Great Talks
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "What is
Truth?"
QUOTES
Heber C Kimball
I am not what the
world calls a learned man; neither is President Young. We never went to any
college except the one sustained by the Latter-day Saints, and we have been in
that from the beginning. Let me tell you, gentlemen and ladies, if we had been
brought up in palaces, and been sent to school all the days of our lives to get
all the education of the world, and were practical men only in these things,
would we be of any advantage to this people? A man may pass through a course of
education designed to fit him for a doctor, a minister, or a lawyer, and it is
often the case that he comes out an ignoramus, or worse than useless member of
society. When the flowers begin to bloom on the mountain sides, the ladies try
to imitate them with artificial ones. Which would you rather possess in
education--the real flower, or the artificial one? Would you not rather have
true education, direct from heaven, than the artificial one of the world? The
one educates the head and the heart, the other the head alone.
John Taylor
Whatever you do, be
careful in the selection of teachers. We don't want infidels to mold the minds
of our children. They are a precious charge bestowed upon us by the Lord, and
we cannot be too careful in rearing and training them. I would rather have my
child taught the simple rudiments of a common education by men of God, and have
them under their influence, than have them taught in the most abstruse sciences
by men who have not the fear of God in their hearts.
In relation to the
education of the world generally, a great amount of it is of very little value,
consisting more of words than ideas; and whilst men are verbose in their
speaking or writing, you have to hunt for ideas or truth like hunting for a
grain of wheat among piles of chaff or rubbish. It is true that a great amount
of it is really valuable and it is for us to select the good from the bad. The
education of men ought to be adapted to their positions both as temporal and
eternal beings.
And then we want to
study also the principles, and to get the very best teachers we can to teach
our children; see that they are men and women who fear God and keep his
commandments. We do not want men or women to teach the children of Latter-day
Saints who are not Latter-day Saints themselves. Hear it you Elders of Israel,
and you school-trustees! We want none of these things. Let others who fear not
God take their course; but it is for us to train our children up in the fear of
God. God will hold us responsible for this trust. Hear it, you Elders of Israel
and you fathers and you mothers! Talking about education, as I said before,
Joseph Smith knew more in regard to true education than all the philosophers
and scientists of the earth; and he knew it by the revelations of God.
These
very principles that we possess—the first principles [of the] gospel, namely
baptism [and the] laying on [of] hands [for the] gift [of the] Holy Spirit—are
some of the first leading causes of that intelligence which governs us in other matters. (john
Taylor)
Brigham Young
neither the alphabet
nor the multiplication table should be taught without the Spirit of God.
“[Our] religion …
prompts [us] to search diligently after knowledge. There is no other people in
existence more eager to see, hear, learn, and understand truth.” “to increase [their]
knowledge … in every branch of [learning], for all wisdom, and all the arts and
sciences in the world are from God, and are designed for the good of his
people.”
George Q. Cannon
No system of
education can be perfect which does not teach the principle of righteousness
and faith in God. Learning has not save the world neither candidate save it.
No man by wisdom
ever found God and men may study all their lives and acquire all the knowledge
and worldly wisdom that is within the reach of the human mind and yet to be
utterly destitute to the true knowledge of God.
It is of utmost
importance that our children should, in the first place, be taught faith in
God. This cannot be left out of our system of education. Every child in our midst should be
taught how to obtain a knowledge of God, this should be the cornerstone and
foundation of all education.
Elder Richard G Scott
As you seek
spiritual knowledge, search for principles…. Principles are concentrated truth,
packaged for application to a wide variety of circumstances. It true principal
makes decisions clear even under the most confusing and compelling
circumstances. It is worth great effort to organize the truth we gather to
simple statements of principle.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
Fundamental premises
of the faith of Latter-day Saints: (Elder Oaks)
- 1. The nature of God,
including the role of the three members of the Godhead and the corollary
truth that there are moral absolutes.
- 2. The purpose of life.
- 3. The threefold sources of
truth about man and the universe: science, the scriptures, and continuing
revelation—and how we can know them. (We seek after knowledge, but we do
so in a special way because we believe there are two dimensions of knowledge: material and spiritual. We seek knowledge in the material dimension by scientific inquiry and in the spiritual dimension by revelation.)
Lorenzo Snow
Our children should
be indoctrinated in the principles of the Gospel from their earliest childhood.
They should be made familiar with the contents of the Bible, the Book of Mormon
and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. These should be their chief text books,
and everything should be done to establish and promote in their hearts genuine
faith in God, in His Gospel and its ordinances, and in His works. But under our
common school system this is not possible.
Joseph F. Smith
Everyone
should learn something new everyday. You all have inquiring minds and are
seeking truth in many fields. I sincerely hope your greatest search is in the
realm of spiritual things, because it is there that we are able to gain
salvation and make the progress that leads to eternal life in our Father's
kingdom. The most important knowledge in the world is gospel knowledge. It is
knowledge of God and his law, of those things that men must do to work out
their salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord. (Ensign, May
1971, pp. 2-3)
Heber J. Grant
It is a duty we owe
our children to see that they get an education; but the education of the
heart--education in the Gospel, a testimony of the plan of salvation--is the
foundation that we should lay in the breast of every child.
Jospeh Fielding Smith
The education of the
present day is very largely knowledge without the accompanying light and
truth... Such learning leads to spiritual death, not spiritual life. I regret
exceedingly that courses of study in the public schools, in the colleges, and
places of learning throughout the land, are in conflict with the 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.
Harold B Lee
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, '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. (Conference
Report 10/68 p. 59.)
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: "The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of
God. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they
are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:11, 14.) (Teachings of
Harold B. Lee, 341.)
Bruce R. McConkie
Education
is gained primarily from the Spirit of the Lord by revelation and secondarily
by study, research, and investigation. (Mormon Doctrine, p. 214)
Ezra Taft Benson
Only a
Zion people can bring in 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. On this campus [BYU], 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 first to 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. (1974 BYU
Speeches of the Year p. 305)
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Other church members
Jack Monnett
Celestial principles
are the key, and fortunately they are the easiest to identify. They are
endless, always consistent and found throughout the Scriptures and in the words
of living profits. Joseph Smith said that once understanding correct
principles, we should be able to govern ourselves. That is true. Every motive,
every thought, every idea, every attitude is based on principle. … once they
are discovered and understood, they should be our primary guides to self
governance." (revealed educational principles and the public schools)