Doubting the Prophet and Seeking Signs From the Holy Ghost

There is a rapidly spreading false doctrine that is ravaging the Church. It is not taught by anti-Mormons or those who don’t believe in the Book of Mormon, but rather, it is pushed by fellow members. The doctrine being taught is that doubting the prophets and withholding obedience until you get a witness from the Holy Ghost is justifiable before God. They don’t come out saying “Don’t follow the prophet,” but rather, they insert subtle faith-destroying doubt that sounds logical like, “You don’t want to blindly follow the prophet.”

I want to break down their idea into three separate aspects: Doubting the prophet, seeking signs from the Holy Ghost, and discouraging obedience.

Doubting the Prophet

We will all have times when the prophet asks us to do something hard. Pick a prophetic teaching and you’ll find someone who struggles with it. The question becomes how do we approach prophetic counsel that is difficult for us to process and obey?

The answer is we pray for confirmation! But here the subtle faith-destroying false doctrine enters in. These members encourage others to withhold obedience until their doubts are resolved. They take the posture of assuming the prophet is wrong and refuse to follow him until he is proven to be right. He is guilty until proven innocent in their eyes.

In direct contrast, Dallin H. Oaks has taught that “We respect our leaders and presume inspiration in their leadership of the Church and in their teachings.” Yes, we are encouraged to pray, but we are to presume that the prophet is right, and if no confirmation of that presumption comes, we are to continue in faith. Knowing, that as Moroni taught, “Dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6).

Seeking Signs from the Holy Ghost

All endowed members have made covenants to obey. The doubter suspends his commitment to commandments and covenants while waiting for a witness. Thus they turn the witness of the Holy Ghost into the ultimate sign-seeking experience. To quote the Ensign, “One problem with doubt is the intent to obey only after the uncertainty is resolved to the satisfaction of the doubter. This is the attitude personified by Korihor, who said, “If thou wilt show unto me a sign … then will I be convinced of the truth” (Alma 30:43).” (When Doubts and Questions Arise, March 2015)

This is a hard lesson to learn, one that Boyd K. Packer related his experience learning as thus: “Shortly after I was called as a General Authority, I went to Elder Harold B. Lee for counsel. He listened very carefully to my problem and suggested that I see President David O. McKay. President McKay counseled me as to the direction I should go. I was very willing to be obedient but saw no way possible for me to do as he counseled me to do.

“I returned to Elder Lee and told him that I saw no way to move in the direction I was counseled to go. He said, ‘The trouble with you is you want to see the end from the beginning.’ I replied that I would like to see at least a step or two ahead. Then came the lesson of a lifetime: ‘You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you.’ Then he quoted these 18 words from the Book of Mormon: ‘Dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith’” (Ether 12:6). (Move Forward in Faith, Ensign, August 2013)

A Note on False Revelation and How It Leads to Apostasy

When doubters assume the prophet is wrong, and seek confirmation that they are right, they enter into dangerous territory. Far worse than sign-seeking is when doubters seek for their doubts to be confirmed so badly that they open themselves up to receiving false revelations from Lucifer that the prophet is wrong/fallen. This false revelation destroys confidence in the prophet and leads to personal apostasy. President Heber C. Kimball (1801–68) of the First Presidency taught: “I will give you a key which Brother Joseph Smith used to give in Nauvoo. He said that the very step of apostasy commenced with losing confidence in the leaders of this church and kingdom, and that whenever you discerned that spirit you might know that it would lead the possessor of it on the road to apostasy” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 318).

The minute someone is claiming “revelation” that God is telling them that the prophet has fallen or is wrong, you can with 100% knowledge reject them as a false prophet. Even if they claim to be an active member of the Church. In the Oct 1999 General Conference, M. Russell Ballard taught: “In the Lord’s Church there is no such thing as a “loyal opposition.” One is either for the kingdom of God and stands in defense of God’s prophets and apostles, or one stands opposed.” See “Beware of False Prophets and False Teachers”

Discouraging Obedience by Labeling it “Blind”

It is important to understand that seeing others following the prophet often sends the doubter into a frenzy. How could someone act without a sign!?! They must be blindly following! And those false prophets who have received ‘revelation’ that the prophet is wrong cannot stand seeing people obeying the ‘wrong’ counsel of the prophet. Here the subtleness of the apostasy wears off. They now persecute the Saints who follow the prophets as being “blind.” Yet when you boil their argument down, it is not often an argument against blind obedience, but instead an argument against obedience itself.

If you want a fun exercise, go to your gospel library app and search “blind obedience” in the Ensign or Liahona and you will realize it is never used in the context to discourage obedience like the doubters use it. Here are four examples that will come up teaching the Lord’s view on the term ‘blind obedience’:

“Those who talk of blind obedience may appear to know many things, but they do not understand the doctrines of the gospel. There is an obedience that comes from a knowledge of the truth that transcends any external form of control. We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see.” Boyd K. Packer, Apr. 1983

“One of the sneaky ploys of the adversary is to have us believe that unquestioning obedience to the principles and commandments of God is blind obedience. His goal is to have us believe that we should be following our own worldly ways and selfish ambitions. This he does by persuading us that “blindly” following the prophets and obeying the commandments is not thinking for ourselves. He teaches that it is not intelligent to do something just because we are told to do so by a living prophet or by prophets who speak to us from the scriptures.” By Elder R. Conrad Schultz, Apr. 2002

“Members who have a testimony and who act upon it under the direction of their Church leaders are sometimes accused of blind obedience… When the Holy Ghost gives our souls a witness of the truth of the restored gospel and the calling of a modern prophet, our choice to follow those teachings is not blind obedience.” Dallin H. Oaks, Apr. 2008

“The philosophical standard of the world holds that unquestioning obedience equals blind obedience, and blind obedience is mindless obedience. This is simply not true. Unquestioning obedience to the Lord indicates that a person has developed faith and trust in Him to the point where he or she considers all inspired instruction—whether it be recorded scripture, the words of modern prophets, or direct inspiration through the Holy Ghost—to be worthy of obedience. The standard of the world is “I will move on a course only when its truth has been proven to me.” This standard contradicts the admonition to believe all things. Unfortunately, we are too often content to live with our reservations, assuming that believing most things is good enough.” Elder Robert C. Oaks, July 2005

Therefore what?

If you do not have a witness of the divinity of the prophet’s call, then gaining a witness is the most important thing you can do. Pray with the intent to obey and ask God if the prophet is called by Him. And, after you have prayed, get up off your knees and act. Test the prophet’s fruits as Christ told us to do and “after the trial of your faith” you will gain a witness.

But once you have a witness of the divinity of the prophet’s call, you have a duty to act on the prophet’s counsel. God has repeatedly promised us that He will not allow the prophet to lead us astray, trust this promise! (click here for 25 times as recently as 2022 that promise was renewed). When something is hard or frustrating, ask for confirmation or help to understand that counsel specifically, but remain loyal to the prior witnesses of the prophet’s call that you’ve already received and follow the prophet while you work towards another confirmation.

I close with the words of Elder Holland: “The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know… I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have. Sometimes we act as if an honest declaration of doubt is a higher manifestation of moral courage than is an honest declaration of faith. It is not!” (“Lord, I Believe” Apr. 2013)