Quote:
Originally Posted by the Ogre
II: President Benson's fourteen points (paraphrased):
1) Only the President speaks for the Lord in everything.
2) The living prophet trumps the standard works.
3) The living prophet trumps a dead prophet.
4) The President never leads the Church astray.
5) The prophet may speak or act on any subject or matter regardless of training and credential.
6) The prophet can skip "Thus saith the Lord" to give scripture.
7) The prophet tells us what we need, not what we want.
8) The prophet can ignore the political/philosophical morals of the day.
9) The prophet can function as a prophet on any topic, religious or otherwise.
10) “The prophet may be involved in civic matters.”
11) The proud, rich and/or educated in particular, obey the prophet with the most difficulty.
12) The prophet can spurn worldly popularity.
13) The First Presidency is the highest quorum in the Church.
14) Follow the first presidency and be blessed; ignore them at your own risk.
I have always loved this set of guidelines. It is evident many other members of the forum are familiar with it. I think it is a handy guide to know what the prophet and his councelors are free to do. I think many people would love to put the prophet in a box (particularly apologeticists, skeptics, and other scholars).
~snip~
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2) The living prophet trumps the standard works.
D&C 35:23 And inasmuch as ye do not write, behold, it shall be given unto him to prophesy; and
thou shalt preach my gospel and call on the holy prophets to prove his words, as they shall be given him. [holy prophets=scriptures]
“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 teachings 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” ( Doctrines of Salvation, 3:203).
Joseph Fielding Smith
4) The President never leads the Church astray.
D&C 107:32 And in case that any decision of these quorums [First Prez, Twelve, Seventy] is made in
unrighteousness, it may be brought before a general assembly of the several quorums, which constitute the spiritual authorities of the church; otherwise there can be no appeal from their decision.
13) The First Presidency is the highest quorum in the Church.
D&C 107:23 The twelve traveling councilors are called to be the Twelve Apostles, or special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world—thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling. 24 And they form a quorum,
equal in authority and power to the three presidents previously mentioned.
[brackets and bold by me]