Those of us who are only able to rely upon the witness or teachings of people who have spiritual experiences face the problem of spiritual discernment. In his October 2010 conference talk, Elder Oaks states that while we ourselves can receive revelation, if we do receive revelation and it contradicts what the Brethren themselves have received, then we are told that we are wrong; that our revelation is of the devil! Respectfully, I disagree with his position. Firstly, the individuals who comprise the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency are not infallible. Ergo, they – like the rest of us – are not perfect, and can quite possibly be wrong! And on this occasion Elder Oaks is in error, and a dangerous one at that too [1].
Elder Christofferson in his April 2010 conference talk stated that the scriptures ought to be used as the standard for distinguishing truth from error. In my last post I mentioned some of the considerations we ought to keep in mind in relying upon any revelation (in fact, even our own revelations will be colored in some way). Therefore, we ought not use the scriptures as a ‘standard’ per se. If we have our own spiritual experiences, or gain an audience with Christ, then we no longer need the scriptures to validate what we experience as truth, we have received direct validation ourselves.
This leaves us then with one thing: our own self. We can only ever rely upon our own self, or I. Everything else either facilitates or hinders our relationship with the divine. We have to remind ourselves: what is the purpose for taking part in a religious community? What am I aiming for? Some of us are trying to follow Christ, to enter into His presence, and through Him, to our Heavenly Father. Therefore, anything that comes between you and the Lord is a hindrance or an obstacle to be overcome.
The Lord has asked us to take steps toward Him. Entering His presence is an arduous task, and the spirits of hindrance do their best to divert us from this.
We need to discern these spirits, as they influence us via our own soul, and via others (no one is immune, but they thrive on not being noticed). Despite my comments above, Elder Christofferson does have a good point: if we study the scriptures, we are given insight into how things unfold in our time. If we take heed to the lessons, we are armed with knowledge about the tactics of the spirits of hindrance.
[1] Elder Oaks states that while we ourselves can receive revelation, if we do receive revelation and it contradicts what the Brethren themselves have received, then we are told that we are wrong; that our revelation is of the devil. What this means is that the standard by which we assess the truthfulness of revelation is no longer the Holy Spirit, or the fact of Christ’s appearance to us and His words. No, it is the Brethren. It is a small group of men – fallen, fallible human beings who on the one hand deny their infallibility (via anonymous press release), while expecting us to take everything they say as the truth. What is wrong with this picture?
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