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Do you think it is possible for a Prophet to lead us astray? |
From the First Presidency Message for this month: President Eyring's words about following the counsel of Prophets. What do you think about this statement?
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Looking for the path to safety in the counsel of prophets makes sense to those with strong faith. When a prophet speaks, those with little faith may think that they hear only a wise man giving good advice. Then if his counsel seems comfortable and reasonable, squaring with what they want to do, they take it. If it does not, they either consider it faulty advice or they see their circumstances as justifying their being an exception to the counsel. |
QUOTE |
Looking for the path to safety in the counsel of prophets makes sense to those with strong faith. When a prophet speaks, those with little faith may think that they hear only a wise man giving good advice. Then if his counsel seems comfortable and reasonable, squaring with what they want to do, they take it. If it does not, they either consider it faulty advice or they see their circumstances as justifying their being an exception to the counsel. |
alskann:
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It definitely takes more faith to follow the counsel of prophets without question. |
I completely agree. We should follow the Prophets in faith; not blind faith. Big difference. When I say "without question" it is an assumptive statement that we have already pondered it out for ourselves. We are admonished to search and ponder the answers for ourselves and then go forth in faith. We should always seek out our own confirmation, then once recieve that confirmation it increases our faith in the Prophets and our ability to follow their counsel.
Message Edited... Persephone: It is not necessary to quote the entire post of the user above you. See Constructive Posting Policy. |
Of course. For one, I don't necessarily agree that having more than two earrings is such a terrible thing. It took me a couple years and a lot of pondering to finally give up my third earring. And there are other examples. But it all comes down to obedience in the end.
Today our youth speaker said something that made sense and reminded me of this conversation. She said, "Faith is when we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit." To me that means when we follow with faith we have searched and pondered. We are not following blindly. We need to be prepared to even be receptive to the Spirit, let alone to follow. I realize this is a simplistic perspective but the Gospel really is plain and simple.
I understand what you are saying. My main concern is Members in general who do and say certain things just because it was said by a Prophet once before and not because they understand the meaning of it in their lives. With that sense we would... ensure our wives stayed home and had children one after the other while paying close attention to every utterance our local leaders give us because they would not lead us astray. We would refuse to even speak or talk about Plural Marriage because it is behind us and we would look on the negros as less than those of us who are not of that race.
What do you think about the rest of the Thread? I know it is long reading, but many a good point has been brought up.