How the Mormon Church Would Benefit if the Prophet Could Speak Ex Cathedra

Someone once observed that trying to pin down Mormon doctrine is like trying to nail jello to a wall. Things may not quite be that bad when it comes to considering what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints officially believes were it not for a book by Bruce R. McConkie with the definitive title Mormon Doctrine¸ recently being written off as a well-considered opinion.

The problem of what is Mormon doctrine and what is merely considered well considered opinion could be resolved by giving the Mormon prophet the equivalent of giving the prophet the power of being able to speak ex cathedra. For those who may not remember there Latin or could care less about elements of Catholic theology, it clarified Papal infallibility and said the pope is only infallible when speaking on matters of theology and then only when he speaks ex cathedra. This does mean that some changes such as allowing women to hold the priesthood will not happen in the Catholic Church because an earlier pope has spoken ex cathedra on the matter.

What does this part of Catholic doctrine have to do with trying to pin down Mormon doctrine? The Fourteen Fundamentals of Following a Prophet were penned by Ezra Taft Benson. In it, he says that the prophet does not have to say "thus saith the lord to give us scripture" and that the prophet need not be knowledgeable about an issue to speak on it.

While the fourteen fundamentals of following a Prophet are not in and of themselves part of Mormon doctrine, there have been no statements at least to my knowledge that repudiate them. However, the fourteen fundamentals say that a living prophet is more important than a dead prophet so if the current leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley wanted to, he could say that Ezra Taft Benson was merely speaking as a man.