Elder Rasband: Seers Are "able To Look Into The Future"

[ALarson]

This Q&A Press Conference with the 3 newly called Apostles is great and I enjoyed reading through it.  But, I was struck by something that Elder Rasband stated (my emphasis added) as I hadn't hear others state this so specifically (that I can remember):

Well, Brady, there are many issues in the world today, and one of the great blessings about having prophets, seers and revelators is that word seer. And they’re able to look into the future; they’re able to speak at times like general conference; and for two sessions now, we’ve been hearing a response to your question.

 

 

This was in response to this question:

What is the biggest challenge or problem facing the church and what needs to be done about it?

 

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865638241/Complete-transcript-of-press-conference-with-3-new-LDS-apostles.html?pg=all

 

Any thoughts on this?

Edited October 4, 2015 by ALarson

[Scott Lloyd]

I fervently believe prophets and apostles looked into the future when they issued "The Family: a Proclamation to the World."

 

I believe Spencer W. Kimball saw into the future when he admonished us to pray publicly and privately that the Lord would open the doors of nations to the preaching of the gospel. The fall of the Soviet empire and the dissolution of the Iron Curtain followed not long thereafter.

 

At the same time, I recognize that, as with any gift of the Spirit, the capacity of a seer to see into the future comes only as God is disposed to grant that gift.

Edited October 4, 2015 by Scott Lloyd

[cinepro]

I believe President Monson looked into the future when he warned people about "excessive debt", especially home equity loans, in 2006.

 

True to the Faith

Edited October 4, 2015 by cinepro

[Randall57]

I fervently believed prophets and apostles looked into the future when they issued "The Family: a Proclamation to the World."

Or listened to "Focus on the Family" and Dr. James Dobson years prior to their proclamation.

Edited October 4, 2015 by Randall57

[Randall57]

I believe President Monson looked into the future when he warned people about "excessive debt", especially home equity loans, in 2006.

 

True to the Faith

 Or listened to my mother and father in 1976, when I applied for my first credit card?

Edited October 4, 2015 by Randall57

[Kenngo1969]

I believe President Monson looked into the future when he warned people about "excessive debt", especially home equity loans, in 2006.

 

True to the Faith

While I don't doubt President Monson's prophetic gifts, perhaps he simply looked into the past:

Interest never sleeps nor sickens nor dies.  It never goes to the hospital.  It works on Sundays and holidays.  It never takes a vacation.  It never visits nor travels.  It takes no pleasure.  It is never laid off from work nor discharged from employment.  It never works on reduced hours.  It never has short crops nor droughts.  It never pays taxes.  It buys no food.  It wears no clothes.  It is un-housed and without home and so has no repairs, no replacements, no shingling, plumbing, painting, or whitewashing.  It has neither wife, children, father, mother, nor kinfolk to watch over and care for.  It has no expense of living.  It has neither weddings nor births nor deaths.  It has no love, no sympathy.  It is as hard and soulless as a granite cliff.  Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day and night.  You cannot shun it or slip away from it.  You cannot dismiss it.  It yields neither to entreaties, demands or orders.  And whenever you get in its way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you.

 

     --J. Reuben Clark.

 

President Monson is something of a protoge of President Clark's, having prepared his autobiography for publication.  Apparently, they were quite fond of one another.

[CMZ]

Just because a seer looks into the future it doesn't mean that what they see or say will be totally unlike anything anyone has ever seen or said before.

[KevinG]

We all have that gift if we want it.  However we still see through a glass darkly even if we do exercise it.

 

The difference between the President of the Church and us is that he is authorized to use that gift for the whole church, while we are authorized to use it for ourselves, our families, and our other immediate spheres of authority.

[SmileyMcGee]

I think that successful prophets are those who are ambiguous enough to allow people to see what they want. Determining whether something was prophetic then becomes an ink blot test.

[Stroopwafel]

Just because a seer looks into the future it doesn't mean that what they see or say will be totally unlike anything anyone has ever seen or said before.

 

I'm reading this, and the more I do, the less it makes sense.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Stroopwafel

[Bobbieaware]

I think that successful prophets are those who are ambiguous enough to allow people to see what they want. Determining whether something was prophetic then becomes an ink blot test.

So then, would you regard the following very specific prophecy pronounced by the prophet Nephi to be an example of the kind of prophecies made by unsuccessful prophets?

14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou?

15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.

16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?

17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

18 And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.

19 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!

20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.

21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!...(1 Nephi 11)

[SmileyMcGee]

So then, would you regard the following very specific prophecy pronounced by the prophet Nephi to be an example of the kind of prophecies made by unsuccessful prophets?

14 And it came to pass that I saw the heavens open; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou?

15 And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.

16 And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?

17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

18 And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.

19 And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!

20 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.

21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!...(1 Nephi 11)

This is just biblical commentary. It would be like me saying "readers of MDD, I have found an ancient record that tells of a man with the last name Obama who will become president of the United States!" Not really a tough thing to do. This actually bring up related issue. I need to go back and reread, but from my study of the BoM it appears that most detailed prophecies in the BoM were either fulfilled within the narrative itself or were related to events that transpired before JS was born. After that we get a nice layer of vagueness to the prophecies...I'd have to reread. 

[strappinglad]

Again, the BoM is a Coles notes version of events. When a prophecy was made and when it was fulfilled could be 400 years apart time wise and 3 pages apart text wise.

Seers are not fortune tellers and they don't scroll through the DVD until they see something interesting to report .They are given a vision as needed.

Edited October 6, 2015 by strappinglad

[sethpayne]

I believe President Monson looked into the future and saw the coming day of marriage equality across the land.  By getting involved in Prop 8, he ensured that within 7 years, every single state in the Union would legally recognize SSM.

 

The LDS Church handed the LGBT community probably the biggest gift in the fight for LGBT equality under the law.

Edited October 6, 2015 by sethpayne

[Avatar4321]

Seers can see the past as well

[sjdawg]

Seers can see the past as well

I believe they looked into rear view mirror when receiving the proclamations on plural marriage and granting the priesthood to all males.

[Tacenda]

I believe President Monson looked into the future and saw the coming day of marriage equality across the land. By getting involved in Prop 8, he ensured that within 7 years, every single state in the Union would legally recognize SSM.

The LDS Church handed the LGBT community probably the biggest gift in the fight for LGBT equality under the law.

Yep, no more blaming the liberals.

[hope_for_things]

I'd love to know specifically what he believes the church is doing to respond to the biggest question facing it today.  Isn't he implying that the church leaders are addressing this problem at conference.  Well, what's the problem, and how are they addressing it would be nice to understand.  

[stemelbow]

Now that he's a seer, perhaps he can see something and tell us about it. It seems to me we've been lacking that for quite sometime.

[Gray]

If we could see into the future, we wouldn't need pilot programs. 

[Bobbieaware]

Yep, no more blaming the liberals.

Utterly absurd. Whether the LDS Church existed or not, it was a fait accompli gay marriage was going to become law as an unavoidable consequence of a nation ripening in iniquity. The "full court press" of the gay rights movement, changing social mores, the assiduous pro-gay efforts of the progressive left in government and letftist pressure groups, our largely "anything goes" younger generations, and the liberally-inclined mainstream media combined to make gay marriage inevitable.

The only reason why claims such as yours and sethpayne's are made is to try to rub the faces of Latter-day Saints in the mud for having had the nerve to try to do what's right by defending the Lord's definition of marriage. The Family Proclamation clearly warns that the destruction of the traditional family will lead to the cataclysmic destructions prophesied for the last days in the scriptures. In light of the warnings of the Family Proclaimation, to have not taken a last stand to defend the sanctity of traditional marriage would have been a extreme dereliction of sacred duty. As a consequence of the Church's warnings and that last stand in California, the sin is now rests squarely on the shoulders of those who perpetrated it.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Bobbieaware

[Gray]

Utterly absurd. Whether the LDS Church existed or not, it was a fait accompli gay marriage was going to become law as an unavoidable consequence of a nation ripening in iniquity. The "full court press" of the gay rights movement, changing social mores, the assiduous pro-gay efforts of the progressive left in government and letftist pressure groups, our largely "anything goes" younger generations, and the liberally-inclined mainstream media combined to make gay marriage inevitable.

The only reason why claims such as yours and sethpayne's are made is to try to rub the faces of Latter-day Saints in the mud for having had the nerve to try to do what's right by defending the Lord's definition of marriage. The Family Proclamation clearly warns that the destruction of the traditional family will lead to the cataclysmic destructions prophesied for the last days in the scriptures. In light of the warnings of the Family Proclaimation, to have not taken a last stand to defend the sanctity of traditional marriage would have been a extreme dereliction of sacred duty. As a consequence of the Church's warnings and that last stand in California, the sin is now rests squarely on the shoulders of those who perpetrated it.

 

It's good thing that gay families are not a threat to straight families, then. 

[Thinking]

I believe President Monson looked into the future when he warned people about "excessive debt", especially home equity loans, in 2006.

 

True to the Faith

 

Sometimes a person doesn't need prophetic gifts to see into the future. I warned my family and friends to be careful with the loans that were being handed out like candy because they were financial traps. Sadly one of my siblings is now without a home and living with my Mom.

[cinepro]

This is just biblical commentary. It would be like me saying "readers of MDD, I have found an ancient record that tells of a man with the last name Obama who will become president of the United States!" Not really a tough thing to do.

 

Well, if you did it in 2002 (on ZLMB?) it would have been impressive.

Edited October 6, 2015 by cinepro

[Avatar4321]

Maybe if you guys followed the counsel of the Lord's Seers you would see more clearly yourself