I've seen occasional threads or posts regarding the nature or duties of "the LDS prophet" and even to the point of what has Gordon Hinckley "prophesied" lately or any time. I never really looked upon him (or his others in his office) with the need to have him stand up and do any fortune telling. I was always taught and believed that his role as prophet (as opposed to seer and revelator) was as teacher of doctrine.
It is interesting to look back over the teachings on a subject of the early LDS prophets and compare them with how Gordon Hinkley responds to the same.
Let's take the "God was a man idea."
Joseph Smith ("King Follett Discourse," Journal of Discourses 6:3-4, also in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 342-345):
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. That is the great secret... It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God and to know...that he was once a man like us.... Here, then, is eternal life - to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves,... the same as all Gods have done before you..."
Brigham Young (Journal of Discourses 7:333):
"He [God] is our Father - the Father of our spirits, and was once a man in mortal flesh as we are, and is now an exalted being."
Brigham Young (Journal of Discourses 3:93):
"The Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods like himself."
Milton R. Hunter (The Gospel Through the Ages, p 104):
"Mormon prophets have continuously taught the sublime truth that God the Eternal Father was once a mortal man who passed through a school of earth life similar that through which we are now passing. He became God - an exalted being - through obedience to the same eternal Gospel truths that we are given opportunity today to obey."
Bruce R. McConkie (Mormon Doctrine, 1966 ed p 250):
"...God...is a personal Being, a holy and exalted man..."
Joseph Fielding Smith (Doctrines of Salvation 1:10, 1954, cited from 21st printing 1975):
"God is an exalted man. Some people are trouble over the statements of the Prophet Joseph Smith ... that our Father in heaven at one time passed through a life and death and is an exalted man..."
LeGrand Richards (private letter to Morris L. Reynolds, July 14, 1966):
"There is a statement often repeated in the Church, and while it is not in one of the Standard Church Works, it is accepted as church doctrine, and this is: 'As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.'"
Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young (published by the church as an official lesson manual 1997 [text "approved 10/95"], p. 29):
"President Brigham Young taught ... that God the Father was once a man on another planet who 'passed the ordeals we are now passing through...'"
-------------------------------------------------------------
The LDS church prophets have gone from:
Joseph Smith:
It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God and to know...that he was once a man like us....
to
Gordon Hinckley:
I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it. I haven't heard it discussed for a long time in public discourse. I don't know. I don't know all the circumstances under which that statement was made. I understand the philosophical background behind it. But I don't know a lot about it and I don't know that others know a lot about it.
With general conference coming up, and all the talk here about not having to accept what the prophets say, and even having to vote on "revelation", one can wonder what the need for the church president today is other than corporate heirarchy? The prophet doesn't currently prophecise, the seer doesn't currently see, and the revelator doesn't currently revelate. Maybe some of my Catholic friends are right, and the heavens are closed.
Chris <><
It is interesting to look back over the teachings on a subject of the early LDS prophets and compare them with how Gordon Hinkley responds to the same.
Let's take the "God was a man idea."
Joseph Smith ("King Follett Discourse," Journal of Discourses 6:3-4, also in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 342-345):
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. That is the great secret... It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God and to know...that he was once a man like us.... Here, then, is eternal life - to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves,... the same as all Gods have done before you..."
Brigham Young (Journal of Discourses 7:333):
"He [God] is our Father - the Father of our spirits, and was once a man in mortal flesh as we are, and is now an exalted being."
Brigham Young (Journal of Discourses 3:93):
"The Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods like himself."
Milton R. Hunter (The Gospel Through the Ages, p 104):
"Mormon prophets have continuously taught the sublime truth that God the Eternal Father was once a mortal man who passed through a school of earth life similar that through which we are now passing. He became God - an exalted being - through obedience to the same eternal Gospel truths that we are given opportunity today to obey."
Bruce R. McConkie (Mormon Doctrine, 1966 ed p 250):
"...God...is a personal Being, a holy and exalted man..."
Joseph Fielding Smith (Doctrines of Salvation 1:10, 1954, cited from 21st printing 1975):
"God is an exalted man. Some people are trouble over the statements of the Prophet Joseph Smith ... that our Father in heaven at one time passed through a life and death and is an exalted man..."
LeGrand Richards (private letter to Morris L. Reynolds, July 14, 1966):
"There is a statement often repeated in the Church, and while it is not in one of the Standard Church Works, it is accepted as church doctrine, and this is: 'As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.'"
Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young (published by the church as an official lesson manual 1997 [text "approved 10/95"], p. 29):
"President Brigham Young taught ... that God the Father was once a man on another planet who 'passed the ordeals we are now passing through...'"
-------------------------------------------------------------
The LDS church prophets have gone from:
Joseph Smith:
It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God and to know...that he was once a man like us....
to
Gordon Hinckley:
I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it. I haven't heard it discussed for a long time in public discourse. I don't know. I don't know all the circumstances under which that statement was made. I understand the philosophical background behind it. But I don't know a lot about it and I don't know that others know a lot about it.
With general conference coming up, and all the talk here about not having to accept what the prophets say, and even having to vote on "revelation", one can wonder what the need for the church president today is other than corporate heirarchy? The prophet doesn't currently prophecise, the seer doesn't currently see, and the revelator doesn't currently revelate. Maybe some of my Catholic friends are right, and the heavens are closed.
Chris <><