Mormons/LDS- Could you follow up on this question a Mormon asked non-mormons about prophets?

Question

The question by a LDS Y!Aer (cut and pasted below my questions) needs to be followed up with this question:

Do you think God's Word in the Bible is insufficient, and that the Holy Spirit is insufficient?

What revelations have your prophets made that have added doctrine that isn't in the Bible? If none of the revelations are extra-Biblical (not in the Bible or contradictory to the Bible) why do you need a prophet?

Here's the original question:

I have a question for christians who are not mormons...?
I'm a mormon, a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints. And I just don't understand how you would believe that god wouldn't appoint a new prophet after christ!!! I find it hard to believe that god would leave you on your own...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071212134355AAEHBuF&r=w&pa=FZptHWf.BGRX3OFMiDNQVk55YLUEF3fya60R1DdBKkvw4PHzkg--&paid=answered#NbUvWja.VzWhqhA2OYG

Beta- I'm not trying to be combative- just trying to understand. I think I agree with you that there should only be one church, one baptism. I think sin has caused the splits in churches that have caused so many different denominations.

Beta & Peter- I do think the biggest fault in CHristian churches is the splits into many different denominations. My church believes in a strict, literal interpretation of the Bible. Fundamental churches have broken away from churches that have become liberal in order to keep the truth of God's word in their teachings.

But, at the same time there are different branches of Mormonism with different beliefs, like the sickos in the Warren Jeffs group- who are nothing like the LDS. So I don't think it is the prophets that hold a church together- rather it is sin that splits churches apart.

ooops- I said Beta & Peter- I meant Beta and Plastic

Isolde- we agree on infant baptism and annointing. But correct reading of the scripture can bring us to this conclusion. So if people use sound exegesis, why the need for a prophet?

Answer 1

...okay, I'll be back.

Answer 2

Well if everything we need is in the bible, how come none of the sects can agree on what is being taught? There is much that Jesus taught that isn't in the bible. The bible even says that. Last chapter in John. God has always spoken through His prophets. It just took the world a long time to be ready to listen again after the death of the apostles. The book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. It confirms the bible. But there have been many plain and precious truths lost over the centuries. That is why God likes to lead His church through a prophet and continuing revelation. The bible even mentions how this would come about. It is just most people don't know what they are reading. And the Holy Ghost is not insufficient. The Holy Ghost testifies of all truth. We never says the bible is not true.

*edit*Understandable, and I agree about sin, but the Warren Jeffs of the world are not members of the church whatsoever. They are some twisted perversion of the truth.

Answer 3

If you think about your question, it should be obvious. Every prophet contributed to the revealed word of God. The bible is merely man's compilation of those teachings into a book. According to your logic only the first prophet would be valid as the others came after him rendering his teachings "insufficient." Do you see what I am getting at?

The bible, or any prophets writings, do not have to be insufficient to allow for other prophets. The purpose of scripture is to provide a testament of Jesus Christ among other things. The bible does that. It does not contain, however, all that God knows, has revealed or will reveal. Prophets are a part of God's plan for us here on earth (Amos 3:7). He did his work through them and continues to do so. Modern revelations are not replacing the teaching in the bible. Just like each successive prophet recorded in the bible did not cancel out the ones before.

The Holy Ghost has many roles, one of which is to testify of truth. It can testify of any true principle of the gospel no matter when it was revealed. This does not make the Holy Ghost insufficient either. We strongly believe that the Holy Ghost plays a vital role in helping people gain a testimony of the Savior.

One good example of why we need modern day prophets would be temples. Temples were clearly used in Christian worship throughout the bible from the old testament through Christ's life and beyond, but they have virtually ceased to exist in modern Christianity. Modern prophets have provided revelations to helped to rectify this problem.

If you have studied the New Testament, you will also know that many of the apostolic letters were written to clarify incorrect teachings that had crept into the church. The thousands of modern christian churches, all with differing doctrines, is another perfect example of why we need modern day prophets.

Answer 4

You have gotten some good answers so far!! Here is just my opinion. I think that God gave people prophets for a reason: to not only spread the word of God, but to clarify and teach about doctrines that were either not well understood, or that were to be new to the people of those times. He didn't just use the power of God, but also the confirming power of the Holy Ghost. Without the confirmation of the Holy Ghost, people wouldn't have known with asurity that God really had wanted them to know something through the mouth of His servants- Prophets.

It's the same today. God isn't going to leave us alone without any instruction for our particular day and time. He didn't do that in biblical times, and the world is so different from what it was then.

Yes, the bible is a great thing to follow and to believe in. The problem is that man has used their own interpretations. Some are what God had in mind, but I think there are some that aren't quite on with what He wanted. I think that sometimes our human minds can't really understand what the true meaning is, so we interpret things the way we think they should go. It's a natural human flaw.

If the Lord uses prophets, He can stop misinterpretation from happening. When something is said by the prophet that is meant to be interpretation of something, or is meant to give us direction, we are asked to take that to the Lord and ask Him if it really is from Him. That is where the Holy Ghost comes in. We can know for ourselves if what God has told the prophet is true.

Both the scriptures and the Holy Ghost work together to confirm and reafirm what the prophet has said.

Answer 5

Just for a point of clarification... if you combined ALL of the different "Mormon sects" you would have well under 10,000 people throughout the world... and there are about 100 different "Mormon sects". So, on the average each one has under 100 members. EDIT: That 10,000 estimate does not include the main LDS church, which has over 11 million members throughout the world.

The biggest one is the Reorganized Church and I think they have 1 or 2 thousand. And they aren't really crazy, they just believe that after Joseph Smith died, the position of prophet should follow the Smith family line instead of the prophet being succeeded by the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which is what the LDS church does.

These other "Mormon sects" are so extremely insignificant that it's not even worth talking about. Unless you live in Utah or in Jackson County Missouri, chances are any Mormons you have ever met were of the regular LDS variety.

Talking about these other sects is like talking about Americans and pointing to the Amish and saying "That's what Americans are like." It is just such a minuscule segment of the population that it's hardly worth mentioning.

All I'm saying is, don't judge Mormons on the actions or beliefs of this tiny splinter groups. You can hardly even call them "sects" in the same way that the rest of Christianity thinks about sects.

Lutheran, Episcopal, and Baptist are all sects of Christianity, but you all kind of accept each other as all being Christian. The same is NOT true of Mormons and these splinter groups. They are NOT "Mormon". They are usually as far away from "Mormon" as you can get.

The one exception is the Reorganized Church, which Mormons actually have a pretty decent relationship with. The Leaders of the Mormon church have invited the Reorganized Church to rejoin with the main group a number of times. And we actually have a pretty good conversion rate from the Reorganized Church. For the most part, we believe the same things... well used to, they have since denounced many core beliefs, but we won't get into that.

Anyway, I just wanted everyone to have a proper understanding of the vast chasm of difference between Mormons and these splinter groups.

Answer 6

I'm a non Mormon that believes the Book of Mormon to be true. I'm a Christian and will always be a Christian and am to take no other name upon me. How Mormons have missed that is beyond me when their writings specifically warn them of taking another name upon them. What good is a prophet if the prophet doesn't correct according to that which is written. Christ taught that after he departs ..than another;.. specifically the Holy Ghost...would be sent to "teach us all things". Nevertheless, I believe in the function of TRUE PROPHETS..... WHICH PROPHETS OUGHT ALWAYS BE TESTED BY THAT WHICH IS WRITTEN AS WELL AS THE TESTIMONY OF THE HOLY GHOST. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN BLINDLY FOLLOWING PROPHETS NOR ANY MAN. Yes, there is a function for prophets in the order of Gods plan which order is the ORDER OF THE PRIESTHOOD OF THE HOLY GHOST WHICH HOLY GHOST IS THE HIGH PRIEST THEREOF. The Holy Ghost doesn't just visit "Mormons" ... I had a relationship with my Creator through the power of the Holy Ghost far before I even ever heard of Mormons. Again....I've read the Book of Mormon and believe it to be true... but I'm a Christian and the Holy Ghost is my Guide and as long as any prophet; whether Mormon or not, speaks that which is written and bears witness to me by the power of the Holy Ghost .... then all is well. But if a prophet; Mormon or not, begins to alter that which is written without a revelation that comes in the form of...thus saith the Lord.... AND.... a bearing of witness by the Holy Ghost of that new altering revelation which revelation God commandeth to be written for all to see if it is unto all.... then that prophet is out of order and needeth to repent and I will not follow Him whether Mormon or not. The Holy Ghost cometh before prophets and the Holy Ghost is the ULTIMATE GUIDE...NOT PROPHETS.. though there be prophets in the order of our Creator. .......BEWARE TO ALL ...MORMON OR NOT ... NEVER PUT THE IMPORTANCE OF FOLLOWING PROPHETS ABOVE FOLLOWING THE HEAD OF ANY TRUE PROPHET WHICH HEAD IS THE HOLY GHOST.

Answer 7

It's not insufficient for the people of that day. But what would God say about pornography, drugs, etc.? Those things weren't around 2000 years ago, so Jesus never brought it up.

BTW, The Bible is not the complete word of God, and even with the Book of Mormon, D&C and PoGP, it's still not complete.

Non of the revelations are contradictory to the Bible, but like I said, we receive some revelations from God that we need in modern times.

We do need a leader, and don't say "Christ is our leader" because Christ was around back then, even on earth, and there were still prophets! We need prophets because they're what God uses to tell us what we need. The Holy Spirit may be a guide, but you can even misunderstand what the spirit is trying to tell you sometimes.

Answer 8

I think Peter gave a good answer. Prophets don't give us information that is contradictory to the Bible but complimentary to it. The purpose of a prophet is to relay God's message to the people of the day. Living prophets can deal with the current situations that are different than the situation of prophets of old. Many of the gospel principles are the same just reformatted into new circumstances. When the modern prophet tells us not to partake of harmful substances, the reference can be to new substances that were not around in Biblical times. Likewise, some of the moral infractions of today were not considered in times past. The Bible did not have to deal with modern media and the easy spread of pornography.
Again, agreeing with Peter, God's work is not done, nor will it be until Christ after the promised Millenium and Satan is finally defeated. Until then, prophets will always be needed to convey God's will to mankind. Thus did Amos say in 3:7 "surely the Lord God will do nothing save He revealeth His secrets unto His servants, the prophets."

Answer 9

All Prophet are called by God by revelation

To day our living Prophet is Gordon Bikner Hinckley 96 years old.

Since you do not believe in Prophet it is hard to figure out how your Church runs!

A prophet is a person who knows by "personal" revelation from Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Son of God.
see Rev. 19:10

"To him give all prophets witness" see Acts 10:43; Jac 4:4
Teachings,pp,119,312

And if you Minister of salvation is not a witness for Christ, he is not a prophet.

Answer 10

Considering all the various beliefs about what the bible says, and each claiming that the Holy Spirit testified that how they view it is the correct way to view it...I would say that YES, the Bible and the Holy Spirit are insufficient.

God Appointed prophets to be a physical presence and to guide the Church. Gives you one more thing to line up your understanding of the scriptures with. Also, with extra biblical (ie the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price) yet more views to help you gain a correct perspective.

So, if your understanding of a point of doctrine lines up with The Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Doctrine and Covenants, The Living Prophet, and then testified of the truthfulness by the Holy Ghost...I say you stand a much better chance of your understanding being correct.

God doesn't want us to be confused...so He gives us many things to help us understand Him. Isn't that awesome??

Answer 11

Well, look at the result of churches that rely solely on the Bible and their individual interpretation of it. There are literally hundreds (thousands?) of christian sects, each one believing different things. In many cases, the beliefs differ so much that they are hardly recognizable as the same religion. Many of the beliefs from one church to the next contradict each other. Different christian sects argue and bash one another.

This doesn't seem to be a "sufficient" result. In fact, it seems to contradict the Bible, which teaches that there is "one faith, one baptism".

There are many revelations that our prophets have made that add to what is in the Bible. Some things in the bible are barely mentioned, like the three distinct degrees of glory in heaven, tithing, baptism for the dead, etc. Modern day revelation has expanded on those things and many others to bring us the fullness of the gospel and the current will of God for us in this time, in our lives, just as God did in Biblical times.

But let's not get too combative, Imasis. We both believe in God and Jesus, and we both are trying to live our lives as Jesus taught us to. The rest is interesting, but that core belief that we have in common is the most important.

EDIT: Sorry, that last part came out wrong. I wasn't trying to say that you were being combative. Your questions are fair. I was really trying to say that I'm trying to not be combative. It's something that I have a bit of a problem with... :-)