Questions about General Authorites

[_moksha]

1. How did the term General Authorities originate?
2. Did the term have common usage in the 19th Century?
3. Does anyone care to speculate how using the term General Authorities shaped Mormon thought?


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[_karl61]

I always wanted to know what subject matter they were an authority on. They may know a lot about adult diapers.

[_Pokatator]

Depends?

[Guest]

I think it's a title that the church uses for to keep it's members submissive. I think the Church loses so much time when they could be talking about lessons God, justice, peace, etc because someone says a GA will visit next month for stake conference and then that is all people will talk about - Jesus takes second place in peoples thoughts - It's a form of Idolatry.

[_harmony]

...because someone says a GA will visit next month for stake conference ...

Not anymore they don't. Now we get them via satellite broadcast, and it's soooooo personal. If it wasn't a sort of mini-conference, with your stake as one of a hundred or so, one could almost have a testimony they actually cared about us. Almost. For me, though... that "almost" equals a "not even".

The excuse is... they're old; their health isn't good; they're too busy. My response is... then release them and get someone younger, healthier, more up to date, and get them focused on the church, instead of on the church's businesses.

[_Kishkumen]

Not anymore they don't. Now we get them via satellite broadcast, and it's soooooo personal.

Big Brother on a screen, huh? How fitting.

[_Brackite]

Hello Moksha,

The Following is from an Wikipedia Article:

General authority

...

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints(LDS Church), a general authority is a member of certain leadership organizations who are given administrative and ecclesiastical authority over the church. A general authority's jurisdiction is church-wide, in contrast to the responsibilities of a local authority or an area authority, which relate to a particular area, unit, or department of the church. However, not all church leaders with church-wide jurisdiction in the church are considered general authorities. The current number of general authorities as of October 2007 is 94.[1]

...

Origin of the term

The first scriptural use of the term general authority was in minutes of a meeting for the organization of the Presiding High Council in 1834. Though the original minutes did not refer to the term general authorities, the revised minutes, which were included in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, stated that decisions of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles "can only be called into question by the general authorities of the church in case of transgression."[2] The use of the term general authorities at this time and in this context is generally interpreted to include the First Presidency and the Presiding High Council.[citation needed]

...

References

1. ^ See “General Authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”, Ensign, Nov. 2007, pp. 64-65.
2. ^ Doctrine and Covenants, Covenant 102:32

Here is the Link to this whole Wikipedia Article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_authority