My nonmember friend asked me:
Why does every Prophet change or add to the rules? I thought everything I needed to know was in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, but then I found out about the Doctrine and Covenants. That’s a BIG book of additional teachings.
One of the things I love so much about the Gospel is the fact that we have a prophet living on the earth today. This means we are privileged to have continuing revelation. I’m reminded of the scripture in 1 Corinthians 3:2 which reads: “I have fed you with milk and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.”
Our goal is to come to know the mind and will of God. That’s a huge challenge, and not one we can take on all at once. We have to learn it a little bit at a time, or we would not understand it. Right now we’re drinking milk because we don’t have the capacity to understand the meat. As we learn and progress, we will be able to digest the meat, and then it will be given to us.
This is the reason for continued revelation. We can’t know everything all at once, and so it trickles down a little at a time. We learn the essential core of the Gospel from the Bible, and then we read the Book of Mormon, which enhances and enriches the teachings in the Bible. They do not contradict each other, but support each other. We add to that the Doctrine and Covenants, which gives us even more knowledge, and supports everything we’ve learned in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. It’s not a matter of changing the rules, but of adding more information about the rules we already have.
We are also living in a time of great upheaval in the world, and we are blessed to have a prophet to guide us in how to prepare and how to keep afloat. We were told by a modern prophet to start storing food, and I’ve seen many times how this council blesses lives. When 9/11 happened, our prophet stood at the pulpit and spoke peace to us. How grateful I am that the heavens are not closed and we can know the mind and will of God at all times. I further trust that He will continue to share His will with us. We read in Amos 3:5 “Surely the Lord will do nothing but He revealeth his secrets unto His servants the prophets.” The prophet knows how best to lead us, and will give us the information we need so we can be prepared.
It does seem like every prophet changes things. However, it’s not that changes are being made—it’s that more information is being imparted to us as we’re ready for it. The essentials of the Gospel are the same and will never change. We’ll just understand them better.
Related Blogs:
The Morning Breaks, the Shadows Flee
Revelation – a Continuous Melody and a Thunderous Appeal