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I came across this quotation from the Teachings of the Prophet Spencer W. Kimball which I liked. Thought I’d share it for all those people who don’t totally buy into “The Church is perfect but the people aren’t” maxim: Quote:The things of God cannot be understood by the spirit of men. …I have wished the Lord had given us a little more clarity in the matter. But for me, it is enough. The prophets for 133 years of the existence of the Church have maintained the position of the prophet of the Restoration that the Negro could not hold the priesthood nor have the temple ordinances which are preparatory for exaltation….The doctrine or policy has not varied in my memory. I know it could. I know the Lord could change his policy and forgive the possible error which brought about the deprivation. If the time comes, that he will do, I am sure.
That is a great quote – and it is interesting coming from someone who was so extreme in some of his other views. It shows how much more complex people are (even prophets) than most people ever realize.
I think it is a great quote and helps show President Kimball’s humility. My only problem with it is the assumption that the “Negro Doctrine” started when the LDS Church was organized in 1830.
All the Best!
–Consiglieri
I think understanding how that was wrong (that the policy didn’t start in 1830) was one of the reasons why he was able to have OD2. The change he experienced after this quote was important, but the foundation was there earlier than the fuller understanding. There’s a GREAT lesson in that for all of us, imo.
Spencer W Kimball wrote:I know the Lord could change his policy and forgive the possible error which brought about the deprivation. If the time comes, that he will do, I am sure.
This idea, coming from one who became a prophet, really explains a lot. It shows that there is not complete uniformity in thought among the brethren, and therefore it should be tolerated at the local levels as well. It also shows that things change, and we can’t view all church teachings as eternal and unchanging, because they aren’t…they are all subject to mortal understanding of things at a given time. Our acceptance of ongoing revelation requires we be open to incompleteness and error in the church now.
The trick is to have faith and trust in a church that will, at times, stumble. I believe we are living through this now with the church policies on homosexuality.
I always think of quotes like this when I hear it said time and time again in church that “God is the same today as he was 3000 years ago” or “God is unchanging”. Seems like even the prophets think he can change his mind. Why would a perfect being need to change his mind? Brown wrote:Why would a perfect being need to change his mind?
Good question. I don’t think that really makes sense. More likely, I believe there is an all-knowing, all-perfect God, who allows mortals to set church policies, and He will judge ’em on how well they did with their stewardship. Either that, or that mortals set church policy for which He doesn’t really care about. He cares about if His children are developing Christ-like attributes regardless of the policies being set.Either way, I think He is less involved in the setting of policies and the changing of policies than we often think.
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