Quote:
Originally Posted by AnthonyB
However the impression I had from the posters in this thread was that a prophetic word absolves them of moral responsibility before God. That even if they had a testimony or conviction that a prophecy wasn’t from God, God expects them to follow the prophet’s words against their own witness and God will absolve them of any wrong if they do.
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I know some members believe that. I view the prophets as guides appointed by God- the path that they lead us down is the path we need to walk. We can't walk with our eyes closed- we need to constantly be in communication with our Heavenly Father and seek to understand the nature of the path we are taking for ourselves- but we still need to walk the path. The groundwork for the process is gaining a testimony that the prophets of the Lord are indeed inspired and, therefore, one ought to follow their advice. After that, the individual's responsibility is to study the scriptures, stay close to the Lord, and study the words of the modern-day prophets to partake of the warnings and wisdom they give us.
The tricky part is when one feels the prophets ask us to do something that we are morally opposed to. I admit I've never had to deal with that- any advice I feel is too hard to follow or 'wrong' I take to the Lord in prayer. So far, keeping an open mind and seeking wisdom about the matter has always cleared the matter and showed me where I was in the wrong.
Ultimately, it's a matter of faith- one needs to understand the proper role that prophets play and not fight against them in word or deed. Even if the prophet is wrong, he is still appointed by the Lord to oversee His Church on this earth- fighting against the prophet after gaining a testimony of his prophetic calling is paramount to fighting against the Lord. Ultimately, if we are morally opposed to a prophet's teachings we need to go to the Lord and seek for wisdom while still living the commandments- eventually, the problem is reconciled.