Is it possible that the Lord has plainly warned us against the possibility that modern-day leaders of the church might lead the church astray? It is an LDS tradition that the 15 men at the top of church leadership can never lead us into error; is this correct? The tradition teaches that the Lord will not permit such error and that He would, one way or another,  stop actions leading to church-wide error.

At first glance, my difficulty with this tradition begins with those of the 15 who directly betrayed Joseph Smith and led many astray including facilitating the murder of Joseph. Did the Lord permit that? Yep. Did He permit the leaders of the church in Nauvoo to neglect the building of the temple and to, instead, build a Masonic temple, fine homes, and many buildings for businesses? Did He allow them to become prosperous while neglecting His commandments? Yes, again.

We could easily continue down the road of history pointing out the possible errors into which the saints were led, beginning with the polygamy or Blacks-and-the-Priesthood issues. Or how about de-canonizing scripture without sustaining that action by common consent as in the removal, by a committee in 1921, of the Lectures On Faith from the D&C? And, why do we still call it the D&C when said committee removed the “D?” More recently, the very questionable correlation program ramrodded by Harold B. Lee beginning in the early 1960s. More about that later. I could go on, of course. The list is long.¹

Even disregarding all that has gone before, I do not know how one is to reconcile this tradition of inerrancy with the principle of agency wherein the Lord does not interfere with our decisions—right or wrong (with extremely rare exceptions). Is agency abrogated when one is ordained to an office held by the 15? 

And, as a safeguard, is it not up to the members to ask for and receive Heaven’s confirmation regarding anything and everything the 15 are up to? The answer to that question, according to the correlated church, is absolutely not. “Ours is but to do and die,” quoting the famous line from Tennyson’s poem describing a British charge during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War in October of 1854 where, for a faulty and unclear order, many men needlessly died.

I’m not sure how you reconcile our required unquestioning, robot-like allegiance with this scripture:

And whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I confirm all my words, even unto the ends of the earth. Mormon 9:25

If the words of the 15 are, as proposed, inspired by the Lord, then what is the problem with seeking confirmation from Him whose words the 15 purport them to be?

If the Lord is going to do something with the church and reveals it to one or more of the 15, surely He will then confirm it to the rank and file. Unless…

Suffice it to say that Section 112 of the D&C casts a brilliant shadow over the entire subject unless you’ve drunk the Kool-Aid and installed your correlation-committee-issued brass brow and iron neck. 

As in other scriptures, the Lord begins speaking about one subject and then abruptly inserts a chastening zinger. This either tends to grab our attention if we have eyes to see, or we miss it completely due to the aforesaid brows and necks. If the zinger applies to us, we may be inclined to blame it on the “Gentiles” not understanding that those pesky “Gentiles” are us.

Think the Gentiles referred to are not us? Consider this:

“And now, the thing which our father meaneth concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years, and many generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed—” 1 Nephi 15:13

Or this:

“And it came to pass that I beheld the remnant of the seed of my brethren, and also the book of the Lamb of God, which had proceeded forth from the mouth of the Jew, that it came forth from the Gentiles unto the remnant of the seed of my brethren.” 1 Ne 13:38

Oh, we’re the Gentiles alright. We’re those through which the Book of Mormon came, and also those who will read it. So when the Lord speaks to the Gentiles, He’s speaking to those who have the Book of Mormon—in more direct words, He’s speaking to us. And lest you think we’re all hunky-dory and ready to be translated, consider the following admonition. The Lord doesn’t just tell us in this passage not to be involved with the list of sins He cites. He chastises us precisely because we are committing these acts. If we don’t repent, we’re toast.

“Hearken, O ye Gentiles, and hear the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, which he hath commanded me that I should speak concerning you, for, behold he commandeth me that I should write, saying:

“Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel.” 3 Ne 30:1-2

With that cheery thought in mind, Section 112 begins with instruction to the twelve apostles and first presidency about a variety of issues regarding preaching the Gospel, spreading the word, being humble and repentant, and opening the doors of the kingdom. All good instruction to the highest leadership of the church.

Then the other shoe drops in verse 23. The Lord who sees past, present, and future history before him all at once, sometimes appears to jump around a bit in time. (This is due to our limited perception, not His error.) His descriptions move through time and we sometimes miss the jumps. Here is an example of that in a way that could describe 1837 or today equally well. I believe this description was not accidental. To the brass browed, verses 23 to 26 easily describe 1837, and excuse us, but with our brass removed and our eyes opened, we see a description of something more current. We have not left the subject matter—that of the highest leadership of the church—we’ve just leapfrogged  centuries. We’ll return to the scripture in a moment. First let’s cover some of the back-story.

As the church grew through its several stages and came to what has been termed “Modern Mormonism,” we can catalog many changes made to the structure of the church, its doctrines, ordinances, and sanitized historical traditions. By the time we arrive in the 1950s we find the president of the church beginning to be regularly referred to as “prophet,” a term that prior to that time, only applied to Joseph Smith. All subsequent presidents of the church were referred to by that title—president—alone. Many admitted having no audience with the Lord and leading by inspiration alone. None referred to themselves as “prophet.” There are some rare exceptions to this tradition but among the rank and file of the church the president of the church was known simply as “President.”

In an effort to legitimize or elevate the man leading the church, the term “prophet” and then, “prophet, seer, and revelator” was instituted as the preferred way to refer to the president of the church. This was done even though no prophecies, translations, or revelations were given by the man. Make no mistake, I loved David O. McKay. He was the president of the church throughout my childhood. My cause is not to diminish his stature or graciousness at all. I believe he was loved and inspired by the Lord. But a prophet? When did he prophecy? When did he translate anything or act as a seer? When did he speak and tell us what the Lord had personally, and even face to face, told him to tell us? Joseph Smith did all those things. He deserved to be called prophet, seer, and revelator precisely because he did all those things. The title makes no sense without the productive actions.

When the subject of organizing the instruction of the various departments of the church began to be discussed in the early 1960s, the priesthood, Sunday school, Relief Society, Primary, and Mutual organizations were all separate and distinct and had their own lesson manuals. Each manual was written and printed separately and the thought was that if some of those efforts were combined, tithing funds could be saved and more efficiently spent. It was to be called “correlation.” 

Then Elder Harold B. Lee stepped in and proposed that the entire church should be reorganized along those same lines of thought. (Actually, this proposal had been around since 1947 and was thoroughly and repeatedly rejected.) He wanted all church departments to come under one centralized priesthood authority. This was remarkably reminiscent of the Hamiltonian approach to a strong central government in Washington at the expense of state, local, and finally, individual authority and liberty. Interesting how unrighteous dominion permeates all halls of power and wants to consolidate and focus authority in the hands of only a select few. Control can be intoxicating, even to the well-intentioned or those with authority “as they suppose.” Hence Joseph’s letter from Liberty Jail condemning “unrighteous dominion by church leaders.”

President McKay strongly opposed Elder Lee’s approach and remarked that such an approach could lead to the apostasy of the church. In his diary, President McKay wrote:

“…the correlation work affects primarily the duplication of courses of study, and that it should not affect the organization of the Church…This correlation work is applicable to courses of study of priesthood and auxiliaries to avoid duplication. That is the purpose of the correlation work…it is easy to understand how the Apostasy took place in the early days…We cannot run the Church as we would run a business.”²

In spite of President McKay’s rejection of the program and instruction to keep it only within the realm of lesson manuals and with the accompanying agreement of his two councilors, Elder Lee skipped merrily along the path to total correlation of the entire church and its auxiliaries. So much for consensus. So much for following a “prophet.” We therefore understand a bit better why the Lord would interject the following terse language in Section 112:23:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face.”

With the first presidency of the church being undermined by those of the apostles who disagreed with them it’s no wonder the Lord was upset. Even the church had lost its grip on reality. The very fabric of persuasive governance was unraveling. President McKay was hesitant to forcefully reign in Elder Lee but tried by persuasion to bring him around to the 1st Presidency’s way of thinking. Elder Lee, on the other hand, saw President McKay’s easy ways as tacit permission to move forward. He, seemingly, would rather ask forgiveness than permission. For more on the subject please see: David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism by Gregory A Prince. Highly recommended.

We leave the 1960s and move forward to the current and fully correlated church. True to President McKay’s forewarning, a church run like a business will turn into a business. We have consolidated all power and authority into the hands of a few at the top of the organization. Using Elder Lee's design, the church became an Alfred P. Sloan-style top-down-management organization not too different than General Motors. We all know how that turned out. (I own two Toyotas thanks to W. Edwards Demming to whom American management wouldn't pay attention but the Japanese certainly did and their great cars are the result. See: https://www.deming.org/theman/overview.)

Unfortunately, an organization as large and diverse as the Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be effectively managed by 15 men. Adding even the Seventy isn’t enough. So a massive church office building is built and thousands of mid-level bureaucrats are installed to run the day-to-day operations of the church. The 15 at the top run the corporation and nameless bureaucratic hirelings run the church.

As an example, a number of years ago a program was instituted to sell Books of Mormon to the members for them to write their testimonies on the first blank page. Then these Books would be used in missionary efforts all over the church. Wonderful idea. Surely motivated by prophetic inspiration. Nope. The back story paints a very different picture.

It seems a new edition of the Book of Mormon was about to be unleashed on the church. The church, unfortunately, had a warehouse full of the old edition. They tried to get mission presidents to take them but all said they’d rather wait for the new edition. What to do? Well, we could just give them away. Send them to libraries around the would or something. Nope. These “inspired” bureaucrats stopped that in its tracks saying that the effect of that move would show a “loss” on the books. And we can’t have that.

Interesting to note, however, that the Books of Mormon in question had already been paid for out of tithing funds. The members had already paid for them. But, according to the interesting accounting ideas of the church’s bean-counters, that didn’t compute. So one of these bureaucrats got the bright idea to sell the Books to the members thereby showing a profit on the books. After that you could give them to anyone and everyone who would take them. The program was a great success and the members paid for the same books twice. No one ever told them about that.

Is this an example of “leading the church astray?” It looks to me like the church was already astray in their organizational structure and this kind of thinking was a result. Astray is an understatement. But, according to the brethren, it can’t happen. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the plan was approved by the brethren who rubber stamped it without discussion. As long as the books balance, all is well, as they say.

We could continue with example after example about how the church has changed its  structure, ordinances, and even the very Doctrine of Christ. What, you say, the Doctrine of Christ? Changed? Yep.

The Doctrine of Christ is really pretty simple but has a repeated warning that we have completely disregarded. Let’s first define the Doctrine of Christ:

 “…For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

“…and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

“…And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done?...

“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

“And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.” 2 Nephi 31:17-21

That sounds pretty doable: Repent, accept baptism, receive the Holy Ghost, press forward in Christ, have hope, love God, love all men, feast on the scriptures, and endure to the end. Yep, I can do all that, with pleasure and enthusiasm. And for all that I get a remission of my sins and eternal life? What a great deal!

Here’s an even simpler passage:

“And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

“And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.” 
3 Nephi 11:33-35

Believe in Christ and be baptized and the Father will visit you with fire and the Holy Ghost. This is reminiscent of the great intercessory prayer given by the Savior outside of Gethsemane as recorded in John 17. Being one with Heavenly Father and the Savior and all men is, without question, an integral part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is also reminiscent of the first two great commandments, love God, and love thy neighbor.

Relatively simple stuff so far. Nothing a child couldn’t understand. Now let’s get serious.

“Behold, this is my doctrine--whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church.

Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church. D&C 10:67-68

Uh oh. Repent and come unto Him. We may suppose that “come unto me” includes baptism. But now a warning is added about adding to or taking away from the Doctrine of Christ. Here’s more:

“And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

“And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.” 3 Nephi 11:38-40

Same basic message, repent and be baptized, with an added instruction to become as a little child. So are we to become ignorant and childish? Hardly. A child has two very important characteristics. The first is a desire to learn. Everything. The second is the ability to believe. That’s how we are to become; a believing people with an insatiable desire to learn the knowledge of God.

The Lord continues with a promise about building on this rock as a fortification against the powers of hell which gives us hope that we can make it through anything. Lastly, the warning, again, not to add or remove anything from this Doctrine. Has that happened? I may be wrong but I didn't notice anything in any of those scriptures about sustaining a man as a prophet. So that's been added. How about tithing? Yep, that's been added. Word of Wisdom? Yes, and we could go on. Why would men knowingly change something the Lord expicitly commanded we shouldn't change? Power, as they suppose?

The last passage gets more specific about our current plight and this business of the powers of hell and those who would lull us into a sense of false security because of our multi-billion dollar portfolio, also known as “carnal security.” Lest you think the Lord is talking to the Baptists or Catholics, remember to whom this Book is written: first to the remnant of the Lamanites, then to the Jews and Gentiles. But the warnings in 2nd Nephi, Mormon 8, Ether 8, and the last verse in 3rd Nephi, among others are specifically directed to those who would, in the last days, actually receive the Book of Mormon. Again, those are us. 

If we deny these warnings and pass them on to the Baptists, Catholics, et al, we do so at our peril. “Well,” you say, “why does it talk about the many churches? Isn’t that talking about the Baptists, Catholics, and all the others?” Maybe, but have you ever asked someone in another ward, “What time does your church start?” Be warned. We have become, perhaps, all too smug about the idea that it’s everyone else that’s wrong. We can’t be wrong, after all we’re the true church. Are you willing to bet your eternal salvation on that?

What do we mean by “true church,” anyway? If we mean that this is the church the Lord restored by means of Joseph Smith, then can the “true church” that is, the church restored by Joseph Smith 186 years ago, possibly have changed a bit since then? And is it a possibility that those changes might not be for the better? After all, men run the church and always have. Men are fallible. Men make mistakes. Men get lulled into thinking all is well. Consider how the Adversary may have worked on the leaders of the church over many years, according to the Book of Mormon.

 “And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well--and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

“Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion! Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!” 2 Nephi 28:21-25

Will the president of the church wave his multi-billion dollar portfolio in the air as he sees the Savior returning with the Powers of Heaven? Will he enthusiastically proclaim: “Look what we’ve accomplished!” Only just as he begins to wave, he notices everything around him burning to a crisp. Oops. I guess the concept of Zion eluded him.

“Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost! Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!” 2 Nephi 28:26-27

Apparently, these days all we have to do is “Follow the Prophet.” Although, if we do that, aren’t we hearkening unto the precepts of men and denying the power of God? I guess we’ve received and we need no more. At least that’s what our current leaders appear to be saying. We are not to rock the boat or bring up issues that might result in trembling or angry leaders. Persuasion doesn’t work. Those who get angry tend to excommunicate those who anger them as they question their supposed authority.

“And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.” 2 Nephi 28:28

Are those trembling in Salt Lake because tithing receipts are down and the gargantuan projects to which those funds are committed may have to be pared down a bit? Is the panic in the Valley due to financial issues? Is the “carnal security” blanket showing wear and tear as the brethren sob as they watch the beginnings of the crumbling of their empire? As the brethren continue to cut some of the choicest trees in the forest and wonder why things are looking a bit thin, those of us following the Savior and doing our best to prepare ourselves to be a people worthy of Zion, receive the “truth of God” with gladness. Let mammon crumble.

“Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!

“For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

“Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.

“Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts.” 2 Nephi 28:29-32

These very specific counsels ought to be frightening to the leaders of today’s LDS church. Power, as they suppose, is a very seductive drug. The sirens of authority beckon to those weak enough to pay attention to their song. Their strength in business and worldly acquisition becomes the weakness which attenuates the voice of the Spirit until the siren’s voice is all they hear. “Follow the prophet” is the dispirited cry of one desperate to force a following. 

“Follow the Savior” on the other hand is the cry of a humble follower of Christ inviting others to the delicious meal the Gospel provides while knowing he is just another guest at the table.

To those who seek the Lord and are willing to follow Him only, Nephi’s counsels are comforting and, even, inviting. Our God is patient and forgiving if we will but come unto Him. His mercy is offered with a kind, outstretched arm to those humble enough to repent and hunger after righteousness. May we understand that we are not yet able to offer anything of substance to the Lord. We are like five-year-olds trying to be productive in a physics lab. All we can do is offer our will. That is all we really own. Our agency. After that, it’s all His.

Becoming a Zion people is an individual effort. Becoming close to the Lord and listening to His voice requires intimate, humble, patient, loving, forgiving, and prayerful effort. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord paid a terrible price for the ability and knowledge He gained in that astonishing effort. That effort produced a perfect knowledge of us and the way back for each of us. We have become the center of His attention, His work, and glory. 

Joseph counseled us, in the Third Lecture on Faith, to obtain “an actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to his will.” The Lord’s will is the way back to God for each of us.  We can argue doctrine all day long but the only productive and profitable pursuit of life is to follow the will of the Lord and ensure our efforts conform to it. After that, it’s all just meaningless flyspecks on a spreadsheet.

Oh, that I could hear something like that in general conference from a repentant modern apostle. I would weep in joyful celebration.

1. The subjects of polygamy and the removal of the Lecture On Faith from the Doctrine & Covenants, and many other such subjects require detailed explanations too lengthy to include here. We will, hopefully, write future posts regarding these and other subjects. You are advised to study on your own and come to your own conclusions regarding the truth of the traditions versus historical reality. Finally, if you are not familiar with the betrayals of Joseph by high-ranking members of the church, you have some reading to do.

2. Gregory A. Prince, William Robert Wright, “David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism,” University of Utah Press, 2005, Pg. 150-1.