Posted by:
exbishfromportland
(
)
Date: August 31, 2013 04:26PM
I'd been kicking this idea around for awhile, even posted some thoughts on here on the subject. Finally put it all down in a way that seemed to make sense to me and decided I thought it was something important enough to put in front of their noses. I signed my name at the bottom and then under that "Former Bishop, Arleta and Mt. Tabor Wards, Portland, OR."
Now, lets see what happens. :)
Corporation of the First Presidency
50 E. North Temple St.
Salt Lake City, UT 84150
August 26, 2013
Re: Common Consent and the Ordinances of the Temple
To the First Presidency,
The Doctrine and Covenants teaches that "all things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church."(D&C 28:13). This applies to adding new scripture. President of the Church Harold B. Lee taught "The only one authorized to bring forth any new doctrine is the President of the Church, who, when he does, will declare it as revelation from God, and it will be so accepted by the Council of the Twelve and sustained by the body of the Church."There are six recorded instances of this happening in the LDS Church:
April 6, 1830: When the church was organized, the Bible and Book of Mormon were unanimously accepted as scripture.
August 17, 1835: Select revelations from Joseph Smith were unanimously accepted as scripture. These were later printed in the Doctrine and Covenants.
October 10, 1880: The Pearl of Great Price was unanimously accepted as scripture. Also at that time, other revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants which had not been accepted as scripture because they were received after 1835 were unanimously accepted as scripture.
October 6, 1890: Official Declaration—1 was accepted unanimously as scripture. It was later published in the Doctrine and Covenants.
April 3, 1976: Two visions (one received by Joseph Smith and the other by Joseph F. Smith) were accepted as scripture and added to the Pearl of Great Price. (The two visions were later moved to the Doctrine and Covenants as sections 137 and 138.)
September 30, 1978: Official Declaration—2 was accepted unanimously as scripture. It was immediately added to the Doctrine and Covenants.
When a doctrine undergoes this procedure, the LDS Church treats it as the word of God, and it is used as a standard to compare against other doctrines.
The saving ordinances of the gospel; baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost and the very important ordinance of the Sacrament are included in the Doctrine and Covenants. Since the Doctrine and Covenants have officially been accepted as revelation, then these ordinances are by definition also revelation.
The church considers temple ordinances so necessary that without them one cannot go to the Celestial Kingdom. The ordinances of the temple: washing and anointing, baptism for the dead, ordaining to the Melchizedek priesthood, the endowment and sealing are not included in the Doctrine and Covenants. They have not been approved by Common Consent as revelations.
It thus follows that these ordinances can not then be considered official revelation; they cannot be considered inspired, infallible or binding.
Without going the official process of making certain that doctrine is sure and true, these highest ordinances of the gospel could contain many errors. If someone is to make such solemn covenants as the temple requires, in order to secure the highest possible blessings God has to offer to his children, it follows these ordinances should be held to the highest possible standard. The members should be absolutely certain they are official revelation. These ordinances must go through the church mandated process:
1. Sustained unanimously by the Quorum of the Twelve
2. Presented to the body of the church by the prophet in a session of General Conference
3. Sustained by the general membership of the church
4. Included (the full and complete text of all these ordinances) as additions to the Doctrine and Covenants.
In the absence of these actions I say it is pointless to perform these temple ordinances for either the living or dead.
Billions of dollars have been spent to build temples around the world. Millions of dollars have been spent to access, record and store information on people who have lived and died. Thousands of members have been called on missions associated with family history; others volunteer hours, days, months, and years to work in Family History Centers. Millions of hours have been spent by members to prepare names of ancestors for temple work. The numbers boggle the mind.
And yet, with 141 temples in operation and ordinances performed for what now must be close to a quarter billion individuals; all the work done in the temples thus far has been for naught.