70 years ago today - Jul 7, 1954

Second Counselor J. Reuben Clark gives an address titled "When are the Writings or Sermons of Church Leaders Entitled to the Claim of Scripture?" In it he states, ". . . even the President of the Church, himself, may not always be 'moved upon by the Holy Ghost,' when he addresses the people. This has happened about matters of doctrine (usually of a highly speculative character) where subsequent Presidents of the Church and the peoples themselves have felt that in declaring the doctrine, the announcer was not moved upon by the Holy Ghost'. . . . even the President of the Church has not always spoken under the direction of the Holy Ghost, for a prophet is not always a prophet . . . in our own Church, leaders have differed in view from the first. . . . not always may the words of a prophet be taken as a prophecy or revelation . . ." This may have been given in response to recent, public addresses by Joseph Fielding Smith which dogmatically labeled evolution as false.