Reading Scriptures is Dangerous


Why do leaders tell us to read our scriptures when doing so is dangerous? See what I found out, below….

I was 14 years old when he passed away. I remember a sense of loss that accompanied his passing, the tears in my mother’s eyes, and the sorrow felt by our whole family.

First, a funny story. Howard W. Hunter died when I was 15, and rather than having an appropriately righteous response like Stevenson, I remember being SO HAPPY because I was a huge fan of Gordon B. Hinckley. He was next in line.


Stevenson quotes Spencer W. Kimball, “The work of the Lord is endless. Even when a powerful leader dies, not for a single instant is the Church without leadership, thanks to the kind Providence who gave his kingdom continuity and perpetuity.”

Stevenson then states, “I offer to you my absolute witness that the will of the Lord, for which we fervently prayed, was powerfully manifest in the activities and events of that day.”

So here’s my question, if there is not a single instant where the Church is without leadership, why is the prophet-president ordained before the Church members sustain him? We sustain bishops BEFORE they are ordained. Why not the prophet?

Who is the prophet-president is not the Q15’s choice. They can propose someone to lead, but I don’t know that the individual should be ordained before the next time the Church gathers in a solemn assembly.

I know there isn’t much that we, as members, can (or will) do. I’m pretty sure the successor is clearly outlined in the legal documents for the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It kind of *has* to go the way it always does, legally speaking.

Besides, I’m pretty sure that most people believe that if the next-in-line wasn’t God’s choice, God would have killed him already. For example, if Oaks were supposed to lead the Church next, Nelson would be in the ground with Boyd K. Packer. When a prophet dies, the thinking has been done, so to speak. I’m sorry/not sorry if that sounds crass, but it’s kind of true.


“For all things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church, by the prayer of faith,”4 and “three Presiding High Priests, … upheld by the confidence, faith, and prayer of the church, form a quorum of the Presidency of the Church.”5'

I am always surprised when the leaders tell us to read our scriptures. Do they even know what’s in there?

Take the passages Stevenson quotes here. He talks about the law of common consent when discussing the solemn assembly. But you can’t just cherry-pick scriptures to fit the narrative you want to tell. That’s called proof-texting, and it’s what I think Stevenson is doing here.

Section 28 was received when Hiram Page was challenging Joseph’s authority with his own seer stone. God says, “neither shall anything be appointed [Fixed; set; established; decreed; ordained; constituted; allotted] unto any of this church contrary to the church covenants. For all things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church, by the prayer of faith” (D&C 28:12–13).

God is saying here that we should use solemn assemblies/common consent. However, the scriptures clearly state that it is to come BEFORE something/someone is appointed. Revelation is supposed to be put up for a vote before it’s adoption. There is no exception.

Granted, Stevenson does not claim that Nelson’s appointment came by revelation. While he stated that they gathered in the “spirit of fasting and prayer,” he does not mention any questions asked or revelation received. The Q15 seemed to gather for the sole purpose of sustaining Nelson, not to ask who should be the new prophet-president.

The same kind of proof-texting occurs when Stevenson quotes D&C 107:22. He leaves out that the “three Presiding High Priests” are to be “chosen by the body.”

Once again, was it necessary to ordain Nelson as prophet-president so soon? Could they not have waited until the next solemn assembly five months later. It’s Jesus who leads the Church, right? If so, there’s no reason to not function according to the D&C sections Stevenson quoted.

Like I said. I don’t know why leaders tell us to read our scriptures. They’re dangerous.

I write about things I’m interested in. Mostly religion (Mormonism), theology, the social sciences, and what I’m doing with my life (hint: I have no clue).

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