If you check out the Bible Dictionary under “Prophet” it states that in certain cases prophets predicted the future, but their primary role is to denounce sin here’s the link: http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bd/p/61

That answers the question about whether a prophet’s main role is to prophecy or tell of future events…that’s only a small part of the role.

And the food storage idea is awesome, David!

http://www.graceforgrace.com

I’m glad you like our blog — we try to be a bit different than some of the other ones out there.

I really like this blog. I’m very picky which LDS blogs I follow. This one is faithful and scholarly.

I used to be an anti-Mormon, and at that time no answer given by a Latter-day Saint would have been acceptable. All answers were convenient and rote, or so I believed.

That’s why we depend on and need so badly the Holy Spirit. It tells us the difference between convenient answers and those that truly explain reality as God has ordained it.

But were I an outsider reading your last post, I’d say it’s a very convenient way of explaining away the absence of a historically important prophetic duty in modern times. In fact, when somebody from another faith gives me an answer like that, my initial mental response is “cop-out.”

Be that as it is. I guess it’s kind of like the “why don’t we still have the plates” question. It makes perfect sense to us in terms of faith, but we may never be able to provide a satisfactory answer to that question for outsiders.

If we recall, the prophets’ guidance in the early history of the Church were quite physical and temporal. Physical and temporal challenges were what preoccupied the Saints and were the ones they struggled with. As the world modernized and physical and temporal challenges began to recede in their level of difficulty and even importance, spiritual matters began to become much more vexing. Hence the increasing focus on spiritual matters because physical and temporal matters have receded in the hierarchy of what difficulties the Saints are now facing and will have to face. Simply put, the disintegration of the family, immorality, and pride destroy us far more than temporal events or issues can.

While the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, the specifics of His message change all the time. At one point, He told His people what animals to eat. That is not what concerns Him or us today. Today, He is more concerned about far more difficult and spiritual matters.

Mind you, it’s not something I expect or even worry about, but the question has been posed to me numerous times and I cannot answer it.

If fortelling detracts, as you say, from the spiritual purposes by focusing on temporal issues, why was it done at all in the past? What’s different today?