We have informally canonized Benson’s 14 Fundamentals talk by publishing it on LDS.org and quoting it in our general conferences and even disciplinary councils. We did not vote it into our body of scripture, but it now holds equal standing. We should never have reached this position, and could have avoided it, had we taken our own scriptures seriously.
I have wondered about the Lord's injunction in D&C 42:90-91, requiring public and open offenses to be publicly and openly chastened or rebuked. This is so unpalatable to us now, where confidentiality is the order of the day. Public chastisement conjures images of medieval peasants in the stocks in the public square, mocked and ridiculed. While that is certainly not what the Lord had in mind for His public chastisement (chastisement is about correction, not punishment), I've wondered why all things couldn't be handled confidentially (as the church now does).
Now I better understand.
When Benson first delivered the talk, he was thereafter chastised for it by President Kimball and required to apologize for teaching it, in a closed meeting before general authorities. He was not publicly chastised before the general membership.
D&C 42:90-91 were not followed.
Perhaps the thought was that members preaching from the talk could be individually corrected, at the local level. Then Benson wouldn’t have to be ashamed and the church wouldn’t have to be embarrassed by the shaming. Confidentiality saves face, and we love saving us some face. Perhaps this even appeared to work for a while, the talk and its teachings faded, and the storm seemed to pass. These notions all appear reasonable on the surface.
But 30 years later, a new generation of general authorities have been largely installed from the pool of uncorrected membership. They weren’t in the meeting where Benson was chastised, and the talk was never publicly corrected. The talk having been delivered at the church’s privately owned location, and its author having become the President of the church, only serve to bolster confidence in the talk. The only black marks against the talk are found in the scriptures themselves, which is the best place to hide information from church membership. Therefore, what reason do the members or leaders see to question or dismiss it? And so it is shared and preached and unofficially canonized by a later generation.
Public chastisement isn’t only for the sake of the few living who witness the offense, that they might be corrected in their understanding. The Lord thinks far larger than we do. It is for ALL the subsequent generations, that they might learn from the offender’s mistakes. (That’s likely part of why Joseph published his own chastisements from the Lord, to spare us from adopting his errors.) The offender is blessed by being humbled and granted opportunity to repent, and all present and future generations are blessed with wise counsel and an opportunity to show compassion.
Had Benson’s chastisement been public, the correction would likely be published in magazines and on LDS.org, rather than the damning talk. Instead, because we ignored D&C 42:90-91, the bad apple is spoiling the subsequent generation's cart.
I now better appreciate the difficult counsel of D&C 42:90-91. The Lord is far wiser than I am.
