Yesterday's Doctrine - The CES Letter: A Closer Look

Can We Trust Prophets?

CES Letter Core Question

Prophets changed the policy on race and no longer practices polygamy. Plus Brigham taught disavowed Adam-God and Blood Atonement. Can we trust prophets?

CES Letter Claim

Introduction

2013 “Prophets, Seers, and Revelators” throwing yesterday’s “Prophets, Seers, and Revelators” under the bus over yesterday’s racist revelations and doctrines

(A clever couplet)

Adam-God

Yesterday’s doctrine is today’s false doctrine and yesterday’s prophet is today’s heretic.

(Not a doctrine widely accepted or taught by the body of the church)

Blood Atonement

Yesterday’s doctrine is today’s false doctrine. Yesterday’s prophet is today’s heretic.

(Not a doctrine widely accepted or taught by the body of the church)

Polygamy

Yesterday's doctrine is today's false doctrine. Yesterday's prophets are today's heretics.

(A practice that God determines when it's permitted)

Black's Ban

Yesterday’s racist doctrine and revelation is now today’s “disavowed theories.”

Yesterday’s doctrine is today’s false doctrine. Yesterday’s 10 prophets are today’s heretics.

(Not a doctrine. A policy that changed)

CES Letter, Prophets Section

The core goal of this section is to try to undermine whether we can trust prophets. The letter cherry picks (a logical fallacy) a few occasions where the church has changed things and uses this to say that prophets aren't reliable

These couplets (with their loaded language) reflect insincerity and multiple inaccuracies.

There is no law of polygamy or covenant of polygamy or ceremony of polygamy. Polygamy is not a condition of the law of eternal marriage (D&C 132:7). It is a principle within the new and everlasting covenant of marriage.

Polygamy and monogamy are both practices that are included within the doctrines of the gospel (see Genesis 25:1; Jacob 2:27). God determines which of those marriage practices will be permitted or sometimes commanded according to His will and the individual circumstances of His followers on earth (Jacob 2:30). Switching from one practice to the other required no change of doctrine.

Withholding the priesthood from African-American men was based upon a policy developed by Brigham Young.Changing that policy in 1978 did not require any change of Church doctrine.

Joseph Smith taught: “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” (Articles of Faith 9). Some new revelations will be expansive, but others may requires changes in policies and practices as the Church reacts to changing local situations and tensions.