What do Mormons believe about prophets and apostles? - the fact and myth cheat sheet
This is part of the Mormon fact and myth cheat sheet on this website. The main list of Mormon facts and Myths can be found here. This section specifically discusses Mormon belief about prophets and apostles.
This is a compilation of facts and myths about Mormon beliefs compiled from comments and other resources. I add things to this list as I run into them so this list has more information on it than I have had time to write about in detail. Some of these can be uncommonly random.
Some of these comments may have been collected from someone that is trying to imply that Mormons won't tell you about these things. This is partially accurate simply because we don't actually believe in many of these things. On a similar note, I have pulled some of this information from several "campaigns" which claim that they just want to help us Mormons realize the error of our ways. However, most of these campaigns are not actually targeted to Mormons. They are targeted to those who are not Mormon and may be curious about what we really believe. In war and politics it is known as a "disinformation" campaign and it's used to keep other people in the dark or doubtful of factual information. If these campaigns were intended to target Mormons, they would talk to us directly, instead of referring to Mormons in the third person as "they," and they would use our real teachings to try and convince us of our error.
You may notice that after the first sentence, these descriptions are written in a way so that anyone can quote them if they need to. The disadvantage to this is that there are some things that get repeated in the explanations more than once. It should be noted that this site is not an official source for Mormon doctrine, so if you're going to quote from this site I would recommend that you point out the sources or link back to this page so readers can verify accurate sources for themselves. I have also bolded some things in each statement to help identify the key points.
Speaking of repeating stuff, this introduction is fairly standard on the other fact and myth pages so you can probably skip it on the next one without missing much.
Editing and referencing is still an ongoing process for this page.
Mormon belief about prophets and apostles
"Mormons believe that prophets and apostles are on the earth today":
This is true.
Mormons believe that the authority of Christ was restored to mankind on the earth again. This authority also includes the restoration of the structure of the primitive church, including prophets and apostles.
"Mormons follow their prophet blindly":
This is false.
Mormons are taught that they need to have our own personal testimony of what the prophet says.
"Mormons worship Joseph Smith":
This is false.
Mormons do not worship Joseph Smith. They believe he was a prophet like Moses and Abraham. They do not pray to him and they do not believe that he was the savior of mankind. Mormons believe that he was mortal and that God would have easily replaced him with another if Joseph had chosen not to do the work. They have songs that sing about him in their hymn book because they are grateful to God for him. They also have God Save the Queen in their hymn book, but they do not worship the Queen of England.
"Mormons believe that Joseph Smith did more for mankind than anyone else, including Christ":
This is false.
For a Mormon, comparing the atonement of Christ to the work of Joseph Smith is like comparing the light of the sun from 5 feet away to an LED light with a button cell battery. Mormons believe the work of Joseph Smith was important to mankind, but pales in comparison to the atonement of Christ. They believe the work to be Christ's. They believe that Christ could have easily replaced Joseph Smith if Joseph had not done the work.
"Mormons believe Joseph Smith will be the judge of mankind at the Final Judgment":
This is false.
Mormons believe that Christ will be the judge of all mankind. Since he took on our sins and hardships he is the only one capable of being a merciful but just judge. They believe that the apostles and prophets will serve some type of function in the Final Judgment, but exactly how is unknown. Regardless, Latter-day Saints believe Christ to be the judge of every person.
"Mormons believe that Joseph Smith shed his blood for use that they can become like gods":
This is false.
Mormons believe that Christ shed his blood so that mankind can be resurrected and receive forgiveness. In comparison Joseph Smith's blood does little more than seal his own testimony of the gospel with his death. While important, it's not even close in comparison. This claim originates from the God Makers which is a publication and movie that was deemed as "sensationalism" and "offensive" by the National Conference for Christians and Jews;[1] a group not affiliated with the LDS church.
"Mormons believe that prophets are infallible and cannot make mistakes":
This is false.
Mormons believe that prophets are human beings just like the rest of us. Latter-day Saints do not believe the calling of prophet includes a brain transplant to make them all knowledgeable or unmistakable. Mormons believe they can be mistaken, fooled, deceived, imperfect and even sometimes scared. For example, Jonah first ran from his mission, Moses took credit for something he shouldn't have, and Peter denied knowing Christ three times. This is why doctrine of the LDS church is not made by the prophet's word alone. They believe the prophet receives direction for the church through the Holy Ghost from God and he then presents it to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency. Each member of these groups will pray and listen for guidance on the subject themselves. Doctrine of the church must then be made by the unanimous approval of all of these members. Mormons do believe that there are times in each person's personal life that the Holy Ghost can guide and direct and give warning, and believe that the prophet sometimes does receive such guidance for some situations he may be placed within, as they believe we all do.
"New members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are chosen from those who are broke so they can be bribed":
This is false.
Most members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the LDS Church leave stable and successful jobs to serve as Apostles and General Authorities. As of mid 2013 ten of the twelve apostles hold a Doctorate Degree, a Masters Degree, or an equivalent education. Only two do not.
"A General Authority of the LDS church has lost his faith and has stated the leaders of the LDS church know it's not true":
This is false as long as calendars still work.
The claim that a current General Authority of the LDS church has lost his faith and knows that the leaders of the church know it's not true is a claim attributed to Grant Palmer. The problem with this claim is that there are no possible candidates that fit the story. The full claim specifically states that the General Authority was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy when he started meeting with Palmer on October 23rd, 2012. The claim also states that this member of the Seventy had more one-on-one time with the apostles when there was only one Quorum of the Seventy. The Second Quorum was created in April of 1989.[2] At the time of the claimed meeting there were no members of the First Quorum who had been called before April of 1989. The earliest called member was Carlos H. Amado sustained in 1992. This can be verified by checking the bi-annual conference reports in the Ensign on the LDS churches website.[2][3]
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