I hope you enjoy some insights from my Come, Follow Me for The Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 and 2. If you missed last week’s insight, for Doctrine and Covenants 137-138 click here for it. Please share this with your friends or use this picture to save this pin to read later:
Articles of Faith That Set Us Apart.
Many Latter-day Saints are familiar with the Articles of Faith. We teach them to the kids in Primary! But what many members don’t know is that Joseph Smith’s articles of faith were NOT the first articles of faith published but rather the last. See, it is not uncommon for Christian Churches to have statements of faith, and in the early days of the Church, many different Church leaders/missionaries declared our articles of faith. Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Young (Brigham’s brother), Orson Pratt, and Orson Hyde all wrote articles of faith to teach what the church believed. Some of these were short, others like Orson Hyde had 16 points! (For more on this history see the following Ensign Article from September 1979 “‘We Believe. …’: Development of the Articles of Faith”
Ultimately, Joseph Smith wrote down and declared our 13 Articles of Faith that have been canonized as the official Articles of Faith for the Church. It is important to understand these articles were NOT meant to be all-inclusive as to our beliefs. but rather, the Articles of Faith declare the Church’s stance on issues/doctrines that people questioned. For example, Article #12 Declares that we believe in being subject to earthly governments. This sounds odd until you realize the constant accusations of treason that Joseph Smith was accused of, it is His way of saying NO, we do NOT believe in treason, we subject ourselves to governments.
That is just ONE example of how the Article of Faith addressed an issue, other examples address doctrinal apostasy and declare our restored positions on things like the Godhead, Original Sin, Predestination, etc etc etc. I invite you to read this article that goes over the “Five False Doctrines That The First Five Articles of Faith Correct”
The Bible Translated Correctly.
The Lord never intended for the only unique volume of scriptures for the Latter-day Saints to be the Triple Combination (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price). It was intended that the Latter-day Saints have a unique “New Translation” of the Bible too (see D&C 124:89 ). Understanding this when one reads the 8th Article of Faith you realize what Joseph was declaring: “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly” Translated correctly is referring to the Inspired Verison he was preparing to print.
I want to testify that the Joseph Smith Translation is the work of the Lord. I add my testimony to that of Bruce R. McConkie who declared: “It can scarcely be stated with too great an emphasis. The Joseph Smith Translation, or Inspired Version, is a thousand times over the best Bible now existing on earth. It contains all that the King James Version does, plus pages of additions and corrections and an occasional deletion. It was made by the spirit of revelation, and the changes and additions are the equivalent of the revealed word in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants.” (The Bible, a Sealed Book by Elder Bruce R. McConkie)
For more about the JST including how it was completed see: “4 Things You Did NOT Know About The Joseph Smith Translation (JST)”
Official Declaration 1: The Prophet Will Not Lead Us Astray.
Every prior dispensation has ended in apostasy with the Church and Priesthood, and fullness of the Gospel being taken from among the people. Whereas individuals may apostize, and many have, the unique promise of these last days is that this dispensation will not end in apostasy. One of the most amazing truths taught in Official Declaration 1 is in relation to that promise that the Church will not apostatize as a whole. President Woodruff taught:
The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty.
(Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church, Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reported in Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1890, p. 2.)
That is an amazing doctrinal promise and like all truths, it is taught in the mouths of 2-3 witnesses. Ezra Taft Benson taught: “The prophet will never lead the Church astray.” (First Presidency Message June 1981), Marion G. Romney related that Heber J. Grant taught him, ” The Lord will never let his mouthpiece lead the people astray.” (Conference Report, October 1960, p. 78.), and in the October 2021 General Conference, Elder Ronald A. Rasband taught, “We are distinguished as a Church to be led by prophets, seers, and revelators called of God for this time. I promise that as you listen and follow their counsel, you will never be led astray. Never!”
It is clearly and repeatedly taught that the prophets will not lead us astray. Why does this matter? Because the words of the prophet are the litmus test for our personal revelation. President Henry B. Eyring taught, “It is crucial that any personal revelation we receive be consonant with the teachings of the Lord and His prophets.” Christ is not divided! God will not be giving you revelation that the prophet is wrong. We authenticate our personal revelation by comparing it to the words, teachings, and counsel of the prophets and apostles. For more on this topic see, “The Vitally Important Part of #Hear Him That Members Are Completely Missing!”
But there is one massive question/issue that arises with authenticating our personal revelation by comparing it to words of the prophets: “How can I tell if the quotes from a general authority I’ve found are authoritative and therefore I can authenticate my personal revelation by comparing the two?” I wrote this article to give you the 5 steps to discovering if the quote or teachings you’ve seen/heard are actually authoritative.
Official Declaration 2: The Danger of Assuming Reasons
“Why” is possibly the most said word by two-year-olds, why is the sky blue, why is milk-white, why is grass green. But as adults, we also love the ask why. When the restriction on blacks and the priesthood started, the Lord did NOT give a reason. Nor did God give a reason as to WHY He choose to limit the Priesthood in the days of Moses to the Levites rather than another tribe. Very often God does NOT give us the why, or if He does, it is only a partial why. Most of the time we are commanded to obey based on faith and a witness from the Holy Ghost.
With no reason given for the restriction, people started to advance and teach their theories explaining ‘the why’ behind the restriction; this became a widespread practice even among the seventies and apostles. Sadly, these philosophies of men mingled with scripture gained a foothold. It is one of the tragedies of this era of church history that these theories of men were advanced and taught; from these theories comes every damaging and disparaging quote about Blacks and the Priesthood. People even used these theories to justify repugnant racism.
Ultimately with Offical Declaration #2, it proved many theories completely false. If we, as Latter-day Saints can learn one lesson from the history of Offical Declaration #2 I would suggest it would be the virtue of not figuring out ‘the why’ when the Lord has not given one. Sadly, this lesson is still missed as many Latter-day Saints have shifted from theories about why blacks could not hold the priesthood to theories as to the origin of the prohibition. Let us abstain from all theories and instead focus on the doctrine that God has declared.
Elder Hartman Rector, Jr, taught this when he said, “We are not called to preach the philosophies of men mingled with scripture or our own ideas or the mysteries of the kingdom, nor are we called to bring forth new doctrine. The president of the Church will do that. But we are to stick to the basic fundamental principles of the gospel.”
(January 1974 Ensign)
For more on the dangers of claiming the prohibition was due to Brigham Young being a racist see point #2 in “Why it is dangerous to throw away prophets you dislike” And for more on the dangers of speculating and how we do it with the Word of Wisdom see “The mistake Latter-day Saints made with the Priesthood restriction and how we are repeating it.”
Official Declaration 2: The Hastening of Salvation.
One aspect that is not hit on enough regarding Official Declaration 2 is how it opened the floodgates. Within months of Official Declaration 2, missionaries had entered Black Africa and found members like Joseph William Billy Johnson and Anthony Obinna who had been waiting for years! They had gained testimonies of the gospel and not only held on to their testimonies despite being denied the Priesthood, but actually spread the gospel! They along with dozens of other black non-members organized unofficial branches of the Church and literally prepared thousands of people who readily joined the Church soon after Official Declaration 2!
The floodgates have opened in terms of the growth of the Church in Africa, consider the fact that the Church now has more members in Africa than in Europe! Nigeria alone has more members than there are in all of the United Kingdom! The Church is growing so rapidly in Africa because of men like Joseph William Billy Johnson and Anthony Obinna! Men who were DENIED the Priesthood. Men who did NOT know the WHY behind the priesthood prohibition, but did not throw away what they knew for what they did not know. They KNEW the Church was true and so they stayed faithful and set an example of sharing the gospel too! For their stories, and five other amazing international pioneer stories see: “7 of the most amazing international pioneer stories that you have never heard!“