FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Question: Are General Authorities very silent about some issues, allowing academic or volunteer organizations take their place?
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Contents
Some claim that General Authorities are very silent about some issues, and that the Maxwell Institute takes their place.
Questions
It is claimed that General Authorities are very silent about some issues, and that the Maxwell Institute takes their place.
To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, [[../CriticalSources|click here]]
Answer
The new Gospel principles manual says that the book of Mormon people were some of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. General Authorities are not obligated to answer questions like: where did the Book of Mormon took place exactly? Why does the Book of Mormon mention horses? Do babies see angels? Where is the Holy Grail? Where is Noah's ark? Does the Loch Ness monster exists?
Detailed Analysis
Some critics of the Church believe that a prophet must take a position on every single issue, such as stem cell research or organ cloning, or responding to Book of Mormon anachronisms. Ironically, these are the same critics who claim that the Church tells us how to think, and that we must always accept the prophet's opinion on every matter. On many issues, Church members are simply encouraged to form their own conclusions.
It is not the purpose of a prophet to answer these kind of issues. The purpose of the Book of Mormon is to bring people to Christ, not to describe ancient American history or culture. Those questions have nothing to do with our spiritual progression. In the church we can find all the answers that we need, for our salvation. Certainly, General Authorities will address what we need to hear for our progression in the plan of God, and so that we can accomplish the mission of the church, which is: the perfecting of the saints. Latter-Day Saints certainly don't need to know those answers to follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ, especially if they have faith. ]