Modern Prophets consist of the writings of multiple apostles and prophets of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Included in Modern Prophets are the Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Articles of
Faith, and semi-annual writings of the prophets and apostles as written in the Ensign or Liahona
from October 2011 forward.
Modern Prophets continues the pattern established with Moses in the Torah, and later with
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and Malachi who as prophets received revelations from God and
recorded them. That same pattern was also continued in the New Testament and Book of
Mormon where apostles and prophets received the word of God and made a record of those
revelations.
While the Torah, Book of Mormon, and New Testament all record revelations of prophets
regarding the Messiah, the Quran is distinct in not prophesying of a Messiah, nor of Jesus
Christ’s return. Nevertheless, the Quran does continue the same tradition of recording
revelations from God to Muhammad, considered by Quran followers as God’s “seal of the
prophets.”
Modern Prophets presents to the world that prophets are again upon the earth, and like the
earlier practices of the Torah, Book of Mormon, and New Testament, God is again speaking to
prophets in modern times for the express purpose of restoring His Church and helping the
world prepare for His glorious Second Coming.
Modern Prophets itself, which is an un-ended venue of continuing revelations, speaks to several
important topics, including the following.
Modern Prophets states that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God. It joins the New Testament
in witnessing that Jesus Christ is the long-awaited Messiah of the Torah.
It speaks of a specific appearance of Jesus Christ, in 1820, to a young enquiring boy named
Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith, seeking to know which Christian church he should join, felt
persuaded in his heart that he should pray and ask God, just as the New Testament encourages
in James 1:5-6, which states:
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God; Who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith.”In answer to Joseph’s prayer, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to the young boy and instructed him to wait—that the true church was not yet upon the earth, but would be restored.
Modern Prophets states that Jesus Christ indeed is the promised Messiah of the Torah and
Book of Mormon. It affirms that He was born of the virgin .
One prophet, named Russell M. Nelson, spoke of Jesus Christ this way:
“God the Father has given us the divine birth, the incomparable life, and the infinite atoning sacrifice of His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.”Another, Ulysses Soares, stated,
“He was the promised Messiah, the mortal Messiah, and will be the millennial Messiah.”
“I testify to you that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of the world, the promised Messiah, the Resurrection and the Life.”And yet another, Melvin R. Ballard, stated,
“Christ is supreme. He is the righteous Judge, our faithful Advocate, our blessed Redeemer, the Good Shepherd, the promised Messiah, a true Friend.”
One of the most pronounced teachings of Modern Prophets is that Jesus Christ suffered in the
Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross for all the sins of mankind.
Henry B. Eyring, states that,
“The Savior paid the price of all sins, no matter how heinous.”
Further he states, “Jesus Christ bore in Gethsemane and on the cross the weight of all our sins.”Dallin H. Oaks similarly teaches that,
“Our Savior and Redeemer endured incomprehensible suffering to become a sacrifice for the sins of all mortals who would repent.”And another prophet, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, explained,
“To find the most important day in history, we must go back to that evening almost 2,000 years ago in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus Christ knelt in intense prayer and offered Himself as a ransom for our sins. It was during this great and infinite sacrifice of unparalleled suffering in both body and spirit that Jesus Christ, even God, bled at every pore. Out of perfect love, He gave all that we might receive all.”Ulysses Soares further explained,
“He personally experienced and took upon Himself in the flesh the pain of our weakness and infirmities.”
In addition to suffering for sins, He also suffered for the pains and heartaches of every person
ever to live upon the earth.
Russell M. Ballard taught that Christ “not only suffered for your sins but…also suffered “pains
and afflictions and temptations of every kind” so “that his bowels may be filled with mercy,
according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people
according to their infirmities….”
Speaking of Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion and death, these prophets state,
“Condescending to come to earth as the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh, He was brutally reviled, mocked, spit upon, and scourged.”
“They mocked Him, placed a crown of thorns on His head, and clothed Him in a purple robe.”
“In Gethsemane, He trusted His Father, declaring, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done,” and then He exercised His agency to suffer for our sins. Through the humiliation of a public trial and the agony of crucifixion, He waited upon His Father, willing to be “wounded for our transgressions … [and] bruised for our iniquities.”
At the very heart of the apostles teachings is that Jesus Christ is alive today, having been
resurrected from the dead and receiving again a glorified body.
Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon record:
“And now after the many testimonies of Him which have been given, this is the testimony last of all which we give—that He lives! For we saw Him! And we heard the voice bearing record that by Him and through Him and of Him the worlds are and were created; and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.”
All of the following apostles bore witness that Jesus Christ is in fact resurrected and alive today:
Quentin L. Cook,
Ulysses Soares,
Joseph Smith,
Sidney Rigdon,
Boyd K. Packer,
Dale G. Renlund,
David A. Bednar,
Dieter F. Uchtdorf,
Henry B. Eyring,
M Russell Ballard,
Robert D. Hales,
Robert A. Rasband,
Russell M. Nelson,
Neil L. Andersen,
D. Todd Christofferson,
Thomas S. Monson,
Jeffrey R. Holland, and,
Gerrit W. Gong.
Some of their witnesses are particularly personal and sacred. For example, Boyd K. Packer said
of Jesus Christ’s resurrection:
“Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon recorded the following after a sacred experience:
“‘And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last
of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
“‘For we saw him’ (D&C 76:22-23)’
“Their words are my words.
“I believe and I am sure that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that He lives.”
Modern Prophets contains multiple teachings on topics, such as,
Modern Prophets does not sensationalize miracles, but it affirms that they are present in the Church today.
Russell M. Nelson said of miracles:“Learn about miracles. Miracles come according to your faith in the Lord.”
“Seek and expect miracles. Moroni assured us that ‘God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.’ Every book of scripture demonstrates how willing the Lord is to intervene in the lives of those who believe in Him….
“[T]he Lord will bless you with miracles if you believe in Him, ‘doubting nothing.’ Do the spiritual work to seek miracles. Prayerfully ask God to help you exercise that kind of faith.”
Ten years following the appearance of God the Father and Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith (in
1820), divine messengers with authority were sent to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to
restore the priesthood of God. Those messengers included John the Baptist (1829), Peter,
James and John (1830), Moses, Elijah, and Elias (1836).
With that priesthood authority, in April 1830 the church of Jesus Christ was again formally
organized on the earth.
Peter, James, and John ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery as apostles in the
Melchizedek Priesthood, and that holy apostleship has continued unbroken since then to the
fifteen apostles so ordained today. Apostles in the church are also sustained as prophets.
“[The] Lord reestablished the Church of Jesus Christ once again through the Prophet Joseph Smith.”
“[W]e humbly declare that angels have returned to the earth in our day.”
“God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph, a 14-year-old youth. That event marked the onset of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness, precisely as foretold in the Holy Bible.”
“Then came a succession of visits from heavenly messengers, including Moroni, John the Baptist, and the early Apostles Peter, James, and John. Others followed, including Moses, Elias, and Elijah. Each brought divine authority to bless God’s children on the earth once again….”
“The keys and offices of the priesthood have been restored, including the offices of Apostle, Seventy, patriarch, high priest, elder, bishop, priest, teacher, and deacon.
Modern Prophets describes a temple practice which is certainly far more extensive than that
described in other texts,
It begins with the doctrine that a temple is the house of the Lord, meaning the House of Jesus
Christ where He could personally come and dwell should He choose. The existence of these
temples is no longer unique, with new locations for the construction of new temples usually
announced every six months.
Modern Prophets teaches that all people can talk to God in prayer and humbly seek His divine
guidance for their lives. It teaches that such divine guidance comes through feelings in the heart
and thoughts in the mind as “impressions” which the individual should then quickly follow.
Modern Prophets thus encourage the faithful to continuously repent and live pure lives so that
they are able to enter these temples and participate in this covenant making and be strengthened
thereafter to keep those covenants.
It also teaches that people should search for the names and identifying information of their
ancestors (in a practice referred to as “family history”) so that the temple covenant making and
ordinances can be performed for such ancestors.
This gathering process is then synonymous with a world-wide missionary effort to proclaim the
restoration of the gospel and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout all the earth,
among “every nation, kindred, tongue and people.”
Because the temples provide the covenants and ordinance of baptism for deceased ancestors, this
gathering effort is often times referred to as important on “both sides of the veil” of death. The
gathering is thus encouraged among all the living as well as among all the dead.
Recently one of the prophets, Rusell M. Nelson, declared that one of the key meanings of the
word “Israel” is to refer to all persons of whatever race or lineage who are willing to “let God
prevail” in their lives. Accordingly, the effort to “gather Israel” has much more to do with
offering the covenant of baptism to all the living and all the dead than to bringing together
people who are actual descendants of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham.
Modern Prophets, does, however, advocate the gathering of the descendants of Jacob through
baptism and their restoration to their lands of inheritance.
“We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent, that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.”
Modern Prophets goes beyond the Torah, Book of Mormon, and New Testament in regards to
the Messiah’s glorious coming, or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. These texts prophecy of
such a future event when the “Son of Man” shall descend from the heavens with both the
righteous who are then alive as well as the righteous who are then resurrected. Such event will
be an act of judgment and destruction upon the wicked, and rescue and reward for the righteous.
It will usher in the “Millenium” or thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ here upon the earth.
Modern Prophets goes beyond these prophecies of other texts in that it encourages all people
now not only to look forward to such an event, but to take active steps to prepare for it.
Modern Prophets thus seeks to prepare the entire world for the pending return of Jesus Christ at
His Second Coming.
Modern Prophets encourages repentance and the keeping of the same commandments as spoken of in other writings:
In addition, Modern Prophets sets forth a health code for people, as was had among ancient Israel. The modern health code encourages the abstaining from tobacco and alcohol use, as well as moderation in other eating practices.
Modern Prophets encourages the principle of sacrifice. It teaches, however, that the sacrificing
of animals ended with the death of Jesus Christ whose body and blood was sacrificed as an
atonement for the sins of all mankind.
The sacrifice encouraged by Modern Prophets may take several forms, but as a minimum
includes the paying of “tithes and offerings”, and the subjecting of one’s appetites, passions, and
anger to a more pure and peaceful nature.
Modern Prophets continues the teaching of Jesus Christ that mankind should “take upon
themselves” the cross of Jesus Christ in the way of repelling lust and unhealthy appetites. It does
not encourage the extinguishment of all appetites, but instead their harnessing for the good of the
marriage, family, and society in general.