BCSpace Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 The President of the Church is the only one who has the authority to introduce new doctrine into the Church. And should he need to do so, he must do it following a set procedure. He can’t do so willy-nilly, such as by preaching a sermon at General Conference for example. Barring that exception, all other doctrinal instructions are subject to ratification by the standard works, including those from the President of the Church. That includes past as well as present leaderships of the Church. I defy anyone to contradict me on that. See the statement which I link to in my siggy. It takes all 15 apostles and prophets to agree on doctrine (an outgrowth of D&C 107 where it is seen that the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve are equal in authority). The sign of official doctrine is official publication. The prophet may indeed have a revelation, but his counselors and the 12 living apostles must be unanimous in agreement.The doctrine does indeed reside in the Standard Works, but neither you nor I are qualified to tease it out and state that the Church believes thus and such because of this verse. We do so only because we know such doctrine is stated in some manual or other official publication. Example: John 3:5. According to most Protestant and Evangelical doctrine, being born of water is one's physical birth. According to LDS doctrine, it's water baptism. Neither you nor I could state the LDS interpretation without it's having been being published somewhere by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.I do disagree with the notion of "ratification by the Standard Works". New doctrine will certainly not conflict with existing scripture however.I think that's a good standard, although of course some in the church have suggested that statements by the prophet supersede the standard works (some prophets and apostles have said that).I have to agree. In the same sense as the John 3:5 example I give above, doctrine is more important than scripture. Without the doctrine, we do not understand John 3:5.
zerinus Posted April 8, 2011 Posted April 8, 2011 See the statement which I link to in my siggy. It takes all 15 apostles and prophets to agree on doctrine (an outgrowth of D&C 107 where it is seen that the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve are equal in authority). The sign of official doctrine is official publication. The prophet may indeed have a revelation, but his counselors and the 12 living apostles must be unanimous in agreement.The doctrine does indeed reside in the Standard Works, but neither you nor I are qualified to tease it out and state that the Church believes thus and such because of this verse. We do so only because we know such doctrine is stated in some manual or other official publication. Example: John 3:5. According to most Protestant and Evangelical doctrine, being born of water is one's physical birth. According to LDS doctrine, it's water baptism. Neither you nor I could state the LDS interpretation without it's having been being published somewhere by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.I do disagree with the notion of "ratification by the Standard Works". New doctrine will certainly not conflict with existing scripture however.I am inclined to disagree with your views. I stand by what I had said.
BCSpace Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 I am inclined to disagree with your views. I stand by what I had said. Feel free. I merely try to match my views with the Church.
zerinus Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 Feel free. I merely try to match my views with the Church.I don't think your views match with the Church either. I think that mine does!
BCSpace Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 Feel free. I merely try to match my views with the Church.I don't think your views match with the Church either. I think that mine does!Excellent! All that remains to be done is compare each of our views with published doctrine. I win.
zerinus Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 Excellent! All that remains to be done is compare each of our views with published doctrine. I win.That is funny, because when I make the comparison, it looks to me like I come out the winner!
BCSpace Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 That is funny, because when I make the comparison, it looks to me like I come out the winner! Except that you have not quoted any LDS doctrine so far in this thread. No references, nothing.
zerinus Posted April 9, 2011 Posted April 9, 2011 Except that you have not quoted any LDS doctrine so far in this thread. No references, nothing. I have done that loads of times before. Try these quotes:“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.“You cannot accept the books written by the authorities of the Church as standards in doctrine, only in so far as they accord with the revealed word in the standard works.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 3, pp. 203-04) “If anyone, regardless of his position in the Church, were to advance a doctrine that is not substantiated by the standard Church works, meaning the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, you may know that his statement is merely his private opinion. The only one authorized to bring forth any new doctrine is the President of the Church, who, when he does, will declare it as revelation from God, and it will be so accepted by the Council of the Twelve and sustained by the body of the Church. And if any man speak a doctrine which contradicts what is in the standard Church works, you may know by that same token that it is false and you are not bound to accept it as truth.” (Harold B. Lee, European Area Conference of the Church, Munich, Germany, 1973)“If it is not in the standard works, we may well assume that it is speculation, man’s own personal opinion; and if it contradicts what is in the scripture, it is not true. This is the standard by which we measure all truth.” (Harold B. Lee, 11th President, Improvement Era, January 1969 p.13)“The Church has confined the sources of doctrine by which it is willing to be bound before the world to the things that God has revealed, and which the Church has officially accepted, and those alone. These would include the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price; these have been repeatedly accepted and endorsed by the Church in general conference assembled, and are the only sources of absolute appeal for our doctrine.” (B. H. Roberts, Deseret News (23 July 1921) sec. 4:7.)“One of the reasons we call our scriptures The Standard Works [is that] they are the standard of judgement and the measuring rod against which doctrines and views are weighed, and it does not make one particle of difference whose views are involved. The scriptures always take precedence.” (Bruce R McConkie, “Finding Answers to Gospel Questions,” an open letter to all “honest truth seekers,” dated 30 October 1980, Sunstone v6:5 (Sept./Oct. 1981), 32].)
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