Monday, August 5, 2019

How to Examine Dreams Purporting to be Revelations


Throughout Church history, there have been many prophetic pretenders. In recent years especially, many have been claiming locutions from dreams to support their flavour of apocalyptic theology and their claim to be God’s chosen mouth-piece (and not the president of the Church) and even some claiming to have prophetic dreams “okaying” immoral behaviour such as homosexuality. In a recent work on prophetic dreams by 3 LDS authors, we find the following means by which one can examine purported dreams that are said to be revelations:

SPIRITUAL DREAMS ALIGN WITH COMMANDMENTS

For a dream to be revelation, its message must be in agreement with commandments the Lord has already revealed. The Lord will never give a dream whose message goes against His commandments. As President Boyd K. Packer explained, not all dreams come from God: “The evil one has the power to tap into those channels of revelation and send conflicting signals which can mislead and confuse us. There are promptings [including dreams] from evil sources which are so carefully counterfeited as to deceive even the very elect” (Boyd K. Packer, “Revelation in a Changing World,” 14). One safeguard against such deception is to remember that our Father in Heaven will never give us a dream that will go against counsel against His prophets. In Deuteronomy 13:3-4 the Lord instructs: “Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.”

A dream will not contradict gospel principles, church programs, or procedures that have been established by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. President Thomas S. Monson gives us questions we can ask to determine whether any type of revelation is from God. We might ask ourselves these questions about our dreams:

1. Is the dream contrary to the instructions from a living Prophet?
2. Is there anything secret?
3. Does it bring harmony and peace of mind?
4. Does it square with the scriptures?
5. What have you done yourself to ask of the Lord?
6. Are you keeping the commandments? (Thomas S. Monson, Favorite Quotations, 104)

By answering these questions affirmatively, we can know by the Spirit whether the information given in a dream aligns with the Spirit.

President Charles W. Penrose told of a visit from a woman who was a great believer in dreams. She asked him to interpret a dream, and President Penrose’s first question was, “Sister, what did you have for supper last night?” She answered, “’I had some fried pork and onions.’ ‘Well,’ [he] said, ‘that is the interpretation.’” President Penrose went on to explain:

“I do not want you to infer from this that when the Lord gives a dream to anybody, or persons dream something which is enlightening to their souls and comforting to their heart and seems to be clear and plain, I wish to attribute that to anything else but what they think it is; but I do say and repeat, that nothing is to be received in this Church by way of direction and commandment, outside of the order which God has established in his Church, and which is most wise and beneficent and beneficial. Follow the counsel and advice and commandment revealed through the head of the Church to the church and we will not go wrong” (Charles W. Penrose, in Conference Report, October 1922, 26).

When considering the messages we receive through the dreaming, we would be wise to follow the counsel President James E. Faust of the First Presidency gave about voices that are contrary to the Spirit of the Lord. If a dream does any of the following, we can be assured that it did not come from the Lord:

·       Requires the dreamer to conjure up perceived injustices or abhor challenge and work.
·       Offers sensual enticements.
·       Lulls the sleeper into carnal security.
·       Professes sophistication or superiority.
·       Encourages the dreamer to rely on the arm of flesh.
·       Puffs the dreamer up with pride.
·       Destroys hope.
·       Promotes pleasure seeking.
·       Tempts the dreamer to spend money or things that are not of worth.
·       Encourages the dreamer to labor for that which cannot satisfy. (See James E. Faust, “The Voice of the Spirit”)

Even if a dream seems logical or has merit, if it goes against what is already established by prophets, seers, and revelators, a Latter-day Saint may be sure it is not from God. In 1913, the First Presidency stated:

“Be not led by any spirit or influence that discredits established authority and contradicts true scientific principles and discoveries, or leads away from the direct revelations of God for the government of the Church. The Holy Ghost does not contradict its own revealings. Truth is always harmonious with itself. Piety is often the cloak of error. The counsels of the Lord through the channel he has appointed with be followed with safety, therefore, O! ye Latter-day Saints, profit by these words of warning” (Joseph F. Smith, Anthon H. Lund, and Charles W. Penrose, “A Warning Voice,” 1149). (Mary Jane Woodger, Kenneth L. Alford, and Craig K. Manscill, Dreams as Revelations [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2019], 27-29)