Why the change in the revelatory process?

[kimpearson]

In the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price we read of a revelatory process between God and man that involved very direct literal revelations to prophets.  Adam spoke to God.  Enoch too.  Moses and Noah.  Isaiah had visions.  The Bother of Jared saw Jesus.  Nephi and Lehi had visions and angles visiting them.  Joseph Smith had more visions, angelic visits and direct communication with God than anyone else.

I have been following the Church's videos on councils.  Now the revelatory process appears to come through councils.  The process seems to follow the following formula.   An issue, question or change is brought up.  It is discussed by everyone on the council.  Council participants take the item home and ponder on it.  The council often requests information from other sources to guide in decisions.  The council reaches a decision only when there is unanimity.  If the council is a lessor council, it's decision must be ratified by a higher council.  The president of the Church has final say but there is no evidence that any direct communications from or with the Heavens occurs other than individuals indicating they feel the prompting of the Holy Ghost or ideas come into their heads.  Even the change in the availability of the priesthood to all worthy members involved no direct communications other than the feeling of the Holy Ghost per President Kimball's statements.

So my question is why are there no direct communications now days that are shared with the Church.  All the prophets above shared their revelations and the process they were received with Church members and the world.  

Please don't take this as an attempt to discredit our current leaders.  For the most part I have no problem with many of their decisions.  Some of those decisions feel very right to me to the point I feel it as a witness by the Holy Ghost.  But why the change?  What is different about today?

[Hamba Tuhan]

11 minutes ago, kimpearson said:

Adam spoke to God.  Enoch too.  Moses and Noah.  Isaiah had visions.  The Bother of Jared saw Jesus.  Nephi and Lehi had visions and angles visiting them.  Joseph Smith had more visions, angelic visits and direct communication with God than anyone else.

I refuse to believe that the living prophets have less access to revelation than I do. Therefore I'm certain that they experience 'direct communication', angels and visions too.

Quote

The council reaches a decision only when there is unanimity.

Having served as a member of three bishoprics and three stake presidencies, it has been my personal experience that the only thing that can engender complete unanimity is revelation.

[Robert F. Smith]

20 minutes ago, kimpearson said:

................ But why the change?  What is different about today?

We get that question, or something like it, from time to time on this board.  Actually, depending on how it is defined, revelation can be a frequent phenomenon even today.  Missionaries use it quite a bit, and various callings require it on special occasions.  Particularly bishops and stake patriarchs.  If you are thinking primarily of dialogic revelation, then you might want to consult a patriarch about it.  I recall Professor Richard Bushman, a stake patriarch, being asked by a non-LDS theology student at the Claremont Colleges how he received patriarchal blessings.  His reply was that "they just come."  There is a particularly detailed 2009 exposition of that phenomenon by the late Elder Richard G. Scott online at https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/to-acquire-spiritual-guidance?lang=eng   .

Sometimes people look at the Bible and imagine that revelation came in a virtual continuous stream, which is just not true.  The Bible covers a vast amount of time.  A particular prophet might be active for a time, Isaiah particularly so, and then long periods when no revelation comes.  The reason for this is that revelation only comes when there is a need for it.

[kimpearson]

1 hour ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

I refuse to believe that the living prophets have less access to revelation than I do. Therefore I'm certain that they experience 'direct communication', angels and visions too.

Having served as a member of three bishoprics and three stake presidencies, it has been my personal experience that the only thing that can engender complete unanimity is revelation.

So you are telling me that you have had angles and visions  guide you and therefore you are certain the living prophets do to?  If so, why not share the experiences like all those I mentioned?  Please don't give the old it's to sacred to share line.  It wasn't to sacred for Joseph Smith, Nephi and Lehi or any other prophet in the scriptures.  Why would it now be too sacred to share?  Why the change?

28 minutes ago, Robert F. Smith said:

We get that question, or something like it, from time to time on this board.  Actually, depending on how it is defined, revelation can be a frequent phenomenon even today.  Missionaries use it quite a bit, and various callings require it on special occasions.  Particularly bishops and stake patriarchs.  If you are thinking primarily of dialogic revelation, then you might want to consult a patriarch about it.  I recall Professor Richard Bushman, a stake patriarch, being asked by a non-LDS theology student at the Claremont Colleges how he received patriarchal blessings.  His reply was that "they just come."  There is a particularly detailed 2009 exposition of that phenomenon by the late Elder Richard G. Scott online at https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/to-acquire-spiritual-guidance?lang=eng   .

Sometimes people look at the Bible and imagine that revelation came in a virtual continuous stream, which is just not true.  The Bible covers a vast amount of time.  A particular prophet might be active for a time, Isaiah particularly so, and then long periods when no revelation comes.  The reason for this is that revelation only comes when there is a need for it.

You have just dodged the question.  Why?  Why no sharing of direct revelation like Joseph Smith?  Why the implication that there is no need for revelation today?  I have actually talked to Richard Bushman and there was no visit of an angle nor vision in his patriarchal blessings, rather words would just come to his mind.  Miraculous yes but nothing to do with the role of a prophet or the direct revelations received in all the scriptures.  I wasn't asking about missionaries, bishops or stake patriarchs.  I am asking about prophetic revelation by prophets as recorded in the scriptures.  Why the change in the process for our prophets today?

[Hamba Tuhan]

Just now, kimpearson said:

So you are telling me that you have had angles and visions  guide you and therefore you are certain the living prophets do to?  If so, why not share the experiences like all those I mentioned?

I have and do, repeatedly. I have occasionally done so on this board. My apology, but I have zero desire or inclination to share such things with someone as angry as you.

[JustAnAustralian]

5 hours ago, kimpearson said:

Why no sharing of direct revelation like Joseph Smith?

What EXACTLY is "direct revelation" in your mind?

[The Nehor]

How often did these angelic and God talking directly to people experiences happen? I think you overstate their regularity. In the Book of Mormon you have a bunch of it with Lehi and Nephi and a hint that Jacob say Christ at some point. Then it goes quiet on those revelations for centuries. Picks up a bit with angels with King Benjamin and Alma. Then sporadic experiences that probably average maybe once a decade until Christ comes.

In the Bible it is even more sporadic. You get the apocalyptic visions about once or twice a millennia. Talking to God you have Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, and Adam over a period of several thousand years. Angels show up rarely. Generously going by the record they show up maybe an average of once a century except for brief periods of a lot of activity like the life of Christ and the few years immediately afterwards or Moses getting the Law.

It might seem to be the norm in scripture but scripture tends to focus on those events because of their scarcity.

[Robert F. Smith]

9 hours ago, kimpearson said:

So you are telling me that you have had angles and visions  guide you and therefore you are certain the living prophets do to?  If so, why not share the experiences like all those I mentioned?  Please don't give the old it's to sacred to share line.  It wasn't to sacred for Joseph Smith, Nephi and Lehi or any other prophet in the scriptures.  Why would it now be too sacred to share?  Why the change?

You seem to be insisting on your own personal definition of revelation, Kim, rather than examining the actual phenomenon as it exists in history and in modern times.  Several non-LDS scholars have written careful studies of revelation and prophecy, and virtually all of them conclude that visions and angels are quite rare -- and always have been.  If you examine the D&C, for example, you will find that most of the revelations therein are received and written down by scribes without the presence of angels or visions.  In fact, what we have in some cases is not even the actual revelation, but merely a description of the consequences of a revelation.  The 1978 Official Declaration, for example, is not a revelation, but merely the conclusion derived from a powerful revelation to the entire Twelve and First Presidency, which was preceded in time by a personal revelation to Pres Kimball.  None of us are actually privy to that revelation.  On the other hand, we can read some of the content of the extraordinary series of visions of Joseph F. Smith in 1918 culminating in D&C 138.  None of those revelations arrived just for the heck of it.  They were only given because there was a need for it, and a prophet sought for it.  It is easy to see that the founding revelations of the Restoration came in profusion because they were needed at that particular time, and not later.  The same applies to the classic biblical prophets.

9 hours ago, kimpearson said:

You have just dodged the question.  Why?  Why no sharing of direct revelation like Joseph Smith?  Why the implication that there is no need for revelation today?  I have actually talked to Richard Bushman and there was no visit of an angle nor vision in his patriarchal blessings, rather words would just come to his mind.  Miraculous yes but nothing to do with the role of a prophet or the direct revelations received in all the scriptures.  I wasn't asking about missionaries, bishops or stake patriarchs.  I am asking about prophetic revelation by prophets as recorded in the scriptures.  Why the change in the process for our prophets today?

I dodged nothing.  You may have failed to read the detailed description of a series of revelations to Elder Scott (which I provided).  I take such a series as typical for modern apostles and prophets in their daily tasks, and it includes dialogic revelation guiding them in their duties.  That may seem too mundane for those who want a daily dose of angels and miracles, but that has never been a regular feature of the work of  prophets.  There has actually been no change in the substantive content of modern revelation.  The notion that it comes on a near daily basis is a fairy tale.

William J. Abraham, Divine Revelation and the Limits of Historical Criticism (Oxford Univ. Press, 1982).

John Baillie,, The Idea of Revelation in Recent Thought (Oxford Univ. Press/Columbia Univ. Press, 1956).

Avery Dulles, Models of Revelation (Garden City: Doubleday, 1983).

Michael Fishbane, “Revelation and Tradition: Aspects of Inner-Biblical Exegesis,” Journal of Biblical Literature, 99 (1980):343-361.

David W. Halivni, Revelation Restored: Divine Writ and Critical Response (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1997).

[CV75]

13 hours ago, kimpearson said:

In the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price we read of a revelatory process between God and man that involved very direct literal revelations to prophets.  Adam spoke to God.  Enoch too.  Moses and Noah.  Isaiah had visions.  The Bother of Jared saw Jesus.  Nephi and Lehi had visions and angles visiting them.  Joseph Smith had more visions, angelic visits and direct communication with God than anyone else.

I have been following the Church's videos on councils.  Now the revelatory process appears to come through councils.  The process seems to follow the following formula.   An issue, question or change is brought up.  It is discussed by everyone on the council.  Council participants take the item home and ponder on it.  The council often requests information from other sources to guide in decisions.  The council reaches a decision only when there is unanimity.  If the council is a lessor council, it's decision must be ratified by a higher council.  The president of the Church has final say but there is no evidence that any direct communications from or with the Heavens occurs other than individuals indicating they feel the prompting of the Holy Ghost or ideas come into their heads.  Even the change in the availability of the priesthood to all worthy members involved no direct communications other than the feeling of the Holy Ghost per President Kimball's statements.

So my question is why are there no direct communications now days that are shared with the Church.  All the prophets above shared their revelations and the process they were received with Church members and the world.  

Please don't take this as an attempt to discredit our current leaders.  For the most part I have no problem with many of their decisions.  Some of those decisions feel very right to me to the point I feel it as a witness by the Holy Ghost.  But why the change?  What is different about today?

I'm not so sure it is a change from the days of "a quorum of three presidents ...anciently, who were ordained after the order of Melchizedek, and were righteous and holy men (D&C 107:29)," whenever that might have been. I do take it to be part of the advancing roll-out of the Restoration. Or maybe you've just become aware of it (back in 1990 as a bishop, we were taught to conduct inspired business in our wards this way)

[InCognitus]

12 hours ago, kimpearson said:

In the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price we read of a revelatory process between God and man that involved very direct literal revelations to prophets.  Adam spoke to God.  Enoch too.  Moses and Noah.  Isaiah had visions.  The Bother of Jared saw Jesus.  Nephi and Lehi had visions and angles visiting them.  Joseph Smith had more visions, angelic visits and direct communication with God than anyone else.

I have been following the Church's videos on councils.  Now the revelatory process appears to come through councils.  The process seems to follow the following formula.   An issue, question or change is brought up.  It is discussed by everyone on the council.  Council participants take the item home and ponder on it.  The council often requests information from other sources to guide in decisions.

Some good answers have already been given to your question in this thread.  But the way you outlined the process in the portion of your OP that I quoted above makes one of the big reasons evident.  It all goes back to the plan of salvation and why we came to this earth. 

One of the big reasons we came here is to learn to live by faith and to gain experience.  Occasionally God steps in while we are here, and provides us a major download of information from the cloud to get us going on the right track (generally through one or more prophets of God).  After the download we are given a period of time to choose how we will apply that information.  And occasionally there are updates and new features added to the program through direct revelation from God as we work to apply the information.

But the real growth and experience for our education in this life comes from our own involvement in the process.  Those who act upon the revelation given to the prophets will each participate in building up the kingdom of God here on earth.   And we can do that most effectively if we each learn how to receive revelation on our own.  And we are being taught how to do that using the council process described above.  We're all supposed to be prophets in our own stewardship.

The revelation process hasn't changed.  Nothing has really changed.  It all comes down to how directly we want to become involved in God's work, and when we put ourselves in the situations where we are pushing that forward and need some additional guidance, the revelations most definitely come.

[echelon]

13 hours ago, kimpearson said:

So my question is why are there no direct communications now days that are shared with the Church.

The Church is capable of governing on its own now.  Leaders will continue to tap on their tuning fork to ensure their decisions and interpretations are in 'harmony' with the spirit, which may or may not reflect the exact mind and will of God, but thanks to the Holy Ghost it will be close enough.  It seems to me that God is more likely to issue direct revelation when the health of the Church as a whole is at risk than He is for the few individuals within who are at odds with it.

 

 

[echelon]

29 minutes ago, InCognitus said:

if we each learn how to receive revelation on our own.  And we are being taught how to do that using the council process described above. 

It’s strange to me that God’s instrument of choice in communicating with mortals is one that is susceptible to misinterpretation (i.e translating feelings into words) and requires the input of others for validation to be sure of its authenticity.  And that is if their mortal conditions allow them to receive it all.

God has shown to be capable of communicating clearly and without misunderstanding, and yet, for the vast majority of people (prophets included), revelation is intentionally shrouded as an exercise towards understanding.

If we are being trained, is the lesson in getting better at interpreting revelation or in the message itself?  The point being, if we can’t understand the message then it shows God is more interested in the process than He is in the message.
 

[InCognitus]

10 minutes ago, echelon said:

It’s strange to me that God’s instrument of choice in communicating with mortals is one that is susceptible to misinterpretation (i.e translating feelings into words) and requires the input of others for validation to be sure of its authenticity.

Of course sometimes it is in direct and clear words (I can think of some priesthood blessing examples).  

12 minutes ago, echelon said:

God has shown to be capable of communicating clearly and without misunderstanding, and yet, for the vast majority of people (prophets included), revelation is intentionally shrouded as an exercise towards understanding.

That seems to be an important part of the process in some situations.  I think of the revelation given to Peter in Acts chapter 10, where Peter was hungry and he saw in vision a vessel descending out of heaven (three times) containing all the different fourfooted beasts of the earth, and he was commanded to eat of them, including unclean animals.  How could anyone make sense of that?  Peter didn't know what it meant until after his experience with Cornelius and the revelation that led Cornelius to Peter.  So sometimes obscure revelation is there to prepare you for something that is going to happen and you should be on your toes to be in tune with what's going on around you.

[Stormin' Mormon]

8 hours ago, The Nehor said:

How often did these angelic and God talking directly to people experiences happen? I think you overstate their regularity. In the Book of Mormon you have a bunch of it with Lehi and Nephi and a hint that Jacob say Christ at some point. Then it goes quiet on those revelations for centuries. Picks up a bit with angels with King Benjamin and Alma. Then sporadic experiences that probably average maybe once a decade until Christ comes.

In the Bible it is even more sporadic. You get the apocalyptic visions about once or twice a millennia. Talking to God you have Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, and Adam over a period of several thousand years. Angels show up rarely. Generously going by the record they show up maybe an average of once a century except for brief periods of a lot of activity like the life of Christ and the few years immediately afterwards or Moses getting the Law.

It might seem to be the norm in scripture but scripture tends to focus on those events because of their scarcity.

I think this is the general pattern we see in scripture that is repeated today.  You've got huge revelations to kick off a dispensation, the opening of the heavens, which are generally needed to shake-up the status quo and get the dispensation moving in the right direction.  But after that, it's mostly maintenance revelations, usually pointing back to the dispenational kick-offs.  The re-opening of the heavens is rarely needed again, as long as the foundational revelations are still extant and the subsequent prophets can point to them, rely on them, use them to prop up their own revelatory cred. 

Moses is to Joseph Smith what Obadiah is to Russel M. Nelson.  

[kimpearson]

 

15 hours ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

I have and do, repeatedly. I have occasionally done so on this board. My apology, but I have zero desire or inclination to share such things with someone as angry as you.

Not angry and not questioning your personal experiences.  I am not questioning the prophet personal experiences.   I am just looking for thoughts on why the change in public revelation.  You seem to be threatened by that question?  Why?

[kimpearson]

9 hours ago, JustAnAustralian said:

What EXACTLY is "direct revelation" in your mind?

Visions, visits from angelic beings, dreams, visits from the Godhead, the relating of those experiences as found in all our scriptures over and over.

[kimpearson]

9 hours ago, The Nehor said:

How often did these angelic and God talking directly to people experiences happen? I think you overstate their regularity. In the Book of Mormon you have a bunch of it with Lehi and Nephi and a hint that Jacob say Christ at some point. Then it goes quiet on those revelations for centuries. Picks up a bit with angels with King Benjamin and Alma. Then sporadic experiences that probably average maybe once a decade until Christ comes.

In the Bible it is even more sporadic. You get the apocalyptic visions about once or twice a millennia. Talking to God you have Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, and Adam over a period of several thousand years. Angels show up rarely. Generously going by the record they show up maybe an average of once a century except for brief periods of a lot of activity like the life of Christ and the few years immediately afterwards or Moses getting the Law.

It might seem to be the norm in scripture but scripture tends to focus on those events because of their scarcity.

So in the dispensation of the fullness of times right near the end of the earths temporal existence and the second coming of the savior which has been foretold as a time of direct revelation, the Lord has chosen to go silent as He has in the past.  My question is why?  I am just looking for your thoughts on why? 

[JLHPROF]

1 minute ago, kimpearson said:

Visions, visits from angelic beings, dreams, visits from the Godhead, the relating of those experiences as found in all our scriptures over and over.

I don't think the format God chooses to use changes the validity of revelation in any way.

However, I do agree that there is far more room for error in our understanding of "feelings" that God may give us than in actual words spoken.
By any definition nonverbal communication is ambiguous.

[kimpearson]

3 hours ago, InCognitus said:

Some good answers have already been given to your question in this thread.  But the way you outlined the process in the portion of your OP that I quoted above makes one of the big reasons evident.  It all goes back to the plan of salvation and why we came to this earth. 

One of the big reasons we came here is to learn to live by faith and to gain experience.  Occasionally God steps in while we are here, and provides us a major download of information from the cloud to get us going on the right track (generally through one or more prophets of God).  After the download we are given a period of time to choose how we will apply that information.  And occasionally there are updates and new features added to the program through direct revelation from God as we work to apply the information.

But the real growth and experience for our education in this life comes from our own involvement in the process.  Those who act upon the revelation given to the prophets will each participate in building up the kingdom of God here on earth.   And we can do that most effectively if we each learn how to receive revelation on our own.  And we are being taught how to do that using the council process described above.  We're all supposed to be prophets in our own stewardship.

The revelation process hasn't changed.  Nothing has really changed.  It all comes down to how directly we want to become involved in God's work, and when we put ourselves in the situations where we are pushing that forward and need some additional guidance, the revelations most definitely come.

I agree with this for us members but we have 15 men we sustain as prophets, seers and regulators.  Why in over 100 years has there been no direct revelation to our prophets that has been presented as such and canonized?  If I read your comment correctly, you are saying we simply don't need such revelation right now.  That is certainly a valid belief.  I just wonder about the fact that we are living in a time like no other near the end of God's work on this earth with some incredibly complex issues and why no direct revelation?  What changed?  Why is it now the council process?

[CV75]

7 minutes ago, kimpearson said:

So in the dispensation of the fullness of times right near the end of the earths temporal existence and the second coming of the savior which has been foretold as a time of direct revelation, the Lord has chosen to go silent as He has in the past.  My question is why?  I am just looking for your thoughts on why? 

The Lord is not silent. See D&C 43: 20-28, and many related scriptures.

20 Lift up your voices and spare not. Call upon the nations to repent, both old and young, both ^abond and free, saying: Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord;

21 For if I, who am a man, do lift up my voice and call upon you to repent, and ye ^ahate me, what will ye say when the ^bday cometh when the ^cthunders shall utter their voices from the ends of the earth, speaking to the ears of all that live, saying—Repent, and prepare for the great day of the Lord?

22 Yea, and again, when the ^alightnings shall streak forth from the east unto the west, and shall utter forth their voices unto all that live, and make the ears of all tingle that hear, saying these words—Repent ye, for the great day of the Lord is come?

23 And again, the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven, saying: Hearken, O ye nations of the earth, and hear the words of that God who ^amade you.

So many more people have the gift and companionship of the Holy Ghost, access to vast amount of latter-day publications, and (this is my interpretation) thunders and lightnings that represent events and circumstances that prick people's conscience toward a receptivity to the restored gospel message.

The Lord speaks in many ways!

[kimpearson]

3 hours ago, echelon said:

The Church is capable of governing on its own now.  Leaders will continue to tap on their tuning fork to ensure their decisions and interpretations are in 'harmony' with the spirit, which may or may not reflect the exact mind and will of God, but thanks to the Holy Ghost it will be close enough.  It seems to me that God is more likely to issue direct revelation when the health of the Church as a whole is at risk than He is for the few individuals within who are at odds with it.

 

 

 

3 hours ago, echelon said:

It’s strange to me that God’s instrument of choice in communicating with mortals is one that is susceptible to misinterpretation (i.e translating feelings into words) and requires the input of others for validation to be sure of its authenticity.  And that is if their mortal conditions allow them to receive it all.

God has shown to be capable of communicating clearly and without misunderstanding, and yet, for the vast majority of people (prophets included), revelation is intentionally shrouded as an exercise towards understanding.

If we are being trained, is the lesson in getting better at interpreting revelation or in the message itself?  The point being, if we can’t understand the message then it shows God is more interested in the process than He is in the message.
 

Thanks.  These are thoughts that make me ponder and feel as having some meat.

[kimpearson]

1 hour ago, Stormin' Mormon said:

I think this is the general pattern we see in scripture that is repeated today.  You've got huge revelations to kick off a dispensation, the opening of the heavens, which are generally needed to shake-up the status quo and get the dispensation moving in the right direction.  But after that, it's mostly maintenance revelations, usually pointing back to the dispenational kick-offs.  The re-opening of the heavens is rarely needed again, as long as the foundational revelations are still extant and the subsequent prophets can point to them, rely on them, use them to prop up their own revelatory cred. 

Moses is to Joseph Smith what Obadiah is to Russel M. Nelson.  

This is where my thinking has gone also.  I describe it as revelatory prophets and maintenance prophets.

[JLHPROF]

1 minute ago, kimpearson said:

This is where my thinking has gone also.  I describe it as revelatory prophets and maintenance prophets.

That seems accurate.
In the past many decades I think there has been revelation to lead the Church.  But I can't name a single new doctrinal truth, principle, law or ordinance that has been revealed from heaven that wasn't given to an early prophet.
Many restatements, nothing new under heaven.

[Peacefully]

9 minutes ago, kimpearson said:

I agree with this for us members but we have 15 men we sustain as prophets, seers and regulators.  Why in over 100 years has there been no direct revelation to our prophets that has been presented as such and canonized?  If I read your comment correctly, you are saying we simply don't need such revelation right now.  That is certainly a valid belief.  I just wonder about the fact that we are living in a time like no other near the end of God's work on this earth with some incredibly complex issues and why no direct revelation?  What changed?  Why is it now the council process?

I think it is a good question. I wonder about this, also. It seems like President Nelson or Wendy Nelson has suggested he receives inspiration from the Lord all the time and writes it down. Is this not revelation? Does he have to come out and say “thus saith the Lord?” Does he get inspiration or revelation and then take it to the quorum for a vote or Can he make some decisions on his own. I guess I need to do some research:)

Edited December 22, 2021 by Peacefully

[Hamba Tuhan]

37 minutes ago, kimpearson said:

You seem to be threatened by that question?  Why?

Ha! Nice deflection. I assure you that I don't find you -- or the content of your posts -- threatening in any way.

Instead, I find them stupendously wrong. Like this one: 'So in the dispensation of the fullness of times right near the end of the earths [sic] temporal existence and the second coming of the savior [sic] which has been foretold as a time of direct revelation, the Lord has chosen to go silent as He has in the past'.

That doesn't line up in any way with my personal experience ... or with my personal experience interacting with the revelations given to the Brethren.

One of my favourite experiences, not infrequent, is when the Lord reveals something to me personally, only to hear one of the prophets or other Church leaders teach that very thing in the next General Conference, at a regional training meeting, in the pages of the Liahona, etc.

As I have said repeatedly on this forum, people familiar with personal revelation are not the ones questioning whether the Brethren are currently receiving revelation. In this, the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, the Lord has invited us to swim in the same revelatory stream as the prophets. What a wonderful time to be alive!

Edited December 22, 2021 by Hamba Tuhan