Thankfully God has not left us without hope. He has provided a way for us to discern, discover and verify truth, even in an absolute sense. We CAN know truth in its absolute form, but only when God intercedes, compensates for human frailties, and verifies truth by his flawless and perfect witness.
HOWEVER, acknowledging that all humans are flawed and that all human sources are thus subject to flaw, is not equivalent with saying all human sources are equally flawed, or that no human source is better than another. Such reasoning may rise in minds of dichotomous thinkers, but it remains erroneous and potentially dangerous.
An Example: If I needed to learn the correct way to wire an outlet to a switch so that power to the outlet could be controlled by the switch, wisdom would dictate that (given my limited time), I should seek for an answer to that question, for that truth, where it is most likely to be found.
I could spend months of dedicated, hours long, research and reading sessions within a comic book store, and never find the answer to my question, no matter how hard I looked or how sincere my desire to know. Contrarily, I could seek the answer from a book or YouTube video, produced by a Master Electrician and discover the knowledge I need in a very short time. Since both the comic book authors and the Master Electrician are human, their input is subject to flaws and can never be accepted alone as absolute truth. However, the likelihood of my discovering the truth I needed was infinitely greater, when I sought it from the Electrician.
Similarly, the Lord has directed us, in our seeking of light and truth, to rely upon divinely appointed sources. Not because those sources are flawless, but because the likelihood of our discovering truths, which we can then take to God for verification, is infinitely greater by that means, than by wasting our time and efforts in other venues, among other lesser professors.
One of the reasons reliance on divinely appointed sources increases our chances of discovering absolute and life changing truths, is the existence of keys. Keys are gifts of heavenly power given to the human holder, who, if worthily exercising them, can teach eternal truths related to the scope of their callings and within the boundaries of the keys they have been given. While the counsel and teachings of key holders must still be verified as absolute truth by the Holy Spirit, the likelihood of our discovering and learning eternally significant truths is far greater with them than with other human sources.
With respect to this process the Lord declared the pattern thus;
“…And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.” D & C 68:4
While it is true that not everything a Key holder says, will meet that high threshold of being directed by the Holy Ghost, it does not necessarily follow that they are then no more valuable as sources of truth than others. Contrarily, it is a precisely because of that promise, and the keys they hold, that God gives them a priority in our search for truth and urges us to seek knowledge from them as “divinely appointed” sources.
In referencing the human fallibilities of God’s servants, Elder Widstoe stated; “unofficial expressions [of a prophet] carry greater weight than the opinions of other men of equal or greater gifts and experience but without the power of the prophetic office. …The unofficial views and expressions of such a man with respect to any vital subject, should command respectful attention.” (Evidences and Reconciliations, 1:183–84.)
Given that the likelihood of discerning essential truths among God’s divinely appointed sources is so much greater than anywhere else and knowing that our time is growing short…. wisdom would dictate that we follow the Lord’s direction with regards to searching out eternal truths. We must focus our searches on God’s divinely appointed sources, and live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Spirit, which can and will confirm to our souls as absolute, the truths that we will discover there.
Such sources include:
Key Holders worthily functioning in their office and calling: D&C 68:4, D&C 1:38
The Holy Scriptures: 2 Nephi 32:3
Honorable Parents: Exodus 20:12, Col 3:20
The Temple Endowment: D&C 38:32
All as supported and verified by God’s Holy Spirit.