Trading Truth for Tradition (conclusion)

Getting too detailed about this topic always seems to lead me where I do not want to go. For every positive experience I have had with Church scholars there are four or five that are not positive. That said, I do not want to become an "accuser of my brethren" because they are not bad men. Often they are among the most dedicated. They have studied all their adult lives and possess a great body of knowledge. Yet, when I approach many of them they too often assume a role that is not there's to claim. They become the guardians of the orthodoxy and presume to do what they think the "Brethren" want them to do. Regulate thought and interpret doctrine based on their academic standing. I have often been told by Church educators some bit of doctrine has not been revealed. I know their representation is incorrect because I have found it in the scriptures. What they are really saying is, "It has not been revealed to me, therefore, it has not been revealed."

Candor is reserved for their colleagues because professionally they have to worry about their comments getting back to their supervisors and the consequences that may bring. For others their reticence is based on a desire to advance professionally. Not all suffer from these things but my experience has led me to believe that most do to some degree or another.

Can you spend your life immersed in following the way of the scholar and remain immune to the toxicity that is found there. Can I drink I drink a glass of water mixed with poison and not feel the effects to some degree. If someone spends their lives learning at the feet of those whom Paul said would be "ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7) will they somehow magically able to find truth or do they become part of perpetuating a false priesthood.

These men are not bad men, nor insincere but like the Ethiopian Eunuch taught by Philip, once he was baptized he was left to himself to seek the face of God through faith, prayer, revelation and obedience. That is how we come to know God and to the extent you turn to your fellow man you delay how quickly that may happen.

I have come to believe quite literally the Lord's expression in D&C 1:19, "..., that man shall not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh."

Listening to their fellow man is what has kept a veil over the minds of Israel and has restricted how much we in the Church receive because of false traditions we have traded for truth over the years.