In regard to our religion, I will say that it embraces every principle of truth and intelligence pertaining to us as moral, intellectual, mortal and immortal beings, pertaining to this world and the world that is to come. We are open to truth of every kind, no matter whence it comes, where it originates, or who believes in it. Truth, when preceded by the little word "all", comprises everything that has ever existed or that ever will exist and be known by and among men in time and through the endless ages of eternity. And it is the duty of all intelligent beings who are responsible and amenable to God for their acts, to search after truth, and to permit it to influence them and their acts and general course in life, independent of all bias or preconceived notions, however specious and plausible they may be.
If any person in the religious world, or the political world, or the scientific world, will present to me a principle that is true, I am prepared to receive it, no matter where it comes from.
We are after the truth. We commenced searching for it, and we are constantly in search of it, and so fast as we find any true principle revealed by any man, by God, or by holy angels, we embrace it and make it part of our religious creed.
A man in search of truth has no peculiar system to sustain (even the LDS Church), no peculiar dogma to defend or theory to uphold (even the dogmas of the LDS Church). He embraces all truth, and that truth, like the sun in the firmament, shines forth and spreads its effulgent rays over all creation. If men will divest themselves of bias and prejudice, and prayerfully and conscientiously search after truth, they will find it wherever they turn their attention. (Even outside the LDS Church)
If there are any good principles, any moral philosophy that we have not yet attained to, we are desirous to learn them. If there is anything in the scientific world that we do not yet comprehend, we desire to become acquainted with it. If there is any branch of philosophy calculated to promote the well-being of humanity, that we have not yet grasped, we wish to possess ourselves of it. If there is anything pertaining to the rule and government of nations, or politics, if you please, that we are not acquainted with, we desire to possess it. If there are any religious ideas, any theological truths, any principles pertaining to God, that we have not learned, we ask mankind, and we pray God, our Heavenly Father, to enlighten our minds that we may comprehend, realize, embrace, and live up to them as part of our religious faith. Thus our ideas and thoughts would extend as far as the wide world spreads, embracing everything pertaining to light, life, or existence pertaining to this world or the world that is to come.
There is no man nor set of men who have pointed out the pathway for our feet to travel in, in relation to these matters. There are no dogmas nor theories extant in the world that we profess to listen to, unless they can be verified by the principles of eternal truth. We carefully scan, investigate, criticize, and examine everything that presents itself to our view(Even when it comes from the Prophet), and so far as we are enabled to comprehend any truths in existence, we gladly hail them as part and portion of the system with which we are associated.[/b]
If there is any truth in heaven, earth, or hell, I want to embrace it; I care not what shape it comes in to me, who brings it, or who believes in it; whether it is popular or unpopular, truth, eternal truth, I wish to float in and enjoy." - "Chapter 23: Eternal Truth," Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor, 209
Why would he spend so many words talking about how to recognize truth when he coud have just said, "follow the prophet"? Instead, he tells us "There is no man nor set of men who have pointed out the pathway for our feet to travel in, in relation to these matters. No man includes the prophet. No set of men includes the apostles. When he said, "A man in search of truth has no peculiar system to sustain ", we have to acknowledge that he was not saying "we sustain the church".
Here's the definition of dogma...
dog·ma
ˈdôɡmə/
noun
a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.
"the Christian dogma of the Trinity"
synonyms: teaching, belief, tenet, principle, precept, maxim, article of faith, canon
He said, "A man in search of truth has no peculiar system to sustain, no peculiar dogma to defend or theory to uphold " This includes the principles laid down by the prophet and LDS Church as incontrovertibly true.
In this thread, people have provided multiple quotes from Prophets and Presidents saying that we should not blindly accept what the Prophet/President of the Church just because he said it. If your are going to believe everything the prophets and Presidents say, then believe that as well. (Here are a number of those quotes.)
In those quotes we also see where Elder Bruce R. McConkie said that the Prophets and Presidents of the church even teach damning heresies which if believed would damn us. So, now you are having to contradict the Prophets that said we shouldn't rely on them and Elder McConkie who taught that Prophets cannot be followed without reservation. That in addition to all the overwhelming scriptures that have been provided that directly show that we should follow the spirit and be persuaded and not rely on the virtue of a man's priesthood to influence us, you have a difficult position to maintain...
Sure, you have given us some quotes showing that some people have followed the prophet and did well. You could easily use instances in my life showing how I followed the prophet and did well. But you would not see that I was following the spirit which told me to follow the prophet. Two people doing the same actions but for different reasons can actually get different results.
Following the spirit doesn't always equate to following the prophet. And I and others have given many, many scriptures and quotes to that effect.
My personal view is that if I can't resolve and address a reference that is shown to me, then I need to re-evaluate my view to remain honest, true, moral and an unbiased seeker of truth. I don't think we can get to heaven any other way. If I were in your position, I would obligate myself to review and address each of the quotes and references that present information contrary to my view and so that they are mis-interpreted, incorrect, mis-leading or flat out wrong. And I think everyone can say that they have seen me painstakingly do so even when I had to show that I disagreed with Joseph Smith and provided the contradicting scriptures and references and logic explaining why I believe he was wrong in that instance. Essentially I require myself too investigate, consider and address EVERY opposing view and reference presented to me. And when I cannot honestly within myself refute an opposing reference, I openly admit it.
In this thread, I have seen you and others ignore scriptures, quotes and examples over and over again as if they didn't exist. You and others have stonewalled a great deal of opposing evidence which seems to me to be indisputable. Quotes from prophets that you profess to follow are ignored when they contradict your stance. This has been my observation.
I recognize that some times threads move too fast to keep up with, but I encourage you to go back and honestly consider and address the posts that you have completely ignored, (mine and others), and see if you can show the errors, misinterpretations, contradictions or other reasons why you are marking them as invalid and unacceptable. As of right now, it appears to me that you are clenching tightly to your security blanket and refusing to let it go because it feels safe or feels like it protects you even though logically you have been shown again and again that it doesn't. You are trying to convince us to hold on to your security blanket with you in hopes that it will save us.
The Iron rod is THE WORD OF GOD, not the word of the prophets. Prophets sometimes speak the word of God and sometimes do not. When they speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, then they are speaking the words of God and when they do not, they are not. Other people can also speak the words of God by the power of the Holy Ghost and when they do, it is the IRON ROD too. We can only know when someone else is speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost when we are moved on by the Holy Ghost ourselves. In other words, we listen for and listen to the voice of the spirit and accept that as the word of God regardless of the source, be it a prophet or a child or a preacher from another religion. When we do not hear the spirit, then we do not obey as if it came from God Himself, because it didn't. The many scripture references provided are clear and in my opinion irrefutable on these points. I encourage you to humbly consider them and figure out why you are afraid to put your trust and hope for salvation and eternal life in the spirit and voice of God.
Peace,
Amonhi
♡
:-ss #-o