I was the chief person running the page “Heart of Discernment”. A lot of what we did was find good quotes from across the Restoration. I have decided instead of letting those quotes to gather dust, that I would put them here!
I will be organizing it by person, but within each person’s section there will be no particular order to the quotes.
Additionally, I will not be putting any titles associated with these people. They are all people that I consider important and noteworthy members of the Restoration, and that suffices.
Index
- Joseph Smith Jr
- Peter Judd
- Andrew Bolton
- Art Smith
- Jason W. Briggs
- David Brock
- Carla Long
- Roy A. Cheville
- Clifford A. Cole
- Leonard M. Young
- Wallace B. Smith
- Shandra K. Newcom
- Maurice L. Draper
- Paul M. Edwards
- F. Henry Edwards
- Harry J. Fielding
- Frederick M. Smith
- Zenos H. Gurley, Sr.
- John C. Hamer
- Chris B. Hartshorn,
- Jaxon Washburn
- Jaime Harker
- Lachlan Mackay
- Linda “Lu” Mountenay
- Charles D. Neff
- Everett Graffeo
- Brigham Young
- Susa Young Gates
- Joseph Smith III
- Katie Harmon-McLaughlin
- Leandro Palacios
- Deb Luce
- W. Wallace Smith
- Alan D. Tyree
- Em J. Gray
- Blaire Ostler
- B.H. Roberts
- Daniel O. McClellan
1. Joseph Smith Jr.
The inquiry is frequently made of me, “Wherein do you differ from others in your religious views?” In reality and essence, we do not differ so far in our religious views – … we could all drink into one principle of love. One of the grand fundamental principles of Mormonism is to receive truth; let it come from whence it may.
Joseph Smith Jr.
Sermon given on July 9th, 1843
If I esteem mankind to be in error, shall I bear them down? No; I will left them up, and in their own way too … I will not seek to compel any man to believe as I do … for truth will cut its own way.
Joseph Smith Jr.
Sermon given on July 9th, 1843
Mormonism is truth; and every man who embraced it felt himself at liberty to embrace every truth. Consequently, the shackles of superstition, bigotry, ignorance, and priestcraft falls at once from his neck and his eyes are opened to see the truth.
Joseph Smith Jr.
Letter to Isaac Galland – March 22nd, 1839
Truth greatly prevails over priestcraft. hence the priests are alarmed and they raise a hue and cry: “Down with these men! Heresy! Heresy! Fanaticism! False prophet! False teachers! Away with these men! Crucify them! Crucify them!”
Joseph Smith Jr.
Letter to Isaac Galland – March 22nd, 1839
The doctrine of the Latter Day Saints, is truth … you may think that it is a broad assertion that it is truth; but … the first and fundamental principle of our holy religion is that we believe that we have a right to embrace all and every item of truth without limitation or without being circumscribed or prohibited by the creeds or superstitious notions of men.
Joseph Smith Jr.
Letter to Isaac Galland – March 22nd, 1839
When that truth is clearly demonstrated to our minds, and we have the highest degree of evidence of the same, we feel ourselves bound by the laws of God, to observe and do strictly … all things whatsoever is manifest unto us. … we have a perfect, and indefeasible right to embrace all such commandments and do them.
Joseph Smith Jr.
Letter to Isaac Galland – March 22nd, 1839
Any manifestation [must have] application to us, being adapted to our situation and circumstances, [such as] age, and generation of life; … God will not command anything, but what is peculiarly adapted in itself to ameliorate the condition of every man under whatever circumstances it may find him. it matters not what kingdom or country he may be in. We believe that it is our privilege to reject all things, whatsoever is clearly manifested to us that they do not have a bearing upon us.
Such as, for instance, it is not binding on us to build an Ark, because God commanded Noah to build one. It would not be applicable to our case; we are not looking for a flood. It is not binding on us to lead the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, because God commanded Moses. The children of Israel are not in bondage to the Egyptians, as they were then; our circumstances are very different.
Joseph Smith Jr.
Letter to Isaac Galland – March 22nd, 1839
Let me be resurrected with the Saints whether I ascend to heaven, descend to hell, or go to any other place. If we go to hell, we will turn the devils out of doors and make a heaven of it.
Where this people are, there is good society. What do we care where we are if the society be good?
Joseph Smith Jr.
Sermon preached on July 23rd, 1843
2. Peter Judd
We often even see our differences from each other … as the source of division rather than opportunity for growth and delight in the wide range of God’s creation.
Peter Judd
“Infinite Worth”, Daily Bread, September 23rd, 2023
In community we live out interdependence with one another and with all forms of God’s creation in mutually affirming ways.
Peter Judd
“Infinite Worth”, Daily Bread, September 23rd, 2023
The concept of authority can be distinguished from that of power.
With regards to priesthood, authority means that when members are ordained the church is granting them the right to perform certain acts (administration of sacraments). By granting authority the church agrees to accept the validity of these acts.
Power, on the other hand, means that God gives the ordained the capability to perform these same acts (administration of sacraments), which they otherwise could not do.
Although Latter Day Saints have emphasized authority in priesthood, an understanding of power, in this regard, has by no means been absent.
Peter Judd
“The sacraments”, Chapter 6: “Ordination”, page 95-96
Another way of illustrating the distinction between authority and power is to talk in terms of external authority and internal authority.
Ordained members, by virtue of being ordained to certain offices, have the external authority.
Internal Authority, on the other hand, is evidenced by the manner in which persons perform these functions.
Matthew 7:29 KJV reads, “For he [Jesus] taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Clearly the scribes had external authority, but Jesus had internal authority. Jesus’ authority was recognized by those who witnessed his ministry. However, Jesus did not have what was accepted by many as external authority in his day.
This suggests the possibility that internal authority may be resident within individuals who do not have external authority.
Peter Judd
“The sacraments”, Chapter 6: “Ordination”, page 96
3. Andrew Bolton
Speaking truth to power on behalf of, and with those wronged, is an extension of our testimony tradition in Community of Christ.
… The first act of justice is to listen to the pain, see the hurt and suffering.
The second act is doing something. This includes speaking respectfully to those who can change things.
Andrew Bolton
Herald Vol. 169-4:24 (July/Aug 2022)
4. Art Smith
Text without context is a pretext
Art Smith
Sermon on June 18th, 2023
The sad reality is that so much of what passes for Christianity today, in many contexts, is a patchwork of passages like [Luke 6:46-49], that eliminate the overarching and foundational vision of God’s justice. So often, what replaces the rock of Christ, in the day to day lives of so called Christians includes a lot of bigotry.
Art Smith
Sermon on June 18th, 2023
Reading the Bible in context means that we recognize that it’s an ancient text. We sometimes have to differentiate between the prophetic voice and some parroting of patriarchy and prejudices of the author’s world.
Art Smith
Sermon on June 18th, 2023
if I’m going to build on the rock then I need to take a good look at myself. Sure, I’m not out protesting Pride [month] events, but has my congregation, my faith community, my leadership team, gotten it together to do the intentional work of learning about the queer community, of truly examining our own prejudices and bigotries? My own prejudices and bigotries?
Art Smith
Sermon on June 18th, 2023
[Jesus] seems to have been more interested in people, and not so much in that old instruction manual. Not even in the old priesthood structure. Mind you, He was fearless when it came to going off script. His priority was people. He called those from the margins into a new leadership. Women, tax collectors, Samaritans, Tanners, people working purple dye, [and] those condemned or ostracized, often by the very priesthood established under Solomon. He invited the edges into the centre. He created scandal and developed a reputation as a radical. … Look for ways to turn the world upside down like Jesus did. Give yourself permission to overturn a few tables in moments of rage for the abuses of the poor and marginalized
Art Smith
Sermon on October 22nd, 2023
Friends, beware of following the detailed maps of your parents, grandparents, or kings of old. Be careful about placing your trust in the details of revelations from the past. The world has changed in so many ways. Instead of looking brave, you risk irrelevance. … Trust less in church structure and more in leading
Art Smith
Sermon on October 22nd, 2023
Change, be changed; this is courage.
Experiment, start over; this is courage.
Art Smith
Sermon on October 22nd, 2023
Invest in relationships, especially with those on the margins.
Art Smith
Sermon on October 22nd, 2023
Invest in learning from marginalized people. For me, this past year of watching legislators or people in power, systematically and stubbornly refusing to listen to people who are different, telling their own stories, and instead slandering kids and unconventional people for their sexual orientations, gender identities, or just for being different, without listening, has taught me a thing or two about how much courage it takes to stand before those people, just to tell your story. Tell your story, vulnerably, to someone in the dominant group, this is courage.
Give up on an old assumption, even the assumption that you know what God’s vision and call is. This is the “continuing” part of “Continuing Revelation.” Listen instead to God pleading through a queer person, through a trans kid, through an immigrant or a refugee, through a single mom. Through an incarcerated person, an indigenous person, a sex worker, or through a person who can’t hold a job. … Listen. This is courage.
Art Smith
Sermon on October 22nd, 2023
God is speaking the plans. Will we listen?
Will we listen to those on the margins, as they share their stories, and whisper the hints at what God wants to do?
Art Smith
Sermon on October 22nd, 2023
5. Jason W. Briggs
The bare mention of “fighting Saints” generates in our minds incongruities, a chaotic mixture of opposites, distorted images of lambs with claws, and doves with talons and fangs — misery with veins of bliss running through it.
Jason W. Briggs
“War and the Relation of Saints Thereto” Herald (Vol. 9-4:53) – February 15th, 1866
War is a monster; a desolator, a scourge; the sum of all the calamities that flesh is heir to, all this is conceded in the abstract by Christian men as well as Saints.
Jason W. Briggs
“War and the Relation of Saints Thereto” Herald (Vol. 9-4:53) – February 15th, 1866
Each party in all wars suppose some god to be on their side. If both parties are Christians, each supposes the same God to be on their side, as if war was the offspring of some of the attributes of God.
Jason W. Briggs
“War and the Relation of Saints Thereto” Herald (Vol. 9-4:53) – February 15th, 1866
The sinews of war is its power to crush, and these sinews are furnished by the rich, the capitalists take the loans and so enable war to act itself out
Jason W. Briggs
“War and the Relation of Saints Thereto” Herald (Vol. 9-4:53) – February 15th, 1866
Patriotism, in short, is on both sides of every question and every struggle, it is the inspiration of all wars … Patriotism as a ruling sentiment flatly contradicts the gospel, for it teaches to love our own, and despise others. Hence, patriotic duties may or may not agree with moral duties.
Jason W. Briggs
“War and the Relation of Saints Thereto” Herald (Vol. 9-4:53) – February 15th, 1866
The children of this world understand that the religion of Christ forbids war and all violence. While the children of the kingdom are discussing whether or not the “Saints shall fight.”
Jason W. Briggs
“War and the Relation of Saints Thereto” Herald (Vol. 9-4:53) – February 15th, 1866
There can be no doubt that Jesus Christ was a non-resistant, and when His teachings become the rule of nations war will have ceased.
Jason W. Briggs
“War and the Relation of Saints Thereto” Herald (Vol. 9-4:53) – February 15th, 1866
who is a Saint? Is he not one who adopts the precepts and has the Spirit of Christ? Certainly. Then if when the nations are converted they will not “fight” nor go to war, how can the Saints who are now converted do so? That is, can they fight without violating the precepts of the Savior or is it a moral duty to go to war and fight? We decidedly think not.
Jason W. Briggs
“War and the Relation of Saints Thereto” Herald (Vol. 9-4:53) – February 15th, 1866
Jesus said: “If my kingdom was of this world then would my servants (the Saints) fight, but now is not from hence.” (John 18:36)
Therefore, they will not fight to defend it nor their king.
Now here is a very pertinent question: If the Saints are not permitted to fight to defend the kingdom of God, to defend their king, their own Shepherd and Savior, are they permitted to fight in defense of other lords and other kingdoms?
Jason W. Briggs
“War and the Relation of Saints Thereto” Herald (Vol. 9-4:53) – February 15th, 1866
6. David Brock
I can no longer view that … RLDS priesthood [as] the only priesthood having authority (or full authority) to administer sacraments leading to salvation
David Brock
“Theology: Authority, Membership, and Baptism”, page 11
All Are Called. All and everyone! I believe in the “priesthood of all believers.” Maybe even the “priesthood of all believers and all unbelievers”! Some days the called minister of God is an atheist or secular humanist. Other days a Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or Buddhist. Sometimes a Unitarian, Mormon, or some brand of fundamentalist. Or on other days a “fallen” Community of Christ member who seemingly got lost in a vast wilderness!
The carefully and wisely constructed structure [of the priesthood] shapes and guides us, but it cannot contain this wild God who loves to color outside God’s own lines.
David Brock
Herald 161-11:5 (November 2014)
My salvation, our salvation, the world’s salvation are necessarily and essentially communal.
We cannot be human alone.
Bunda Chibwe
God’s Dream: Compassionate Relationships, August 21st, 2013
7. Carla Long
As a prophetic church, we must seek to uphold and restore the worth of all persons individually and in the community, challenging unjust systems that diminish human worth. …
Those unjust systems … that uphold the right of one over the other and that make people less than the other are not of God.
Carla Long
Sermon “Stand for the Worth of All Persons”, November 26th, 2022
8. Roy A. Cheville
Whenever any authority will not stand up under scrutiny it must be inadequate in itself
Roy A. Cheville
“By What Authority?” page 8
In theory we say our authority comes from God;
in practice we tend to look to some intermediary as the authority. It may be scriptures, or a creed, or an administrative official, or some usage of the church.
If some interpretation or practice continues long enough, we tend to ascribe authority to it and to read into it the voice of God.
Sometimes it is considered heresy or insubordination if someone dares to question whether such-and-such is the voice of God or the intermediate expression of what is considered the voice of God.
Roy A. Cheville
“By What Authority?” Lecture 1
Healthy, functional religion is concerned with what is taking place in the lives of people where they are
Roy A. Cheville
“By What Authority?” Page 9
I call you to expect expanding vision and continuing expression. Remember that Zion is not a finalized achievement but a way of living that is ever in process. Remember that in the work of your God, who is Source for Zionic living, there is no end in creative expression. Start where you are, simply, soundly. Continue step by step.
Roy A. Cheville
“Zionic Revelation” given on August 24, 1969 at Park College,
Published in November 1969 Herald (Vol. 116-11:14)
Any person who has to rely on their priesthood title to make their words be heard and received by the people must be lacking in the genuine authority that gives them the right to be heard and to be respected.
Roy A. Cheville
“By What Authority?” Chapter 4
9. Clifford A. Cole
Too often in the past the minority has simply been frozen out and has silently drifted away. …
It appears to me that we really are faced with the decision of determining what we believe about the church. Should we allow it to become an institution which ministers to only one segment of society?
Clifford A. Cole
“Theological Perspectives of World Mission”, July 1971 Saints Herald (Vol. 118-7:10)
Traditionally Christian denominations have started among the downtrodden and disinherited. As time has progressed their response to the gospel has lifted them socially and economically in society until they have achieved a place of so-called respectability. The membership has become fairly homogeneous, and the denomination has become a class-oriented institution which says its doors are open to all, but which in reality effectively squeezes out any who do not assimilate readily into its class structure. In an astonishingly rapid measure this has happened in [community of Christ].
Clifford A. Cole
“Theological Perspectives of World Mission”, July 1971 Saints Herald (Vol. 118-7:10)
If at any point our attitudes toward others exclude them from our fellowship because of class, cultural, or racial differences, this in itself may be strong evidence that we are not really the church [of Jesus Christ] at all. I pray this will never happen.
Clifford A. Cole
“Theological Perspectives of World Mission”, July 1971 Saints Herald (Vol. 118-7:10)
With the growing willingness to accept responsibility, there must be freedom of autonomy given. The church in each nation needs to hold its property, maintain its juridical person, and determine its program within its own national structure. As far as I am aware no Christian denomination has ever grown to be very significant in any country where this kind of autonomy has been denied.
Clifford A. Cole
“Theological Perspectives of World Mission”, July 1971 Saints Herald (Vol. 118-7:10)
Some will say, “What, then, holds the church together?” To this I must reply that it is held together by its commitment and its allegiance to the world church, not by having its decisions made in the Joint Council or its property held in the name of the World Church. The church must essentially be held together by the following:
A. It’s common respect for and willingness to accept ministry from the world church officers
B. Its common acceptance of and willingness to live by the scriptures, i.e., the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants.
C. Its participation in and willingness to abide by the actions of the World Conference.
D. The ministry of World Church appointees who are assigned by the Joint Council and approved by the World Conference, as well as the jurisdiction to which they are assigned. These act as a uniting force in tying the church together as one body.
Clifford A. Cole
“Theological Perspectives of World Mission”, July 1971 Saints Herald (Vol. 118-7:10)
A further serious matter requiring adjustments in our consideration has to do with our continued delusion that we are in some way carrying the so-called “white man’s burden” for the rest of the world. This gives us a sense of worth and considerable satisfaction to think that we are able to help the poverty-stricken, the ignorant, and those without the benefit of the Christian hope.
In reality, however, this not only harms us because it makes us think more highly of ourselves than we ought, fosters self-righteousness on our part in our attitude toward other nations, and causes us to impose ourselves upon others in a kind of neo-colonialism, but it also takes from the very ones we want to assist the most precious possession which they have-their self-respect and sense of worth.
Clifford A. Cole
“Theological Perspectives of World Mission”, July 1971 Saints Herald (Vol. 118-7:10)
When we talk about authority in terms of its effect on our present life, or the power of the church to influence living conditions today rather than in the life after death, then the issue of our authority as against the authority of others seems less black and white. For example, when we are asked who has authority to heal the sick, assist the poverty-stricken, reduce violence, or eliminate war, we must admit that authority in these spheres resides in varying degrees in many places
Clifford A. Cole
The Cause of Zion
We have every reason to believe that our forefathers would be greatly disappointed in us if we did not arise to the demands of our time. It is our responsibility to reevaluate the image we have of the church and the message and strategy which should be employed to achieve its mission.
Clifford A. Cole
The Cause of Zion
We are called to be a prophetic church, not merely to answer issues which confronted past generations but rather – undergirded by the same pioneering spirit which gave our forebears the power to triumph – to confront the issues of today triumphantly.
Clifford A. Cole
The Cause of Zion
A self-serving church loses its sense of meaning, while a church that is committed to God’s call to serve will experience the glory of renewal and spiritual power.
Clifford A. Cole
The Cause of Zion
If the church tries to take over or control other [cultures], it will be resented as a foreign (and therefore improper) influence. But if it sends persons out to stand on their own, fully identified with the body of which they are a part, then their contribution arises from within that body rather than being dictated from without. Such a person appropriately carries the burdens of those with whom he is identified and is indigenous rather than alien to the group.
Clifford A. Cole
The Cause of Zion
The World Church needs to find ways of loosening its controls on its national and local jurisdictions and take joy in their accomplishments. If the church is not to be unduly restricted in its growth and in pursuing its mission, there must be more decentralizing of administration, more encouraging freedom of initiative on the part of the local jurisdictions to the body of Christ in their sphere of action. In a very real sense, the World Church should be not so much the director of all the parts as the enabler, inspirer, and strengthener of them. The church should be the fellowship of those who have set their hands in every nation to be the light of Christ in that culture, to help the new world be born. If this is to happen, the World Church must be willing to give freedom of action to its local jurisdictions, even at the risk of their acting unwisely at times. The price of success is always the possibility of failure. When we look at the major problems of today, we must say God needs an enabling people to give courage to the nations, to help point the way, and to open their eyes to a new vision. The church as an organization must submerge its own ambition to receive recognition for its accomplishments and to control the Christian expression of its component parts in order to bring recognition to those it enables to do God’s work.
Clifford A. Cole
The Cause of Zion
We believe that we should take stock of our course from time to time to see clearly how we arrived at our present position and where our direction will carry us.
Clifford A. Cole
The Cause of Zion
As a church we are called to pay the price of being prophetic. Our mission is to sound the prophetic voice in a world that is amazingly dynamic, but torn by strife, often bewildered, prone to selfishness, terribly belligerent, and increasingly disillusioned. The demands laid upon us in order to become prophets to our generation are great. It is appropriate that we take a hard look at what those demands are.
Clifford A. Cole
“The Prophetic Voice, Called to Mission”
January 1976 Saints Herald (Vol. 123-1:14)
If we are to be prophetic we must pay the price to understand the world in which we are cast. We must discern the signs of the times, and with a deep appreciation and love for that world speak to it in its own language and in the spirit of the reconciling love of God.
Clifford A. Cole
“The Prophetic Voice, Called to Mission”
January 1976 Saints Herald (Vol. 123-1:14)
I do not believe… that it is possible for a Divine plan to be given at one time in one place which is the correct model for all times and all cultures.
Clifford A. Cole
“The Prophetic Voice, Called to Mission”
January 1976 Saints Herald (Vol. 123-1:15)
As a church we tend to be conservative. There are values to this, but we must never let conservatism be a cover-up for our yen to hold fast to the past because we do not fully understand the present and are suspicious of change which we do not comprehend.
On the other hand, quite as great an error is made by the progressive who doesn’t pay the price to understand the present or its meanings for the future and therefore mistakes innovation for progress. He makes changes for the sake of freshness without really knowing whether or not the innovations lead to any worthwhile objective.
Neither of these approaches exact from us a prophetic leadership. They are cheap ways of trying to lead without hard and costly preparation.
Clifford A. Cole
“The Prophetic Voice, Called to Mission”
January 1976 Saints Herald (Vol. 123-1:16)
10. Leonard M. Young
A prophetic people do not accept the statement of the traditionalist that, “It is so,” just because it used to be so. People of vision do not allow the understandings of the past to be forgotten, but, also, they refuse to be bound by the past when dealing with the present.
Leonard M. Young
“The Burden of “So”
Saints’ Herald Vol. 140-6 (June 1993) pg. 13-14 (237-238)
Living prophetically means letting go of the need for certainty
Leonard M. Young
“The Burden of “So”
Saints’ Herald Vol. 140-6 (June 1993) pg. 13-14 (237-238)
As individuals feel progressively excluded from the decision-making process, either by choice or by default, an atrophying of personal essence occurs. Every time we ignore our calling as fully capable being, we become less of who we are and more a mirror that only reflects the real decision makers.
Leonard M. Young
“The Burden of “So”
Saints’ Herald Vol. 140-6 (June 1993) pg. 13-14 (237-238)
From the beginning of our faith movement, Latter Day Saints have … been willing to ask if established things are really so.
Leonard M. Young
“The Burden of “So”
Saints’ Herald Vol. 140-6 (June 1993) pg. 13-14 (237-238)
A prophetic people refuse simply to say, “It is so,” just because it is presently so. Such people constructively try to change situations in the world that others simply accept as “the way things are.”
Leonard M. Young
“The Burden of “So”
Saints’ Herald Vol. 140-6 (June 1993) pg. 13-14 (237-238)
11. Wallace B. Smith
There is a rhythm to life – and the repeated and continuing experiences of many generations seem to affirm this observation. The wisdom literature of the Old Testament as recorded in Ecclesiastes reminds us that “For everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven; a time to be born and a time to die…”
Wallace B. Smith
“Life Is Behind Us, Life Is Before”
1987 March Herald (Vol. 134-3:93)
The collective activity of living and reliving life’s experiences… is our story and our song… the process has been going on a long time – generation after generation, long before written history was recorded – and our faith is that it will continue indefinitely into the future.
Wallace B. Smith
“Life Is Behind Us, Life Is Before”
1987 March Herald (Vol. 134-3:93)
The gospel is the assurance that we can stop denying what we actually are, and that we can own our existence in the world as God’s people.
Wallace B. Smith
Presidential Paper #4: The Mission and Future of the Church
12. Shandra K. Newcom
The call of Christ is not easy. In the face of oppression we are called to be radical, to speak out, and to challenge assumptions. …
I pray for the day when our commitment to living as Christians includes confronting our own fears and prejudices. Only then can we begin to open ourselves to all people … and know them as children of God.
Shandra K. Newcom
“Children of God”
October 1994 Saints Herald (Vol. 141-10:427)
We are not created to be clones, identical in every way. The diversity of the body of Christ is a gift we have been given in grace. … We are doing ourselves a great disservice when we do not include all people fully and openly in all our sacraments, specifically marriage and ordination.
Shandra K. Newcom
“Children of God”
October 1994 Saints Herald (Vol. 141-10:427)
13. Maurice L. Draper
Priesthood authority in the Restoration movement has never been regarded as a purely legal matter. It is first of all a matter of insight, response to human need, and actual participation in situations which contribute to the satisfaction of that need. “All are called according to the gifts of God unto them” (Doctrine and Covenants 119: 8B). If one is called to minister in terms of his potential capacity in relation to Divine gifts, he is under obligation to refine those gifts, to sharpen his tools of ministry, and to develop skill in the procedures of ministry. In the final analysis, priesthood authority is expressed in effective ministry.
Maurice L. Draper
“The Restoration of Priesthood” in
“A Guide for Good Priesthood Ministry”, 1971
From the sociology of religion come the concepts of the prophetic and the priestly orientation. The former is concerned with values, purposes, objectives, and goals. Persons with an extreme prophetic orientation are impatient with the status quo, and anxious to “get on with the task.” Priestly persons are strongly committed to existing structures and procedures. They become very upset with a prophetic person’s attempts to change the way things are done.
Maurice L. Draper
The Nature of Revelation
Herald 134-5:187 (May 1987)
The prophet stresses new revelation;
the priest urges obedience to already given revelation.
Maurice L. Draper
The Nature of Revelation
Herald 134-5:187 (May 1987)
Revelation is truth, but it is truth relative to the situation
Maurice L. Draper
The Nature of Revelation
Herald 134-5:187 (May 1987)
14. Paul M. Edwards
What we need now are [people] who will lead us into knowing ourselves by not being afraid of themselves.
Paul M. Edwards
“A Plea for Leadership”
Courage Vol. Pilot (April 1970) pg. 56
Wise men are not wise until they have passed judgment on their most familiar thoughts, until they have questioned the company of ideas with which they have walked from birth. They are not wise until they have sensed the subjectivity of these ideas which they have cherished, but which are not the result of a view of their self-knowledge.
Paul M. Edwards
“A Plea for Leadership”
Courage Vol. Pilot (April 1970) pg. 56
15. F. Henry Edwards
We may accept the authority of the minister officiating in the [sacraments] of the church on the basis of their commission, but if no spiritual gains accrue from obedience to the [sacraments] which they administer, then we lose confidence in both the minister and the [sacraments].
More clearly, perhaps, we tend to accept on the basis of their ordination those who are to direct the affairs of [the church], but after a time we reject… those whose record shows no evidence of power in action.
F. Henry Edwards
Authority and Spiritual Power Chapter 1, The Nature of Spiritual Authority
Section 2, Authority is Demonstrated in Power
Any concept of salvation which envisions people enjoying celestial bliss without regard to the situation of their neighbors is misguided and mischievous.
F. Henry Edwards
Authority and Spiritual Power
Chapter 1, The Nature of Spiritual Authority
Section 4, Spiritual Authority is Manifest in Power Unto Salvation
16. Harry J. Fielding
The functions or purposes that the sacraments play in the gathered life of the church are far more important than the particular forms in which they are expressed.
Harry J. Fielding
“The Church and the Sacraments – Toward a Functional Interpretation”,
Restoration Studies III: 21-31 (1986)
The church has become locked into various forms or models and has seen the maintaining of these as its primary calling rather than seeking to discover the basic functions or ministry it is called to perform.
This has been true of the Saints church also, and recent debate over the efficacy of the sacramental ordinances, particularly centered on the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, has grown from the “maintenance background” described above. What is crucial for us to recognize is that the sacraments do not belong to the church. We sometimes talk of the sacraments of the church as though these are somehow the prerogative and possession of the church institution.
Harry J. Fielding
“The Church and the Sacraments – Toward a Functional Interpretation”,
Restoration Studies III: 21-31 (1986)
The church itself has, in my opinion, fallen into the trap of maintaining institutional forms at the expense of functioning effectively in the world.
Harry J. Fielding
“The Church and the Sacraments – Toward a Functional Interpretation”,
Restoration Studies III: 21-31 (1986)
Through an insistence on rebaptism we seek to welcome initiates to our fellowship and yet ironically at the same time we are unconsciously degrading their previous Christian commitment.
Harry J. Fielding
“The Church and the Sacraments – Toward a Functional Interpretation”,
Restoration Studies III: 21-31 (1986)
It is strange that we should have at the center of our heritage a revolt against creeds and inflexible dogma yet take so long to realize that we have at times created our own inflexible dogma and in so doing have entered into the process of apostasy.
Harry J. Fielding
“The Church and the Sacraments – Toward a Functional Interpretation”,
Restoration Studies III: 21-31 (1986)
17. Frederick M. Smith
The beautiful visions seen in the peyote teepee have a softening mystic effect upon the devotees, while the psychic power of suggestion perhaps augmenting the therapeutic value of peyote itself has performed some wonders fascinating to the… mind…
Frederick M. Smith
Higher Powers of Man
Those weak of imagination can strengthen it by opium, hasheesh, coco, or one of the several other narcotics, to bring about artificial fancy ecstasies. These visions are even richer in color and form than the natural ones and constitute the highest form of enjoyment
Frederick M. Smith
Higher Powers of Man, page 102
[Peyote was] Chemically studied by [Doctor Ervin E.] Ewell, of the United States Department of Agriculture, under Doctor [H.W.] Wiley … The psychological effects are … to produce color visions, and even bright elysians.
Doctor Wiley in a letter to me relates an amusing experience he had with Doctor Ewell while the latter was under peyote influence. Doctor Ewell, (though Agnostic) while under its influence argued verbosely that there was a heaven, because he saw it.
Frederick M. Smith
Higher Powers of Man, page 113
“From every man according to his capacity and to every man according to his needs,” has, I think, been accepted as expressing in sloganized form the objective of our social reform based on Christian fraternity. It might be necessary to add that surplus must be placed for the benefit and blessing of the group. …
“From every man according to his capacity and to every man according to his needs,” because it is right, because God wills it, because each is his brother’s keeper to the extent of his capacity, and because in a society so organized and functioning there will be greater happiness, more peace, and class friction will be reduced to a minimum if not eradicated.
And that is the Zionic idea and our goal. Onward to Zion!
Frederick M. Smith
Saints’ Herald Vol. 82 pg. 1091
In Communism, Socialism, Capitalism, and Syndicalism, good is to be found though much of their teachings may be undesirable; hence rather than denouncing Communism, rejecting Socialism, chiding Capitalism, and finding Syndicalism too “powerfully concentrated,” the task of the Christian church is to find and preserve, and vitalize the good in all these doctrines and catch them up in some form of social order in which these good things shall be correlated and coordinated in a social program of reform.
Frederick M. Smith
“The Church and Economics”
Saints Herald 80-16:483, April 19th, 1933
Minimum-wage laws, old-age pensions, government regulation of business, and revival of the medieval guild are all palliative merely, and do not strike at the root of our trouble at all.
What the church must stand for is the institution of Christian principles in industry. … our church has stood for a social order in which the dynamic of industrial and political activation shall be on the basis of brotherly love rather than the aggrandizement of selfish interests.
When men can be found working at wealth production for the mere love of contributing to the common weal, the question of a minimum wage will become merely incidental; old-age pension laws will not be needed, for the care of the dependents will automatically be found from the communized surpluses consecrated by the stewards. The amassing of large individual “fortunes” will stop right at the point where these fortunes cease to be used for common good. All above needs and just wants being consecrated to the group will automatically protect against the evils of large fortunes in the hands of persons not dominated by the desire to serve common ends, and will automatically answer the question of law governing the inheriting of large fortunes.
Frederick M. Smith
“The Church and Economics”
Saints Herald 80-16:483, April 19th, 1933
When laborers and capitalists begin working with the goal being the common good rather than aggrandizement of selfish interests, their common interests, because of having a common goal, form a basis on which they freely cooperate, and adjustment of differences becomes easy.
Frederick M. Smith
“The Church and Economics”
Saints Herald 80-16:483, April 19th, 1933
“From every man according to his capacity; to every man according to his needs.”
This is one of the most significant, fundamental, and yet comprehensive definitions for the doctrine of stewardships I have ever read. I do wish that every member of the church… might take it to heart seriously and appreciate its wonderful significance. …
This presents an ideal of society. It presents the ideal towards which we are striving. It crystallizes the goal, the objective of this church. … we have an ideal which, if realized, would lift every man above need or distress. If this ideal were realized, then it would mean that every person in the group would be lifted above the level of need or poverty. That is the ideal.
Frederick M. Smith
Zion and Stewardship
Saints Herald 75-10:276, March 7th, 1928
If thou, oh God, art desirous of revealing thy will to us, or to me, be it far from me to say how.
If it be that thou desirest to write across the arch of thy heaven those words that thou shalt see fit to transmit to thy people, then give me the wisdom to read.
If thou dost choose to manifest thy power in the thunderous tones that thou art capable of giving, so that they will ring through all the arch of heaven, let my ears be open.
If, in the still, small voice that comes from within, thou shalt choose to reveal thy will to me, then let thy Spirit attune my spiritual ear to the reception of thy word.
If thou dost choose to utilize those powers with which thou hast by nature endowed me, quickened by thine own processes of development, to transmit through them the message that thou hast to give to thy people, then my pen shall be ready.
If thou dost choose to bathe my soul in thy spirit until my spiritual vision shall behold what thou dost desire thy people to accomplish, even then shall I endeavor as thy instrument to transmit the message to thy people.
Frederick M. Smith
Zion’s Ensign (Vol. 29-45:5)
18. Zenos H. Gurley, Sr.
When the commandment to organize first came we thought it impossible for us to obey, not having authority to ordain apostles, etc.; but we learned what every Latter-Day Saint must learn: that a command from God is authority to do all that He requires, be it more or less.
Zenos H. Gurley, Sr.
“History of the New Organization of the Church”
March 1860, The True Later Day Saints’ Herald (Vol. 1-3:58)
19. John C. Hamer
It is incumbent upon us as a prophetic people to discern God’s actual vision for the church, and like John the Baptist and Jesus to speak truth to individuals in places of authority, when their human frailties prevent them from seeing beyond their own blinders.
John C. Hamer
Sermon
How do we perceive authority that truly comes from God? When we see someone inside or outside of our own priesthood and community leading by example, acting as a servant of God’s people, of God’s mission, and of God’s saving purposes then we are seeing a person who is exercising true authority from God. As we seek to become a people of the temple, may we live out the Enduring Principles of the gospel together, restoring them to new relevance in the times and contexts we find ourselves. May we pursue the mission initiatives, Christ’s mission, in this world, as we hope to make it ever more Zion-like.
John C. Hamer
Sermon
20. Chris B. Hartshorn
The World Conference of delegates and ex-officii will be allowed to debate issues, but many of these may, if recent practices are followed, be called up for conference action late, be referred to the Joint Council, or a part of it, for disposition; and thus common consent will be aborted. The end result of these procedures may be disillusionment of the membership and disunity in the church.
Chris B. Hartshorn
“The Church as I See it: Now and in the Future”
Courage Vol. Pilot (April 1970) pg. 16
21. Jaxon Washburn
There’s no doubt that Jesus’s teachings have the potential to be divisive insofar as they call us to radical forms of love, empathy, consecrated discipleship, and boundless charity.
Yet he is not the Prince of the Sword, but the Prince of Peace.
22. Jaime Harker
The Priesthood, I contend, is preventing Community of Christ’s evolution as a ‘prophetic people,’ because it depends upon hierarchy, obedience, and submission to authority – all qualities that suppress the prophetic in the larger community of believers. A reimagination of priesthood in Community of Christ is long overdue.
Jaime Harker
“Beyond Priesthood: Reimagining the Priestly and the Prophetic (Draft)”
For a decade, leadership in Independence has insisted that they couldn’t possibly institute a church-wide policy that states, clearly and unequivocally, its commitment to full queer inclusion. The reason they have given was to do so would be an act of cultural imperialism, imposing “Western” values onto other nations.
But they had no problem making a universal statement about monogamy.
In both cases, their implicit bias against queer people has become painfully clear.
Jaime Harker
I find it really interesting that for a decade, Independence wrung its hands and insisted it couldn’t possibly have a church-wide policy about full queer inclusion, because cultural imperialism, but they have no problem making a universal policy about monogamy. They are homophobic but don’t want to say so publicly, but they are proud of their anti-polyamorous bigotry.
Jaime Harker
23. Lachlan Mackay
“… We believe the revelatory process is conceptual (the thoughts are inspired, but the word choice is not) rather than plenary (each word is inspired and without error).
… The humanity of the prophetic figure conveying revelation cannot be separated from the process.”
Lachlan Mackay
Restorations: Scholars in dialogue from Community of Christ and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, page 137
24. Linda “Lu” Mountenay
We would be complicit if we remained silent
Linda “Lu” Mountenay
Herald Vol. 161-5:29 (May 2014)
25. Charles D. Neff
The insistence on centralized authority, with all its ramifications in terms of quorum exclusiveness, has meant that the leading councils of the church have spent much of their strength on the struggles of procedure. … My personal concern in this regard is that I have only one life to give. I do not like the thought of spending all my time and strength in this struggle over position, procedures, relationships, rights, and prerogatives. Maybe a new look at the church is in order.
Charles D. Neff
“The Problem of Becoming a World Church”
October 1974 Saints Herald (Vol.121-10
The insistence on centralized authority, with all its ramifications in terms of quorum exclusiveness, has meant that the leading councils of the church have spent much of their strength on the struggles of procedure. …
My personal concern in this regard is that I have only one life to give. I do not like the thought of spending all my time and strength in this struggle over position, procedures, relationships, rights, and prerogatives. Maybe a new look at the church is in order.
Charles D. Neff
“The Problem of Becoming a World Church”
October 1974 Saints Herald (Vol.121-10
Because we are who we are, and because our background is as it is, we have a tendency to reduce to a single concept or view all the societies of the world.
That view tends to be American, middle class, urban, white.
Charles D. Neff
“The Problem of Becoming a World Church”
October 1974 Saints Herald (Vol.121-10
Highly authoritarian, centralized, ecclesiastic, theological, and administrative structures cannot provide adequate leadership for the variety of world situations in which we find ourselves.
Charles D. Neff
“The Problem of Becoming a World Church”
October 1974 Saints Herald (Vol.121-10
Ministry is function rather than status
Charles D. Neff
“The Problem of Becoming a World Church”
October 1974 Saints Herald (Vol.121-10
26. Everett Graffeo
We will be as persistent as weeds and as beautiful as orchids
Everett Graffeo
Order of Evangelist’s 1998 World Conference Report
27. Brigham Young
Money is not real capital. It bears the title only. True capital is labor, and is confined to the laboring classes.
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses 1, pg 254
The course pursued by men of business in the world has a tendency to make a few rich, and to sink the masses of the people in poverty and degradation… No matter what comes they are for gain—for gathering around them riches.
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses 10, pg 348
It has been supposed that wealth gives power. In a depraved state of society, in a certain sense it does, if opening a wide field for unrighteous monopolies, by which the poor are robbed and oppressed and the wealthy are more enriched, is power. In a depraved state of society money can buy positions and titles, can cover up a multitude of incapabilities, can open wide the gates of fashionable society to the lowest and most depraved of human beings; it divides society into castes without any reference to goodness, virtue or truth. It is made to pander to the most brutal passions of the human soul; it is made to subvert every wholesome law of God and man, and to trample down every sacred bond that should tie society together in a national, municipal, domestic, and every other relationship.
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses, 11, pg 3
One of the great evils with which our own nation is menaced at the present time is the wonderful growth of wealth in the hands of a comparatively few individuals. The very liberties for which our fathers contended so steadfastly and courageously, and which they bequeathed to us as a priceless legacy, are endangered by the monstrous power which this accumulation of wealth gives to a few individuals and a few powerful corporations.
Brigham Young
Joint statement from the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 1875
The experience of mankind has shown that the people of communities and nations among whom wealth is the most equally distributed, enjoy the largest degree of liberty, are the least exposed to tyranny and oppression and suffer the least from luxurious habits which beget vice.
Brigham Young
Joint statement from the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 1875
The earth is here, and the fullness thereof is here… one man was not made to trample his fellow man under his feet, and enjoy all his heart desires, while the thousands suffer. We will take a moral view, a political view, and we see the inequality that exists in the human family.
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses 19, pg 46
Who [are the working poor] laboring for? For those who, many of them, are living in luxury. And, to serve the classes that are living on them, the poor, laboring men and women are toiling, working their lives out to earn that which will keep a little life within them. Is this equality? No! What is going to be done?… we are to revolutionize the world.
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses 19, pg 46
The Latter-day Saints, in their conduct and acts with regard to financial matters, are like the rest of the world. The course pursued by men of business in the world has a tendency to make a few rich, and to sink the masses of the people in poverty and degradation. Too many of the Elders of Israel take this course. No matter what comes they are for gain—for gathering around them riches
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses 11, Discourse 50
As much as the people will pay, so much will the merchants take a hundred, or a thousand percent, if they can get it, and then thank God for their success. They put me in mind of some men I have seen who, when they had a chance to buy a widow’s cow for ten cents on the dollar of her real value in cash, would make the purchase, and then thank the Lord that he had so blessed them. Such men belong to the class of Christians referred to on one occasion by Charles Gunn; and, if you will excuse me, I will tell you what he said about them. He said that “hell was full of such Christians.
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses 17, Discourse 48
28. Susa Young Gates
The divine Mother, side by side with the divine Father, [has] the equal sharing of equal rights, privileges and responsibilities.
Susa Young Gates
“The Vision Beautiful” in Improvement Era Volume 23, page 542 (April 1920)
29. Joseph Smith III
… My understanding of revelation as we have it, is that every man stands before God upon his individual responsibility …
The inspiration of the gospel of the Son of God, and the inspiration of his Spirit quickens, revivifies, and puts a man nearer to the influences of life, nearer to his Maker and the Savior than any other period or periods of his existence. And every man standing before God and receiving of this inspiration, whether it is in the stand or wherever it may come, or what occasion, his increased vitality and vigor for life spiritually is before God…
Joseph Smith III
Sermon preached on April 18th, 1906
30. Katie Harmon-McLaughlin
Part of the work of discernment is growing in awareness of what motivates our actions.
Are we driven by our fears or are we drawn by the life-giving energy of the Holy Spirit breathed upon us by the presence of the Living Christ?
Katie Harmon-McLaughlin
Herald Vol. 168-2:35 (Mar/Apr 2021)
31. Leandro Palacios
In this story (Luke 5:37-39) Jesus is enjoying himself with those who good Christians like us often tend to judge as immoral, indecent, and obscene. In this scene, Jesus is with them, behaving like them, while we, my fellow good Christians, we are not the disciples, we are the Pharisees. … When we are unwilling to allow scripture to speak to us in the present moment, when we confine the voice of Jesus to a time and place faraway from our day to day lives, and when we think we already know the lesson and we have nothing to learn from the Word, then, we Christians become the Pharisees.
Leandro Palacios
Sermon on June 11th, 2023
You must be thinking: “But our church is very inclusive. We welcome queer folks. We have a woman pastor. We do ministry to the poor in our neighborhood.” That’s wonderful. Then allow me to ask you:
How do you feel about unmarried couples living together? Jesus is with them.
How do you feel about priests who have a glass of wine or a beer with dinner? Jesus is with them.
How do you feel about people who live in consensual and loving non-monogamous families? Jesus is with them.
How do you feel about the people who will march in Pride parades across the continent this month, especially those who won’t be wearing much? Jesus is with them. …
And how do you feel about yourself in all the ways you know you fail to meet the expectations of what a righteous person should be? Jesus is with you.
Leandro Palacios
Sermon on June 11th, 2023
32. Deb Luce
The unique thing is that the majority of the work that got done and the majority of the decisions that were made were made by people who just didn’t have the title. They were leaders in the congregation, but they didn’t perceive themselves as priesthood.
Deb Luce
Gospel Tangents podcast
33. W. Wallace Smith
Let us think of the temple as a place where those who are called to share in the ministry of Jesus meet with each other and God to ask hard questions about the demands of redemptive ministry. … Unless the Temple of Zion serves this function, it is better for us not to build it.
W. Wallace Smith
“The Temple: A Symbol of Contemporary Application of Divine Intelligence to Human Needs”
Herald Vol. 115 Pg. 363 (June 1st, 1968)
34. Alan D. Tyree
The nature of revelation is such that no one person may claim exclusive rights to revelatory gifts. The church experiences, through individuals here and there, much of the same directing gifts that become the content of revelatory documents presented by the prophet.
Alan D. Tyree
“Principle of Divine Revelation” Herald 139:183 (May 1992)
35. Em J. Gray
On a pew sat a sunflower. They cradled withered petals in two of their leaves. They looked down at them, exuding bereavement.
“But you’re so beautiful,” I said. “New petals have replaced those.”
The resplendent sunflower looked up at me with a keen eye, questioning: Don’t you understand?, and returned to the objects in their leaves.
How often is the church the sunflower, tenderly cherishing dead petals, while ignoring the living ones that actually comprise itself?
36. Blaire Ostler
Today, I proudly identify as a queer Mormon.
I’m a born-and-raised Mormon… I still hold to my Mormon beliefs, testimony, doctrine, theology, culture, and heritage. I come from nine generations of Mormon pioneers. I often joke that, if there is a Mormon gene, I have it.
I also often joke that, if there is a queer gene, I have it too.
I sometimes get negative reactions from people… for not relinquishing one or the other of these identities. They sometimes insist that a person couldn’t possibly be both queer and Mormon, especially given the [LDS] Church’s history of painful attempts to delegitimize the queer community. It is easy to understand why some would be skeptical about the possibility of someone being queer and Mormon.
Even so, I maintain that I am a queer Mormon.
Blaire Ostler
Queer Mormon Theology: An Introduction, page 2
37. B.H. Roberts
One great evil that threatens our land and which promises to overthrow the institutions of our country more than any other danger, is that of corporate power, and unless a limit be placed upon the lines of business in which these corporations may engage, there is no end to the evil that may result from the building up of these mighty corporations.
B.H. Roberts
The Politics of B. H. Roberts, by D. Craig Mikkelsen, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Volume 9, Issue 2
Let us hope that… the people [will be put] in a position to construct a new economic policy, for a new age, to take the place of the capitalistic system and its spirit, wherein shall exist more equality and more justice than in the age now passing; a policy wherein there will be a more consistent division of the profits of the conjoint products of capital and labor than heretofore; where the wealth produced by that conjoint effort shall not forever flow into the possession of the “one,” while the “ninety and nine” have but empty hands!
B. H. Roberts
The Politics of B. H. Roberts, by D. Craig Mikkelsen, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Volume 9, Issue 2
38. Daniel O. McClellan
From an academic point of view… I let the tension stand and I say “There is likely tension because I don’t have enough information.”
And that’s not to say that everything is going to fit together perfectly how I thought before – I’m going to have to adapt my perspective – but if there’s something that doesn’t fit, it means there’s something for me to learn out there. There’s data out there that I need to find so that I can understand whether it does fit or whether it fits somewhere else entirely.
That is not something that every last committed believer is willing or able to do, but that’s how I approach things from my academic perspective
Daniel O. McClellan
In Her Image Podcast, episode 39, 00:50:00-00:51:00
One interesting thing about the scriptures is there’s this principle from the field of social memory which holds that every community that has authoritative texts, every generation has to renegotiate it’s understanding of those texts, and their renegotiating between the sacred past – what their parents believed, what their grandparents believed, what they believed anciently – and they’re taking that and they need to look at these beliefs through whatever lenses – their own experiences in their own circumstances, in their own needs – give them and they need to figure out “How can I make this meaningful to me? How is this going to inform my experiences?” and that is going to require new perspectives and new understandings.
Even within the official, historical narrative of the church there are things that get left behind, there are things that get decentered, there are other things that get centered.
No one is immune from having to renegotiate between the past, and the present. It is messy, but nobody is free from it.
And if we think that we already have the exact same conceptual framework and understanding of the universe that we’re going to have 50 years from now, all that means is that we are being too dogmatic to grow and to be stretched, because you cannot possibly grow as a Christian – as a person – without changing the way you look at the world.
Daniel O. McClellan
In Her Image Podcast, episode 39, 00:50:00-00:51:00
I think the Latter Day Saint discourse is more a bottom-up discourse than it is a top-down. That is not to discount that [top-down] authority at all; it’s just to say that we are not all just plugged into programs and doing what we’re told. We can go out and find stuff for ourselves as well.
Daniel O. McClellan
In Her Image Podcast, episode 39, 00:50:00-00:51:00