Thursday, September 23, 2010

YouTube Mormon Messages: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Explains The Process Of Continuing Revelation And The LDS Open Canon

Unlike most of traditional Christianity, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims an open canon. Through the power of continuous revelation, we can continue to obtain our Heavenly Father's expressed will and guidance at any time. While the President of the LDS Church is the only one authorized to receive revelations applicable to the entire Church, individual members may receive revelation regarding their own personal lives and their families. A revelation obtained by the current President of the Church supersedes a conflicting revelation given to a previous prophet, not because God can't make up His mind, but because our needs and attitudes change. God will never lead us where we are incapable or unwilling to go.

In the video embedded below made in July 2009, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explains this process further. He testifies of the truth of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and continuing revelation from God to His children.



The full address was delivered by Elder Holland during the April 2008 General Conference and the transcript is available HERE.

The Book of Mormon does NOT supersede the Bible. Instead, it takes its place alongside the Bible on the same scriptorial pedestal. The fact that we have yet to find detailed objective corroboration of the specific locations of Book of Mormon lands in no way detracts from its value. Not only is the Book of Mormon intended to be taken on faith, but God has generously reserved for us the privilege of discovering the location of Book of Mormon lands through sometimes painstaking archeological research. He knows how thrilled people become when they discover something for the first time after hard work, and He would not rob us of that pleasure.

However, it is likely that we will have to wait until after the Second Coming of Jesus Christ for all the mysteries to be made known unto us.

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