In a 1988 interview … I explained my attitude toward attempts to supply mortal reasons for divine revelation: “‘If you read the scriptures with this question in mind, “Why did the Lord command this or why did he command that,” you find that in less than one in a hundred commands was any reason given. It’s not the pattern of the Lord to give reasons. We [mortals] can put reasons to revelation. We can put reasons to commandments. When we do, we’re on our own. Some people put reasons to the [revelation] … , and they turned out to be spectacularly wrong. There is a lesson in that. … I decided a long time ago that I had faith in the command and I had no faith in the reasons that had been suggested for it.’ … “‘… The whole set of reasons seemed to me to be unnecessary risk taking. … Let’s don’t make the mistake that’s been made in the past, … trying to put reasons to revelation. The reasons turn out to be man-made to a great extent. The revelations are what we sustain as the will of the Lord and that’s where safety lies’”
(Life’s Lessons Learned [2011], 68–69, Dallin H Oaks).
Elder Anderson:
But the Lord’s voice often comes without explanation. Long before academics studied the impact of infidelity upon trusting spouses and children, the Lord declared, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
April 2018
Neil L. Andersen
