A Comparison of the LDS Articles of Faith with the Bible - Part 3 by Lloyd Sharp

So far we have seen articles one through five. Now we move on to articles six and seven.

Article 6: "We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth."

While the sixth Article claims they believe in the same organization of the early apostolic church, this is not what is practiced. According to Mormonism, it is only through apostolic succession that proper authority is given to LDS prophets and apostles. However, the New Testament knows nothing of an unbroken line of prophets and apostles. Neither does it teach that the apostles of Christ ordained any successors to replace them once they died.

"The apostles did not exercise any power of appointing successors…. Paul never taught apostolic succession nor did he believe that one apostle or bishop could transmit the gift [of apostleship] to another, nor that the sacred office could be confined to any channel or given or withheld by those who already enjoyed it…. They had no successors as we understand the term. They were chosen by their Lord for a specific task and endowed with particular gifts for its accomplishment, and their office and their gifts terminated with the apostles when their work was finished." (All the Apostles of the Bible, Herbert Lockyer, p.264, insert added, emphasis original)

While the leaders of the LDS church are the ones who chose the successors of the offices of prophet and apostle in their church, it was the Lord who chose the original apostles and sent them out to witness in His name (Luke 10:1).

The New Testament church placed apostles in authority over prophets (1 Corinthians 12:28). The LDS church has a prophet in authority over apostles. The LDS church also has a quorum of seventy that assists in the leading of the LDS church. Nowhere is this found in the Book of Mormon or the Bible. Luke 10:1 mentions the appointment of seventy (seventy-two in some Biblical manuscripts) disciples by Jesus to prepare the way for His ministry on His way to Jerusalem. Nowhere are these seventy placed under authority of the apostles. Indeed, they are appointed and directed by the Lord Himself and not the apostles!

Article 7: "We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth."

The problem here is not the wording of the Article nearly as much as the definitions poured into the words. Specifically the words ‘prophecy' and ‘revelation' take on a significant importance when we look at the LDS interpretation.

According to the Mormon church the ‘prophecy' and ‘revelation' of the church President (currently Gordon B. Hinkley) is to be treated as holy writ, even if it conflicts with the ‘prophecy' and ‘revelation' of former church leaders.

"In addition to these four books of scripture [The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants and Pearl of Great Price], the inspired words of our living prophets become scripture to us." (Gospel Principles, 1986 ed. p. 52, inserts added)

While Bible believing Christians believe in prophecy, we do so only in the sense of forth telling that which has already been revealed, not in fore telling events yet to occur. The Bible is clear that God used prophets in the past, but now speaks to us through Christ (Heb. 1:1).

In our next issue of The Cross we will examine the eighth Article of Faith. This article calls into question the validity of the Bible, so we will take the entire article to examine this claim.

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