for these things are profitable as helps in the government of the Church, and to promote faith in the members. The point is this, if in these books mistakes are found, “they are the mistakes of men,” and the Church as an organization is not to be held accountable for them, but for that which is received from time to time by vote of the Church, as it comes through the President of the High Priesthood. When the Lord reveals his mind and will, it is to be received, “whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same,” but we are not to be judged by unauthorized sayings or deeds. (Doctrines of Salvation, 1:322–23)
These cautionary words concerning new teachings are clearly in the minority—an exception to what other Mormon leaders have traditionally said—and they come from Joseph Fielding Smith at a time (prior to 1956) when he was an Apostle, not when he spoke as President (1970–1972). In addition, his words are not supported by scripture and actual past practice, hence they are really his own personal opinion. Moreover, even he expressed himself on other occasions in full agreement with the more prevalent view:
WHAT IS SCRIPTURE?
When one of the brethren stands before a congregation of the people today, and the inspiration of the Lord is upon him, he speaks that which the Lord would have him speak. It is just as much scripture as anything you will find written in any of these records, and yet we call these the standard works of the Church. We depend, of course, upon the guidance of the brethren who are entitled to inspiration. (Doctrines of Salvation, 1:186)
All of the quotes presented so far in this chapter combine to establish the weighty significance Mormons attach to statements by their leaders, particularly statements by LDS Church Presidents. This authoritative nature of presidential pronouncements should be kept in mind as we now make some comparisons among them.
3 3. The “brethren” at conferences are the General Authorities of the Mormon Church. If what they say is “the mind of the Lord, the will of the Lord, the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation,” then the sayings of the Prophet and President of the Church would be even more so.
4 4. This verse is used here as the Mormon missionaries use it, not as it is in context.
Farkas, J. R., & Reed, D., A. (1997, c1995). Mormonism : Changes, contradictions, and errors (electronic ed.) (65). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.