Whenever I share any quote, talk, or article about following the prophet almost immediately I am inundated with comments with some variation of “Are you claiming the prophet is infallible?”(Can’t make mistakes). This has come up so many times that I’ve decided to break down the answer so that those with pure intent can understand why I follow a fallible prophet, and you should too.
The prophet is NOT infallible
First, to level set: I do not, have not, and will never teach that the prophets are perfect/without error or mistake. They are men, and as men they have, do, and will make mistakes, errors, and less-than-optimal choices. Anyone who has read the Doctrine and Covenants will quickly realize how often the Lord is chastizing the Prophet Joseph Smith for mistakes/sins he has committed. It is a self-evident fact that the prophets are not infallible/perfect. They even repeatedly teach this, Joseph himself declared that he never claimed perfection (See History of the Church, 6:366).
Note: not only do the prophets reject the notion that they are perfect, but they claim that they are only a prophet when acting as a prophet. IE, in their official capacity. This is why we must realize that not all sayings of a prophet are authoritative, or in other words, prophetic. See this guide to understanding when a prophet’s words are authoritative vs their personal opinion: “How Can I Tell if a Quote From a General Authority is Authoritative?“
Revelation is about acceptability
With the fact that we have a fallible prophet fixed as a truth, we need to address the root of this concern or objection: the idea that a fallible prophet should not be followed. That we should only follow someone who is infallible. Prophetic infallibility would be the prophet always making the best decisions, always doing the most optimal thing right from the start. No adjustments would ever be needed to anything. A LOT of the criticisms of the Church stem from this false idea that for a prophet to be a prophet they need to be perfect, for it to be ‘revelation’ it needs to be perfect, flawless, and optimal.
This idea that we should not follow a fallible prophet is based on a misunderstanding of how revelation works. It is based on the idea that there is a single right option when in reality there are often many right options. Take dating for example: Many people struggle when it comes time to decide to get married. They don’t get answers to their prayers asking if this person is “the right one” and they get stuck waiting for an answer. When in reality there might be 10,000 valid options in the plan for you and you should be asking if marrying this person is acceptable.
Revelation is the process by which we find out if something is acceptable to the Lord. Let us look at the steps of revelation in connection with acceptability.
- Recognize a problem that is within our preview.
- Study it out. Learn about the problem, and ponder the issue and potential solutions and the consequences of each one (pros and cons).
- Choose what you think is the best solution. (This step is VITAL as it is using our agency, too often we skip this step and ask the Lord to choose for us, IE, “Should I marry Emily?”).
- Take your solution to the Lord and ask for confirmation that the solution is ACCEPTABLE to Him. Not that it is perfect, not that it is the only right action, or the optimal action even, we are to pray if it is ACCEPTABLE to Him. (IE, I want to marry Emily, I love her, she is temple worthy, and wants a family. Is this acceptable?”)
Those are the four steps we must follow if want to receive revelation. Each step is vital, and cannot be skipped. Presiding Bishop Victor L. Brown counseled us, “It requires considerable study in order to be prepared to ask the Lord if our proposed plan is right and have him confirm its acceptability.” When we do these things the Lord will answer us in one of four ways.
- The Lord will confirm our solution as acceptable. (Not that it is optimal, not that it is perfect, not that it is the infallible choice, but that it is acceptable within the plan).
- The Lord will tell us it is NOT right via a stupor of thought, and we must go back to studying it out.
- The Lord will NOT do anything. Thus allowing us to walk forward in faith trusting in the promise that the Holy Ghost will warn us before we make a mistake that is unacceptable to Him.
- The Lord will give us a different solution to the problem, this one is very rare and only happens when we’ve done all the work on our part to receive revelation.
Acceptability and iteration are the keys to understanding and following a fallible prophet.
Understanding that with revelation we are seeking confirmation of acceptability is vital! It allows us to look at the fallible prophets and their solutions (counsel and teachings) and with confidence follow them. We know they have followed the patterns of revelation, and that even if their solution is not perfect, it is acceptable to the Lord and therefore we should follow it.
Acceptability also goes hand-in-hand with the other principle, iteration. Understanding that the various policies, practices, and procedures of the Church are “acceptable” to the Lord, but not perfect, iteration is when the prophet seeks to identify friction within the policies, practices, and procedures of the Church and then seeks revelation to make it better.
If we look at Church history we constantly see the prophet looking at something that is causing friction and asking, “Is there a better or clearer way to do this?” From adjustments to the temple ordinances to allowing any member to be a witness at a baptism, President Nelson has excelled at seeking out friction points within the Church’s fourfold mission and seeking revelation on how to smooth them out.
The Manti Temple: a case study of iterative and acceptable revelation.
There are many examples of iterative and acceptable revelation, from the length of missions being changed in the 80s from 24 months to 18 and back to 24, to the policies surrounding the children of gay parents. But, in my opinion, the perfect example of iterative and acceptable revelation is the Manti Temple.
The Manti Temple was very busy and was in dire need of repair. The brethren observed the problem, studied their options, and concluded that the best solution would be to completely remodel and renovate the temple. They took it to the Lord, asked if it was acceptable, and they received a confirming witness that it was.
They announce the renovation and remodeling of the temple and start moving forward. The locals were crushed. Unlike Salt Lake, many living near Manti still had deep connections to the temple. They were descendants of pioneers who built the Temple. They asked the prophet if there was any way to save their heritage.
Observing this new problem, the brethren “studied out” their options, and even though their current plan was acceptable to the Lord, they wanted to see if they could find another acceptable option, one that preserved many pioneer elements of the temple. To keep a long story short, they chose to build another temple in the nearby college town of Ephraim to reduce the demand on the Manti Temple, and thus they could focus on restoring rather than remodeling Manti. They took their new solution to the Lord and received confirmation that it was acceptable.
The infallibility philosophy of revelation would be that the prophet should’ve known what was going to happen and simply had announced the new temple and restoration of the Manti Temple from the start. Because this did not happen, many people struggled. But those who understood how revelation is both iterative and about finding acceptable solutions had their testimonies strengthened. They were thankful that a fallible prophet saw their plight and was so concerned that he went back to see if there was another acceptable option that would preserve their heritage. For more on how iterative changes should strengthen your testimony see: “Why Policy Reversals Should Strengthen Your Testimony.“
The Analogy of the Highway
A great analogy to understand this is the idea of railroad tracks versus a highway. We often think of revelation as railroad tracks, there is only one thing that can be done. It is a simple binary option, you are on the tracks or not. Infallibility would mean you won’t go off the tracks. You will always be following a ‘perfect step-by-step plan.’ If revelation was like railroad tracks, then to be assured you won’t go astray if you follow the prophets would require they be infallible.
But revelation is not like railroad tracks, it is like a big multilane highway. There are defined ditches on either side of the road, but the multiple lanes are there because God’s plan has a BUNCH of wiggle room or gray areas. There are multiple acceptable options for most of our choices. Rather than only having one valid option “stay on the tracks” there are many lanes that can be used to get to our destination. The prophet’s job is to seek revelation from the Lord on which lane (policies, practices, and procedures) the Church should move into. The fallible prophet, we are promised, won’t lead us astray, or in other words, he won’t drive the car into the ditch.
He seeks revelation in conjunction with the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. They follow the steps of revelation, just like us, and once they get the confirming revelation that the proposed solution is “acceptable” they move forward with it citing that confirming revelation as a seal of approval from Christ.
Understanding how revelation is not like railroad tracks but rather a highway resolves the root of this issue. It explains how we can believe that the prophet is not infallible yet still teach that we should follow the prophet and that he won’t lead us astray. (And yes, we have been promised that the Lord won’t let a fallible prophet lead us astray repeatedly, see here for 25+ times that promise has been extended over the last 100 years).
Therefore what? Follow the fallible prophet!
With the knowledge of how revelation works and the multiple assurances that despite their fallible nature the Lord has promised us that he won’t allow us to be led astray by the prophet, let us hold steadfastly to the prophetic word of God that is an Iron Rod that will lead us safely through the midsts of darkness of our days.
Whenever the prophet is talked about some will rebuttal, “I follow Christ.” in a subtle attack on the prophet. One of Christ’s apostles, Mark E. Petersen declared that “whosoever rejects or receives the living authorities of his Church rejects or receives the Lord himself.” (CR, Apr. 1945) Rejecting the prophets is akin to letting go of the Iron Rod. You can claim till you are red in the face that you are “following Christ” but when you let go of the Iron Rod you committing spiritual suicide. We were warned of this by President George Q. Cannon:
“Whenever you see a man disobeying the counsel of the Lord through the Holy Priesthood, you may know that unless he repents, he will apostatize. It is a sure sign of apostasy. A man may be an Apostle, a Seventy, a High Priest, an Elder or a Bishop, yet if he tries to divide the people and persuades them to disobey the Prophet of God, he will surely fall, unless he repents with all his heart. The Lord asks us to obey Him. He tells us how to do so. He does not ask for blind obedience, because He gives His Holy Spirit to all who ask for it to show them that it is right to obey.”
(“Satan Hates a United People,” Gospel Truth, Vol. 1, p. 210–11)
For more quotes about the blessings of following the Prophet/the danger of disobeying see “20+ Amazing Quotes on Following The Prophet and the Dangers of Disobeying!“
