Will God permit a leader to lead you astray?

That’s the question. Will God let a leader lead you astray? (Now that’s an alliteration.) I’ve heard it repeated, that God will not let the leader of the church lead you astray. And yet while studying the words of Isaiah, it is quite clear that God will let a leader of the church lead you astray. We need to trace back the source of that quote — which originated from President Wilford Woodruff:

The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty. (Proclamation 1) (Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church, Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reported in Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1890, p. 2.)

God does not take away the agency of man — be that a prophet or apostle or anyone. God said to Moses, “Satan rebelled against me and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him.” So, I’m not very comfortable with that quote that God will never permit a leader to lead you astray. But then there is the rest of that quote — that the Lord would remove that man out of his place. So, in a sense, God gives man agency, and a leader can lead you astray by that agency, but perhaps what WW is saying is that God can remove that leader once that happens. I would still suggest that the word “permit” is not the best word here, as it seems to indicate the lack of “choice.”

I believe we all have agency, all of us, leaders included. Anyone can lead us astray, except God. I guess that’s why I’m never angry or disillusioned with the church or leaders in the church — it fulfills the prophecies of Isaiah. It’s a little shocking at first, reading about the vomit on the tables, the regurgitated talks — how the traditions take over, the interpretations of the scriptures that get repeated over and over, the line upon line upon line (never progressing to the meat.) But you begin to see the prophecy in Isaiah, how we become like the Jews. There is a reversal here with the gentiles. And it’s kind of sad.

These too have indulged in wine
and are giddy with strong drink:
priests and prophets have gone astray through liquor.
They are intoxicated with wine
and stagger because of strong drink;
they err as seers, they blunder in their decisions.
8 For all tables are filled with vomit;
no spot is without excrement.
9 Whom shall he give instruction?
Whom shall he enlighten with revelation?
Weanlings weaned from milk,
those just taken from the breast?
10 For it is but line upon line, line upon line,
precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
a trifle here, a trifle there.
11 Therefore, by incomprehensible speech
and a strange tongue
must he speak to these people,
12 to whom he said, This is rest; let the weary rest!
This is a respite! But they would not listen.
13 So to them the word of Jehovah remained:
Line upon line, line upon line,
precept upon precept, precept upon precept;
a trifle here, a trifle there, that,
persisting, they might lapse into stumbling
and break themselves,
become ensnared and be taken captive.

(Isaiah 28:7-13)

So, let’s look at the history of Wilford Woodruff’s quote in context.

About Wilford Woodruff. I believe he was an inspired prophet. In 1890 when he said this, he was introducing the proclamation against polygamy — doing away with polygamy — remember the people believed polygamy was the new and everlasting covenant of marriage and necessary for celestial exaltation. I’m sure the people did not accept this change easily, and thus, you have WW saying he will not lead them astray with this new commandment/proclamation. And I suppose from his perspective, he believed that God would not permit any president of the church to lead them astray — [or God would remove that president.]

But what happens, is that other men and leaders begin to take things out of context, creating soundbites and applying them to anything they are saying. They begin to quote the man, WW, not God. And then it just gets repeated and repeated. I tend to believe that when WW said it, it applied to that time, that situation, and probably he said it like a man, not speaking for God (about a prophet can’t lead you astray or God will remove him.) (See WW journal entry, Nov 14, 1889.) WW was trying to convince the people that God wanted them to give up polygamy. Some leaders said it was due to the slothfulness of the saints, but WW said it was more about adhering to the government — go along with the government laws. Otherwise, they would lose everything — the temple, the churches, everything they had worked for. Men would continue to be imprisoned.

I tend to side with Hugh Nibley and choose not to condemn the “brethren.” I guess Isaiah can do that, but I don’t get angry about it at all — it’s prophecy. Besides, I don’t know who or when. Isaiah does not specify the time. It’s no time to be angry and point the finger or accuse anyone. God has all of this.

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