I was sent the following screenshot by a friend of what has to be one of the dumbest arguments against Latter-day Saint theology (not just ecclesiology) I have encountered:
When even Michael Flournoy thinks your argument is odd, that speaks volumes and should set alarm bells off.
Firstly, it should first be noted that the order that Aaron focuses upon is reversed in Luke 11:49:
Therefore
also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some
of them they shall slay and persecute.
Secondly, and to do something Aaron would never do, and steel-man an argument, a better text to use would be 1 Cor 12:28:
And
God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly
teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments,
diversities of tongues.
The argument by many commentators
is that Paul is providing a listing, in descending order of importance, church
offices, with the office of “apostle” being of greater importance than “prophet.”
However, even then this is not a problem for Latter-day Saint ecclesiology. What
distinguishes Joseph Smith and his successors is not the spirit of prophecy, or
being a Prophet, but the apostleship. Wilford Woodruff explained that
As
to President Young his labors have been with us. It has been remarked
sometimes, by certain individuals, that President Young has said in public that
he was not a prophet nor the son of a prophet. I have travelled with him since
1833 or the spring of 1834; I have travelled a good many thousand miles with
him and have heard him preach a great many thousand sermons; but I have never
heard him make that remark in my life. He is a prophet, I am a prophet, you
are, and anybody is a prophet who has the testimony of Jesus Christ, for
that is the spirit of prophecy. The Elders of Israel are prophets. A prophet is
not so great as an Apostle. Christ has set, in his Church, first, Apostles;
they hold the keys of the kingdom of God. Any man who has travelled with
President Young knows he is a prophet of God. He has foretold a great many
things that have come to pass. All the Saints who are well acquainted with him
know that he is governed and controlled by the power of God and the revelations
of Jesus Christ. His works are before the world; they are before the heavens;
before the earth; before the wicked as well as the righteous; and it is the
influence of President Young that the world is opposed to. This Priesthood,
these keys of the kingdom of God that have been sealed upon him, the world is
at war against; let them say what they may, these things are what they are at
enmity with. (December 12, 1869 | JOD 13:165)
Brigham Young explained the
differences between the titles "prophet," "apostle," and
"president." In a conference address delivered April 6, 1853, he
said:
Perhaps
it may make some of you stumble, were I to ask you a question. Does a man's
being a Prophet in this Church prove that he shall be the President of it? I
answer, No! A man may be a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and it may have
nothing to do with his being the President of the Church. Suffice to say, that
Joseph was the President of the Church, as long as he lived; the people chose
to have it so. He always filled that responsible station by the voice of the
people. Can you find any revelation appointing the President of the Church? The
keys of the Priesthood were committed to Joseph, to build up the Kingdom of God
on the earth, and were not to be taken from him in time or in eternity, but
when he was called to preside over the Church, it was by the voice of the
people; though he held the keys of the Priesthood, independent of their voice.
(JOD 1:113)
To Brigham Young, being a prophet
was secondary to being an apostle and having keys from God. He explained the
difference in these words:
Many
persons think if they see a Prophet they see one possessing all the keys of the
Kingdom of God on the earth. This is not so; many persons have prophesied
without having any Priesthood on them at all . . . To be a prophet is simply to
be a foreteller of future events; but an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ has
the keys of the Holy Priesthood, and the power thereof is sealed upon his head,
and by this he is authorized to proclaim the truth to the people, and if they
receive it, well; if not, the sin be upon their own heads. (July 18, 1869 | JOD
13:144)
It should be obvious that Aaron Shafovaloff is not an honest actor; instead, he is a disingenuous lying hack.