The Bible and Modern Prophets

In a recent column for CNN.com Michael Coogan, a Harvard Divinity School Bible scholar, argued that “the essence of the Bible -- its ultimate authority -- is not in its individual pronouncements, but in its underlying message: equal, even loving, treatment of all persons, regardless of their age, gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.”

Coogan comes to this conclusion after showing that much of what the Bible commands is rejected today. The examples he uses are slavery, which was practiced under certain circumstances by the ancient Israelites; the treatment of women as property, which Exodus 20:17 seems to approve of by putting women in the same category as a house, servants, livestock, etc.; and commanding to abstain from pork, which the Law of Moses considers an abomination. While some of these examples are more valid than others, a Bible scholar should be smart enough to recognize that they all come from the Old Testament and the Law of Moses, which Christians believe was fulfilled and replaced by the gospel of Jesus Christ. So finding inconsistencies in the behavior of ancient Isrealites and modern Christians is expected. After all, there are 613 commandments in the Law of Moses and Christians ignore almost all of them because Christ taught a higher law.

However, there are even some directives in the New Testament that modern Christians, including Mormons, don't follow, that Coogan would have been better served in citing. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 34-35: “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.” I don't know of anyone who would actually enforce this command.

If I were to follow Coogan's line of reasoning, I would figure that this is an evidence that the Bible was written by mere mortals under the influence of the “views and values they shared with their contemporaries.” Since these views and values are human and not divine, the Bible has little, if anything, to tell us about how to conduct our personal behavior. In the end, according to Coogan, the only important thing is to love others equally.

While I accept that, as Jesus said, doing unto others as we would have them to to us is “the law and the prophets,” (Matt. 7:12) I can't accept that the Bible has nothing to say on other issues that Coogan cites, such as abortion and same sex marriage. Yes, the various books of the Bible were written by many different people over the course of over a thousand years, but those writers were not just ordinary men. They were prophets, writing under the influence of God's Spirit.

In Numbers 12:6, the Lord says, “If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.” Prophets are God's mouthpieces to the world. They receive divine communication from him and relay that message to the rest of the world. With all of the voices clamoring for our attention, if we know who God's prophet is, we know who's voice is the most important to listen to. This is one of God's ways of providing order to an otherwise chaotic world.

In addition to this, though, prophets have another important function. “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation,” says the Apostle Peter. “For prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:20-21). If prophecy—or scripture, which is prophecy written down—is of no private interpretation, then who is to interpret it? Since it came by holy men of God speaking as they were moved by the Holy Ghost—prophets—then holy men of God speaking as they are moved by the Holy Ghost should interpret it. That would present a big problem if there were no prophets around.

Fortunately, there are prophets around. God appeared in a vision to the boy Joseph Smith, who was subsequently directed to restore God's church. Since then, the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who is Thomas S. Monson today, has served as God's mouthpiece, or prophet, to the world.

This solves the problem that Coogan has with ancient scripture. With a “holy man of God” to interpret scripture as he is “moved by the Holy Ghost,” we can know what God's will for his people is today. We don't have to make our own judgment calls on what was ancient tradition and what was divine command. The current prophet will make that clear. This is a great blessing to all those who strive to live according to God's will and not according to their own, with a dash of spirituality thrown in for good measure.