Why have there been changes in ordinances if the prophets receive revelation from God and would not lead the members wrong? Can there be a change to an original ordinance?
AnonymousAllAboutMormons.com Webmaster from La Jolla, California:
It's interesting that changes to ordinances would make some question a prophet's calling. For me, these minor changes suggest just the opposite. In many other Christian Churches that do not claim prophetic guidance, ordinances have gone unchanged for centuries. In a Church that is guided by a modern prophet who can communicate with God, God can modify the symbols used in ordinances so that they are relevant to His children in their own day and age. Some of the symbols used in the temple ceremony in years past, for example, would make little sense to modern Mormons. God made minor changes to the temple ceremony so that we modern Mormons could understand it better.It's important to distinguish between symbols and that which is symbolized. Symbols can change under divine guidance according to the understanding and cultural sensibilities of God's children. It is that which is symbolized, not the symbol itself, that is eternal and unchanging.
