"One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism"
Elder LeGrand Richards
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker shares an experience from his mission in Holland where he engaged in a theological discussion with a seminar student, demonstrating the necessity of baptism by immersion.
I could tell you some wonderful experiences that I have had in meeting people not of us; for instance, when I was in Holland on my first mission in the city of Utrecht, they had a seminar where they taught young men to prepare for the ministry, and they used to come and attend our meetings, and then they would remain sometimes for hours at a time to ask questions, and we found that they did not have the answers; for instance, one of them said to me, "You cannot prove that baptism should be by im ... (continued)
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"One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism"
Elder LeGrand Richards
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts a conversation between a Catholic scholar and Brother Orson F. Whitney, which highlighted the unique position of the Mormon Church in the Christian world.
There was an article that appeared some years ago in a pamphlet that Brother Orson F. Whitney wrote, entitled, "The Strength of the Mormon Position." This is a statement by a noted member of the Catholic Church, and I think it has something very important in it that those of us interested in missionary work could well give a little thought to, and I would like to read it to you. He said: "Many years ago a learned man, a member of the Roman Catholic Church, came to Utah and spoke from the stand o ... (continued)
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"One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism"
Elder Mark E. Petersen
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
God repeatedly revealed Himself to prophets in the past to restore the true knowledge of His nature and the right way of salvation, as people often drifted into false religions and apostasy.
To accomplish this, God revealed himself to men from time to time so that they could see him and hear him and know him. He revealed himself personally, actually appearing to his prophets, and he talked with them face to face, even as a man "speaketh to his friend" (seeEx. 33:11). These appearances of God to man, and by this I mean personal visitations, for that is what the Bible describes, came periodically through the generations of the past. The Lord was not content to give one and only one mi ... (continued)
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"One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism"
Elder Mark E. Petersen
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
God walked and talked with Adam and Eve, but over time their descendants strayed from the faith, leading to the near-total apostasy of mankind by the time of Noah.
Let us point to a few Bible examples of what we say. God walked and talked with Adam and Eve. They knew what he was like, and they received commandments from him, but many of their descendants were not true to the faith. By the time of Noah, all mankind was apostate and as a result was destroyed in the flood, all except Noah and his family. God raised up Noah as a prophet and talked with both him and his sons, revealing himself to them. Therefore they knew God and worshiped him as a result of ob ... (continued)
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"One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism"
Elder Mark E. Petersen
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Despite God's revelations to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Israelites in Egypt fell into idolatry, leading God to reveal Himself to Moses to restore the truth and lead them out of Egypt.
Noah and his family knew the Lord, but as time went on their descendants went astray until the days of Abraham when there was much wickedness in the earth. But the Lord followed his pattern, and as men fell away from the truth he revealed himself to them again, this time to Abraham, with whom he talked personally, and then to Isaac and to Jacob. But the believers were few in that day. When Jacob took his family into Egypt to escape the famine, the whole house of Israel numbered only seventy peop ... (continued)
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"One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism"
Elder Mark E. Petersen
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
After the Israelites witnessed God at Mount Sinai, they were faithful for a time, but eventually fell into apostasy, leading to the difficulties faced by prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.
When they reached Sinai, God came down upon the Mount and talked again face to face with Moses. Seventy of the elders of Israel went into the Mount with Moses, and there they saw the God of Israel, and "he laid not his hand upon them," the scripture says, but "they saw God, and did eat and drink" (seeEx. 24:9-10). Those seventy elders with Moses were now qualified to preach to the people and testify of the true nature of the Deity, for they had seen him themselves and visited with him and heard ... (continued)
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"One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism"
Elder Mark E. Petersen
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Joseph Smith, seeking to know which church was right, prayed in a grove of trees and received a visitation from God the Father and Jesus Christ, leading to the restoration of the true knowledge of God and the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In western New York State religious revivals were being held. One faith said, "Here is Christ." Another, "No, here is Christ." Confusion spread. In the home of Joseph Smith there was deep concern. The family desired to know which Church was right that they might join it. Some were inclined toward one, some to another. The serious-minded boy, Joseph Smith, searched the Bible. In it he found the writings of James, who said, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God" (James 1:5). This he deter ... (continued)
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"One Small Step for a Man; One Giant Leap for Mankind"
Elder Carlos E. Asay
- Of the Presidency of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on the moon landing on July 20, 1969, and how it was considered a monumental achievement in human history, but disagrees with the notion that it was the greatest event since the resurrection of Christ.
On July 20, 1969, astronauts landed on the moon, a planet located some 239,000 miles from the earth. Millions of people the world over witnessed this historic event on television and stared in amazement as the lunar module came to rest on the moon"™s surface. All were thrilled when Neil Armstrong exited from the space craft and announced: "One small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind." The press coverage of this monumental achievement was broad. It occupied headlines and was the subj ... (continued)
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"One Small Step for a Man; One Giant Leap for Mankind"
Elder Carlos E. Asay
- Of the Presidency of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker tells the story of Joseph Smith, a young farm boy who prayed in a grove of trees and had a vision of God and Jesus Christ, which led to the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The obscure young man of whom I speak, who introduced the true and living God to a benighted world, was not sponsored by an organization or trained by a group of professionals. At the time, he was no prophet, nor was he a prophet"™s son. But like many who have been called in times past to perform a holy work, he was a common farm boy. (SeeAmos 7:14"“16 He was the product of a God-fearing family"”a family that thirsted after righteousness and exercised a simple but deep faith in the Lord. H ... (continued)
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"One Small Step for a Man; One Giant Leap for Mankind"
Elder Carlos E. Asay
- Of the Presidency of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker describes the profound truths and revelations Joseph Smith received during his vision, which included the nature of God, the incorrectness of existing churches, and the future work Joseph was to do.
Joseph did not emerge from the grove with lunar rocks in his pocket or with moon dust on his shoes. He emerged with a changed countenance and with a gold mine of truth lodged in his mind and heart: Joseph learned that there are no winners in wars of words or tumults of opinion regarding religious matters. (SeeJS"”H 1:12Such contention plays into the hands of Satan because he is the "father of contention."3 Ne. 11:29 Moreover, Joseph verified the fact that critical issues pertaining to the Sp ... (continued)
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"Only One Answer"
Elder Henry D. Taylor
- Assistant to the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts how he was called to serve as an Assistant to the Council of the Twelve after a meeting with President McKay.
At 4:15 yesterday, as the afternoon session of conference was concluding, I was handed a note written by Sister Clare Middlemiss, President McKay's secretary, requesting that I be in President McKay's office at five o'clock. I was there. Shortly after that the lightning struck. President McKay pointed out that a vacancy or vacancies would exist in the Assistants to the Council of the Twelve, and it was his desire and the desire of the Brethren that I should fill one of those vacancies. There was ... (continued)
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"Only One Answer"
Elder Henry D. Taylor
- Assistant to the Council of the Twelve Apostles
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📖 general conference
The speaker pays tribute to his ancestors and parents for instilling the value of accepting church callings with a resounding 'Yes.'
Today I also would like to pay tribute to my forebears, the Taylors and the Dixons, who joined the Church in foreign countries and came to this land. I am grateful for my parents who have long since passed away, for the training which they gave their six sons and two daughters that whenever a call came from the Brethren, there could be but one answer, and that was to say 'Yes,' accept the calling, and then serve with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength.
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"Only One Answer"
Elder Henry D. Taylor
- Assistant to the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker shares his fulfilling experience of serving with his wife in the California Mission, where they worked together while she also took on the primary role of raising their sons during his other church assignments.
For the past two and a half years, Sister Taylor and I have been presiding in the California Mission. I am grateful for Sister Taylor, a beautiful and lovely daughter of Zion. Our present calling is probably the most satisfying experience that we have ever had in our lives. We work shoulder to shoulder, traveling about the mission together. Over the years as I have served in other Church positions, Sister Taylor has had to assume the major responsibility in the rearing of our four fine sons. I a ... (continued)
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"Our Bible"
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
- Second Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 0
📖 general conference
The talk discusses the technical aspects and controversies surrounding the translation of the New Testament, focusing on the differences between the 'Byzantine' and 'Alexandrian' Greek texts and their influence on various English translations, including the King James Version and Revised Versions.
As of today and outside the Roman world, which uses the Latin text, there are two principal Greek texts of the Bible used for English translation. We are today interested only in the text of the New Testament. The first of these is the 'Byzantine' Greek text. Our King James Version is a translation of this text. The second is the 'Alexandrian' text (as identified by some scholars), which is the controlling text of the translation found in the Revised Versions of the last three quarters of a cent ... (continued)
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"Our Bible"
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
- Second Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts the history of the King James Version and Joseph Smith's partial revision of the Bible, which is accepted in parts by the LDS Church.
The 'Byzantine' Greek text, which in translation is our Bible, the King James Version, is said to have been the generally accepted text all non-Roman Christendom from the last half of the fourth century, till the middle of the last century. This King James or Authorized Version, 'as far as it is translated correctly' A of F 1:8 has been the version accepted by this Church since it was organized. The Prophet Joseph Smith undertook, under the inspiration of the Lord, to make a revision of the Bibl ... (continued)
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"Our Bible"
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
- Second Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker describes the division of Bible critics into Extreme Textualists and Sound or High Textualists, with the former group rejecting the miraculous elements of the Gospels.
At this point, it ought to be observed that Bible critics may, for our purpose, be placed in two schools—Extreme Textualists and Sound or High Textualists. The Extreme Textualists rule out the whole of the so-called miraculous elements of the Gospels—those events which lie outside the range of known laws of nature (as understood by these Textualists)—and brand all these elements as myths, legends, popular exaggeration, symbolism, allegory. One scholar has measured their thes ... (continued)
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"Our Bible"
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
- Second Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker discusses the reliance of Extreme Textualists on a few Greek Codices, particularly Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, which they use to support their revisions of the New Testament.
Before going farther it might be well briefly to note that, out of over four thousand known Greek manuscripts (in large part fragments), the Extreme Textualists pin their faith primarily to two Greek Codices, Sinaiticus (discovered in a convent on Mt. Sinai by Tischendorf in 1844) and Vaticanus (brought to the Vatican at Rome as early as 1481). These are claimed to be the two oldest known vellum manuscripts. Tischendorf exploited Sinaiticus; Westcott and Hort, Vaticanus, using Sinaiticus as a su ... (continued)
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"Our Bible"
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
- Second Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker traces the history of modern criticism of the Bible, which began in the mid-1700s and eventually led to the attack on the 'Byzantine' text and the character of Jesus of Nazareth.
Modern criticism made its appearance at about the middle of the 1700's. Once begun, it steadily increased as time went on. At first it related primarily to the Old Testament; then the New Testament became involved, and while the whole Byzantine text—the Textus Receptus (in translation, the King James Version)—was brought under fire, the chief objective of the Extreme Textualist attack became the Gospels. By the end of the first quarter of the 1800's, the warfare against the 'Byzant ... (continued)
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"Our Bible"
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
- Second Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker discusses the heresy of Arianism, which denies the Godhood of Christ and is seen as influencing the thinking and writings of Extreme Textualists.
For the first three Christian centuries, and following Simon the Sorcerer (whom Peter scathingly execrated for seeking to buy the Holy Ghost with gold—see Acts 8:18-20 heretics and heresies, great and small, sought to distort or wipe out the recognition of Jesus as Christ. Time buried the heretics and most of the heresies. But one heresy lived on, appearing now and again in the flowing centuries, usually in the dark corners of ecclesiastical discussions, but sometimes in the open. I refer ... (continued)
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"Our Father Which Art in Heaven"
Elder L. Tom Perry
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
After the speaker blessed a young boy, the boy's mother prompted him to give thanks, and instead of thanking the speaker, the boy prayed to God, showing his understanding of gratitude.
I was requested to bless a lad who was having problems in his young life a few weeks ago. After the blessing, as I prepared to leave, his mother said to him, 'Son, thank him for the blessing before he leaves.' Instead of turning to me, he lowered his head, folded his arms, and thanked his Father in Heaven. How perceptive children are!
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