Heber J Grant Once Said At Brigham...

Heber J. Grant once said at Brigham Young University: ¶

"This Church is founded upon the statement 'the glory of God is intelligence.' In addition to that, in this school we are seeking to implant in the hearts of the young men and women an absolute testimony of Jesus Christ and of the restitution again to the earth of the plan of salvation." ¶

Men cannot be saved in ignorance. ¶

What a glorious understanding of life these eternal truths give to us. The leaders of the Church from the beginning have pursued a consistent course in endeavoring to give life to these truths. We can be justly proud of our accomplishments in seeking to educate our youth in the eternal principles of the gospel. ¶

As early as 1832 in Kirtland the Lord directed his people to establish the school of the prophets. The Lord said in part: ¶

. . . the school of the prophets, established for their instruction in all things that are expedient for them, even for all the officers of the church, or in other words those who are called to the ministry in the church, beginning at the high priests, even down to the deacons— (D & C 88:127.) From the day of the establishment of the school of the prophets and later the school of the elders until now, we have never stood still. ¶

The organization of the Relief Society is nearly as old as the Church. What wisdom and foresight inspired our leaders to educate and train our women for the responsibilities of motherhood, to develop their minds and qualify themselves to teach their children and inspire them to gain wisdom and understanding in their generation! So today we view with the just pride of accomplishment the work of all our auxiliary organizations. ¶

Sisters who are actively engaged in Relief Society work and who have been blessed by it, are the ones who take the little children to Primary when they are six years of age. They encourage them to follow through and to graduate from Primary. The boys are there prepared and qualified to enter into the Aaronic Priesthood and receive the blessings and powers incident thereto, the young girls, with the young boys, to pursue their week-time Church activities in the Mutual Improvement Associations. ¶

These same Relief Society sisters are the mothers who uniformly throughout the Church take their families to Sunday School where parents and children, the entire family, join in studying the principles of the gospel and worship God on the Sabbath day. ¶

How grateful we all are for our parents whose kindly insistence and persuasion gave us the benefits of all these great organizations. Thus we had instilled in our hearts the love of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

All our activities in the Church tend to develop our minds and increase our understandings. In all our work we are called upon to participate. We speak, we sing, we pray — each in his own individual right entitled to take part in every appropriate activity. ¶

We understand that man cannot be saved in ignorance. ¶

We cannot overlook the great work which is accomplished in our priesthood quorums, where every man is taught to be his brother's keeper, where the necessity exists for us to know the gospel, to be capable of fulfilling our responsibilities in the priesthood, finally to go into the mission field prepared to deliver the message of truth and light to the world. This is our crowning achievement. ¶

Our Sacrament meetings are sacred gatherings where we partake of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper and meet thus to renew our covenants and to worship God. Here we are likewise inspired to learn. It is in these gatherings, with their rich outpouring of the spirit of the Lord, that we learn some of the greatest truths of the gospel from the lips of our inspired ward and stake leaders. In our quarterly conferences, which are intended for all, the instructions of the General Authorities of the Church are received. ¶

Now the experience of one hundred and thirty years has taught us that over and above and beyond all these opportunities for learning, unexcelled as they are, there is a need for a more intensive, detailed study of the Church. Born of these needs of the past is our present Unified Church School System. I can speak with feeling and a deep sense of appreciation for what the Church schools did for me. ¶

I wish every Latter-day Saint boy and girl the same glorious experience. The spirit of our Church schools is contagious. It is wonderful to be a part of a student body where all teachers and students alike are dedicated to their work with like ideals, ambitions, and understanding of life, determined to fulfil life's destinies to the fullest extent, where confidence in one another reigns, a brotherhood of man recognizing the Fatherhood of God, an atmosphere of righteousness and virtue where trust and confidence abide. ¶

"If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves." (Joseph F. Smith.) For the most part, it can be said that those who attend our Church institutions of learning have been inspired to do so as a result of the training and inspiration they received in the Primary and Sunday School and Mutuals, encouraged by mothers trained in the Relief Society and fathers active in the priesthood. It is the co-operation of parents and students that accomplishes our full purpose. ¶

Our children are entitled as a matter of right to our encouragement, patience, perseverance. Likely no people have received such a challenge as is ours. ¶

The Lord has said: ¶

And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old the sin be upon the heads of the parents. ¶

For this shall be a law unto the inhabitants of Zion or in any of her stakes which are organized. ¶

And they shall also teach their children to pray and to walk uprightly before the Lord. (D & C 68:25-26, 28.) The Unified Church School System can play a great part in helping us fulfil our duty to our children. It is in our weekday schoolwork, whether it be seminary, institute, college, or university, that we can in large measure make up for the deficiency in all other activities, a wonderful systematic presentation of religion, our own and other religions as well. We believe it important to know the history of religion generally, the origin, purpose, and practice of the religions of the world with which we are surrounded and with which we come in contact throughout life. We believe the greater, the more general our knowledge is, the freer we become and the more intelligent the use we make of our free agency. ¶

We are called upon daily to judge, to decide, to determine for ourselves the innumerable problems that arise in our lives and the lives of our families and friends. ¶

If we are familiar with the basic principles of the gospel, our decisions are far more likely to be based on truth rather than error. ¶

See Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith: ¶

The cause of God is one common cause, in which the Saints are alike all interested; we are all members of the one common body, and all partake of the same spirit, and are baptized into one baptism and possess alike the same glorious hope. The advancement of the cause of God and the building up of Zion is as much one man's business as another's. The only difference is that one is called to fulfil one duty, and another another duty; "but if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it, and if one member is honored, all the rest rejoice with it, and the eye cannot say to the ear, I have no need of thee, nor the head to the foot I have no need of thee;" party feelings, separate interests, exclusive designs should be lost sight of in the one common cause, in the interest of the whole. ¶

(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 231.) The Prophet further said: ¶

This is a work destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness, the renovation of the earth, the glory of God and the salvation of the human family. ¶

John Taylor once said: ¶

We want ... to be alive in the cause of education. . . . And instead of doing as many of the world do, take the works of God to try to prove that there is no God, we want to prove by God's works that he does exist, that he lives and rules and holds us, as it were, in the hollow of his hand. ¶

And then we want to study also the principles of education, 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. . . . 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. . . . ¶

You will see the day that Zion will be far ahead of the outside world in everything pertaining to learning of every kind as we are today in regard to religious matters. ¶

You mark my words, and write them down, and see if they do not come to pass. We are not dependent upon them, but we are upon the Lord. We did not get our priesthood nor our information in regard to his law from them. It came from God. . . . ¶

(The Gospel Kingdom, pages 274-5.) Heber J. Grant stated: ¶

There is one thing, and only one thing that church schools should do, and that is to make Latter-day Saints. ¶

We are prepared to take care of the religious training of every Latter-day Saint boy and girl who lives within the areas where seminaries, institutes, colleges, and universities of the Church have been instituted. There are few if any places within the organized stakes of Zion that need be without appropriate religious training for their families if they so desire. We are constantly expanding our seminaries and institutes. ¶

We are confident as General Authorities of the Church that we have pretty well done our part within the limits of our current income. ¶

We realize the economic waste when all do not participate. Serious as this is, it cannot be compared with our spiritual loss. Measured by any conceivable standard, graduates of our seminaries and institutes are better qualified to meet all of life's problems than those who have absented themselves from these opportunities. Some of these problems to which I specially refer are: ¶

1 — Schoolwork 2 — Professional study 3 — Compulsory military service 4 — Competitive employment 5 — Missionary labors— stake and foreign 6 — Marriage 7 — Parenthood 8— Politics 9— Church Better take an extra year of high school than miss such an essential basic preparation for our life's work. ¶

Every returned missionary realizes the importance of a Church school education. Those who go on missions first invariably come home with a desire to learn more, both in their academic studies and of the gospel. Last year we had over 1300 returned missionaries at Brigham Young University and large numbers registered in our institutes at other great seats of learning. ¶

Each of the student body presidents at Brigham Young University for the past six years has been a returned missionary. ¶

Our seminary attendance has increased 26.6 percent in four years. ¶

Another important detail. Our division of religion in our educational system has been organized to train and direct stake missionaries. In one school, out of a student body of 400 nonmembers, 60 were converted and baptized in a year. ¶

There may be some problems, some obstacles, some inconveniences in endeavoring to register for and attend seminary and institute classes regularly. ¶

It is the things in life for which we are compelled to struggle that generally are worth the most to us in the long run. ¶

The fruits of our educational system can be observed in the lives and accomplishments of our graduates from seminaries, institutes, and schools. A recent survey showed 87 percent of a group of graduates married in the temple and another 6 or 7 percent later sealed to each other for time and for all eternity. ¶

Brigham Young in the Deed of Trust to the BYU in 1875 wrote: ¶

That the pupils shall be instructed in such branches as are usually taught in an academy of learning, also in the Old and New Testaments, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants. ¶

Brigham Young said to Karl G. ¶

Maeser: ¶

I want you to remember that you ought not to teach even the alphabet or the multiplication tables without the spirit of God. ¶

That is all. God bless you. ¶

Academic rank among our teachers in the Church school system depends upon 1 — Personal qualities, including attitude toward and adherence to the principles and teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ¶

2 — Worth as a teacher. ¶

3 — Academic scholarship and competence, degrees and distinction. ¶

4 — Achievement and competence in scientific research, philosophic investigation, artistic production, or other professional endeavors. ¶

5 — Public service to Church and community. ¶

To assist in building up our Unified Church School System we have organized district, stake, and ward education committees: ¶

1 — To contact during the summer all students of high school and college age and persuade them to enroll in seminaries and institutes. ¶

2 — To act as a transportation committee to create ward transportation pools to transport students from home to seminary classes; to encourage all students away from home to enter into active participation in the Church; to give bishop or branch president names of all students moving into his area. ¶

Stake, and in some places district, boards are organized to meet regularly with seminary and institute personnel. ¶

Acquaint stake and ward officers with details of the Church educational system, inviting them to be active in the support and direction of its program. ¶

We as Latter-day Saints should learn to stand alone. We should insure our children doing likewise in their generation. We have all been instructed of the Lord to act for ourselves in whatever sphere God places us. We have been instructed of the Lord to be a free people. ¶

Wherefore, hear my voice and follow me, and you shall be a free people, and ye shall have no laws but my laws when I come, for I am your lawgiver, and what can stay my hand? (D & C 38:22; 78:14.) The Lord has said: ¶

That through my providence, notwithstanding the tribulation which shall descend upon you, that the church may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the celestial world. (Ibid., 78:14.) With the knowledge of our destiny and our purpose on earth, we readily understand the great emphasis placed by the Church on the education of our youth. ¶

It should need no argument for those of us who are grounded in the faith to accept without hesitancy the great educational program prescribed, prepared, and made available for our people by our great leaders. The First Presidency stand at the head of our Unified Church School System. How could they encourage us more than they do to accept and utilize that which they prepare for us? ¶

Again the Lord has said: ¶

And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation. ¶

Behold, this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants. (Ibid., 68:4-5.) Great strength is given us by the knowledge we have of the inspiration which directs our leaders. ¶

A weekday religious training is the ideal established for us all. These daily classes do much toward inspiring our youth to follow onward and upward to obtain an education far beyond that which they might otherwise be expected to attain. ¶

No other time, no other effort in our school careers will bless us more than our Church schoolwork. Faith, devotion, stability, ambition will be engendered in our hearts by the study of the gospel under men who hold the priesthood, inspired of our Heavenly Father, dedicated to the development of intellects and the establishment of virtue in the hearts and lives of their students. ¶

I attended a wonderful seminary meeting in Canada last Saturday, just at this time, and the co-ordinator there gave this instruction to those seminary teachers: "Go out and tell the students and the parents that if they have to take an extra year of high school in order to get in seminary that it will be worth more than all else to them." ¶

May God bless us to appreciate the privileges and the opportunities afforded us in this great institutional system, I pray humbly in Jesus' name. Amen. ¶