Surely the Lord God does nothing, without ...

[pelagius]

I suspect that my reputation around here will make this sound like I'm throwing water on the fire more than I want it to. That's my bed and I guess I should lie in it. But I sincerely find this episode interesting - obviously the northern kingdom and its priests were in disfavor with the Lord and so an outsider came in to call them to repentance. But this outsider was not just a political outsider, but an ecclesiastical outsider too, most likely uneducated and certainly not plugged into the social order (assuming, of course, we can believe what Amos says about himself).

Contrast this with the way that we are taught revelation to work today, using Amos 3.7 - that it indeed happens, and that it comes uniquely through the LDS prophets and apostles and authorities - and I think there is some basis for discussion.

In general I think this is an important area of discussion. I think a major theme of the OT are these kind of remarkable reversals of expectation. The weak end up doing something great or the outsiders becomes the ultimate insider, etc (for example, Ruth or Esther). So I don't think Amos's outsider and lowly status is something we should just gloss over.

I think it is fair to suggest this point could be potentially thorny particularly if one's goal for a passage of scripture is to reconcile everything with LDS theology. I tend to think the author is trying to make a point and do my best to extract it. I view the author as inspired but not necessarily historical accurate or theologically consistent with other scriptures or even his own writings. When it comes to hermeneutics I tend to be a bit different from the median Mormon. The nice thing I have discovered is even though Mormons tend not to use this same hermeneutic as me they also tend to appreciate at it and don't find it threatening or faith destroying.

[fizz assist]

. . . Is every prayer that is answered or miracle done reported to the prophet? That doesn't seem possible either.

. . . God will warn the prophet if he is planning . . .

Interesting shift from the plural "prophets" in Amos 3:7 to singular "prophet." Another example of the LDS tail wagging the Biblical dog?