Earlier this month, Thomas S. Monson was set apart. This coming conference, church members will be asked to sustain him as President of the church. And members will almost certainly sustain him.
But what if they didn’t?
How exactly does common consent work? What if President Monson were duly set apart and chose counselors, but then wasn’t sustained by the members? Would he still be Prophet? What effect would that have? (Has anything like this happened before?)
And on a broader level: What exactly is the purpose of operating by common consent? And does it bring about those possible benefits — or does it just potentially create confusion? Is there a good reason to operate by common consent?