It appears that the Savior was somewhat surprised that there should even be any questions concerning this matter. He taught them that there would he no disputations among the Church members if they but understood the scriptures. In the modern Church too we often find members disputing over Church practices, programs, and even doctrines. Such murmuring and contention could be eliminated by a deeper understanding of the scriptures and of the eternal principles of the gospel that underlie those Church practices.
Just as the Savior taught the disciples that the answer to their questions was found in the scriptures, so too have heavenly messengers appeared in our dispensation in response to prophetic pleadings and ponderings and have recited scriptures that open mortal understanding.
“Read the Scriptures”
President Harold B. Lee often taught and exemplified that the scriptures can provide answers to all of life’s difficult questions. “I say that we need to teach our people to find their answers in the scriptures,”
President Lee declared. “If only each of us would be wise enough to say that we aren’t able to answer any question unless we can find a doctrinal answer in the scriptures! And if we hear someone teaching something that is contrary to what is in the scriptures, each of us may know whether the things spoken are false—it is as simple as that. But the unfortunate thing is that so many of us are not reading the scriptures. We do not know what is in them, and therefore we speculate about the things that we ought to have found in the scriptures themselves. I think that therein is one of our biggest dangers of today.” (“Find the Answers in the Scriptures,” Ensign, December 1972, p. 3.)