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We accept the writings of past prophets (Moses, Isaiah, Nephi, etc.) as scripture, as divine revelation from God. We also accept many of the writings of Joseph Smith as scripture. We believe that prophets speak the word of God, and we have scripture to back that up, such as "whether by my own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." We also understand that prophets are fallible mortals, just like the rest of us, except that they have a special calling to receive divine revelation. As fallible mortals, not everything they say can or should be accepted as scripture, right? I mean, if I'm talking sports with President Monson, and I ask him who he thinks is going to win the next basketball tournament, and he says he thinks the Lakers have the best chance because of this player or that coach or whatever else, I'd still be a fool to bet my life savings on the Lakers unless the outcome of the tournament somehow had something to do with the eternal salvation of mankind. But where is that line? Aside from feeling the Spirit, how can we define what should or should not be heeded as divine revelation? For example, Brigham Young was recorded in a Journal of Discourses as having said that Adam is God. (I did read the actual passage. He says that Adam is our father, which is true from a genealogical standpoint, and he says that Adam was part of the creation of the world as Michael the Archangel, which can also be confirmed by scriptural references. But then he seems to refer to Adam as "our god and the only god...") This is contradictory to church teachings and scriptures, but it was taught by a prophet. Assuming the quote is accurate, was Brigham Young wrong, or was he prophesying falsely? That's just one example. There are others, like something I heard about descendants of the Nephites' skin turning pale after they join the church (doesn't happen) or about blacks never receiving priesthood authority. I'm not concerned about those points specifically. Just trying to figure out how to discern divine revelation from the errors of man. Any ideas? (I'm sure this question has been answered before, but I can't seem to find a thread for it. A friend asked me, and I had no good answer for him, which made me wonder the same thing.)

No, really. see: [Moderator removed link] Hi! I'm Jesse! A convert of 41 years. My family were Baptists and I come from a long line of protestant ministers in the South. Missionaries were trying to be led by the Spirit and stopped at our home in the middle of the block. Even at age 7, I could tell the missionaries had something our family desperately needed (the Holy Spirit!). When the missionaries popped the big question, I came up out of my chair (by then I was 8) and said, "Say, 'Yes', Mom! Say 'Yes', Dad!" and they did. Although the Gospel didn't save my parent's marriage, it did provide stability and strength to us through the divorce and the years afterwards. I served a mission to Germany, attended BYU, married a wonderful angel from Arizona, have 5 kids - all but one have left the coop. I just became a 2nd degree grandfather. Made the mistake of believing Joseph and Brigham when they said we should have building Zion as our primary objective. I'm not one of those who believes the convenient excuse that we'll build Zion once Jesus comes. I think he just might wait until we get serious about it. So, I've been fairly disappointed in my fellow LDS and their buying into Babylon hook, line and sinker and who generally have no interesting in actually building Zion. (Babylon is just too much fun!) Why is it OK for LDS to spend all day every day building and working in Babylonian businesses, but we think we have to have permission from the Brethren to build Zion? Makes no sense. Whatever happened to "many good things of their own free will"? So, not wanting to abandon the dream myself, I've spent the last 36 years gathering more Zion-like ways of organizing society socially, politically and economically. There have been, and are, some pretty impressive experiments in that direction. So, seeing how the American socio-economic system appears to be approaching a crisis point, thought now might be a good time to start recruiting those serious about moving towards Zion. Talk is cheap - action is what counts. Hence, the video: [Moderator Removed Link]

Email as sent directly to me. Very interesting! There was an attachment also sent. The text is below.

So I have recently done research on the Mid 1800 Deseret Alphabet that was created by Brigham Young. I found it really interesting so I'm posting a link to my article. It's always fun to decipher things such as this - one of the four books published by The University of Deseret (Now University of Utah) which helps you learn the alphabet. Thoughts? Efforts at translation? To see the article (more of the History, an explanation of why and how, and more neat pictures) see my blog post below. The Sign of Jonas: Church History Q&A: Did Brigham Young really try to implement a secret Deseret Language?

I took a tour of Brigham Young's home in downtown SLC a week ago, and the Sister Missionaries paused at the landing that divides into the 3rd story stairs and (I think?) another room, but failed to mention what was on the 3rd floor before continuing on with the tour. The landing I'm talking about is the one with the window in which Brigham's children would watch for visitors coming in, and his daughter, especially, for her "Prince." Anyone know what's up there or was taken up there on a tour? I've heard rumors that's where he kept his wives, but who knows?