60 years ago today - Jul 7, 1954
Second Counselor J. Reuben Clark gives an address titled "When are the Writings or Sermons of Church Leaders Entitled to the Claim of Scripture?" In it he states, ". . . even the President of the Church, himself, may not always be 'moved upon by the Holy Ghost,' when he addresses the people. This has happened about matters of doctrine (usually of a highly speculative character) where subsequent Presidents of the Church and the peoples themselves have felt that in declaring the doctrine, the announcer was not moved upon by the Holy Ghost'. . . . even the President of the Church has not always spoken under the direction of the Holy Ghost, for a prophet is not always a prophet . . . in our own Church, leaders have differed in view from the first. . . . not always may the words of a prophet be taken as a prophecy or revelation . . ." This may have been given in response to recent, public addresses by Joseph Fielding Smith which dogmatically labeled evolution as false.
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This speech has been deleted from the BYU speech archive.
ReplyDeleteTell us what you know about the deletion.
ReplyDeleteI distinctly remember reading it 2-5 years ago, and then just today went to find it at that site under speeches and it is gone! That's all I know. So much for intellectual freedom at the Y. Maybe we can find it somewhere else? It is noted in DMQ's MH:EP as having been published in the July 31, 1954 Church News. Hope this answers your question.
ReplyDeleteHere is the speech as reprinted in DIALOGUE:
ReplyDeletehttps://dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V12N02_70.pdf
Anyway, to answer the question as stated in the title of JRC's address:
ReplyDeleteWhen they are in complete harmony and total agreement with the KJV Bible and the Book of Mormon ONLY.