Prophets
Most Christians do not believe that there are prophets to teach us today. They believe that prophets were only present in the times of the Old and the New Testament and that the words of those prophets, and the words that Christ taught in the New Testament, are all that God needs to give us. Mormons believe that the Lord has always used prophets to bear testimony of Him and His word and will always use prophets to guide us. They believe that a prophet of God currently leads The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Why do we still need prophets?
The Lord tells us in Amos 3:7, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." For there to be no more need for prophets would suggest that the Lord has stopped acting. Was the coming of Christ the last divine act? I don’t think that too many would argue that, or argue that we are not still in need of divine guidance. Two thousand years later, wouldn’t God have more truths to tell us than those found in the Bible? Modern prophets continuously reveal truths that God would have us have today, in addition to the truths revealed centuries and centuries ago. Mormons believe that the ancient scriptures are true and relevant to our day, but they also believe in modern ones.
The world is in a constant state of change and will always be. Our challenges are not exactly the same as those suffered by early Christians and the Lord’s modern, Mormon prophets are here to give us the guidance and direction we need for today’s challenges.
Didn’t prophets become unnecessary after Christ?
Because Christ was divine and greater than any prophet, many Christians believe prophets were no longer needed after He came to earth and died for our sins.
However, even after Christ was resurrected and returned to His Father, the New Testament speaks of multiple prophets within His Church. Acts 13:1-3 tells us the following. "Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away."
This would indicate that prophets and spiritual gifts still existed after Christ had left the earth and were given great respect by the members of the Church. Through these prophets, the early Church made decisions guided by the Holy Ghost and revelation. Mormons believe that their Church is guided by the same.
Doesn’t the Bible give us all the guidance we need?
Many Christians do believe that Christ’s Church wasn’t without prophets, but believe the Bible is a complete work that can never be added to. After the close of the New Testament, God had said all he intended to say.
However, in Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul says the following, "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:"
Paul explains, thus, that "for the perfecting of the saints" until "all come in the unity of faith," prophets are necessary. In the beliefs of Mormonism, and Mormons are probably not alone in this, the saints have not reached perfection and are, therefore, not perfectly unified in faith.
The New Testament never says that, in the future of the Church, no one will prophecy or need to prophecy. Quite the opposite. In Mormons’ beliefs, their Prophet, as well as their ordained Twelve Apostles, is called to be a "special witness of the name of Christ in all the world." (Doctrine and Covenants 107:23)
What about these Mormon prophets?
What do Mormons believe? They believe that the original Church of Christ lost essential truths after the deaths of the apostles, and over the centuries and centuries beyond. They believe that, for truth and the true Church to be wholly again on the earth, the Lord had to restore it Himself, through prophets.
Joseph Smith was the first Mormon prophet. The Lord called him to bring forth a record of a Christian people, previously hidden—this record would be called the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith also organized the Mormon Church—but it has never officially been called the Mormon Church, rather, originally, the Church of Christ, and then The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Joseph Smith eventually died a martyr, but there have been prophets at the head of the Church ever since its founding. Gordon B. Hinckley leads the Church today.