X-Message-Number: 17181
From: "john grigg" <>
Subject: God's old men...
Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2001 22:00:04 

Louis Epstein asked:
Let's see, Oaks would be close to 98 then,
Holland 89, Eyring almost 97...who do you
see as the permanent president of the
Church, then?
(end)

I see Jeffery Holland(former BYU-Provo president) as probably being the 
president, since he is presently a junior and fairly young apostle.  Of 
course, whether his health holds up is a crucial matter.  And he may wind up 
actually running the church from behind the scenes while a physically infirm 
man is officially the president.  And then again, a man not even an apostle 
yet may be in charge then.

I do sometimes wonder about the effectiveness of having church leadership 
determined by longevity.  But then, I would not want things to get overly 
political with the church having an election(like those Catholics)! lol  And 
the unstated belief is that God determines who will be in charge by "calling 
home" those he does not.

I truly wonder what the church stand will be when highly effective and 
inexpensive longevity treatments are here.  I think it will probably be 
accepted, especially if the technology comes slowly, instead of overnight.  
I could see as a result a limited term of service for even senior leadership 
should this happen.

Already, members of the second Quorum of the Seventy(a lower body of senior 
church hierarchy) are released after a certain amount of time or if their 
health fails them.  In the past this was unknown.

best wishes,

John

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