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The principle of consent was an integral part of the program of the Church from the beginning … The procedure was theocratic for placing prospective officers and teachers before the Saints for their vote. Divine direction and human consent were combined in the new system. It was the Church of Jesus Christ, which gave the Lord the right to direct its affairs. But it was also the Church of the Latter-day Saints. Both God and man were to have their rights and prerogatives preserved and given proper expression within the organization. John Taylor explained: The proper mode of government is this—God first speaks, and then the people have their action. It is for them to say whether they will have his dictation or not. They are free: they are independent under God. The government of God is not a species of priestcraft . . . where one man dictates and everybody obeys without having a voice in it. We have our voice and agency, and act with the most perfect freedom; still we believe there is a correct order—some wisdom and knowledge somewhere that is superior to ours: that wisdom and knowledge proceeds from God through the medium of the holy Priesthood. We believe that no man or set of men, of their own wisdom and by their own talents, are capable of governing the human family aright.”Share
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