Remarks by Rulon S. Wells

{Of the First Council of the Seventy) ¶

I was deeply impressed by the remarks of Elder John A. Widtsoe in the opening meeting of yesterday, in the great Tabernacle, who spoke of education as a means for overcoming the evils of the present day — the utter lack of regard for law and order — the spirit of violence and contempt for law on the one hand, and the stiffnecked selfishness and greed on the other. I am converted to the fact, and always have been, that education (and when I say education I mean that full rounded-out education which contemplates the development of all our faculties) would be a complete remedy for all such evils. We are the children of God and this world is a great school. Shakespeare said : "All the world is a stage, and all the men and women are but actors in it." But you will allow me to paraphrase this expression and say : "All the ¶

world is a school, and all the men and women are but students in it." All other institutions of learning such as our public schools, our seminaries and academies, our colleges and universities, including also our Church schools are supplemental auxiliaries to this great school which has enrolled upon its record every living human being, and in times that are past, every soul that ever breathed the breath of life. By far the greater part of our education is received outside of these auxiliary institutions, and I hope that no one will think that I underestimate their value. On the contrary I regard them highly important and the teachers and professors who have specialized for their respective departments are great benefactors of the human race and are engaged in a noble calling. ¶

Among these educators men have risen to high distinction, and the world is rightly proud of them, but in this great school God is our teacher and with him none can compare. "There is a spirit in man : and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding" (Job 32 :8). And whatever enlightenment or understanding may have come to man be sure it came from the Great Fountain of all truth — from the Almighty that giveth him understanding; and this is true whether men admit it or not. Some there are who arrogate all the credit to themselves and their work — to perspiration not inspiration. Surely the inspiration of the Lord will come to those who work and study and endeavor with all their might to know the truth, and not to the indolent. ¶

I often think of that Greek philosopher, who had been studiously searching for the law of specific, gravity, and who while bathing in a pool noticed how much lighter the body was in the water than out of it, and forgetting that he was naked rushed out into the street crying "Eureka, Eureka, I have found it! I have found it." The inspiration of the Almighty had given him an understanding. So has it always been with every great discovery or invention, and this view does not and should not in any degree detract from the honor which the world is glad to give to those whom God has used as instruments in bringing truth to light. "And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world." (Doc. and Cov. 84:46.) This clearly relates to every department of learning whether secular or religious and to all men and women whether believers or not. It is universal. Thus God is teaching by his Spirit all the nations of the earth, but there have also been many false teachers and many have preferred their teachings, for "men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil." ¶

Even in the study of the secular branches of education we need the inspiration of the Almighty. In the study of history, geography, mathematics and the sciences, also in our physical education which involves the law of health and the proper care of the body but above all in our spiritual education, which relates to the things of God and which includes within it the two former branches for after all with God all things are first spiritual. ¶

It is the mind and will of God that all men shall receive the highest education and enlightenment, but there is "no royal road to learning, and those who will receive diplomas in the school of God must take the course outlined in its curriculum which provides that men shall not only know the truth, but also do it. And this truth is the gospel of Jesus Christ which is the "power of God unto Salvation ;" and salvation means education ; for, as the Prophet Joseph Smith has told us, "men are saved no faster than they obtain knowledge," and "the glory of God is intelligence." The first steps are faith in God and repentance from sin to be followed by baptism by immersion for the remission of sin performed by a duly accredited agent of God endowed with "power from on high," and all this that men may be cleansed from sin through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection is so beautifully symbolized in this sacred ordinance. And after having thus been cleansed from sin, and not before that, they may receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost — the Spirit of truth whose special duty is to lead us into all truth — the great educator under whose tuition we may receive the highest degrees — become real Doctors of Divinity. But we may only obtain this special endowment, which comes to us as a gift from God, the gift of the Holy Ghost, through the cleansing process of the gospel, as I have just indicated, and it may only be retained just as long as we keep ourselves "clean and unspotted from the sins of the world," for his Spirit will not dwell in an unclean tabernacle. ¶

Do we appreciate this wonderful gift and the necessity of retaining it — the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit to be our tutor, our teacher, our educator? To what heights may we not ascend or into what depths may we not delve in our pursuit of knowledge under such guidance? "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed unto us by his Spirit ; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save by the ^spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (1 Cor. 2:9-11). ¶

Education obtained under such divine instruction would surely be a remedy for the evils of the day. The gospel of Jesus Chirst is a gospel of repentance from sin and is therefore a panacea for every evil. Its teachings would do away with selfishness and greed, with violence and lawlessness, with strikes and their cause, with immorality and debauchery, with robbery and murder, and the whole category of crime. ¶

Education means development and growth. We are the children of God, and have inherited from him all of his divine attributes. The difference between him and us is this : he is educated, we are not, but having his attributes we are susceptible to receiving an education which means the development in us of his divine attributes. The injunction: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect," ¶

is reasonable and within the limit of possibility, which would not be the case if we had not inherited all his attributes. . These attributes though perfect in him are very imperfect in us, and are capable of being perverted or distorted and counterfeited and thus changed from virtue into vice. The development of the divine attributes and the rejection of the distorted and counterfeited ones is only another phase of repentance. ¶

For example : Economy is a godlike attribute and in the economy of God there is no waste. What an abundant supply of water there is in the creation of this earth ; three-fourths of its entire surface is covered with this element. It comes trickling down the mountain sides, springing forth from the canyons into the mountain streams, and thence into the rivers. It is often diverted onto arid lands, and causes them to bring forth rich harvests ; and sometimes harnessed, lighting our cities with electric rays, setting in motion the machinery of the world, and again finding its way into the river beds and on out into the great ocean where it is caught up into the clouds through evaporation and wafted by the winds back into the mountains to begin anew its useful course. And yet, not a single drop is wasted. In the economy of God there is no waste. Yet how liberally and abundantly it is used. Contrast this divine attribute with the devil's counterfeit — stinginess. Some people think they are economical when in reality they are merely stingy. How I despise a stingy man. Generosity is a noble attribute. The Lord loves a liberal giver. Its counterfeit is wastefulness and prodigality. Acquisitiveness is the power of accumulating and acquiring wealth. See what the Lord hath acquired, the earth is his and the fulness thereof, and the devil has his counterfeit of this noble attribute, we call it avarice ; it is one of the great causes of human suffering, it is the love of money, the root of all evil, thus we might continue the long list and show how praise becomes flattery, wisdom pedantry, pride, vanity; admiration is changed to envy and self esteem, a proper regard for one's self, becomes egotism. How despicable ! The big I and the little you. Always talking about oneself, and only interested in others when they are talking about him. The greatest of all attributes is love, the biggest thing in the world, the all including attribute ; the love of God and our fellow man is the fulfilment of the law and the prophets. This is truly alone the complete remedy for all the evils of our day. And then, think of the devil's counterfeit, lust, licentiousness. The holier the divine attribute the more contemptible Its counterfeit. ¶

Everything that is good and useful someone tries to imitate or counterfeit. Our government issues currency in various denominations, and they pass for legal tender, but some devil counterfeits them and palms them off upon the public. Gold and silver coins are issued from the mints, and are worth their face value, but the devil or some of his imps will take a baser metal and gild it over with gold and pass it off as genuine. ¶

Pure religion and undefiled, before God the Father, embraces within it everything that is good and holy; but hypocrisy, the devil's counterfeit, embraces within it all that is vile and evil, including these distortions and counterfeits. Don't despise the pure gold of religion simply because the devil has made a counterfeit of it in hypocrisy. ¶

Thus the Lord is endeavoring to educate us in his great school, for his Spirit is striving with all men, and through the inspiration of the Almighty a great flood of light and understanding is coming into the world, but if you are ambitious and desire a full rounded-out education and particularly in the deep things of God, remember this can only be secured by obedience to his gospel through which we secure and may retain the constant companionship of his Holy Spirit, the gift of the Holy Ghost, a life scholarship in the great School of God. Amen. ¶