📢 When Did “Follow the Prophet” Become the Gospel?
📢 When Did “Follow the Prophet” Become the Gospel?
It’s one of the strongest currents in LDS culture today: “When the Prophet speaks, the debate is over.”
But neither the Bible nor the Book of Mormon teach this. And prophets themselves never intended it.
So how did this idea sneak in? The record tells a fascinating story.
📜 The Scriptural Standard
The Lord warned plainly:
2 Nephi 28:31 — “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.”
Mosiah 18:20 — Teachers were commanded to preach “nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord.”
Jeremiah 17:5 — “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.”
The divine pattern was always: trust God’s word and Spirit above all else.
🕰️ The Timeline of “Follow the Prophet”
1945 – “The Thinking Has Been Done”
A priesthood lesson in the Improvement Era printed the now-famous line:
“When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done.”
Members were shaken. Dr. J. Raymond Cope, a Unitarian minister in Salt Lake, wrote directly to President George Albert Smith, worried this implied Latter-day Saints had no freedom to think.
Smith replied in a private letter:
“Even to imply that members of the Church are not to do their own thinking is grossly to misrepresent the true ideal of the Church.”
But here’s the catch: he never publicly corrected the magazine. So the false idea spread unchecked, resurfacing later.
1978 – “When the Prophet Speaks, Sisters, the Debate Is Over”
At the General Women’s Meeting, Elaine Cannon (Young Women president) repeated the phrase, paraphrasing the 1945 article.
President Spencer W. Kimball called her in the next day and gently corrected her:
“I don’t think the people like to hear that.”
But again—he never said anything publicly.
1980 – Benson’s Fourteen Fundamentals
At a BYU devotional, Ezra Taft Benson delivered his talk “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet.”
President Kimball was alarmed, fearing it taught a blind “follow the leader” mentality. He nearly issued a formal rebuke, and required Benson to apologize to the Twelve and other leaders.
Yet—Kimball never publicly disavowed it. The silence allowed the “fundamentals” to live on, later canonized in manuals, seminary materials, and even repeated word-for-word in General Conference (2010).
1981 – McConkie’s Private Letter
A year later, Bruce R. McConkie wrote to BYU professor Eugene England, warning against embracing Brigham Young’s false teachings about Adam-God. McConkie admitted:
“Prophets are men and they make mistakes. Sometimes they err in doctrine. This is one of the reasons the Lord has given us the Standard Works.”
In other words—even apostles knew not every prophetic utterance is binding truth.
2010 – The Re-Preaching
By 2010, the very ideas once rejected by Presidents Smith and Kimball had become “settled truth.”
Claudio R. M. Costa repeated Benson’s Fourteen Fundamentals point-by-point in General Conference.
Kevin R. Duncan did the same in the same session, saying they were vital to salvation.
What Kimball once resisted had, by silence and repetition, become LDS culture.
🚨 How False Traditions Take Root
A phrase slips in (1945).
Privately rejected but never publicly corrected.
Silence = acceptance.
Acceptance = repetition.
Repetition = doctrine in the culture.
And so, what started as an error in a magazine became one of the pillars of modern LDS thought.
❌ The Misused Scripture: Amos 3:7
Whenever this subject comes up, someone almost always quotes:
“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7)
At first glance, it sounds like everything God does must go through a prophet first. But context tells a very different story.
Audience: Amos wasn’t giving a global law about God’s dealings for all time. He was warning Israel of his daythat God was about to bring judgment — and prophets like Amos were sounding the alarm.
Meaning: The point is that God does not strike suddenly without warning. He gives His people fair notice through witnesses. It doesn’t mean every personal revelation, every act of God, or every step in our lives must funnel through one institutional prophet.
Irony: In the same chapter (Amos 3:2), God warns Israel that because they are His covenant people, He will punish them first. In other words — the prophets were sent to correct the people and their leaders, not to demand blind obedience to them.
📖 The True New Testament Pattern
If Amos 3:7 meant that all revelation must pass through one man, then the New Testament would look very different. But instead:
Peter received his vision of the Gentiles (Acts 10).
Paul received his call and instructions directly from Christ (Acts 9).
Philip was guided by an angel and the Spirit to baptize the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8).
The promise of Joel — quoted by Peter — was that in the last days “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy”(Joel 2:28; Acts 2:17).
The gospel pattern is that all the Saints receive revelation. Prophets are important witnesses, but they are not the gatekeepers of God’s voice.
🌿 The True Pattern
Christ gave us something far more powerful than slogans:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)
“Ye must press forward… feasting upon the word of Christ.” (2 Nephi 31:20)
“The Holy Ghost… will show unto you all things what ye should do.” (2 Nephi 32:5)
The Book of Mormon’s plea is clear: Don’t put your trust in man. Trust the Savior’s living voice.
✨ Final Witness
If Joseph Smith himself could speak, he’d repeat what he taught:
“A prophet is only a prophet when he is acting as such.”
The tragic irony is that the very men who cautioned against blind loyalty were later turned into slogans demanding it.
The choice today is the same as it was anciently: Will you follow men, or will you follow Christ?
💬 A Personal Reflection
Not long ago I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. The Spirit was with me, and I could feel it flowing — not from me, but from the Lord. People came up afterward, grateful for what was said.
I’ve felt the same when family members or fellow Saints have spoken with power. You can tell when the Spirit is present. It’s real, and it’s beautiful.
And yes — the Brethren at General Conference can also speak with the Spirit. Many times they have. But here is the point: when that happens, it is the Spirit we are hearing, not the man. The danger comes when we begin to worship the office, the conference, the institution — instead of the Savior who gives the Spirit in the first place.
The truth is simple: follow Christ. If His Spirit is in the words, then receive them with joy. But don’t confuse the messenger with the Master.
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