NEW: LDS Apostle Says Church Policy On Same-Sex Marriage Result Of Divine Revelation

LDS Apostle Says Church Policy On Same-Sex Marriage
LDS leader, Russell M. Nelson, President, Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Photo: Intellectual Reserve

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 10, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — LDS leader Russell M. Nelson, head of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, said recent additions to Church’s handbook — prompted by the legalization of same-sex marriages — were the direct result of divine revelations received by LDS President Thomas S. Monson.

Elder Nelson, 90, second highest ranking member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, made the statement Sunday night during a devotional for young adults which was streamed worldwide.

The changes to the LDS Handbook, made in the fall of 2015, revealed that participants in same-sex marriages were apostates and officially barred from church membership.

The policy changes also dictated that children raised in same-sex households were banned from membership until the age of 18, at which time they could still join the Church, but only after renouncing same-sex relationships, and receiving church leaders’ blessings.

During the hour-long devotional Sunday night, Nelson described the process by which the divine revelations surrounding the Church’s same-sex marriage policy came to be.

“The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles counsel together and share all the Lord had directed us to understand and to feel individually and collectively. Then we watch the Lord move upon the President of the Church to proclaim the Lord’s will,” Nelson said.

“This prophetic process was followed in 2012, in the change with minimum age in missionaries, and again with the recent addition to the Church’s handbook, consequence to legalization of same-sex marriages in some countries.

“Filled with compassion for all, and especially the children, we wrestled at length to understand the Lord’s will in this matter, ever mindful of God’s plan for eternal life for each of his children.

“We considered countless permutations and combinations of possible scenarios that could arise. We met repeatedly in the Temple in fasting and prayer and sought further direction and inspiration.

“And then, when the Lord inspired his prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, to declare the mind of the Lord, and the will of the Lord, each of us during that sacred moment felt a spiritual confirmation. It was our privilege, as apostles, to sustain what had been revealed to President Monson, revelation from the Lord to his servants. It was a sacred process.”

To see Elder Nelson’s address, click the video player below.

(DEVELOPING)

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