[SoCalCoug]

It doesn't seem to me that the two camps on this are really that far apart. I think I lean toward the belief that God allows us (and the church leaders) to rely on our own training and experience and mental capacity to try to make the decisions that are in line with God's will.

It seems to me that the model for inspired decision-making was the counsel given to Hyrum Smith to study it out in his own mind, and then pray to ask God for confirmation.

I think SWK believed that allowing blacks to hold the priesthood was the right thing to do. I don't doubt that he was inspired through the Spirit to this end. I also believe that there were a number of the apostles for the many years prior who did not, primarily because of the prejudices built up over their lives by their experiences, believe this to be the right thing to do. Over time, SWK was able to finally build a consensus, and then the church leadership had a great confirmatory revelation.

I don't see why it's not a reasonable opinion that the time wasn't right for the change before 1978 because prior to that time there was a significant opposition among the church leaders. It was only after SWK had built his consensus (and other dissenting voices passed on) that the church leaders would be able to accept the revelation with unanimity.