The following was first published in the Mormonism Researched in  July/August 2026. This is a free publication produced by Mormonism Research Ministry. To get a free subscription of the bimonthly newsletter, visit the website here

One of the common arguments many Latter-day Saints may point to in order to prove that theirs is the only true church on the face of the earth is that it is led by living prophets who they believe are guided by godly inspiration.

Indeed, members are told that, without prophetic leadership bestowed on certain mortals, Christ’s church is susceptible to what is known as the “Great Apostasy.” According to a 2025 church manual, this is what happened shortly after the death of Christ and His apostles:

“Due to intense persecution and the death of the Apostles, people were left without divine direction from living prophets. Jesus Christ’s teachings and doctrine were altered, resulting in a period called the Great Apostasy. . . After the deaths of the Savior and His Apostles, men corrupted the principles of the gospel and made unauthorized changes in Church organization and priesthood ordinances. Because of this widespread apostasy, the Lord withdrew the authority of the priesthood from the earth” (Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual, “The Great Apostasy,” SOURCE).

If mortal prophets and this alleged priesthood were God’s way of guiding and protecting His people, it seems odd that God would withdraw from His people when He was needed the most. Consider that Old Testament Israel often fell into some of the most disgusting of sins, yet God mercifully sent them many mortal prophets. Sometimes the people listened to them while many times they did not. Sinful people do what sinful people do.

Hebrews 1:1-2 explains,

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

Despite this sinless, omniscient “living prophet” speaking in these last days, some Latter-day Saints insist they are better off trusting inferior fallen human beings over the New Testament where we find the words of Christ.

“Is that true?” you may ask. Though it is difficult to predict specifically how many LDS members place their prophets above the authority of the New Testament, surely Joseph Fielding McConkie, the son of Apostle Bruce McConkie, seemed to be among that number.

In his 1998 book Answers: Straightforward Answers to Tough Gospel Questions, the former BYU professor of ancient scripture wrote on page 214,

“First, good doctrine will always sustain the idea that the living prophet, not scripture or any other document, is the constitution of the Church.”

On that same page he also stated,

“The Church is not governed by canon law, we have no creed to which we must pay allegiance, nor do we have a written constitution. The governing authority of the Church is the voice of the living prophet. It must ever be so.”

 In Mormonism, the prophet/president is meant to guide the LDS Church. He ranks higher in authority than the Bible and even the unique scripture found in the standard works.  On page 116 of the 2011 correlated manual Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith, members were told by their eighth president,

“Let us remember that the President of this Church has been officially designated as the pilot of the Church here in mortality to represent the Master of heaven and earth.”

Whereas no one in the LDS Church is allowed to go beyond the teachings of the standard works, this is not true for the  prophet. On page 541 of the book The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, the 11th LDS president offered this exception:

“The President of the Church is the only man on earth authorized by God to go beyond or add to the scriptures. ‘It is not to be thought that every word spoken by the General Authorities is inspired, or that they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost in everything they speak and write. Now you keep that in mind. I don’t care what his position is, if he writes something or speaks something that goes beyond anything that you can find in the standard Church works, unless that one be the prophet, seer, and revelator—please note that one exception—you may immediately say, Well, that is his own idea.’”

It should be noted that the First Presidency gave this book to church employees as a leather-bound Christmas gift in 2015.

In the 2004 correlated manual True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference, members are told, “You can always trust the living prophets” (129). Another correlated manual reads,

“We should follow his [the Prophet’s] inspired teachings completely. We should not choose to follow part of his inspired counsel and discard that which is unpleasant or difficult” (Gospel Principles, 2009, 42. Brackets mine).

Weeks after Dallin H. Oaks became the most recent church president, his January 2026 book (Learning the Great Fundamentals: Jesus, Priesthood, and the Plan of Salvation) was released by church-owned Deseret Book.

The jacket states that

“few, if any, are better suited to write about [LDS teachings] than President Dallin H. Oaks. . . Throughout his decades-long tenure in Church service, President Oaks has extensively studied these subjects, asking questions and relying on the scriptures, the words of the prophets, and divine inspiration to guide his understanding” (brackets and ellipsis mine).

The book isn’t earth shattering, as much of it merely repeats positions that have been stressed many times before. He speaks of the need to “qualify for celestial glory,” insisting that “he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory” (15, 17). 

Yet on page 19 he offers this confusing comment: “The requirement for entry into the celestial kingdom is not that we have actually practiced the entire celestial law while upon this earth, but that we have shown God that we are willing and able to do so.” What is it? So much for prophetic clarity.

If we can really trust what LDS prophets say, why does Oaks’ book have this disclaimer: “The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author. This product offered by Deseret Book Company is neither made, provided, approved, nor endorsed by Intellectual Reserve, Inc., or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”? (See top right.) I understand legal disclaimers to protect a business, but this is found in a book of a man claiming to speak for God!

Speaking at Brigham Young University on September 17, 2019, President Russell M. Nelson gave a talk titled “The Love and Laws of God.” His message included “five truths” that he felt impressed to share with those in attendance. Truth number four was “the Lord Jesus Christ, whose Church this is, appoints prophets and apostles to communicate His love and teach His laws.” He went on to say,

“Sometimes we as leaders of the Church are criticized for holding firm to the laws of God, defending the Savior’s doctrine, and resisting the social pressures of our day. But our commission as ordained apostles is “to go into all the world to preach [His] gospel unto every creature. That means we are commanded to teach truth. In doing so, sometimes we are accused of being uncaring as we teach the Father’s requirements for exaltation in the celestial kingdom. But wouldn’t it be far more uncaring for us not to tell the truth—not to teach what God has revealed? It is precisely because we do care deeply about all of God’s children that we proclaim His truth. We may not always tell people what they want to hear. Prophets are rarely popular. But we will always teach the truth! (Source. Italics in original).

Do church leaders always tell the truth? Consider:

Was Joseph Smith telling the truth when he added the word “alone” after the word justified in Romans 3:28 of his Inspired Version of the Bible?

Was Smith being honest when he told his second counselor William Law that he was not practicing polygamy?

Was Brigham Young telling the truth when, in general conference on April 9, 1852, he taught that Adam was God?

Was third president John Taylor telling the truth when he said, “God suffered a descendant of Cain [Blacks] to come through the flood in order that he [the devil] might be properly represented upon the earth”?

I could easily add many more such statements. Could Nelson have been ignorant of the above statement back in 2019? If not, was he telling the truth?