President N Eldon Tanner The Choir And...

President N. Eldon Tanner The Choir and congregation will now join in singing: "How Firm A Foundation," following which we shall have a brief organ interlude. ¶

A selection was rendered by the women members of the Choir, "Bring Your Tired and Your Poor." ¶

President N. Eldon Tanner For the benefit of the television and radio audience who have just tuned in, we announce that we are gathered in the historic Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the sixth session of the 137th Semi-Annual Conference of the Church. ¶

We shall now hear from Elder Paul H. Dunn of the First Council of Seventy, and he will be followed by Elder Boyd K. Packer, Assistant to the Twelve, and president of the New England Mission. ¶

Elder Pai Of the First Coui President McKay, my beloved brothers and sisters, both seen and unseen: I too am very grateful this morning for the many blessings that are mine. I have thrilled with this delightful conference and the divine messages that have been delivered. ¶

Now I too seek an interest in your prayers and your faith, that I might relate some of the things that are in my heart at this hour. ¶

Stopped by a speck This summer I made a trip through Arizona and California. While driving with my family across the desert and enjoying every minute of the trip, even though it was quite warm, I suddenly became conscious of the fact that my car had lost all of its power. ¶

For a few moments it coasted, and then at a very slight rise in the road it stopped dead still. I looked at the gas gauge and discovered that I had plenty of fuel; the radiator temperature was normal; the oil level was all right; and the fan belt was still in place. So I knew that the trouble was not in an over-heated engine. And knowing my mechanical aptitude, I knew I was in for a short hike. A friendly traveler took me to a phone a couple of miles up the grade; I called a mechanic and then had to walk back two miles to the car. The mechanic arrived and almost immediately sensed the diffiH. Dunn :il of the Seventy culty; he stuck the end of a very tiny pin through a hole in one of the parts in the engine, and the car was ready to go again. A tiny speck of dirt, so small that it could hardly be seen by the naked eye, yet sufficient to stop the progress of five people for two hours, cause one of us to walk two miles, and change the plans of the entire party for that night and for the rest of the trip. ¶

Stopped by a false idea I've been thinking, since that experience, that it's not only cars and carefree travelers, but also the work of whole institutions and the plans of communities and nations that are sometimes held up by tiny specks of dirt — for our purposes, false philosophies or untruths that thoughtless and sometimes scheming people place in our way. For some reason or another there are those who seem to feel that the highest mission they have is to undermine and weaken the faith and belief of our youth in the reality of God, of Christ, and of his mission. ¶

These are they whom I would call modern anti-Christs. They are found in many walks of life. Some are religionists; some are teachers; others are influential community leaders. Their cry is like the cry of old. ¶

Many years ago on this continent one of the great prophets of the Book of Mormon, Alma, called our attention to such an anti-Christ in the form of a teacher, a philosopher, a lecturer, a man by the name of Korihor. Let me just give a brief quote from that great Book of Mormon section, which sounds almost modern: "O ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can know of anything which is to come. ¶

"Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers. ¶

"How do ye know of their surety? ¶

Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ." ¶

(Al. 30:13-15.) No age in history has been exempt from such teaching or thinking. ¶

Faith frustrated by fear and fraud Gilbert Murray, in his famous description of the mood of the Roman world in the first century of our era, used the phrase, "the failure of nerve." ¶

This failure of nerve exhibited among other things "a rise of asceticism, of mysticism, in a sense, of pessimism; a loss of self-confidence, of hope in this life and faith in normal human effort; and a despair of patient inquiry. . . ." ¶

(Five Stages of Greek Religion, p. 1 19.) A cursory survey of the cultural trends of our times reveals many signs of a modern failure of nerve in western civilization and of the anti-Christs among us. Our day is also characterized in many quarters by pessimism, a loss of self-confidence and hope in this life, a disregard for traditional values, and a large-scale skepticism of a belief in God and in his Son Jesus Christ and his divine mission. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that men today are losing faith in themselves because they have lost faith in God. ¶

Having lost faith in both God and themselves, many of our contemporaries have no place to turn. Much of the literature of today describes this situation. Such titles as The Decline of Western Culture, The Predicament of Third Dag Man, The Annihilation of Man, "The Twisted Age," "The Troubled Campus," and, if you or any sincere thinking person can imagine, a most recent edition, A Cat Called Jesus, suggest something of the posture of presentday western man. ¶

Perhaps the most familiar example of the temperament of our times comes from our university and college campuses. Nearly every newspaper or magazine one reads today has an article or report about the ferment within a sizable segment of our college students. The general reaction is to blame the colleges; and while the philosophies that are causing this ferment are often found at their greatest height in the university environment, and while some of the great teachers must take part of the blame, the one thing we sometimes fail to realize is that if the proper direction were being given by the homes, communities, and, in general, the society that produces these young people, students would not be as susceptible to these false teachings. ¶

As Milton Barron has accurately stated, the problem isn't one of juvenile delinquency, but of the juvenile in a delinquent society. ¶

Youth rebellion Children who have grown up in a society of broken marriages and homes, of slums, of false and misleading advertising, of war, and of a general disregard for spiritual values are now rebelling as young adults. The sad and most distinguishing features of their resistance are their disillusionment with their own rebellion and the absence of any redeeming ideals. ¶

Theirs is a rebellion, not without a cause, but without a purpose. ¶

It is not an unusual thing for young people to rebel. Every new generation has its rebels. But a rebellion of sad young people with little confidence in their own rebellion is something quite unique. One needs only to have a brief exposure to a university environment to witness the demonstrations of rejection against proven values. Beards, long hair, grubby clothes, sit-ins, and ¶

the lack of restraint in matters of alcohol, chastity, and drugs are merely the symptoms of the problem that is, at its deepest level, a spiritual problem. ¶

It seems to me that the pessimism and frustration of our time, particularly among our students, are not due to any lack of commitment, but rather to the absence of a faith in anything worthy of one's commitment. And this in turn is due to the lack of faith in God, which alone gives any ultimate meaning, value, or lasting purpose to man's existence or actions. ¶

It is when this lack of purpose is found that the anti-Christ makes his appeal. Here is a typical statement: ¶

"I'm less and less inclined to believe that religion is a necessary thing." This is a quote from a minister of one of our prominent faiths, made to a large college audience in which I was recently in attendance. Within the last few months this statement came from a college professor and appeared in a widely circulated campus newspaper: ¶

"Nobody believes in God. God is dead. The God of the long beard and the arm six cubits long has been dead for a long time. He's stinking up the whole western world in refusing to get buried." ¶

Compounded by confusion Is it any wonder that many young people are confused? Thirteen years' experience in working directly on university and college campuses has proven to me that these statements are not isolated but are quite common in the experience of college youth. However, students for the most part don't learn their atheism and doctrines of uncertainty from the philosophies they study in school. These philosophies only make articulate a latent and unexpressed way of life that they have learned all too well in the home and from the society that nurtured them. ¶

One professor, in describing the condition of some of his students, said, "Lacking an embracing cause and a fervent ideology, the students' search for a durable purpose is likely to become aggressive, extremist, at times despairing. It can easily turn into preoccupation with subjective feelings and plain egoism. Paradoxical as it sounds, the real problem of our college youth is to discover some authority, both private and public that will make possible authentic individuality." (J. ¶

Glenn Gray, Harpers, May 1965, p. 54.) The professor further states, "But before we succeed in building the great society, we shall need to resolve the doubt and bafflement about its validity and worth in the minds of those now in college who should serve as its leaders. Many of the harrassed young men and women I teach, at any rate, have not decided what sense, if any, their existence has." (Ibid., p. 59.) Confused youth needs identity with divine power What alienated youth of today need most is a self-definition, a feeling of identity, and a sense of belonging — indeed, a sense of belonging to a universe which, at its core, is not hostile or indifferent to man's highest values, hopes, and longings. What youth need today is a faith and a confidence that the things that matter most are not at the mercy of the things that matter least; that man is not simply an "accidental arrangement of atoms," ¶

but a child of the living God who gives meaning and purpose to existence, not only in ultimate terms but also in terms of the problems of the here and now. ¶

The principles of the restored gospel are the surest, safest guide to mortal man. Christ is the light to humanity. ¶

In that light man sees his way clearly; when it is rejected, the soul of man stumbles in darkness. No person, no group, no nation can achieve true success without following him who said, ". . . I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12.) Human life is full of purpose and meaning As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we bear witness to the troubled youth of today that God is real and that he lives, that he has concern for you and for me and for the world, that the world is a moral order, and that man's life is purposeful and meaningful. ¶

We reject the inherent pessimism of humanism and fundamentalism alike; we reject the negativism of existentialism as the logical extension of a thorough-going atheism. We proclaim that "man is that he might have joy"; we therefore look upon the despair and melancholia of our day as abnormal and unnatural. ¶

We believe that the only real cure for this spiritual sickness, which I have described as a "failure of nerve," is to be found in a faith that looks upon God and man as real partners in the task of creating a better world. And we believe that man's contributions to that partnership make a real difference to the final outcome. ¶

Alliance with Jesus Christ We believe that the peace and happiness of mankind lie in the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Redeemer and Savior, and that there is "none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we [may] be saved." (Acts 4:12.) We believe that to declare this faith is our greatest responsibility, and for the moment it is man's greatest need. ¶

And we bear added testimony, my brothers and sisters, wherever you are, that in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God our Father, in whom our faith resides, was revealed to the world. We believe that it is only with this kind of meaning that man can give himself wholeheartedly and courageously to the solution of our current problems. "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!" (D&C 76:22.) And I know this from the inner whisperings of the Spirit from on high, and I bear this testimony humbly and gratefully in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶