Christmas Book Citations Stand Ye in Holy Places Part 2

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And now, your host for today's viewpoint on Mormonism welcome to this additional viewpoint on Mormonism.

I'm your host, Bill McKeever, founder and director Mormonism research ministry with me today is Eric Johnson my colleague MRM we continue looking at the book stand.

He in holy places selected sermons and writings of Harold B. Lee, Carol Bewley was the 11th president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and this book standing in holy places was given as a Christmas gift by the first presidency in 1995. We should mention that the first presidency in 1995 consisted of Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson and James E. Faust. Today were going to look at the topic of general conference. And in this area, we find that Harold B.

Lee is really not saying anything different than what other leaders have said about this important event that is held twice a year in downtown Salt Lake City.

He said on page 183 if you want to know what the Lord has for this people at the present time, I would admonish you to get and read the discourses that are delivered at Gen. conference for what the brethren speak by the power of the Holy Ghost is the mind of the Lord the will of the Lord, the voice of the Lord and the power of God unto salvation. As I mentioned what he says here is really not all that different than what's been said before, I'm looking at the statement from a manual titled teachings of the living prophets student manual religion 333.

This one was published in 2010 and on page 72 it says the words of the prophets delivered through the spirit during general conference are latter-day Scripture. Scripture is the mind and will of God revealed through his servants. That seems to go pretty much hand-in-hand with what Harold B. Lee said on page 183 of this book, but also we have an older statement.

This was by George q. Cannon, who was a member of the first presidency he gave this talk in 1900, where he said conference addresses are word of Lord that was the heading. This church has been continually led by the spirit of revelation, the spirit of revelation has been here in our conference comment like that is not an unusual either. Many times you will have leaders get up, usually towards the end of the session to encourage the listeners in knowing that what they heard is something that they are supposed to trust. But here's where it all tends to fall apart folks when you look at the statement by Carol Bewley where he said I would admonish you to get and read the discourses that are delivered at Gen. conference why because what you hear is spoken by the power of the Holy Ghost is the mind of the Lord the will of the Lord in the voice of the Lord in the power of God and the salvation yesterday, I mentioned the doctrine taught by Brigham Young. The Adam God doctrine and I want to keep emphasizing that was a conference message. Morgan still believe that today. In fact, many Latter Day Saints scholars and probably a lot of apologist or pretty embarrassed by what Brigham Young taught regarding that.

They view it as a false teaching. They are not echoing Brigham Young's thoughts that he gave in April 1852, but yet it was taught in general conference now. Was there an exception for Brigham Young when he was teaching that Adam is our God and the only God, with whom we have to do.

Why doesn't this rule that Harold B.

Lee is pointing out here apply to Brigham Young. Now you tell me if you were sitting in the congregation when you heard Brigham Young give that sermon would you as a faithful latter-day St. walk away believing what Brigham Young taught in that message, knowing it was delivered in a conference address.

I would imagine you probably would have, and you would have been erroneous if you thought Brigham Young was telling you something that was true of our W Hunter the 14th president of the church and the church news October 23, 2004, page 4 said this our modern day prophets have encouraged us to make the reading of the conference additions of our church magazines an important and regular part of our personal study thus general conference becomes in a sense a supplement to, or an extension of the doctrine and covenants, and of course the doctrine and covenants is one of the four standard works in the LDS church. I find that to be an important quote along with others that we have and I'm looking out of your book in their own words under general conference marching orders and other terms like that are used to support that the conference is huge and that's why you and I spend so much time with the May and November issues of the inside magazine because we want to see what did they say in print so we can point to a particular page so you can see for yourself what the leaders are teaching now even though there telling the membership that this is Scripture and what they're saying is the mind of the Lord the will of the Lord, the voice of the Lord Mormonism still teaches that they have this concept known as personal revelation. In other words the individual member still is responsible whether they are going to believe what they have heard in general conference, you can imagine the leadership of course things that they should believe what they've heard in general conference. But still, the burden is placed on the shoulders of the member to get a personal revelation regarding what they have heard Harold B. Lee addresses this concept of personal revelation on page 144 of this book stand he in holy places. What is he save Eric if we will live worthy then the Lord will guide us by a personal parents or by his actual voice or by his voice coming into our mind, or by impressions upon our heart and our soul till I find it interesting.

The first two of the four things that he says by a personal appearance that the Lord will come or his actual voice.

I wonder how many Latter Day Saints would claim that they've had a personal parents or have heard the actual voice of God.

I doubt it.

I think most of them are going to point to the voice in their mind or the impressions on their heart I don't even recall any modern LDS prophet or apostle saying that they have had personal appearances or actual voice heard by the Almighty. When it comes to something if you recall any of the leader saying that in recent years that Joseph Smith certainly said that a lot. I think it was Brigham Young who said he wasn't given to a lot of revelations at all that he allowed Heber C.

Kimball to take care of that.

If I remember the quote correctly.

But you're right.

How many Latter Day Saints. It had personal appearances, or heard an actual voice. I think you're correct when you think it's more of voice coming into their mind. Now I want to be careful here though because I'm not totally against personal revelation and as we were talking off air Eric what about our prayer life.

You would think that prayer is opening ourselves up to some personal revelation. But see, this is where I think we need to be very cautious because we are a fallen people and it's not difficult for us as fallen people to want to assume that God is in agreement with us and so sometimes you will have people pray according to their own will and because they want something bad enough they feel that perhaps God is giving them the green light when maybe he's not.

But their fallenness allows them to draw that conclusion. This is where I think we need to have a lot of discernment and I know it's not easy, but certainly if a person came up to me and that I have this as a personal example because I have someone say this to me once years ago that God told them to divorce their spouse. Now there were no political reasons for this divorce. There is no adultery involved or anything like that. But this individual felt God had told him to divorce their spouse know what you think my response was to that it was difficult for me to believe that God had told them that because it conflicts with what God has already revealed on that subject with they considered to be personal revelation was nothing more than a desire to act out their own sinful desires. We must be careful. Jeremiah 17 nine says that the heart is deceptively wicked who can understand it in Proverbs 1412 is another passage you can use to say you have to be careful about trusting your feelings and it certainly has to be based on what we as Christians call the special revelation of the Bible.

One other quote. We need to get Bill and this is found on page 164 and this is referring to criticism of leaders. This is what he writes president George Albert Smith was about to close one of our general conferences which happen to be at the time of the furor caused by the book. No man knows my history, which was written by Don McKay Brody and he says this was one of the scurrilous things published against the church and there had been different speakers who had said something about these apostate REIT writings with which the church was being flooded. Just as Pres. Smith was about to finish. He paused and it was wholly unrelated to what he had been talking about and he said, and we mention this on an earlier broadcast is quote that comes from conference report, April 1946.

Many have a little Joseph Smith. But those who have will be forgotten in the remains of mother Earth and the odor of their infamy will ever be with them but honor majesty and fidelity with God, exemplified by Joseph Smith and attached to his name shall never die. He writes I never heard a more profound statement from a prophet. Do not try to find fault with the management and affairs that pertain to him alone and by revelation through his prophet is living prophet. His seer and is revelation or this only goes along with what we've stated in an earlier broadcast in this series to your not allowed as a latter-day St. to criticize the leadership you do not have priesthood authority to do so.

This is why when I hear Latter Day Saints criticizing something that their leader has said, I often want to remind them. Do you have the authority the priesthood authority as you understand it as a Latter Day Saints to correct someone in your church who has more authority then you will know they don't but yet we often times here Latter Day Saints who may express their disagreements with what their leaders have said, let me just mention this about no man knows my history. Eric that book came out in 1945 fund McKay Brody was the niece of David O. McKay, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She wrote that book in her early 30s. In her report. If you will for writing that book was she was excommunicated from the church. Now notice George Albert Smith calls it a scurrilous book written against the church, but yet we find a lot of what was in that book. The church has now confirmed was true.

But here you have a prophet, George Albert Smith calling it a scurrilous writing against the church. How many of the people there that heard what was said by Harold Bailey would have said wow I want to go out and read no man knows my history now, I don't think so. I think most of them said I'm staying away from that kind of trash that anti-Mormon trash and I'm going to say that he probably accomplished what he intended, but later on we see the church has come clean on many of the things that fund McKay Brody had said thank you for listening. If you would like more information regarding his research ministry. We encourage you to visit our website at www.mrm.org you can request a free newsletter Mormonism research. We hope you will join us again as we look at another viewpoint is