{"id":2819,"date":"2013-05-19T19:08:51","date_gmt":"2013-05-20T02:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/?p=2819"},"modified":"2014-04-06T12:04:39","modified_gmt":"2014-04-06T19:04:39","slug":"whether-by-mine-own-voice-or-by-the-voice-of-my-servants-it-is-the-same","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2013\/05\/19\/whether-by-mine-own-voice-or-by-the-voice-of-my-servants-it-is-the-same\/","title":{"rendered":"Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we hear discourse in the church about the\u00a0legitimacy\u00a0of the prophets\u2019 words, inevitably, this scripture comes up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be\u00a0fulfilled whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the\u00a0same.\u201d (D&C 1:38)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is usually used to support the inerrancy of the prophets\u2019s words. After all, if God\u2019s voice and the servants\u2019s voice are the same thing, then it stands to reason that what the prophets say is literally God\u2019s words.<\/p>\n

There is a problem with this traditional interpretation however. While the common interpretation of this scripture\u00a0amounts\u00a0to something like \u201cmine own voice and the voice of my servants are the same,\u201d we can see that the scripture doesn\u2019t actually say that.<\/p>\n

What is the central message of this verse? \u201cmy word shall not pass away\u201d.<\/p>\n

Everything before and after that phrase and ties back to it. Consider what comes before it:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself.\u201d But why does he not excuse himself? The answer lies in the next phrase:<\/p>\n

\u201cand though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away\u201d<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t excuse what he says because what he says last forever; it\u2019s\u00a0eternal and will never fail.<\/p>\n

What about the rest of the verse?<\/p>\n

\u201cmy word shall not pass away, but shall all be\u00a0fulfilled\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only will his words last forever, but instead of failing, they will be fulfilled.<\/p>\n

Then finally:\u00a0whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the\u00a0same. In this instance, the Lord isn\u2019t saying that his words are the same as the prophets\u2019 words. What he\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>saying is that whether his words are fulfilled by his\u00a0own\u00a0voice or whether his words are\u00a0fulfilled\u00a0by the voices of the\u00a0prophets\u00a0(or literally, his servants), the result will be the same, his words will be fulfilled.<\/p>\n

I think it so important that when we read our scriptures that we always put forth effort to determine what is meant by what we read, and we should always be careful not to project on what we read traditional interpretations just because we assume they are correct interpretations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we hear discourse in the church about the\u00a0legitimacy\u00a0of the prophets\u2019 words, inevitably, this scripture comes up. \u201cWhat I the … Continue reading Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2013\/05\/19\/whether-by-mine-own-voice-or-by-the-voice-of-my-servants-it-is-the-same\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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