1975
What is the mantle of the prophet?
September 1975


“What is the mantle of the prophet?” New Era, Sept. 1975, 15–16

“What is the mantle of the prophet?”

Answer/Brother Reed C. Durham, Jr.

The only man in this church today who wears the “mantle of the prophet” in its fullest sense is President Spencer W. Kimball. Therefore, no man who is alive today could know as much about what that mantle is as he does. And we are fortunate that he has spoken on this very subject:

“I’ve chosen to talk to you today about the mantle of the prophet. I consulted Webster’s Dictionary and found there are two mantles: one is a projecting shelf, generally over a fireplace, and that we are not going to talk about. The other one is a coat, or a cloak, a sleeveless cloak generally, and that we will only allude to briefly. [There is a third mantle, however, that] is kind of an intangible thing. Some of the most important of the experiences we possess or have are intangibles. … So I pondered and set again to think of what I might say today about a mantle, especially the kind that neither knows wool, cotton, nor silk, nor leather, and so let us address ourselves to that intangible mantle which is given of God to chosen servants, especially His prophets, which gives them power, authority, light, revelation, direction.” (“The Mantle of the Prophet,” Devotional Address given at the Salt Lake LDS Institute of Religion, April 13, 1973. Italics added.)

The mantle, then, symbolizes an investiture of the right to succeed a former prophet. The biblical account of Elijah throwing his own hair-shirt mantle upon his successor, Elisha, beautifully symbolizes this transference of authority. (See 1 Kgs. 19:19; 2 Kgs. 2:7–15.) Elisha succeeded Elijah.

In our own dispensation when the Lord took the Prophet Joseph Smith from this life, the mantle of leadership fell upon Brigham Young. Documents of Church history are replete with examples of the divine confirmation of this fact. And after Brigham Young passed away, John Taylor wore the mantle—and so on in turn with each president. The established orderly pattern of succession dictates that the Lord has conferred the keys of presidency upon each apostle who is set apart as a member of the Council of the Twelve; and that when a quorum of First Presidency is dissolved (which occurs at the moment of the death of a president of the Church), the entire leadership of the Church and kingdom devolves upon the Council of the Twelve—their senior member presiding. In a general sense, every member of the Council of the Twelve has received the mantle already—the mantle of authority, light, revelation, direction, and the keys of presidency. However, in a specific sense the man who has seniority in that council receives the mantle at the death of the president of the Church, and he alone becomes the mouthpiece for the entire Church. He succeeds the prophet before him. Therefore, at the moment when President Harold B. Lee passed away, President Spencer W. Kimball stepped forth to preside over the Council of the Twelve and, therefore, over the entire Church.

“President Kimball was at that moment the senior apostle of God on earth. And as the last heartbeat of President Lee ceased, the mantle of leadership passed to President Kimball, whose next heartbeat was that of the living oracle and presiding authority of God on earth. From that moment the Church continued under the direction of President Kimball.” (Bruce R. McConkie, “Succession in Presidency,” Church News, Mar. 23, 1974, p. 7.)

  • Director of the Institute of Religion, University of Utah