Future Prophets and Apostles


Fether
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Of the remaining Apostle, who all do you think will one day be prophets?

Oaks? Ballard? Holland? Bednar? Snow?

Where do Eyring and Uchtdorf fit in the mix?

Who will be the next apostle? Whitney L Clayton? Tad R Callister?

Maybe this isn't appropriate, maybe it is, idk...

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They are all prophets. I don't mean this as a smiley "gotcha", but as a living reality. Apostles ARE prophets, as we should be.

But I understand that you are asking about who might be the President of the Church, and thus the prophet, holding all the active keys of the Priesthood given to man. Not sure it's wise (or useful) to speculate on such things, but:

  • President Nelson is very old, but appears to be in excellent health. If I were to lay odds, he would be the odds-on favorite for succeeding President Monson, whose health appears to be failing.
  • Elder Oaks also appears to be in excellent health, and is quite a bit younger than Elder Nelson. But both are old men; I see no reason to suppose that it's likely that Elder Oaks will necessarily outlive Elder Nelson. But he certainly well may be President of the Church.
  • Elder Holland is significantly younger than all the apostles more senior than himself, and is actually much younger than President Eyring, who is junior to him in the ranks of the apostles. (He and President Uchtdorf are almost exactly the same age.) It's not at all unlikely that Elder Holland will occupy that office one day.
  • Elder Bednar seems destined for the office. He was ordained at the same time as Elder Uchtdorf, but Uchtdorf was first and Bednar was second. He was very young when ordained -- fully eleven years younger than Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Holland -- and is still younger than all but the two most junior apostles. He is currently sixth in succession. So we can never tell, but Elder Bednar does seem a fait accompli as President one day.

There's my speculation for the month.

Edited by Vort
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I'm guessing the OP meant Gary E. Stevenson instead of Steven E. Snow (he's also the youngest apostle). In order of Senior ranking:

Nelson, 93

Oaks,  85

Ballard, 88

Eyring, 84

Holland, 76

Uchtdorf, 76

Bednar, 65

 

The two most likely candidates would be Nelson and Bednar. Nelson is 2nd in line and he's in much better health than Monson. Bednar is pretty young for being the 8th highest Senior Apostle. Stevenson and Renlund are the only two apostles younger than Bednar (just barely). 

There will be a few Presidents in between Nelson and Bednar, of course. Perhaps Oaks and Uchtdorf. 

 

 

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3 minutes ago, ldsguy422 said:

Tad Callister's talk was awesome... I've always been a fan of Bishop Gerald Causse. Would be cool to see the church have another non-American in the Apostleship. 

I enjoy Elder Callister too :) he does tend to use a lot of the same anecdotes in his talks. Particularly the use of the idea of an imaginary "critic".

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I am going by age alone, and recognizing older people usually die before younger (anything could happen to the others: car accident, sickness, plane accident).

1) Elder Nelson will be next in line as President of the Church

2) I would then say Oaks

3) Then Holland (Eyring, small chance between him and Holland, so Eyring could out live Oaks)

4) Bednar would be my last thought as of now (assuming he lives as long as others have lived)

Apostle:

1) Elder Robbins (Anyone from the Presidency of the Seventy)

2) Possibly chosen from the BYU President, or BYUI President (as this has occurred more than once)

........

........

........

........

3) And well, of course, (*cough*) -- myself :cool:

Edited by Anddenex
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20 hours ago, Fether said:

Of the remaining Apostle, who all do you think will one day be prophets?

Oaks? Ballard? Holland? Bednar? Snow?

Where do Eyring and Uchtdorf fit in the mix?

Who will be the next apostle? Whitney L Clayton? Tad R Callister?

Maybe this isn't appropriate, maybe it is, idk...

Whoever the Lord chooses.  We know not the mind of the Lord.

However, if we are guessing by human fallibilities of which I have many...

Well, Nelson is next in line, so most likely.

Oaks stands a good chance of being the next, but it is still iffy as Nelson seems to be going strong.

Uchtdorf seems to be particularly going well also...no telling how long he may or may not live.

Bednar himself I think has assumed he has a good chance of making it to the presidency...but that could be a while, or may not be a while...the Lord will decide.

As for the next apostle...I think I'll wait to have the background checks go through after the selections and see what turns up after that before coming up with any thoughts at all in that regard.  I think some may wonder if we'll have two new apostles soon, as these things sometimes seem to go in groups (hope not, afterall, we want Monson to live a nice long time still, but it will be as the Lord wills it).

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21 hours ago, Anddenex said:

I am going by age alone, and recognizing older people usually die before younger (anything could happen to the others: car accident, sickness, plane accident).

Age has nothing to do with apostolic succession. Ordination date is the relevant point.

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2 hours ago, Vort said:

Age has nothing to do with apostolic succession. Ordination date is the relevant point.

I never said otherwise, so I am not sure the point?

I am going by age alone, and recognizing older people usually die before younger (anything could happen to the others: car accident, sickness, plane accident). The emphasized portion is your qualifier in connection with the date they were ordained to apostleship.

Notice in my list I skipped "Ballard" as a prophet because he is "older" than Oaks, and assuming that "older people usually die before younger" in connection with the second qualifier (anything could happen to the others: car accident, sickness, plane accident -- which I was excluding). If that follows suit Ballard will die before Oaks leaving the succession to prophet then to the next in line. Could it be different -- sure could -- this was just speculation just as anyone else pertaining who is next, because Nelson (due to unknown reasons) could die before Monson. Less likely, but could.

So again, not sure the point.

 

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55 minutes ago, Anddenex said:

I never said otherwise, so I am not sure the point?

If you're going strictly by age, with the idea that the young usually outlive the old, I'm confused by your point #3:

On 10/3/2017 at 12:24 PM, Anddenex said:

3) Then Holland (Eyring, small chance between him and Holland, so Eyring could out live Oaks)

President Eyring is (a) junior to and (b) 7.5 years older than Elder Holland. His inclusion on the list, mentioned in the same breath with Elder Holland, led me to think you were talking about choosing one of the apostles out of order to be the Church President. Apparently, this is not the case, so I'm left wondering at what you meant.

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Just now, Vort said:

If you're going strictly by age, with the idea that the young usually outlive the old, I'm confused by your point #3:

President Eyring is (a) junior to and (b) 7.5 years older than Elder Holland. His inclusion on the list, mentioned in the same breath with Elder Holland, led me to think you were talking about choosing one of the apostles out of order to be the Church President. Apparently, this is not the case, so I'm left wondering at what you meant.

I was going from ldsguy422's list who then said, "Okay, I misspoke. Elder Holland was actually ordained one year before Eyring." So, yes, this was the case according to ldsguy422's response, which like him I realized was incorrect and Holland was before Eyring. Either way Holland remains #3 due to his age in comparison to Elder Oaks and Elder Ballard.

I didn't think updating that would be important after I realized the mistake of who was Senior from ldsguy422's list. I blame @ldsguy422 -- ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/3/2017 at 12:27 PM, Fether said:

Of the remaining Apostle, who all do you think will one day be prophets?

Oaks? Ballard? Holland? Bednar? Snow?

Where do Eyring and Uchtdorf fit in the mix?

Who will be the next apostle? Whitney L Clayton? Tad R Callister?

Maybe this isn't appropriate, maybe it is, idk...

I looked at how likely each Apostle is to be the President of the Church at some point. This takes into account their age, position in seniority, and age/health of more senior Apostles. I have put the other 13 Apostles into 4 Tiers.

Tier 1: Very Likely
President Nelson, Elders Holland and Bednar

Tier 2: Somewhat Likely
Elders Oaks and Stevenson

Tier 3: Unlikely
Elders Anderson, Rasband, and Renlund

Tier 4: Very Unlikely
Elder Ballard, President Eyring, Elders Cook and Christofferson

 

This is based off of the prediction that the next 5 Presidents of the Church will be: President Nelson --> Elder Oaks --> Elder Holland --> Elder Bednar --> Elder Stevenson

Edited by P_Day
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As for the next Apostle,  here are my top 30 candidates ranked by likelihood, even within tiers. All are General Authority Seventies unless otherwise noted. My criteria to arrive at this list included age, length of service, leadership experience, and (to a much lesser degree) education. Full thread here.

 

TIER 1: Soares (P70), Christensen (P70)

TIER 2: Gong (P70), Robbins (P70), Causse (PB)

TIER 3: Kearon (P70), Gonzalez, Uceda (P70), Davies (PB), Waddell (PB)

TIER 4: Aidukaitis, Gavarret, Zeballos, Duncan, Perkins, Pieper, Pearson, Nash, Nielson, Alonso, Bennett, Cook, De Hoyos, Sitati

TIER 5: Whiting, Curtis Jr., Worthen (BYU), Maynes, Clayton (P70), Snow

TIER 6: 18 candidates. Unlikely to be selected, but have an outside chance.

TIER 7: 12 candidates. Very unlikely to be selected.

TIER 8: 37 candidates (including Henry J Eyring of BYU-Idaho). I would be shocked if anyone from this tier was selected.

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57 minutes ago, P_Day said:

Tier 1: Very Likely
Elder Oaks

Tier 2: Somewhat Likely
President Nelson

In other words: You think President Nelson, who appears to be in excellent health, will die before President Monson, who by all appearances is on the decline.

If I were a betting man, I would gladly take that bet.

Btw, what happened to Elder Anderson? I don't see him on your list.

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23 minutes ago, Vort said:

In other words: You think President Nelson, who appears to be in excellent health, will die before President Monson, who by all appearances is on the decline.

If I were a betting man, I would gladly take that bet.

Btw, what happened to Elder Anderson? I don't see him on your list.

You're right. I've made changes above.

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6 hours ago, Vort said:

In other words: You think President Nelson, who appears to be in excellent health, will die before President Monson, who by all appearances is on the decline.

Well, maybe he knows some Sicilians...

Quote

If I were a betting man, I would gladly take that bet.

And the Sicilians would gladly take your money.

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14 minutes ago, mordorbund said:

I don't think your post will be a popular one. You've basically summarized the plot of The Godfather Part 3, which is very unpopular (except with @MormonGator).

I have an edited version of The Godfather Part 1, thanks to one of those semi-legal DVD companies from the 2000s that would edit out R-rated movies.  I have been searching for an edited copy of Part 2 for some time (I used to have a version I taped from non-profit television, also edited, but it was on VHS and has long since died).  I think the first two Godfather movies are works of art, and their edited versions are two of my favorite movies.

I heard Part 3, though, is actually a lot more like a real R-rated movie - violence, profanity, etc., to the point it is not easily editable.  Too bad.

Edited by DoctorLemon
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On ‎10‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 11:42 AM, Vort said:

.....

  • Elder Bednar seems destined for the office. He was ordained at the same time as Elder Uchtdorf, but Uchtdorf was first and Bednar was second. He was very young when ordained -- fully eleven years younger than Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Holland -- and is still younger than all but the two most junior apostles. He is currently sixth in succession. So we can never tell, but Elder Bednar does seem a fait accompli as President one day.

There's my speculation for the month.

 

Here is my speculation of the month but first a little bit of History.  Avraham Gileadi was a former Jewish Rabbi that was converted to “Mormonism” through connections to Hugh Nibley and quotations of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon.  Avraham has dedicated his life to the study of Isaiah (I asked the question recently about how important is Isaiah).

Avraham fell out of sorts with his published opinion that a particular member of the LDS Church should be called as an apostle because – according to his studies – the prophet president of the church in the last days when Jesus will return will be named David and that this particular David he thought needs to be called.  Avraham has since repented and recounted that the certain individual named David needs to be called to the Quorum of the 12 and he has had his membership reinstated.  What never was challenged was his published opinion that the prophet president would be named David.

And so, my speculation – Elder David Bednar will someday be our prophet president and will (as all presidents do) a necessary and important role in the restoration and preparation for the return of Christ.

 

The Traveler

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