Defending Your Faith Pt. 4: Women in The Church and Modern Day Prophets 🛡️⚔️

Welcome back to the Defending Your Faith email series!​Thank you to all of you who have read along until this point, and a warm welcome to anyone joining for the first time.
 
In the last email, we started discussing how to respond to criticisms on various topics that antagonists often argue against. Specifically, we talked about negative comments regarding The Church’s stance on homosexuality and early Church history. More importantly, we explored how to combat those negative accusations and how to share the correct information with church critics.
 
Today, we’ll address two more subjects that frequently spark religious debates.

 

Women in The Church
We live in an exciting time where social norms have evolved, and more resources are available to help families run their households in ways that work best for them. It’s no longer expected that men work all day while women stay home with the kids and cook all the meals. Many families still operate this way, which is amazing! But today, every family has its own unique scenario, and God loves every family unit, no matter what their situation may be.
 
A common accusation is that The Church oppresses women, with some believing we force women to conform to the "nuclear family" ideal. This is entirely untrue. The Church's views on the responsibilities of both men and women are clearly outlined in The Family: A Proclamation to the World:
“All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.
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Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.
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By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.” (The Family: A Proclamation to the World)
While there are specific roles outlined for men and women in this document, these responsibilities are shared. The proclamation emphasizes that, "Husbands and wives should help one another as equal partners."
 
One aspect that often causes misunderstanding is why women do not hold the priesthood. While we don't have a full understanding of this, we do know that our Heavenly Father loves His daughters deeply and has entrusted them with critical roles in furthering His work on Earth. Women in The Church serve in so many important callings. They make incredible missionaries, ministers, Sunday School teachers, Primary leaders, and more. Their contributions are vital to building the Kingdom of God.
 
The calling of being a mother, in particular, is one of the most foundational callings on this Earth. Women are blessed with the unique ability to nurture life and care for children, raising the next generation. Of course, fathers play a role in this too, but we can all recognize the profound influence mothers or motherly figures have had on our lives. The Stripling Warriors in the Book of Mormon, for example, credited their mothers with helping them develop strong testimonies.
 
Scott Frazer summarizes this topic well:
“To conclude, men and women are not the same biologically, mentally, or emotionally. There is an important message in that difference. Each gender is given talents to meet the expectations of earth life. It is fairly obvious that the Lord needs His daughters to be the chief nurturers and caregivers for their families and others. The Lord needs His sons to accomplish different chores, which occasionally require the priesthood. It is a simple division of labor, for which we are given the proper tools to accomplish.” (Be Ye Wise As Serpents, Scott Frazer)

 

Modern Day Prophets/ Revelation
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the few Christian faiths that believes God still calls prophets and provides ongoing revelation to help guide us through this life and to inspire us to make good decisions that lead us back to Him.
 
A common argument is that if God still called prophets, they should be able to foresee events like wars, famines, and other crises. This isn't the case. If God revealed everything to us, would we ever learn anything through experiences and trials?
“The Lord does not provide the prophet with nearly as much revelation as many seem to think He does. The Lord usually lets each of us work out our individual problems so that we can grow and learn. Likewise, the Lord lets his prophet and church leadership grapple with problems so they and the membership can grow and learn.” (Be Ye Wise As Serpents, Scott Frazer)
A great example of this is the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s unlikely that President Nelson knew a pandemic was coming. This event was something we all had to endure and learn from. Church leaders made significant changes during this time to help members continue worshiping and drawing closer to Christ. Some of those changes remain today, improving how The Church operates.
 
Even though the pandemic was unexpected, that doesn’t mean God didn’t reveal guidance beforehand. Just a few years prior, home-centered church became a primary focus in The Church, and the Come, Follow Me manuals were introduced. These tools helped prepare members to worship at home, something that became essential during the pandemic. While President Nelson and the Apostles may not have known what was coming, God did, and He revealed these manuals to help prepare members for home worship.
“So, yes, even a worldwide church can learn important lessons from horrendous and costly experiences. The Lord is not going to spare His church from such growth opportunities. In summary, one must look at the assumptions behind questions and attacks upon the Church. God chooses what revelations to communicate to Church leaders. To think that Latter-day Saint leaders are not doing their jobs since they don’t know everything is not supported by doctrine, the scriptures, historical evidence, or common sense.” (Be Ye Wise As Serpents, Scott Frazer)

 
Thank you for reading! If you’ve had any experiences with defending these topics, please share your story with us. We’d love to hear from you!