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Home arrow Questions to Mormons arrow ALL QUESTIONS arrow Do Mormons believe in revelation?
Do Mormons believe in revelation? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Scott Evenson   
Sunday, 05 June 2011
I would like to know how Mormons regard the doctrine of revelation? Do they have a belief in "special" revelation? Do revelation continue? Who can recieve revelation? Are their references in scripture pertaining to revelation? How does God reveal God's self and will?

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1. Revelation
Thank you for the question I will do my best to answer to the best of my knowledge and ability! Feel free to visit mormon.org for more information about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! 
 
Q: I would like to know how Mormons regard the doctrine of revelation? 
 
A: "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." (9th Article of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints http://lds.org/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1?lang=eng#) 
 
Q:Do they have a belief in "special" revelation? 
 
A: It depends on what you mean by "special". The Church believes that there is two kinds of revelation individual and revelation received through the Priesthood.  
 
Ever person that has been bestowed with the Gift of the Holy Ghost by laying on of hands by one with the proper Priesthood Authority is entitled to individual revelation. Such individual revelation pertains only to the person receiving the revelation and nobody else.  
 
The second type of revelation is what is commonly referred to as Priesthood Revelation, though that term isn't the best to describe how this line of revelation works.  
 
Priesthood Revelation is similar to individual revelation it is still the will of the Lord received through the Holy Ghost or the power of God, the difference here is the Priesthood revelation not only pertains to self but to all persons you are ordained to lead spiritually.  
 
For example a Father can receive Priesthood Revelation for his family (since Fathers are ordained of by God to lead there families), the Congregational Leader (called a Bishop) can recieve revelation for the congregation, a Regional Leader (called a Stake President) can receive revelation for the Stake, and the President of the Church (also called the Prophet) can receive revelation for the membership of the Church as well as for the entire world.  
 
As with all things though each person is fully able to choose to follow this divine council or not whether they are a member of the Church or not.  
 
Q: Do(sic) revelation continue? 
 
A: Most definitely it does, without revelation we have no way to know the will of the Lord for us in our time, without revelation there is no guidance from the Lord nor is there any ability for feeble men to keep Christ's Church pure.  
 
Q: Who can recieve revelation? 
 
A: Anyone that has the Gift of the Holy Ghost (as described above) can receive individual revelation. Anyone that has the Gift of the Holy Ghost and is ordained to a Priesthood Office can receive revelation for those he is ordained to watch over.  
 
Q: Are their references in scripture pertaining to revelation? 
 
A: Many, my favorite is Matthew 16: 16-18. In this verse Peter declares that Jesus is the Son of God, and Christ reveals that Peter received this revelation from God not man. He goes on to declare that Revelation is the Rock that he will build his Church on through Peter.  
 
When there is no revelation to a living Prophet there is no True Church of Christ on the Earth. This is why a restoration was needed, and why in 1830 the Prophet Joseph Smith was called to restore the Church of Jesus Christ to the Earth.  
 
Q: How does God reveal God's self and will? 
 
A: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7) http://lds.org/scriptures/search?lang=eng&type=verse&query=servants+prophets&book=ot/amos 
 
God reveals his will to the Earth through his ordained Prophets, men in Old Testament times such as Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Elijah, Elisha, Amos, and Malachi.  
 
In the New Testament times you had Jesus Christ (who was the first Prophet of that dispensation as well as the Son of God), Peter, James, John (Son of Zebedee), Paul, and John the Revelator.  
 
In Ancient America you had men like Lehi, Nephi, Alma, Mormon, and Moroni.  
 
In the modern days you had men like Joseph Smith Jr, Brigham Young, and the living Prophet Thomas S. Monson. 
 
As the Apostle Paul teaches us in Ephesians 2:20 "[The Church is] built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;"
LDS Guy 1986
Registered
06-06-2011 10:42
2. Do Mormons believe in revelation?
What is the Mormon view on Scriptural inerrancy? Does this pertain to only the Bible or to all Mormon scripture and revelation? Was the revelation given to Joseph Smith considered inerrant? How does one know whether they are receiving revelation?
Scott Evenson
Guest
06-06-2011 19:26
3. Inerrancy
Q: What is the Mormon view on Scriptural inerrancy? 
 
A: "Latter-day Saints revere the Bible. They study it and believe it to be the word of God. However, they do not believe the Bible, as it is currently available, is without error." http://lds.org/study/topics/bible-inerrancy-of?lang=eng&query=Inerrancy 
 
Q: Does this pertain to only the Bible or to all Mormon scripture and revelation? 
 
A: While this is a matter of personal opinion mostly, I believe that anything is only a perfect as the person whom recorded it. So everything written by or through the hands of mankind has error, since all of us make mistakes.  
 
The only person that walked the Earth and was capable of writing inerrant scriptures was Christ and he never wrote anything down for that reason, IMO. He didn't want people clinging to a book believing it was perfect instead of seeking the Living Gospel the Lord Jesus Christ.  
 
Q: Was the revelation given to Joseph Smith considered inerrant? 
 
A: Absolutely not, all things done by men or through men are subject to error this is why we must not only have faith in the teachings of our leaders but also have the humility to accept that mistakes have been and will be made as long as men are imperfect beings.  
 
Q: How does one know whether they are receiving revelation? 
 
A: The same way that they know that Heavenly Father is real, that Christ is his Son, and that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. The know it through the power of the Holy Ghost, now as I stated before revelation can be misinterpreted, taken out of context, or even changed by the imperfections of men so revelation is not expected to be an absolute in every situation. This is why constant prayer and seeking the will of the Lord is needed because our choices can most definitely impact or change the Lords plans for us.
LDS Guy 1986
Registered
06-16-2011 14:17
4. Lords plans change?
LDS guy recently wrote "This is why constant prayer and seeking the will of the Lord is needed because our choices can most definitely impact or change the Lords plans for us." 
 
How does one seek the will of Heavenly Father if He may change His plans? Does He deliver His sons and daughters out of dire straights if they return to Him with meekness and lowliness of heart?
Marc
Registered
06-22-2011 23:57
5. The Lord never changes, but we do.
The plans of the Lord never change unless we are the source of that change, for example the Lord will call Brother X to be a missionary. This is the Lord's plan for this person, let's say though that Brother X decides to be unchaste and impregnates his girlfriend.  
 
Since Brother X choose to not follow the requirements of his calling (to be chaste, and not have dependent children) the Lord must remove that calling from Brother X not because the Lord changed his mind, he still wanted Brother X to go on a mission. The choices made by Brother X though made him unworthy and unable to serve in the calling hence the Lord had to remove the calling and issue it to someone else.  
 
The Lord never changes anything IF we do not change our morals and become unworthy or unable to fulfill our part of the promise he made.  
 
To answer your second question, yes Jesus Christ will always deliver us from our sins if we repent and seek forgiveness with meekness and lowliness of heart. If we repent and forsake our sins we always receive forgiveness.
LDS Guy 1986
Registered
06-28-2011 10:22

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