The Lorenzo Snow Couplet And Gordon B. Hinckley

[spinner]

I think it was as carefully planned as his responses. He said nothing specific, did he--not about the doctrine in question, or about which reporter may have misquoted him, or even about whether the doctrine really is correct? And neither did he lie--as I'm 99.999 percent sure that in all the interviews he's ever done, he's been misquoted or misunderstood at least once. He simply allowed his listeners to draw whatever conclusions they were predisposed to draw.

Look at it this way--the president of the church was asked a point-blank question about a controversial, but well known, doctrinal idea. And as a result of his answer, nothing changed. He simply didn't answer the question. What he did is very similar to what military spokespeople are required to say when asked about the presence of nuclear material: "I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear material." It's an answer, but it says precisely nothing.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that we teach that."

[Zakuska]

Hi Grego, why don't you show me where the prophets of God sinned.

then we will have something to go on.

Moses hitting a rock to bring forth water? sin?

Looking for sinful prophets, now that is a needle in a haystack. Unless they are false prophets, that has happened.

Here you go... You can still hear a pin drop in the Tabernacle.

Joseph Smith was a fallible mortal, yet was a noble and just man who was nevertheless slandered by his enemies (including some who became hateful after being excommunicated for adultery). He was great, but not perfect.

The Bible clearly teaches that true prophets of God are nevertheless imperfect. The Apostle Paul, for example, wrote of his weakness and admitted that he still struggled with sin (Romans 7:18-20). Moses, one of the greatest prophets of all, also was not without weakness and sin. A sin committed apparently in pride and disbelief kept him from being allowed to enter the promised land - as a punishment from God. (See Numbers 20:10-12. Moses did not accurately follow the instructions of the Lord in performing a miracle and seems to have presumptuously taken credit for it.) Not every act of Moses was perfect, nor was his reputation flawless. In fact, his detractors could point out that he began as a "killer," for he killed an Egyptian, although it was in the process of defending someone else who was being attacked. His brother, Aaron, called of God to serve as a mouthpiece for Moses, also sinned terribly in making a golden calf. He repented, but he did sin.

Jonah, again, is an example of an imperfect prophet, who yet was called of God and divinely inspired. David spoke and wrote scripture, yet later committed awful sins - including adultery and murder. Solomon also was guilty of ugly deeds. In the New Testament, we find contention between Paul and Barnabas and between Paul and Peter. Paul also seemed to suffer from the problem of prejudice, for his opinion of people from Crete, given in Titus 1:12-13, seems a little less than open-minded:

One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

This witness is true.

Cretians are always liars? Maybe so, but it seems a little unfair (not to mention politically incorrect).

And among the Apostles of Christ, there was petty contention about who should be the greatest among them. They weren't perfect. They were called, chosen, anointed, and given power from God - but they made foolish mistakes at times. Even the great Peter had to weep bitterly when he realized what he had done in denying Christ three times. (Think of what fun anti-Mormons would have if Joseph Smith had denied Christ even once after his call to be a prophet.) Peter repented, and later became an immovable witness for Christ, but he was guilty of sin and failure after being ordained an Apostle. Human servants are still human and fallible - but as servants of God, they can act as true prophets and teach truth, prophesy about great things, and lead us to Christ. But we worship God, not his mortal servants. Nevertheless, we will be held accountable for how we receive the authorized servants that Christ sends to us. Be careful about condemning them for their mortal faults and sins.

Additional food for thought: Van Hale has compiled some excellent questions from the Bible that should help expose the fallacy of rejecting God's prophets for apparent sins, weaknesses, or practices contrary to our standards. In his discussion, Van Hale asks the following questions, all of which refer to actual incidents in the Bible that critics could use to incorrectly reject Biblical prophets:

Could a prophet...:

1. Kill? Judges 14:19 (Samson); Ex. 2:11-16 (Moses) [see also 1 Sam. 15:33].

2. Lie? Gen 12:10-20 (Abraham); Jer. 38:24-28 (Jeremiah); 1 Kings 2:8-9 (David); 2 Kings 8:10 (Elisha); and Matt. 26:69-75 (Peter).

3. Get drunk? Gen. 9:21 (Noah).

4. Boast? 2 Cor. 11:16 (Paul)

5. For a small fee, use his supernatural powers to tell where to find lost animals? 1 Sam 9:6-8, 20.

6. Prophesy of an event which fails to occur? Jonah 3:1-10; Jer. 18:5-10.

7. Gamble for high stakes? Judges 14:12-20

8. Be angry at God? Jonah 4:1, 9.

9 Believe something unscientific? Lev. 11:7; Deut. 14:7 (the hare does not chew the cud). Gen. 1:16 (Was the earth created before the sun, moon and stars?)

10. Curse children? 2 Kings 2:23-25 (Elisha).

11. Want vengeance? Ps. 137:9; Jer. 18:19-23.

12. Contradict a former prophet? Matt. 19:3-8 compare Deut. 24:1-4 (divorce); 2 Sam. 24:1 compare 1 Chr. 21:1 (who caused David to sin?); Ex. 34:7 compare Ez. 18:20 (are children punished for the sins of their fathers?); Ex. 23:7 compare Rom. 4:5 (does God justify the ungodly?).

13. Fail to understand a revelation? Acts 10:3, 17; 1 Cor. 13:9-12.

14. Advocate divorce? Ezra 9, 10:3, 11, 19, 44.

15. Institute strange sounding rituals? Ex. 29; Num. 5.

16. Give counsel not approved by the Lord? 2 Sam. 7:1-5 (Nathan).

17. Worship false gods? 1 Kings 11:9-10.

18. Accept a position as the chief of magicians, astrologers, and soothsayers? Dan. 5:11.

19. Break God's moral law? Judges 16:1 (Samson visits a prostitute); 2 Sam. 11 (David and Bathsheba).

20. Give two contradictory prophecies? 1 Kings 22:14-18.

21. Lie to another prophet in the name of the Lord? 1 Kings 13:11-32.

22. Accuse God of deception and betrayal? Jer. 20:7

23. Go out in public naked? Is. 20:1-6 (Isaiah); 2 Sam. 6:20-22 (David); Micah 1:8 (Micah).

24. Attribute doubtful characteristics to God? 2 Sam. 6:6-7 (God kills in anger); Ex. 7:3 (God hardens Pharoah's heart); 1 Sam. 24:1, 10 (God punishes David for a sin he "moved" him to commit); 1 Kings 22:9-23 (God causes prophets to lie); Ez. 14:9 (God deceives prophets); Amos 3:6 (God is the cause of evil in a city); Ez. 20:25-26, 32 (God gave laws and judgments which were not good, including child sacrifice); Hos. 9:15-16 (God hates and curses); Deut. 20:10-11, Lev. 25:44 (God commands and condones slavery); 1 Sam. 16:14, 18:10 (God sends evil spirits to influence men); 2 Th. 2:11 (God will delude men); Ex. 32:14, Deut. 28:68, Amos 7:3, 6, Jonah 3:9, 10 Jer 26:13; 2 Sam. 24:16 (God changes his mind).

If Christians are willing to accept the prophets of the Bible in spite of a few blemishes on their reputations, shouldn't they be willing to give modern prophets a little slack? But I fear that some of our most vehement critics, like the bigoted religious leaders who sought the blood of Joseph Smith, are driven with the same hateful frenzy that inspired the respected religious leaders of Christ's day to seek His blood and the blood of many other true Christians. Prophets have been slain from the earliest days, and logic and fairness seems to do little in slowing down the assault.

http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_prophets.shtml#sinner