On The Leap From True-ness To Doctrinal Inerrancy

The comment was made:

"The Church is true" claim is often a topic of discussion on this board, and so I thought there might be some slight interest in how this is being articulated currently. This is from Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Presidency of the Seventy, from his address in the April 2007 General Conference. That is Ensign May 2007 p 74. There may be other passages of testimony from other speakers, maybe even better ones, but this is the one I came across in my study this morning and I liked how it encapsulates more or less a point of view I hold as a Mormon and what I am currently being taught by my leaders.

"The cause in which we are laboring is true. We respect the beliefs of our friends and neighbors. We are all sons and daughters of God. We can learn much from other men and women of faith and goodness . . . Yet we know that Jesus is the Christ. He is resurrected. In our day, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the priesthood of God has been restored. We have the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Book of Mormon is what we claim it to be. The promises of the temple are certain. The Lord Himself has declared the uniqe and singular mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be "a light to the world" and "a messenger . . . to prepare the way before [Him]." even as "the gospel roll[s] forth unto the ends of the earth." "

(his quotation isD&C 65:2)"

To which I responded:

And yet, even if all of Brother Anderson's underlying points are correct, it does not immunize the church from doctrinal errors. The Church is not a perfect organization, and I hate it when the truth that does exist in the church gets used as a justification for embracing the errors. So long as prophets remain fallible (which I think is bound to remain the case in the foreseeable future), each individual doctrine advanced by them must be scrutinized with the eyes of logic and reason before being accepted.