Disagreeing with him are others
(quoted below) of somewhat more orthodox and authoritative stature. The fact
that various and sundry truths are found in other churches and religions should
simply confirm their presence in the Bible and not delude us into thinking that
such (other churches) is where Joseph got them from. These quotations should serve
to dispel this academic mythmaking:
Orson Pratt:
I will
commence by saying, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not grown out of the various religious
societies that now exist, or that have existed, in Christendom; neither has it
grown out of any of their institutions. Our Priesthood, our doctrine, our
authority, the organization of our Church, and everything connected therewith,
have been something revealed directly from the heavens. Perhaps you may
inquire—"Have you not been guided more or less in relation to these
principles by the book which is called the Bible?" I answer that, in the
organization of the kingdom of God on the earth in the nineteenth century, we
have been guided by the direct revelation to us from heaven. We do not profess
that our doctrines and principles are entirely distinct and something entirely
different from those which are recorded in the Bible, we are far from making
any such profession; but we believe that the same God who organized his kingdom
in ancient times, and revealed his will to the inhabitants of the earth, has
revealed, in these last days, principles in accordance with those revealed in
former times, and that he is a consistent Being, and that he would not
communicate a Gospel for the inhabitants of the earth to observe in the 19th
century that was not revealed and understood in former ages. The same Gospel,
therefore, which God has revealed anew in our day, when compared with the
Gospel contained in the New Testament, is found to accord in every principle,
and in all its ordinances and institutions, with ancient Christianity. (Orson
Pratt, Journal of Discourses, 26
vols. [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-86], 18:42. Italics added)
Joseph F. Smith:
AN
AUTHORITATIVE DECLARATION
The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is no partisan Church. It is not a sect.
It is THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS. It is the only one today
existing in the world that can and does legitimately bear the name of Jesus
Christ and His divine authority. I make this declaration in all simplicity and
honesty before you and before all the world, bitter as the truth may seem to
those who are opposed and who have no reason for that opposition. It is
nevertheless true and will remain true until He who has a right to rule among
the nations of the earth and among the individual children of God throughout
the world shall come and take the reins of government and receive the bride
that shall be prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom.
Many of our
great writers have recently been querying and wondering where the divine
authority exists today to command in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost, so that it will be in effect and acceptable at the throne of
the Eternal Father. I will announce here and now, presumptuous as it may seem
to be to those who know not the truth, that the divine authority of Almighty
God, to speak in the name of the Father and of the Son, is here in the midst of
these everlasting hills, in the midst of this intermountain region, and it will
abide and will continue, for God is its source, and God is the power by which
it has been maintained against all opposition in the world up to the present,
and by which it will continue to progress and grow and increase on the earth
until it shall cover the earth from sea to sea. This is my testimony to you, my
brethren and sisters, and I have a fulness of joy and of satisfaction in being
able to declare this without regard to, or fear of, all the adversaries of the
truth.
The above
declaration was made at the morning service of the annual conference on the
88th anniversary of the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, April 6, 1918. (James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-75], 5:98-99.)
J. Reuben Clark:
If the
world is to be prepared for the Second Coming, we must do it. No one else has the knowledge. No one
else has the authority. The responsibility is ours. The last dispensation has welded together all of the doctrines and
principles of the gospel that were advanced in former dispensations. We
have the priesthood bestowed by heavenly hands. We have the restoration of the
keys, conferred in the Kirtland Temple when Moses and Elias and Elijah came. We
have all of the authority, all of the principles that are necessary for the
great work of preparation; and ours, I repeat, is the sole responsibility to go
forward and see that our mission is carried out. (J. Reuben Clark, Conference
Report, October 1953, 39-40. Italics added.)
Mark E. Petersen:
As teachers
in this great Church we must hold to our one fundamental premise. We must never
depart from it. We must hold to the one and only concept of the gospel, and in
it there can be no variance. We cannot take liberties with it, not even under
the guise of academic freedom, for in teaching the gospel, there is no academic
freedom. I would like to repeat that in teaching the gospel there is no
academic freedom. There is only fundamental orthodox doctrine and truth.
We must never forget that we have received a
new revelation from God. It is not of man in any sense. We must obtain our
knowledge of God and of the gospel only by means of this new revelation from
God which was given in modern times and which also gives us a clear meaning of
the old revelations.
We
understand the Bible better than any other people. It is not because we are
smarter than they are. But we understand the Bible better than the rest of the
world because of the new light we have received from heaven in modern times.
This additional light is part of the new revelation of God which has been given
to the Latter-day Saints. Just as Joseph Smith, after his first vision, knew
more about the nature of God then the best–schooled clerics of the world, so we
know more about the meaning of the Bible for the same reason.
No matter
how bright other religious teachers may be, they do not have the light of
revelation to guide them. They do not even believe in modern revelation. Therefore,
we do not and cannot regard them as authorities in interpreting the doctrines
of the Bible. They may do research on the history or the geography of the Holy
Land and may know more about those subjects than the Latter-day Saints who have
never made that kind of research. We are grateful for knowledge of that kind
and believe that it may develop much useful information which can be very
helpful to us when properly used.
Nevertheless,
these men are not authorities on doctrine. We must not suppose they are, and we
must not put their views on doctrine ahead of ours. Ours comes by revelation. Those men are not inspired. They may be
ever so skilled in other things, but they are not to be depended upon as
interpreters of the meaning of the doctrine of the scriptures.
Some may
think we speak from a sense of egotism when we talk like this, but of course
that is not so. It is simply a case of
the wisdom of man versus the revelations of God. There is simply no comparison
between their uninspired worldly-wise opinions and the actual word of God as
given to us in modern revelation. We as teachers in the Church must teach
the revealed word of God. We have no need for the uninspired conjectures of the
clerics of the world concerning the doctrines of Christ. That is why we do not
send our men to divinity schools. We do not encourage our men to go to these
schools. We have had a few go and some have come back almost spoiled, so far as
we are concerned, because they have brought back so much sectarianism with them
that, as a matter of fact, their actual faith in some instances has been
shaken. We do not encourage that. That is why we so much prefer our own
training in the revealed word. If a man knows so little about God that he
denies present-day revelation, can he be considered an authority on the
teachings of God? (“Avoiding Sectarianism,” address to religious educators, 22
June 1962; in Charge to Religious
Educators, 2nd ed. [Salt Lake City: The Church Educational System and The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1982], 114.)
Hugh Nibley:
Joseph
Smith tells us that since the days of Adam the Gospel has always been on the
earth somewhere preserved between the Dispensations by “holy men ye know not
of.” Many people have claimed to belong to such lines—that is the Baptist
“trail of blood theory.” In the teachings of the gospel John has a unique
place: he is the only New Testament figure mentioned by name in the Book of
Mormon, and Section 7 of the D&C is the translation of a scroll he hid up
in the manner of the Qumran sectaries. The Masonic origins are particularly
interesting because they go back to the Temple at Jerusalem. But so do a lot of
other rites and societies, some of which are far nearer to the original version
than the Masons. The problem is, of course, the line of authority. To recognize
the existence of a true and unbroken tradition does not give me the right to
claim it for myself. The Seventh Day Adventists, for example, recognize the
importance of continuing certain ancient Hebrew practices—but who authorized
them to take the burden on themselves? It is true that Peter was the Rock, the
Seer Stone, but having said that I still have to prove any later ties to Peter.
It is as if I were to claim Abraham Lincoln for a relation by proving beyond a
doubt that he had delivered the Gettysburg Address. None of these people can
connect themselves up with the ancient order—least of all the Masons—but Joseph
Smith has given us that ancient order in great consistency and detail as it is
being confirmed of hundreds of documents coming forth long after his mission
was completed. (Hugh Nibley Correspondence, 1981.)
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