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Prophets
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Section Four 1839-42 p.217
- The Church must be cleansed, and I proclaim against all iniquity. A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God.
- If a man learns nothing more than to eat, drink and sleep, and does not comprehend any of the designs of God, the beast comprehends the same things. It eats, drinks, sleeps, and knows nothing more about God; yet it knows as much as we, unless we are able to comprehend by the inspiration of Almighty God. If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves. I want to go back to the beginning, and so lift your minds into a more lofty sphere and a more exalted understanding than what the human mind generally aspires to.
- God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power, was to make himself visible, -- I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form -- like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with him, as one man talks and communes with another.
- These are incomprehensible ideas to some, but they are simple. It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did; and I will show it from the Bible.
- Here, then, is eternal life -- to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power. And I want you to know that God, in the last days, while certain individuals are proclaiming his name, is not trifling with you or me.
John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom, p.323
- What is it that will enable one man to govern his fellows aright? It is just as Joseph Smith said to a certain man who asked him,"How do you govern such a vast people as this?" "Oh," says Joseph, "it is very easy." "Why," says the man "but we find it very difficult." "But," said Joseph, "it is very easy, for I teach the people correct principles, and they govern themselves." And if correct principles will do this in one family, they will in ten, in a hundred, and in ten hundred thousand. How easy it is to govern the people in this way! It is just like the streams from City Creek; they spread through the valleys and through every lot and piece of lot. So it is with the government of God; the streams of life flow from the Great Fountain through the various channels which the Almighty has opened up, and they spread not only throughout this city but throughout the world, wherever there are any Saints that have yielded obedience to the commandments of God. The fountain is inexhaustible, and the rivers of life flow from the fountain unto the people. -- JD, 10:57-58, May 18, 1862.
- My independence is sacred to me -- it is a portion of that same Diety that rules in the heavens. There is not a being upon the face of the earth who is made in the image of God, who stands erect and is organized as God is, that would be deprived of the free exercise of his agency so far as he does not infringe upon other's rights, save by good advice and a good example. 10:191.
Discourses of Brigham Young, p.248
- I shall not cease learning while I live, nor when I arrive in the spirit-world; but shall there learn with greater facility; and when I again receive my body, I shall learn a thousand times more in a thousand times less time; and then I do not mean to cease learning, but shall still continue my researches. 8:10.
Discourses of Brigham Young, p.251
- There is not a law of God, nor a law of any nation that exercises so strong an influence upon us as do our traditions at times, to bind us to certain customs, habits and ceremonies. 8:58.
- Learn to be good for something. 11:298.
Discourses of Brigham Young, p.258
- The Christian world is actually coming to the point that they will dismiss the Bible from their schools; and by and by they will dismiss it from their pulpits and get one to suit themselves; they will hew out for themselves cisterns that will hold no water. 13:213.
Discourses of Brigham Young, p.331-332
- The Latter-day Saints realize that there is no period of man's existence not incorporated with the plan of salvation, and directly pointing to a future existence. Consequently, when we stand here to speak to the people, let every man speak what is in his heart. If one of our Elders is capable of giving us a lecture upon any of the sciences, let it be delivered in the spirit of meekness -- in the spirit of the holy Gospel. If, on the Sabbath day, when we are assembled here to worship the Lord, one of the Elders should be prompted to give us a lecture on any branch of education with which he is acquainted, is it outside the pale of our religion? I think not. If any of the Elders are disposed to give a lecture to parents and children on letters, on the rudiments of the English language, it is in my religion, it is a part of my faith. Or if an Elder shall give us a lecture upon astronomy, chemistry, or geology, our religion embraces it all. It matters not what the subject be, if it tends to improve the mind, exalt the feelings, and enlarge the capacity. The truth that is in all the arts and sciences forms a part of our religion. Faith is no more a part of it than any other true principle of philosophy. Were I to give you a lecture today upon farming, would I be speaking upon a matter that transcends the bounds of our religion? Agriculture is a part of it as well as any other truth. Were I to lecture on business principles of any kind, our religion embraces it; and what it does not circumscribe, it would be well for us to dispense with at once and forever. 1:334.
- If we take man, he is said to have been made in the image of God, for the simple reason that he is a son of God, and being his son, he is, of course, his offspring, an emanation from God, in whose likeness, we are told, he is made. He did not originate from a chaotic mass of matter, moving or inert, but came forth possessing, in an embryonic state, all the faculties and powers of a God. And when he shall be perfected, and have progressed to maturity, he will be like his Father -- a God, being indeed his offspring. As the horse, the ox, the sheep, and every living creature, including man, propagates its own species and perpetuates its own kind, so does God perpetuate his. -- MA, 164-165.
- Man is a dual being, possessed of body and spirit, made in the image of God, and connected with him and with eternity. He is a God in embryo and will live and progress throughout the eternal ages, if obedient to the laws of the Godhead, as the Gods progress throughout the eternal ages. -- JD, 23:65, April 9, 1882.
John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom, p.275
- You will see the day that Zion will be as far ahead of the outside world in everything pertaining to learning of every kind as we are today in regard to religious matters. You mark my words, and write them down, and see if they do not come to pass. We are not dependent upon them, but we are upon the Lord. We did not get our priesthood nor our information in regard to his law from them. It came from God. . . .
- I remember talking with some celebrated scientists from Europe some time ago, and I explained to them some of the principles relative to the heavenly bodies that were revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. They were astonished to know that ideas so grand could be developed through one that was comparatively unlearned. One of them remarked that they were the most magnificent principles he had ever heard of. Another one said that he had read and studied a great deal, but he had a good deal more yet to learn. We are, as the French would say, en rapport, with God; that is in communication with God. Let us live so that we can keep that up, so that angels can minister to us and the Holy Spirit dwell with us. -- JD, 21:100, April 13, 1879.
- Our children should not be neglected; they should receive a proper education in both spiritual and temporal things. That is the best legacy any parents can leave to their children. We should teach them to pray, and instil into their minds while young every correct principle. Ninety-nine out of every hundred children who are taught by their parents the principles of honesty and integrity, truth and virtue, will observe them through life. Such principles will exalt any people or nation who make them the rule of their conduct. Show me a mother who prays, who has passed through the trials of life by prayer, who has trusted in the Lord God of Israel in her trials and difficulties, and her children will follow in the same path. These things will not forsake them when they come to act in the kingdom of God . . .
- . . . Our children should be prepared to build up the kingdom of God. Then qualify them in the ways of childhood for the great duties they will be called upon to perform. -- JD 15:12, April 6, 1872.
Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.4-5
- Free agency is needed for godhood. Now, I believe in the independence of men and women. I believe that men and women have the image of God given them -- are formed after the image of God, and possess deity in their nature and character, and that their spiritual organization possesses the qualities and properties of God, and that there is the principle of God in every individual. It is designed that man should act as God, and not be constrained and controlled in everything, but have an independency, an agency and the power to spread abroad and act according to the principle of godliness that is in him, act according to the power and intelligence and enlightenment of God, that he possesses, and not that he should be watched continually, and be controlled, and act as a slave in these matters. (19 October 1879, JD, 20:367.)
- Obedience and purity are requirements of godhood. That exalted position was made manifest to me at a very early day. I had a direct revelation of this. It was most perfect and complete. If there ever was a thing revealed to man perfectly, clearly, so that there could be no doubt or dubiety, this was revealed to me, and it came in these words: "As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be." This may appear to some minds as something very strange and remarkable, but it is in perfect harmony with the teachings of Jesus Christ and with His promises. He said: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne" (Revelation 3:21). The Apostle Paul also taught in this wise: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:5-8). This is the high destiny of the sons of God, they who overcome, who are obedient to His commandments, who purify themselves even as He is pure. They are to become like Him; they will see Him as He is; they will behold His face and reign with Him in His glory, becoming like unto Him in every particular. (8 October 1898, DW, 57:513.)
- Our identity will always remain the same. In considering ourselves and how we have been organized and what we are doing, we discover that there is immortality connected with us. We are immortal beings. That which dwells in this body of ours is immortal, and will always exist. Our individuality will always continue. Eternities may begin, eternities may end, and still we shall have our individuality. Our identity is insured. We will be ourselves and nobody else. Whatever changes may arise, whatever worlds may be made or pass away, our identity will always remain the same; and we will continue on improving, advancing, and increasing in wisdom, intelligence, power, and dominion, worlds without end. Our present advancement is simply a starting out, as it were, on this path of immortality. Whatever may have been our past, how long we may have existed before this, or whether there ever was a time when we did not exist, there is one thing sure -- our being in the future will never be annihilated, never destroyed. (5 April 1901, CR, p. 2.)
- Philosophic theories of life have their place and use, but it is not in the classes of the Church schools, and particularly are they out of place here or anywhere else, when they seek to supplant the revelations of God. The ordinary student cannot delve into these subjects deep enough to make them of any practical use to him, and a smattering of knowledge in this line only tends to upset his simple faith in the gospel, which is of more value to him in life than all the learning of the world without it.
- The religion of the Latter-day Saints is not hostile to any truth, nor to scientific search for truth. "That which is demonstrated, we accept with joy," said the First Presidency in their Christmas greeting to the Saints, "but vain philosophy, human theory and mere speculations of men we do not accept, nor do we adopt anything contrary to divine revelation or to good common sense, but everything that tends to right conduct, that harmonizes with sound morality and increases faith in Deity, finds favor with us, no matter where it may be found."
- A good motto for young people to adopt, who are determined to delve into philosophic theories, is to search all things, but be careful to hold on only to that which is true. The truth persists, but the theories of philosophers change and are overthrown. What men use today as a scaffolding for scientific purposes from which to reach out into the unknown for truth, may be torn down tomorrow, having served its purpose; but faith is an eternal principle through which the humble believer may secure everlasting solace. It is the only way to find God. -- Improvement Era, Vol. 14, p. 548
Joseph Fielding Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p.118-119
- In truth the gospel is carrying us against the stream of passing humanity. We get in the way of purely human affairs and disturb the current of life in many ways and in many places. People who are comfortably located and well provided for, do not like to be disturbed. It angers them, and they would settle things once for all in the most drastic manner. The effects of certain causes are so unlike anything we have ever known that we are not safe in making philosophy our guide; much less are we safe in making those our guide who have some sort of selfish philosophy which they are anxious that others should follow. Those who defend us, do so not infrequently with an apologetic air. The Saints are never safe in following the protests and counsels of those who would have us ever and always in harmony with the world. We have our particular mission to perform; and that we may perform it in consonance with divine purposes, we are running counter to the ways of man. We are made unpopular. The contempt of the world is on us, and we are the unloved child among the peoples of the earth.
- Others would quit, they would avoid trouble. When it comes, it is to them most unfortunate. It is really too bad. In their minds, it might have been avoided. They want to square themselves with the world. The decree of the world has gone forth, why withstand it? "We have withstood evil," they say, "and it has overwhelmed us. Why stand longer?" Such men read history, if at all, only as they make it; they cannot see the hand of God in the affairs of men, because they see only with the eye of man and not with the eye of faith. All resistance is gone out of them -- they have left God out of the question. They have not put on his whole armor. Without it they are loaded down with fear and apprehension, and they sink. To such men everything that brings trouble seems necessary. As Saints of God, it is our duty "to stand," even when we are overwhelmed by evil.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p.120
- "Therefore be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy;
- "For if ye will not abide in my covenant, ye are not worthy of me." (Doc. and Cov. 98:11-15). -- Juvenile Instructor, Aug. 15, 1904, Vol. 39, pp. 496, 497.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p.269
- Educate yourself not only for time, but also for eternity. The latter of the two is the more important. Therefore, when we shall have completed the studies of time, and enter upon the commencement ceremonies of the great hereafter, we will find our work is not finished, but just begun, we may then say with the poet:
Joseph Fielding Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p.301
- No; on the other hand, this should be done every day, and in the home, by precept, teaching and example. Brethren, there is too little religious devotion, love and fear of God, in the home; too much worldliness, selfishness, indifference and lack of reverence in the family, or these never would exist so abundantly on the outside. Then, the home is what needs reforming. Try today, and tomorrow, to make a change in your home by praying twice a day with your family; call on your children and your wife to pray with you. Ask a blessing upon every meal you eat. Spend ten minutes in reading a chapter from the words of the Lord in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, before you retire, or before you go to your daily toil. Feed your spiritual selves at home, as well as in public places. Let love, and peace, and the Spirit of the Lord, kindness, charity, sacrifice for others, abound in your families. Banish harsh words, envyings, hatreds, evil speaking, obscene language and innuendo, blasphemy, and let the Spirit of God take possession of your hearts. Teach to your children these things, in spirit and power, sustained and strengthened by personal practice. Let them see that you are earnest, and practice what you preach. Do not let your children out to specialists in these things, but teach them by your own precept and example, by your own fireside. Be a specialist yourself in the truth. Let our meetings, schools and organizations, instead of being our only or leading teachers, be supplements to our teachings and training in the home. Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with the truth in the gospel of Christ, as revealed and taught to the Latter-day Saints. Fathers and mothers, you are largely to blame for the infidelity and indifference of your children. You can remedy the evil by earnest worship, example, training and discipline, in the home. -- Improvement Era, Vol. 7, Dec., 1904, p. 135.
- There are at least three dangers that threaten the Church within, and the authorities need to awaken to the fact that the people should be warned unceasingly against them. As I see these, they are flattery of prominent men in the world, false educational ideas, and sexual impurity.
- But the third subject mentioned -- personal purity, is perhaps of greater importance than either of the other two. We believe in one standard of morality for men and women. If purity of life is neglected, all other dangers set in upon us like the rivers of waters when the flood gates are opened. -- Improvement Era, Vol. 17, No. 5, p. 476. March, 1914.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p.347
- We need manual training schools instead of so much book-learning and the stuffing of fairy tales and fables which are contained in many of our school books of today. If we would devote more money and time, more energy and attention to teaching our children manual labor in our schools than we do, it would be a better thing for the rising generation.
- There are many subjects of this character, in addition to the principles of the gospel of eternal truth and the plan of life and salvation, that can be dwelt upon with profit by those who may speak to us. -- Apr. C. R., 1903, pp. 2, 3.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p.353
- The object, I may say almost the only purpose, for the maintenance of Church schools is that true religion and undefiled before God the Father, may be inculcated in the minds and hearts of our children while they are getting an education, to enable the heart, the soul and the spirit of our children to develop with proper teaching, in connection with the secular training that they receive in schools. -- Oct. C. R., 1915, p. 4.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p.372-373
- I know that this is the work of God, and he is carrying it on. The honor of triumph over error, sin and injustice will belong to God and not to you or me, or any other man. Some men there will be who would limit the power of God to the power of men, and we have some of these among us and they have been among our school teachers. They would have you disbelieve the inspired accounts of the Scriptures, that the winds and the waves are subject to the power of God; and believe the claim of the Savior to cast out devils, raise the dead, or perform miraculous things, such as cleansing the leper, is only a myth. They would make you believe that God and his Son Jesus Christ did not appear in person to Joseph Smith, that this was simply a myth, but we know better; the testimony of the Spirit has testified that this is the truth. And I say, beware of men who come to you with heresies that things come by laws of nature of themselves, and that God is without power.
- I am thankful that men who make such claims are few in number in the world, and I hope they will become fewer still. -- Logan Journal, April 7, 1914.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p.373
- Among the Latter-day Saints, the preaching of false doctrines disguised as truths of the gospel, may be expected from people of two classes, and practically from these only; they are:
- First -- The hopelessly ignorant, whose lack of intelligence is due to their indolence and sloth, who make but feeble effort, if indeed any at all, to better themselves by reading and study; those who are afflicted with a dread disease that may develop into an incurable malady -- laziness.
- Second -- The proud and self-vaunting ones, who read by the lamp of their own conceit; who interpret by rules of their own contriving; who have become a law unto themselves, and so pose as the sole judges of their own doings. More dangerously ignorant than the first.
- Beware of the lazy and the proud; their infection in each case is contagious; better for them and for all when they are compelled to display the yellow flag of warning, that the clean and uninfected may be protected. -- Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 41, p. 178.
Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards, p.163
- I want to say that I know, from personal testimony to me, that in the university to which I have contributed means to assist in its support, some teachers have been guilty of asking questions that they have no business to ask. Men who are drawing salaries are asking questions that create disbelief in the Bible. If they would just control their tongues and teach what they are paid to teach, I for one would be grateful to them.
- When teachers stand before their classes and ask students to hold up their hands in answer to a question whether they believe something that is in the Bible, such instructors are doing that which I think they should refrain from doing, because that is not what they are paid for. Let the Bible alone, and not attempt to get a "ha-ha" out of those who do not believe its teachings.--CR October, 1935:102-103.
Heber J. Grant, Gospel Standards, p.165-167
- I remember speaking, upon one occasion, in one of our great Church schools. I said that I hoped it would never be forgotten that the one and only reason why there was any necessity for a Church school was to make Latter-day Saints. If it were only for the purpose of gaining secular knowledge or improving in art, literature, science, and invention, so far as our information was concerned, and adding to it on these subjects, that there was no need of Church schools, because we could gain these things from our secular schools supported by the taxation of the people; and that we had an abundance of uses for all the means that the Church possesses, all the tithing that might come into our hands, without expending vast sums of money upon Church schools. But if we kept in our minds the one central thing, namely, the making of Latter-day Saints in our schools, then they would be fulfilling the object of their existence. The amount of money expended would cut no figure at all, because we cannot value in dollars and cents the saving of a single soul.--Era, 24:866-867.
- It is only fair to say that the religious instruction given in our seminaries is equally as extensive and as thorough as that given in our Church schools. We have appeals from all over the Church, wherever Church schools are located, that we do not close these institutions. The people in each stake feel that their particular school is the one that ought not to be closed. While we are expending now, and have done so for the past three years, more than all the tithes paid by the people in the various stakes of Zion from Canada to Mexico, it is an impossibility to extend our seminary system further--which has been greatly expanded in the last three years--and still continue our Church schools. When you stop to reflect that it only costs a little less than one-tenth as much to educate our young people religiously in the seminaries as it does in the Church schools, you will realize that we are justified in curtailing our schools and in enlarging our seminaries--when we can give for the same amount as much if not a little more religious education to ten people in a seminary as we can give to one person in a school. We would be delighted if it were possible, not only to keep every one of our Church schools operating, but to have more of them. I am sure that, figuratively speaking, it breaks the hearts of the Presidency and of all of the General Authorities of the Church to close any one of the Church schools. We appreciate the wonderful labors that have been accomplished and the wonderful good that has been done in these schools. But we cannot, without facing a deficit, continue to expend three or four times as much money for building meetinghouses and Church schools with only a very slight increase in our tithes.
- Because of these facts we would like the people to understand that in closing Church schools and opening seminaries we shall be able to give religious instruction to about ten times as many students.--CR April, 1929:3-4.
- The whole sum and substance of my subject is contained in the fact that there is one thing, and only one, that these [Church] schools ought to do, and that is to make Latter-day Saints. And, as the salvation of the children of God here on the earth is the purpose for which the gospel has again been revealed, that is the reason for the establishment of these schools, and the specific reason.
- Unless these schools had been established, I believe that some of the strongest, best, and most noble workers in the Church of Christ would not be such noble workers, would not have their faith, would have gone away for their education without a love of God in their hearts, and would not today be numbered in the membership of the Church. I believe that as a cold-blooded business proposition, we should try to discern and find out the spirit of men and women teaching in these schools, to see to it that we haven't somebody teaching there just because there is as good a salary as he could get somewhere else or because he can do better financially; and who pays his tithing simply because he is working in the Church school system as I know some have done, for the day they got another job they discontinued paying their tithing. When we can get rid of every teacher who has not the love of God and the love of Jesus Christ and the love of this work and of implanting in the hearts of the children the testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and have only those who are determined to make Latter-day Saints, then this school system will grow more rapidly than it has in the past, and the specific object for which it was created will be more rapidly attained.--Era, 26:1093.
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.214
- The proper training of childhood is man's most sacred obligation. Children at birth are the most dependent and helpless of all creatures, yet they are the sweetest and the greatest of all things in the world. They come from the Father pure and undefiled, their souls like stainless white paper on which is to be written the aspirations and achievements of a lifetime. Whether that scroll shall become the biography of a noble Christlike life, or a series of blots and blurs, depends largely, if not entirely, upon the guiding influence of parents, playmates, and teachers. "A creature undefiled by the taint of the world, unvexed by its injustice, unwearied by its hollow pleasures; a being fresh from the source of light, with something of its universal lustre in it -- if childhood be this, how holy the duty to see that in its onward growth it shall be no other."
- In the formation of character and guidance of childhood, parental influence is greatest; next comes the teacher's. Of the former, I cannot comment in this article; and of the latter, I must confine my reference only to a few of those who have sought to establish an environment in which children might be fired with an ambition to be useful and infused with a desire to be obedient, that thereby they might enjoy the first and foremost right of childhood; viz., to be happy. "There is true nobility in the soul of that man or woman who sincerely desires and strives to lead children out of contaminating influences into an environment of high ideals and lofty endeavor."
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.220
- There is true nobility in the soul of that man or woman who sincerely desires and strives to lead children out of contaminating influences into an environment of high ideals and lofty endeavors.
- There exists an eternal law that each human soul shall shape its own destiny. No one individual can make happiness or salvation for another. "Even God could not make men like himself without making them free." -- DNCS, June 8, 1935, p. 1.
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.307
- Do not let advocates of communism mislead you in their attempt to denounce capitalism. Fundamental in the belief and promulgation of communism is the denial of the existence of God and the desire to substitute for the belief confidence in the state. The state is not an organization to suppress people. The state should have no power but that which the people give it; and when the state becomes a director, a controller of the individual, it becomes despotism; and human nature has fought that since man was created; and man will continue to fight that false ideal.
- Individual freedom is innate in the human soul. God has given us our free agency, and next to life itself that is our greatest gift from heaven, and you red-blooded men and women know that is true because of your own love of liberty. -- DNCS, April 30, 1952, p. 2.
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.312
- It is well ever to keep in mind the fact that the state exists for the individual, not the individual for the state. Jesus sought to perfect society by perfecting the individual, and only by the exercising of free agency can the individual even approach perfection. -- CR, April 1940, p. 118.
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.316
- As precious as life itself is our heritage of individual freedom, for man's free agency is a God -- given gift. In sensing our responsibility to preserve it for ourselves and our posterity, let students and patriotic people ever keep in mind the warning voice of James Russell Lowell proclaiming: "Our American republic will endure only as long as the ideas of the men who founded it continue dominant."
- There is a crying need today to have this truth heralded throughout the land that youth especially may appreciate and hold the freedom of the individual as sacred as did our revolutionary fathers.
- Into the soul of every student I would have instilled the patriotic fervor of Patrick Henry: "Were my soul trembling on the wing of eternity, were this hand freezing to death, were my voice choking with the last struggle, I would still, with the last gasp of that voice, implore you to remember the truth: God has given America to be free."
- Already there are insidious influences working termite-like to destroy this basic principle of true democracy.
- As reported in the public press a year or so ago, an experienced United States Congressman, reputably one of the best lawyers in Congress, said: "There isn't a person in this room now who can be certain that he can leave to his children the heritage of the privilege of being free." -- DNCS, June 20, 1951, p. 3.
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.429-432
- Our nation is facing stupendously critical problems, not the least of which is the present-day indifference toward the need of better training and proper education of youth -- America's most precious asset, her greatest safeguard, her most important, most potentially profitable enterprise!
- Students enter school primarily to gain economic or social advantage. But this aim is not always achieved, nor is it, nor should it be, the highest purpose of education. However, we must not underestimate the value of obtaining an education for a livelihood. Education for economic advancement is a good investment for the individual as well as for the state. The United States as a nation is still young, but its brief history is replete with striking examples of the value of its free public school system even as a financial investment.
- No, I do not in the least disparage this aim nor criticize our public school system for planning to make possible its realization. But education for a livelihood is not the highest purpose of education. -- CAUU, June 9, 1951, pp. 4-5.
- After all is said and done, the most potent force for training youth in the United States today is our public school system. But let us face clearly and forcefully the fact that the paramount ideal permeating all education in the grades, the high school, through college and the university, should be more spiritual than economic.
- I am but repeating what we all know and feel when I say that our country's greatest asset is its manhood. Upon that depends not only the survival of the individual freedom vouchsafed by the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and all other ideals, for which the founders of the republic fought and died, but also the survival of the best that we cherish in present-day civilization throughout the world.
- The preservation of these must come through education. Lest you think that I am merely an idealist, appealing for something which cannot be attained practically through the curriculum of our public schools, let me say that if the purpose be properly emphasized and the desire to achieve it be generally sensed, the coming generation and adults of the present time can be influenced within the next ten years. Still fresh in our memory is the fact that a paranoiac, with a native ability to influence the masses, demonstrated through concentrated, continued effort by specially-trained instructors and leaders, how the minds of youth could be directed within two decades to accept even a perverted ideal. How near he came to this realization of his aim within a few short years is now a matter of history. If youth can be so influenced to degenerate to the jungle, it can also be trained by united purpose to ascend the path of spiritual attainment.
- Only through proper education can these fundamental principles become fixed and guiding influences in the lives of human beings. Our educational system will radiate such principles just to the extent that we employ in our public schools, high schools, colleges, and universities men and women who are not only eminent in their particular professions but also loyal to the Constitution of our land, influential as leaders, noble in character.
- Imagine what it would mean to the national integrity of America if every one of the half million graduates, in addition to his having earned his diploma, could cherish the memory of a noble character of whom throughout the years he could say as a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States said of one who influenced his university career: "I admired him for his learning, loved him for his goodness, profited greatly from both. He believed that scholastic attainments were better than riches, but that better than either were faith, love, charity, clean living, clean thinking, loyalty, tolerance, and all the other attributes that combine to constitute that most precious of all possessions -- good character."
- In his appreciation of the instructor who wielded the most influence in his life, this leader of men is but echoing the sentiments expressed by Ralph Waldo Emerson, reputedly the wisest American -- "Character is higher than intellect: . . . A great soul will be strong to live, as well as to think." The most potent influence in training our youth to cherish life, to keep their word of honor, to have increased respect for human kind and love of justice, is the life and personality of the teacher.
- The contribution of general education to the industrial and commercial greatness of the country is obvious on every hand -- in research laboratories, in increased productivity of farms, in achievements of electrical, physical, chemical, engineering sciences, in harnessing, either for the benefit or destruction of man, the boundless force of atomic energy. But what true education has done, and may do to awaken in the human heart a sense of the end and aim of human existence on this earth, what it has done to raise the standard of citizenship, how it has helped to make living happier by contributing to the prosperity, peace, and security of our country, are beyond evaluation!
- Stockholders -- the people of the United States -- must make this greatest of industries in our republic pay dividends in character and true citizenship or face inevitable failure and possible catastrophe. -- CAUU, June 9, 1951, pp. 9-10.
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.433
- "The world is passing through troublous times. Young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. The are impatient of all restraint. The talk as if they alone know everything. As for girls, they are forward, immodest, and unwomanly in speech, behavior, and dress."
- When was that written? In the year 1274!
- "My grandad, viewing earth's worn cogs,
- Said things are going to the dogs.
- His grandad in his house of logs,
- Said things are going to the dogs.
- His grandad in the Flemish bogs,
- Said things are going to the dogs.
- His grandad in his old skin togs,
- Said things are going to the dogs.
- There's one thing I have to state,
- The dogs have had a good long wait!"
- Such expressions of experiences of the past lead some to wonder whether present-day apprehensions of impending world catastrophe may not pass as have forebodings of other generations.
- However, students, we must not let complacency blind our eyes to the real dangers threatening to destroy us. Judging from the written and expressed opinion of many of our leaders, our government is facing the greatest crisis in its history. -- DNCS, March 12, 1952, p. 2.
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.434-437
- I wish to say that education is an investment, not an expense. -- DNCS, March 12, 1952, p. 14.
- If the people of the United States would have the highest returns for their financial investment in education, they must as a matter of sound business judgment have, in all our schools, teachers of outstanding leadership and wholesome influence. -- DNCS, March 12, 1952, p. 14,
- From The Child, His Nature and His Needs, a publication of the Children's Foundation, pages 102 and 106, I will read this question: "Should moral instruction receive a definite place in the school curriculum?" I want to tell you students, who will be leaders in a few years in scholastic fields and business, that unless we do make morality and ethics and spirituality and religion our direct aim this nation will not be prepared to counteract the evil influence of the teaching behind the iron curtain, the leaders of which are purposely, designedly, you take my word for it, teaching youth corrupt ideals and principles.
- Now, our public schools, recognizing that, are setting forth ethical principles to be taught. But, note this, moral instruction is of the greatest usefulness where teachers are in earnest, where they possess the necessary skill, where they see that moral instruction is only one item in the general program of moral education, and where all the moral forces in the school are called into play together.
- Now, I pause long enough to ask the leaders of this nation, how is it possible to get leaders in our schoolrooms, hold them, have men of influence and women of superior ability to teach our children unless we are willing to compensate them properly in their efforts so to teach their children? It is folly for this nation to expect more teachers throughout the land to forsake other and more lucrative opportunities if they do not give to our teachers, our professors in the universities, in the high schools, and in day schools a compensation that their position merits. We'll have to face it, giving only five billion dollars for education in the United States and expending at the same time twenty billion dollars to take care of crime is inconsistent. It takes us back to that old story: Which will you have -- a fence around the cliff or an ambulance down in the valley ?
- Here are some of the ideals recommended by our public school officers in our morality code which are very commendable: self-control, kindness, sportsmanship, self-reliance, duty, reliability, good workmanship, teamwork, loyalty, obedience to duty and to constituted authority. That is very commendable: obedience to all is necessary to protect the fundamentals of our government -- freedom, justice, and equality, moral ideals -- but unless we have teachers who will inspire the students and become as it were, heroes, ideals at least, in the minds of those students, these ethical principles will not become very impressive. Now admitting all that is necessary, pleading with our government, our state officials as well, and local boards, rightfully and respectably to compensate our teachers, there is something higher and greater which our public school system cannot teach; that which the church school is unhampered in teaching.
- To live an upright life, to conform to high ethical standards is the responsibility and duty of every teacher in the land. Greater even than this is the responsibility of the religious teacher. His profession is higher than that of the teacher in the common school, for in addition in his belief in the efficacy of ethical and moral precepts, a religious teacher assumes the responsibility of leading the youth into the realms of spirituality. His duty comporting with his pretensions and profession is to open the eyes of the blind that they may see God. What is there in man so worthy of honor and reverence as this, that he is capable of contemplating something higher than his own reason, more sublime than the whole universe, that spirit which alone is self-subsistent, from which all truth proceeds without which there is no truth? Leading youth to know God, to have faith in his laws, to have confidence in his fatherhood and to find solace and peace in his love -- this is the greatest privilege, the most sublime opportunity offered the true educator. -- DNCS, October 18, 1952, p. 4.
- A university is not a dictionary, a dispensary, nor is it a department store. It is more than a storehouse of knowledge and more than a community of scholars. University life is essentially an exercise in thinking, preparing, and living. Without further comment, I give you this definition: The aim of education is to develop resources in the child that will contribute to his well-being as long as life endures; to develop power of self-mastery that he may never be a slave to indulgence or other weaknesses, to develop virile manhood, beautiful womanhood that in every child and every youth may be found at least the promise of a friend, a companion, one who later may be fit for husband or wife, an exemplary father or a loving intelligent mother, one who can face life with courage, meet disaster with fortitude, and face death without fear. -- DNCS, October 18, 1952, p. 2.
- Teaching is the noblest profession in the world. Upon the proper education of youth depend the permanency and purity of home, the safety and perpetuity of the nation. The parent gives the child an opportunity to live; the teacher enables the child to live well. That parent who gives life and teaches his child to live abundantly is the true parent-teacher. However, today the customs and demands of society are such that the responsibility of training the child to live well is largely, and in too many instances, shifted entirely from the parent to the teacher.
- In the ideal state, the teacher would be but the parents' ally, training the mind and encouraging worthy habits, and fostering noble traits of character inculcated by wise parental teaching and example, but in reality, the teacher, instead of being merely an ally must become the foster parent in training the child in the art of living. If that were all, his responsibility would be great enough; but it is not all. Often he faces even the greater task of overcoming the false teaching and improper training of unwise, irresponsible parents. In the light of such self-evident facts, I think it must be apparent to every thinking mind that the noblest of all professions is that of teaching, and that upon the effectiveness of that teaching hangs the destiny of nations. "All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind," says Aristotle, "have been convinced that the fate of empires depends upon the education of youth." -- RSM, 21:722 (1934).
- The general objectives in our public schools should be to assist the individual in the proper development of his physical, intellectual, and spiritual nature, that he may become of value to his country and of service to his fellow man. This objective can be accomplished only on the basis of true education.
- And what is true education? "It is awakening a love for truth; giving a just sense of duty; opening the eyes of the soul to the great purpose and end of life. It is not so much giving words, as thoughts; or mere maxims, as living principles. It is not teaching to be honest, because `honesty is the best policy'; but because it is right. It is teaching the individual to love the good, for the sake of the good; to be virtuous in action because one is so in heart; to love and serve God supremely, not from fear, but from delight in his perfect character. No one can successfully controvert the fact that upon the teacher rests much of the responsibility of lifting society to this high ideal. -- RSM, 21:723 (1934).
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.439-442
- It is written that "he who governs well leads the blind, but he that teaches gives them eyes." -- CR, April 1914, p. 86.
- WE ARE FREE "TO LAUNCH INTO THE REALM OF THE INFINITE" IN SEARCH OF TRUTH. The Church stands for education. The very purpose of its organization is to promulgate truth among men. Members of the Church are admonished to acquire learning by study, and also by faith and prayer, and to seek after everything that is virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy. In this seeking after truth they are not confined to narrow limits of dogma or creed, but are free to launch into the realm of the infinite, for they know that
- "Truth is truth where'er `tis found,
- Whether on Christian or on heathen ground."
- Indeed, one of the fundamental teachings of the Church is that salvation itself depends upon knowledge; for, says the revelation, "It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance," (D. & C. 131:6) and again, ". . . if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come." (Ibid., 130:19.)
- But gaining knowledge is one thing and applying it, quite another. Wisdom is the right application of knowledge; and true education -- the education for which the Church stands -- is the application of knowledge to the development of a noble and Godlike character.
- A man may possess a profound knowledge of history and of mathematics; he may be authority in psychology, biology, or astronomy; he may know all the discovered truths pertaining to geology and natural science; but if he has not with this knowledge that nobility of soul which prompts him to deal justly with his fellow men, to practise virtue and holiness in personal life, he is not a truly educated man.
- Character is the aim of true education; and science, history, and literature are but means used to accomplish the desired end. Character is not the result of chance work but of continuous right thinking and right acting.
- It is regrettable, not to say deplorable, that modern education so little emphasizes these fundamental elements of true character. The principal aim of many of our schools and colleges seems to be to give the students purely intellectual attainments and to give but passing regard to the nobler and more necessary development along moral lines. This is particularly noticeable along the lines of self-control. Notwithstanding the study of hygiene in our public schools and the hundreds of books written in condemnation of the use of tobacco and alcoholic beverages, thousands of our school children are sapping their intellectual strength and blunting their moral sensibilities by the pernicious use of the cigarette and other forms of tobacco. The small percentage of these who reach college add to the tobacco the drinking habit, and to this sexual indulgence that leaves them stranded as moral wrecks before they are scarcely launched on their life's journey.
- I think every progressive age of the world has had intellectual and socially-minded leaders who have sought a better way of living than that which was theirs. The good life, so important to man's happiness, has been the quest of the ages. To sense the need for reform has been easy, but to achieve it has been difficult and often well-nigh impossible. Ideas suggested and proposed by the wisest of men have too often been impractical, often fantastic, yet in most cases the world in general has been made better by the dissemination of new ideas, even though the experiments proved failures at that time. -- IE, 45:12 (1942).
- If the reports be true, with reference to the indifference of the country as a whole toward Christian churches, we shall have to place next to the home, not the church, but the public school, as the most influential factor in lessening delinquency. -- IE, 49:740 (1946).
- There is true nobility in the soul of that man or woman who sincerely desires and strives to lead children out of contaminating influences into an environment of high ideals and lofty endeavors. -- I, 84:620 (1949).
- God bless you, teachers of this faculty, you students, that you may lift this school, if it has not yet attained it, to that height wherein it may be an example to all higher institutions in the world, that we may contribute to the new trend of thought of educational leaders that the great need of the world today is more spirituality, less atheism, more love for God, and for one's fellow men! -- DNCS, October 17, 1951, p. 7.
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.456
- Motherhood is the one thing in all the world which most truly exemplifies the God-given virtues of creating and sacrificing. Though it carries the woman close to the brink of death, motherhood also leads her into the very realm of the fountains of life and makes her co-partner with the Creator in bestowing upon eternal spirits mortal life. Artists may make new visions real; poets express thoughts never known before or dress old ones in a more becoming garb; engineers may transform deserts into bounteous fields and fill them with prosperous towns and thriving villages; scientists may discover new elements and by various combinations thereof create means contributive either to progress or destruction -- all these are in a measure revealers of unknown things; but the mother who, in compliance with eternal law, brings into the world an immortal spirit occupies first rank in the realm of creation.
David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p.487
- Our country's most precious possession is not our vast acres of range land supporting flocks and herds; not productive farms; not our forests; not our mines nor oil wells producing fabulous wealth. Our country's greatest resource is our children. -- CR, October 1951, pp. 5-6.
David O. McKay, BYU, April 27, 1948
- There is one responsibility which no man can evade; that responsibility is his personal influence. Man's unconscious influence is the silent, subtle radiation of personality--the effect of his words and his actions on others. This radiation is tremendous. Every moment of life man is changing, to a degree, the life of the whole world.
- Every man has an atmosphere which is affecting every other man. He cannot escape for one moment from this radiation of his character, this constant weakening or strengthening of others. Man cannot evade the responsibility by merely saying that it is an unconscious influence. Man can select the qualities he would permit to be radiated. He can cultivate sweetness, calmness, trust, generosity, truth, justice, loyalty, nobelity, and make them affect the world.
- This radiation, to which I refer, comes from what a person really is, not from what he pretends to be. Every man by his mere living is radiating either sympathy, sorrow, morbidness, cynicism, or happiness and hope or any one of a hundred qualities.
- Life is a state of radiation and absorption. To exist is to radiate; to exist is to be the recipient of radiation.
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.1, p.118-119
- Now, my good brethren and sisters, this damnable doctrine that is so prevalent in the world today, that is taught in the colleges throughout our country, and has swept over the face of the earth like a destructive flood of evil, is striking at the fundamentals of your faith -- that is the doctrine so circulated ridiculing the Son of God, making light of his Father as a cruel monster (I was going to say inhuman but I cannot say that) because he would permit his Son to suffer for you and for me.
- Is it any wonder that the world is ridiculing the prophets and making light of the holy scriptures when the leading men who are setting the pace for education, who are controlling the thought of the world are teaching such terrible, soul-destroying doctrines as these I have read to you? And these are only a few. Thousands of books have been published with similar thoughts.
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.1, p.143
- The modern world is fulfilling the scriptures which say that in the last days men would be "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Today the world has discarded the great truth concerning the Fatherhood of God and has turned to fables. It has adopted and is promulgating in textbooks and schools the debasing doctrine that man is not the offspring of God, but a natural development through countless ages from the lowest forms of physical life to his present form and intelligence.
- The education of the present day is very largely knowledge without the accompanying intelligence, or light and truth. It is bound to be so, and much of the knowledge will be mixed with error, where faith in God and in his revelations is eliminated, and only the cold and many times barren conclusions of mind and reason are the guide. Such learning leads to spiritual death, not to spiritual life.
- I regret exceedingly that courses in study in the public schools, in the colleges and places of learning throughout the land, are in conflict with fundamental truths of the Christian faith; and, for one, I desire to express my feelings, and to declare that I consider it an outrage against the liberties of the people, when we are denied the privilege of teaching principles of eternal truth in the realm of religion; when we are denied the privilege of praying to our Heavenly Father in the schools, or referring to the Supreme Being for fear that we will offend someone; and at the same time instructors are permitted to advocate that, in the schools, which the teachers themselves profess and declare to be in conflict with the fundamentals of the faith which I believe, and which thousands of others accept throughout this nation and other nations of the world as divine truth.
- The world is full of philosophy. One prominent and intelligent writer has called these theories "scientific fiction." I think he is right. We have the theories of evolution, of higher criticism, the ideas that prevail in the schools throughout our land that are dangerous, that are striking at the fundamentals of the gospel of Jesus Christ, trying to destroy the faith in the minds of the students who attend the schools. We are troubled with it to some extent even in our own state, and the colleges throughout the country are full of it, and the professors teach it; they believe in it, at least they profess to believe in it; and it seems to me that the sole purpose of it is to undermine and destroy the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- I want to say to the Latter-day Saints that it is our duty to put our faith in the revealed word of God, to accept that which has come through inspiration, through revelation unto his servants the prophets, both ancient and modern. And whenever you find any doctrine, any idea, any expression from any source whatsoever, that is in conflict with that which the Lord has revealed and which is found in the holy scriptures, you may be assured that it is false; and you should put it aside and stand firmly grounded in the truth in prayer and in faith, relying upon the Spirit of the Lord for knowledge, for wisdom, concerning these principles of truth.
- There is no knowledge, no learning that can compensate the individual for the loss of his belief in heaven and in the saving principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. An education that leads a man from these central truths cannot compensate him for the great loss of spiritual things.
Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.3, p.292
- Because of the love of the things of the world and the enticing influence of the powers of darkness, we (meaning Christian people generally) have departed from the strait path which leads to life and which our Lord has said few men find because they love darkness rather than light, their deeds being evil. We have permitted the philosophies of men, which deny the divinity of Jesus Christ and mock at the sacred ordinances of the gospel, to enter into our schools, and businesses, and our homes, thus weakening our faith and our reverence for our Creator, We have forgotten that man was created in the image of God, that the scriptures declare that we are his offspring, and that we are commanded to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye In Holy Places, p.18
- One of the greatest threats to the work of the Lord today comes from false educational ideas. There is a growing tendency of teachers within and without the Church to make academic interpretations of gospel teachings -- to read, as a prophet-leader has said, "by the lamp of their own conceit." Unfortunately, much in the sciences, the arts, politics, and the entertainment field, as has been well said by an eminent scholar, is "all dominated by this humanistic approach which ignores God and His word as revealed through the prophets." This kind of worldly system apparently hopes to draw men away from God by making man the "measure of all things," as some worldly philosophers have said.
- If we will carefully analyze that commandment of the Lord, we will find broadly enumerated many of the studies outlined in scholastic courses: astronomy, the physical sciences, mineralogy, history, current events, political science, law, medicine, world history, and so on through the entire school curriculum. What the Church does ask of us in all our worldly studies are these two things:
- First, that we measure every teaching to be found in the world of book learning by the teachings of revealed truth, as contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we find in school texts claims that contradict the word of the Lord as pertaining to the creation of the world, the origin of man, or the determination of what is right or wrong in the conduct of human souls, we may be certain that such teachings are but the theories of men; and as men improve their learning and experimentation, the nearer will their theories coincide with the truths that God has given to His church. And second, that there are, beyond the things we can discern by the physical senses of "the natural man," things of a spiritual nature:
Harold B. Lee, Stand Ye In Holy Places, p.74
- My association with men of great learning in science and philosophy or in religion leads me to conclude that one's faith in spiritual matters is disturbed by his scientific or philosophical studies only because his knowledge in either or both science and religion is deficient.
- Let every working mother honestly weigh the matter and be sure the Lord approves before she rushes her babies off to the nursery, her children off to school, her husband off to work, and herself off to her employment. Let her be certain that she is not rationalizing herself away from her children merely to provide for them greater material things. Let her analyze well before she permits her precious ones to come home to an empty house where their plaintive cry, "Mother," finds no loving answer. ("Keep Mothers in the Home," Gen. Conf., Imp. Era (Dec. 1963), 1071; FPM 115)
- Perhaps more than any other people of like size, we are deeply committed to the development of the skills and talents of our sisters, for we believe our educational program is not simply education for this world, but involves an education for all eternity.
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.337
- Responsibility for training children cannot be shifted to agencies. There seems to be a growing tendency to shift this responsibility from the home to outside influences such as the school and the church, and, of greater concern, to various child-care agencies and institutions. Important as these outward influences may be, they never can adequately take the place of the influence of the mother and the father. Constant training, constant vigilance, companionship, and being watchmen of our own children are necessary in order to keep our homes intact and to bless our children in the Lord's own way. ("Fortify Your Homes Against Evil," Gen. Conf., Ensign, May, 1979)
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.342
- Teach children about sex. The home is the teaching situation [for sex education]. Every father should talk to his son, every mother to her daughter. Then it would leave them totally without excuse should they ignore the counsel they have received. ("God Will Not Be Mocked," Gen. Conf., Ensign, Nov., 1974)
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.382-383
- A hundred years ago our parents came into Utah and nearly starved for years, but the first thing they did was build schoolhouses and put schoolteachers in them and send their children to school. The parents deprived themselves of luxuries, fine clothes, and even almost went without enough to eat in order to keep their children in the schools. ("Mis Queridos Hermanos y Hermanas," Lamanite Conf., Mesa, AZ (11/3/47); Instructor, Oct. 1952)
- Reinforce good teaching with praise. Before you leave this college campus, remember to give deserved and specific praise to the members of the faculty and the staff here for what they have done for you. Part of the process of renewal for this dedicated faculty of men and women is to have students validate, verbally as well as behaviorally, the fact that what the teachers have done for them does matter. Deserved praise is never wasted. (Commencement at Snow College (6/1/74)
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.387
- It is quite understandable how budding intellectuals could become unbalanced when most receive many times as much secular study as religious training and when many receive no spiritual. It is our feeling that every student in every church should have religious training to balance the secular. (Baccalaureate, Eastern AZ College, Thatcher (May 1963)
- The moral dimension keeps learning from becoming selfish. Many in the secular world are often adrift and anchorless. Only an education which educates for eternity has the wholeness which humans need. When we separate learning from divine moral truth it quickly deteriorates into a restless, roving search for meaning and often drifts into a sensual selfishness. (Commencement at Church College of Hawaii (4/13/74)
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.390-392
- Spiritual learning takes precedence. The secular without the foundation of the spiritual is but like the foam upon the milk, the fleeting shadow.
- Do not be deceived! One need not choose between the two... for there is opportunity to get both simultaneously; but can you see that the seminary courses should be given even preferential attention over the high school subjects; the institute over the college course; the study of the scriptures ahead of the study of the man-written texts; the association with the Church more important than clubs, fraternities, and sororities; the payment of tithing more important than paying tuitions and fees?
- Can you see that the ordinances of the temple are more important than the Ph.D. or any and all other academic degrees?...
- Secular knowledge, important as it may be, can never save a soul nor open the celestial kingdom nor create a world nor make a man a god, but it can be most helpful to that man who, placing first things first, has found the way to eternal life and who can now bring into play all knowledge to be his tool and servant. ("'Seek Ye First...,'" in Life's Directions (Deseret Book, 1962)
- No conflict exists between the gospel and any truth. In your pursuit of truth, remember that while some truths matter more than others, all true principles are a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no true principle that we need to fear....
- However, there is a lot in the world that attempts to pass itself off as truth when it is not. A good education will help you to distinguish between sense and nonsense. As you also receive real literacy in things spiritual, you will have added discernment with which to weigh and test ideas and assertions as you make decisions and judgments.
- In addition to being serious about your scholarship, do not be unduly fearful about conditions in the world. Be noticing. Be aware. But be of good cheer, and also be about your Father's business. The Lord has promised us, again and again, that he will watch over his people and lead them along. ("Acquiring Spiritual Literacy," BYU (9/30/80)
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.395
- BYU exists to build character and faith. This institution [BYU] has no justification for its existence unless it builds character, creates and develops faith, and makes men and women of strength and courage, fortitude, and service -- men and women who will become stalwarts in the kingdom and bear witness of the restoration and the divinity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not justified on an academic basis only, for your parents pay taxes to support state institutions to which you are eligible in every state of the union and most foreign countries. This institution has been established by a prophet of God for a very specific purpose: to combine spiritual and moral values and secular education. ("On My Honor," BYU (9/12/78); excerpted in Ensign (April 1979)
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.411-412
- Exclusion of religion from school and government is unfortunate. It is a real travesty today when we hear the voices of the atheist, the godless, and the anti-Christ who would deny us the right of public expression of our worship of the Master. First they moved against the long-established institution of prayer in our public schools. They would remove any vestige of Christianity or worship of the Savior of mankind in our public gatherings; they would remove the long-established tradition of prayer in our Congress, remove the "In God We Trust" insignia from our nation's emblems and seals and from our national coins.
- The latest move of these anti-Christs would prohibit our own children from singing the beautiful and inspiring Christmas carols, relating to the Savior's birth or divinity, or "the heavenly angels singing" from our public schools. ("Putting Christ Back into Christmas," public meeting, San Diego (12/22/78)
- Some fathers leave solely to the mother or to the school the responsibility of shaping a child's ideas and standards. Too often television and movie screens shape our children's values. We should not assume that public schools always reinforce teachings given in the home concerning ethical and moral conduct. We have seen introduced into many school systems false ideas about the theory of man's development from lower forms of life, teachings that there are no absolute values, attempts to repudiate beliefs regarded as supernatural, permissive attitudes toward sexual freedom that give sanction to immoral behavior and "alternative lifestyles," such as lesbianism, homosexuality, and other perverse practices.
- Such teachings not only tend to undermine the faith and morals of our young people, they also deny the existence of God, who gave absolute laws, and the divinity of Jesus Christ. Surely we can see the moral contradiction of some who argue for the preservation of endangered species but who also sanction the abortion of unborn humans. The Lord expects great things from the fathers of Israel. Fathers must take time to find out what their children are being taught and then take steps to correct false information and teaching. (Come unto Christ, p. 59.)
- Let us never lose sight of the fact that education is a preparation for life -- and that preparing for life is far more than knowing how to make a living or how to land on the moon. Preparing for life means building personal integrity, developing a sound sense of values, increasing the capacity and willingness to serve. Education must have its roots in moral principles. If we lose sight of that fact in our attempt to match our educational system against that of the materialists, we shall have lost far more than we could possibly gain. (The Red Carpet, p. 177.)
- There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution which authorized the federal government to enter into the field of education. Furthermore, the Tenth Amendment says: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Nothing could be more clear. It is unconstitutional for the federal government to exercise any powers over education. (An Enemy Hath Done This, pp. 230-31.)
- The phrase federal aid to education is deceptive and dishonest. What is really meant is "federal taxes for education." The federal government cannot "aid" education. All it can do is tax the people, shuffle the money from one state to another and skim off its administrative costs from the top. Only the people can aid education. They can do it safer, faster, and cheaper within their local communities than by going through the middleman in Washington. Federal taxes for education means federal control over education. No matter how piously the national planners tell us that they will not dictate policies to local school systems, it is inevitable that they will in the long run. In fact, they already are doing it. Whenever the federal government spends tax money for any purpose, it has an obligation to determine how and under what conditions that money is used. Any other course would be irresponsible. (An Enemy Hath Done This, p. 231.)
- We must guard against federal control of education, remembering that the Supreme Court said: "It is hardly lack of due process for the government to regulate that which it subsidizes." Federal control of education, the impairment of free inquiry, and the extinction of many independent and church-related colleges -- these can be the consequence of an injudicious increase in federal aid to education. (The Red Carpet, pp. 178-79.)
- The best way to prevent a political faction or any small group of people from capturing control of the nation's educational system is to keep it decentralized into small local units, each with its own board of education and superintendent. This may not be as efficient as one giant super educational system (although bigness is not necessarily efficient, either) but it is far more safe. There are other factors, too, in favor of local and independent school systems. First, they are more responsive to the needs and wishes of the parents and the community. The door to the school superintendent's office is usually open to any parent who wishes to make his views known. But the average citizen would be hard pressed to obtain more than a form letter reply from the national Commissioner of Education in Washington, D.C. (An Enemy Hath Done This, p. 230.)
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.301-309
- In the first century of our nation's history, the university was the guardian and preserver of faith in God. In this present century, the university has become ethically neutral, by and large agnostic. Our country is now reaping the effects of this agnostic influence. It has cost us an inestimable price. ("God's Hand in Our Nation's History," Sons of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, Utah, 23 August 1986.)
- Across this great Christian nation -- a nation with a spiritual foundation -- we have schools without grades, schools without discipline, schools without prayers, schools without the pledge of allegiance, schools without Christmas programs commemorating the birth of Christ, without recognition of Easter and the great event of the Resurrection, schools without patriotism, schools without morals, schools without standards of speech, schools without standards of dress. As a result, we see the worst of their products, many of them almost intellectual gorillas as they leave some of these institutions. (BYU Ten-Stake Fireside, Provo, Utah, 7 May 1972.)
- "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge," said the prophet Hosea (see Hosea 4:6). Let us not let it happen to us. First, let us do our homework, because action without the proper education can lead to fanaticism. But after we have done our homework, let us take action, because education without action can only lead to frustration and failure. (God, Family, Country, p. 380.)
- The most vital knowledge you can learn is the saving truths of the gospel -- the truths that will make the difference in your eternal welfare. The most vital words that you can read are those of the Presidents of the Church -- particularly the living prophet -- and those of the Apostles and prophets. God encourages learning in many areas, and vocational skills will have increasing importance. There is much reading material that is available which is either time-wasting or corrupting. The best yardstick to use in discerning the worth of true knowledge and learning is to go first and foremost to the words of the Lord's prophets. ("In His Steps," in 1979 Devotional Speeches of the Year [Provo, Utah: BYU, 1980], p. 62.)
- Every Latter-day Saint should make the study of the Book of Mormon a lifetime pursuit. Otherwise he is placing his soul in jeopardy and neglecting that which could give spiritual and intellectual unity to his whole life. ("The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God," Regional Representatives Seminar, Provo, Utah, 4 April 1986.)
- The fact that a book or publication is popular does not necessarily make it of value. The fact that an author wrote one good work does not necessarily mean that all his books are worthy of your reading. Do not make your mind a dumping ground for other people's garbage. It is harder to purge the mind of rotten reading than to purge the body of rotten food, and it is more damaging to the soul. ("In His Steps," Church Educational System Devotional, Anaheim, California, 8 February 1987.)
- I would hope that each morning before you leave your homes you kneel before the Lord in secret as well as family prayer. I also hope that before you go into the classroom you ask to be led by the Spirit. The most important part of your teaching preparation is that you are guided by the Spirit. ("The Gospel Teacher and His Message," Religious Educators, Salt Lake City, Utah, 17 September 1976.)
- As a watchman on the tower, I feel to warn you that one of the chief means of misleading our youth and destroying the family unit is our educational institutions. There is more than one reason why the Church is advising our youth to attend colleges close to their homes where institutes of religion are available. It gives the parents the opportunity to stay close to their children, and if they become alerted and informed, these parents can help expose some of the deceptions of men like Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, John Keynes, and others.
- Today there are much worse things that can happen to a child than not getting a full education. In fact, some of the worst things have happened to our children while attending colleges led by administrators who wink at subversion and amorality. Said Karl G. Maeser, "I would rather have my child exposed to smallpox, typhus fever, cholera, or other malignant and deadly diseases than to the degrading influence of a corrupt teacher. It is infinitely better to take chances with an ignorant but pure-minded teacher than with the greatest philosopher who is impure." (God, Family, Country, p. 225.)
- Dr. A. A. Hodge pointed out:
- It is capable of exact demonstration that if every party in the State has the right of excluding from public schools whatever he does not believe to be true, then he that believes most must give way to him that believes least, and then he that believes least must give way to him that believes absolutely nothing, no matter in how small a minority the atheists or agnostics may be. It is self-evident that on this scheme, if it is consistently and persistently carried out in all parts of the country, the United States system of national popular education will be the most efficient and widespread instrument for the propagation of atheism which the world has ever seen.
- After the tragic prayer decision was made by the United States Supreme Court, President David O. McKay stated, "The Supreme Court of the United States severs the connecting cord between the public schools of the United States and the source of divine intelligence, the Creator Himself" (Relief Society Magazine, December 1962, p. 878). Does that make any difference to you? Can't you see why the demand of conscientious parents is increasing the number of private Christian and Americanist-oriented schools? (God, Family, Country, pp. 225-26.)
- When a teacher feels he must blend worldly sophistication and erudition to the simple principles of the gospel or to our Church history so that his message will have more appeal and respectability to the academically learned, he has compromised his message. We seldom impress people by this means and almost never convert them to the gospel. This also applies to our students. We encourage you to get your higher degrees and to further your education; but let us not forget that disaffection from the gospel and the Lord's Church was brought about in the past by the attempts to reconcile the pure gospel with the secular philosophies of men. Nominal Christianity outside the restored Church stands as an evidence that the blend between worldly philosophy and revealed truth leads to impotence. Likewise, you teachers will have no power if you attempt to do the same in your educational pursuits and classroom teaching. ("The Gospel Teacher and His Message," Religious Educators, Salt Lake City, Utah, 17 September 1976.)
- There are a few teachers within the Church who, while courting apostasy, still want to remain members of the Church, for being members makes them more effective in misleading the Saints. But their day of judgment is coming, and when it does come, for some of them it would have been better, as the Savior said, that a millstone had been put around their necks and they had been drowned in the depths of the sea than to have led away any of the youth of the Church (see Matthew 18:6; D&C 121:22). (An Enemy Hath Done This, p. 286.)
- Before you can strengthen your students, it is essential that you study the doctrines of the kingdom and learn the gospel by both study and faith (see D&C 88:118). To study by faith is to seek understanding and the Spirit of the Lord through the prayer of faith. Then you will have the power to convince your students. This is not just good advice; it is a commandment of the Lord. ("The Gospel Teacher and His Message," Religious Educators, Salt Lake City, Utah, 17 September 1976.)
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.313
- Our preaching and our teaching must be by the power of the Holy Ghost. There are so many passages that counsel us to teach by the power of the Holy Ghost. We must ever remember that in this glorious work, the most essential element is the Spirit. (Salt Lake City, Utah, 2 October 1985.)
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.318-320
- Our educational system must be based on freedom -- never force. But we can and should place special emphasis on developing in our youth constructive incentives -- a love of science, engineering, and math, so that they will want to take advanced scientific courses and thereby help meet the needs of our times. Just as a musician has a love of music which drives him to become outstanding in that field, so we must inculcate in some of our qualified young people such an interest in science that they will turn to it of themselves. (The Red Carpet, p. 177.)
- As a nation, we have become self-sufficient. This has given birth to a new religion in America which some have called secularism. This is a view of life with the idea that God is not in the picture and that He has nothing to do with the picture in the first place. ("God's Hand in Our Nation's History," Sons of Utah Pioneers, Salt Lake City, Utah, August '86)
- The world worships the learning of man. They trust in the arm of flesh (see D&C 1:19). To them, men's reasoning is greater than God's revelations. The precepts of man have gone so far in subverting our educational system that in many cases a higher degree today, in the so-called social sciences, can be tantamount to a major investment in error. Very few men build firmly enough on the rock of revelation to go through this kind of indoctrination and come out untainted. Unfortunately, of those who succumb, some use their higher degree to get teaching positions even in our Church Educational System, where they spread the falsehoods they have been taught. (See Gospel Doctrine, pp. 312-13.) (God, Family, Country, p. 258.)
- It seems fashionable today for historians to "secularize" our history. Many modern scholars seem uncomfortable with the idea that a divine power had a hand in the beginning of our nation. They seek to explain away what the colonists themselves saw as divine intervention in their behalf. They credit even those remarkable events to "natural causes" or "rational" explanations. All events are explained from a "humanistic" frame of reference. This removes the need for faith in God or a belief that He is interested in the affairs of men. ("Righteousness Exalteth a Nation," Provo Utah Freedom Festival, 29 June 1986.)
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.321
- Youth of the world, as you strive to increase in favor with man, be ever on your guard that you do not unwittingly, in the name of tolerance, broadmindedness, and so-called liberalism, encourage foreign "isms" and unsound theories that strike at the very root of all we hold dear, including our faith in God. Proposals will be offered and programs will be sponsored that have wide, so-called "humanitarian" appeal. Attractive labels are usually attached to the most dangerous programs, often in the name of public welfare and personal security. Have the courage to apply this standard of truth. Determine what the effect of the various issues at stake is upon the character, the integrity, and the freedom of man. (God, Family, Country, p. 7.)
- Early in life, these two quotations regarding books greatly influenced me: "Be as careful of the book you read as of the company you keep, for your habits and character will be influenced by the former as by the latter"; and "Except a living man there is nothing so wonderful as good books." With all my heart, I urge young people to cultivate the reading habit. But in order that your reading be of maximum value choose it as carefully as you do your friends. I trust that we do so remembering that if we spend time reading a cheap book, we will be forced to pass by a choice one. (So Shall Ye Reap, p. 133.)
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.323-324
- The Book of Mormon declares that "every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God." And "whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil." (Moroni 7:13, 17.) Let us use that standard to judge what we read, the music we hear, the entertainment we watch, the thoughts we think. Let us be more Christlike. (CR April 1986, Ensign 16 [May 1986]: 78.)
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.410
- As the world seeks solutions for this disease, which began primarily through widespread homosexuality, they look everywhere but to the law of the Lord. There are numerous agencies, both public and private, trying to combat AIDS. They seek increased funding for research. They sponsor programs of education and information. They write bills aimed at protecting the innocent from infection. They set up treatment programs for those who have already become infected. These are important and necessary programs and we commend those efforts. But why is it we rarely hear anyone calling for a return to chastity, for a commitment to virtue and fidelity? ("The Law of Chastity," Brigham Young University Devotional, Provo, Utah, 13 October 1987.)
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.500
- Parents, stay close to your children; you cannot delegate your responsibility to the educators, no matter how competent they may be. Parents have a duty to train their children, to talk over their problems with them, to discuss what they are learning at school. And it is neither wise nor safe to leave the determination of our educational system and policies exclusively to the professional educators. (God, Family, Country, pp. 238-39.)
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.515
- It is a fundamental truth that the responsibilities of motherhood cannot be successfully delegated. No, not to day-care centers, not to schools, not to nurseries, not to baby-sitters. We become enamored with men's theories such as the idea of preschool training outside the home for young children. Not only does this put added pressure on the budget, but it places young children in an environment away from mother's influence. Too often the pressure for popularity, on children and teens, places an economic burden on the income of the father, so mother feels she must go to work to satisfy her children's needs. That decision can be most shortsighted. (CR October 1981, Ensign 11 [November 1981]: 105.)
- We must teach our children about the spiritual roots of this great nation. We must become actively involved in supporting programs and textbooks in the public schools that teach the greatness of the early patriots who helped forge our liberties. We must teach our children that it is part of our faith that the Constitution of the United States was inspired by God (see D&C 101:77, 80). We reverence it akin to the revelations that have come from His hand. ("Righteousness Exalteth a Nation," Provo Utah Freedom Festival, 29 June 1986.)
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.572-573
- If we are to protect this American base, we must realize that all things, including information disseminated by our schools, churches, and governments, should be judged according to the words of the prophets, especially the living prophet. This procedure, coupled with the understanding which will come through the Spirit of the Lord, if we are living in compliance with the scriptures, is the only sure foundation and basis of judgment. Any other course of action leaves us muddled, despondent, wandering in shades of gray, easy targets for Satan. If we fail in these pressing and important matters, we may well fall far short of the great mission the Lord has proffered and outlined for America and for His divinely restored Church. (Title of Liberty, pp. 88-91.)
- I have seen this great nation decline spiritually. What happens to a nation collectively is but the result of its citizenry departing from the fundamental spiritual and economic laws of God: making the Sabbath day a day of pleasure; individuals and businesses giving license to immorality; and politicians dignifying the coveting of others' possessions and property by stating, "We will take from the haves and give to the have nots." At first we resisted this philosophy; then consented; next, demanded; and now have legislated. Politically, we licensed coveting what others had earned! ("The Task Before Us," American Dairy Science Association, Logan, Utah, 26 June 1979.)
Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.622
- I quote Abraham Lincoln: "Let [the Constitution] be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges, let it be written in primers, in spelling books and in almanacs, let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation." We must become involved in civic affairs. As citizens of this republic, we cannot do our duty and be idle spectators. (The Constitution: A Heavenly Banner, pp. 28-29.)
- Second, the Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention (see I Nephi 3:12). It fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies, and doctrines of the devil in our day. The type of apostates in the Book of Mormon are similar to the type we have today. God, with His infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time. ("The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God," Regional Representatives Seminar, Salt Lake City, Utah, 4 April 1986.)
Ezra Taft Benson, BYU Speeches, May 10, 1966, p.4-7
- Second, false educational ideas: During the past several years many of our institutions of learning have been turning out an increasing number of students schooled in amorality, relativity, and atheism -- students divested of a belief in God, without fixed moral principles or an understanding of our constitutional republic and our capitalistic, free enterprise economic system. This follows a pattern which was established years ago at some of our key colleges that produced many of the teachers and leaders in the educational field across the country today.
- Some alumni of various schools have expressed concern. One alumnus from Yale wrote a book a few years ago entitled God and Man at Yale. Another group (which includes Teddy Roosevelt's hero son Archibald) from Harvard University established the Veritas Foundation and wrote a book, Keynes at Harvard, explaining the degree to which the destructive Fabian economic philosophy has permeated educational institutions and government. Concerned educators have begun to write books. Professor E. Merrill Root authored Collectivism on the Campus and Brainwashing in the High Schools. Dr. Max Rafferty, now state superintendent of schools in California, wrote Suffer Little Children and What They Are Doing to Your Children.
- In the school history textbooks of recent years, some of the greatest phrases in American history have been dropped. This Week magazine recently surveyed history books issued before 1920 and since 1920. Patrick Henry's famous words, "Give me liberty or give me death," appeared in 12 out of 14 earlier texts, but in only 2 out of the 45 recent texts.
- Perhaps this might help explain the percentage of students who are willing to surrender to communism.
- The whole process can be quite insidious. Young people know that the best jobs are available to college graduates. They want to do well at school. When exam time comes, they must give back to the teacher what the teacher wants. Now under the guise of academic freedom -- which some apparently feel is freedom to destroy freedom -- some teachers reserve to themselves the privilege of teaching error, destroying faith in God, debunking morality, and depreciating our free economic system. If questions reflecting the teacher's false teachings appear on the exam, how will the student answer who believes in God and morality and our Constitution? One student put on his exam paper what he knew the professor wanted to see, but then the student added a little p.s., which said, "Dear Professor So and So: I just want you to know I don't believe one word of what I just wrote above."
- Now these false educational ideas -- set forth in many textbooks today -- are prevalent in the prevalent in the world, and we have not entirely escaped them among teachers in our own system. There are a few teachers within the Church who, while courting apostasy, still want to remain members of the Church, for being members makes them more effective in misleading the Saints. But their day of judgment is coming, and when it does come, for some of them it would have been better, as the Savior said, that a millstone had been put around their necks and they had drowned in the depths of the sea, than to have led away any of the youth of the Church.
- Students, pray for inspiration and knowledge. Counsel with your parents. Let Sunday be the day to fill up your spiritual batteries for the week by reading good Church books, particularly the Book of Mormon. Take time to meditate. Don't let the philosophies and falsehoods of men throw you. Hold on to the iron rod. Learn to sift. Learn to discern error through the promptings of the Spirit and your study of the truth.
- Only a Zion people can bring a Zion society. And as the Zion people increase, so we will be able to incorporate more of the principles of Zion until we have a people prepared to receive the Lord.
- This means that on this campus, in due time, there will be an increasing number of textbooks written by inspired men of the Church. There will be less and less a tendency to subscribe to the false teachings of men. There will be more and more a tendency to first lay the groundwork of the gospel truth in every subject and then, if necessary, to show where the world may fall short of that standard. In due time there will be increased teaching by the Spirit of God, but that can take place only if there is a decreased promotion of the precepts of men.