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Dr. Maeser's ability to teach covered the entire field of learning, including that of teaching others to teach. Far more important than anything else, he was a teacher of goodness and a builder of character. He believed that scholastic attainments were better than riches, but that better than either were faith, love, charity, clean living, clean thinking, loyalty, tolerance and all the other attributes that combine to constitute that most precious of all possessions--good character.
Good character does not consist in the mere ability to store away in the memory a collection of moral aphorisms that run loosely off the tongue. Seneca gave the world a book of beautiful, fully written moral maxims, but he stood in the Roman senate and shamelessly justified Nero's murder of his own mother.
Character to be good must be stable, must have taken root. It is an acquisition of thought and conduct which have become habitual, an acquisition of real substance so firmly fixed in the conscience and, indeed, in the body itself as to insure unhesitating rejection of an impulse to do wrong. (p. 8)
This institution [BYU], unhampered by politics, without fear of criticism from others, can teach in every class the existence of God, the divinity of Jesus Christ, the divinity of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness, and waken a desire to spend their lives in the service of their fellow men . . . God bless you teachers of this faculty, you students, that you may lift this school . . . to that height wherein it may be an example to all higher institutions in the world. (p. 7)
The most potent influence in training our youth to cherish life, to keep their word of honor, to have increased respect for human kind and love of justice, is the life and personality of the teacher. (p. 431)
The aim of education is to develop resources in the child that will contribute to his well-being as long as life endures; to develop power of self-mastery that he may never be a slave to indulgence or other weaknesses, to develop virile manhood, beautiful womanhood that in every child and every youth may be found at least the promise of a friend, a companion, one who later may be fit for husband or wife, an exemplary father or a loving intelligent mother, one who can face life with courage, meet disaster with fortitude, and face death without fear. (p. 436)
Gaining knowledge is one thing and applying it, quite another. Wisdom is the right application of knowledge; and true education -- the education for which the Church stands -- is the application of knowledge to the development of a noble and Godlike character. (p. 440)
Character is the aim of true education; and science, history, and literature are but means used to accomplish the desired end. Character is not the result of chance work but of continuous right thinking and right acting. . . . True education seeks, then, to make men and women not only good mathematicians, proficient linguists, profound scientists, or brilliant literary lights, but also honest men, combined with virtue, temperance, and brotherly love -- men and women who prize truth, justice, wisdom, benevolence, and self-control as the choicest acquisitions of a successful life. . . . It is regrettable, not to say deplorable, that modern education so little emphasizes these fundamental elements of true character. The principal aim of many of our schools and colleges seems to be to give the students purely intellectual attainments and to give but passing regard to the nobler and more necessary development along moral lines. (pp. 440-441)
True education does not consist merely in the acquiring of a few facts of science, history, literature, or art, but in the development of character. True education awakens a desire to conserve health by keeping the body clean and undefiled. True education trains in self-denial and self-mastery. True education regulates the temper, subdues passion, and makes obedience to social laws and moral order a guiding principle of life. It develops reason and inculcates faith in the living God as the eternal, loving Father of all. (p. 442)
I need not take time today to show how moral and spiritual truths may be taught in literature, science, art; indeed, in every subject in the curriculum.
If teachers are truly sincere in their desire to make character a true aim of education, to awaken faith in God and a desire to maintain the standards of the Church, they will manifest that faith and sincerity in daily action. They will be what they expect their students to become. Otherwise, their teaching becomes hollow and meaningless, their words as but sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. (pp. 4, 9)
Because of its combination of revealed and secular learning, Brigham Young University is destined to become, if not the largest, at least the most proficient institution of learning in the world, producing scholars with testimonies of the truth who will become leaders in science, industry, art, education, letters, and government.
Another element, and more important, contributing to spiritual growth, is the mental attitude of the students themselves. It is fundamental for a student to realize that his success in the Seminary depends upon himself . . . But, whatever the outward influence be that led him to the Seminary, it must ever remain an exterior factor to the moral and the spiritual growth of the student himself. The source of the spring of spirituality lies in the mind, the spirit itself.
The very first step, therefore, toward the growth of spirituality in a student is the realization that the ultimate purpose of life is the perfecting of the individual; that the purpose of our Father in heaven is to make men and women like himself, and that even the Lord could not do this without making men free. (pp. 277-288)
I think that the noblest aim is character, notwithstanding what some leading professors say about the special work of a university. What other conceivable purpose is there in making discoveries in science, in delving into marvelous powers hitherto hidden by nature, except for the development of the human soul? What good are they if they are separated from the individual and from the groups? What possible good would salten seas, molten lava, the mountains, the prairies be without humanity? What good are all inventions and discoveries without their application to human beings? So the paramount purpose of all education, particularly in a republican form of government such as we have here in the United States, is to make good citizens and to enrich the human soul. (p. 349)
But gaining knowledge is one thing, and applying it is another. Wisdom is the right application of knowledge to the development of a noble and Godlike character. A man may possess a profound knowledge of history and of mathematics; he may be an authority in physiology, biology, or astronomy. He may know all about whatever has been discovered pertaining to general and natural science, but if he has not, with this knowledge, that nobility of soul which prompts him to deal justly with his fellow men, to practice virtue and honesty in personal life, he is not a truly educated man. (p. 471)
A man may have a wonderful education and not be on the road to salvation. It matters not if a man is acquainted with the principles of science, history, literature, and all the branches of education as they are taught in the schools of our land; these truths, of themselves, will not save him in the kingdom of God. (D&C 88:77-78) He must have in his heart the spirit of faith in the mission of Jesus Christ by which the remission of sins may be obtained, which is baptism by immersion by one having authority, in fact, he must understand all of the first principles of the gospel and obey them. These truths are fundamental to salvation. If a man has not complied with these principles and received the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and obtained entrance into the kingdom of God, he is not on the road to salvation, not matter what else his knowledge may be. (D&C 33:11-16) The great learning he obtains in the world will not save him. [Cited in Roy W. Doxey (ed.) Latter-day Prophets and the Doctrine and Covenants, Vol. IV. (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1965), pp. 77-78]
There was a council held in heaven, when the Lord called before him his spirit children and presented to them a plan by which they should come down on this earth; partake of mortal life and physical bodies; pass through a probation of mortality, and then go on to a higher exaltation through the resurrection which should be brought about through the atonement of his Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ. The thought of passing through mortality and partaking of all the vicissitudes of earth life in which they would gain experiences through suffering, pain, sorrow, temptation and affliction, as well as the pleasures of life in this mundane existence, and then, if faithful, passing on through the resurrection to eternal life in the kingdom of God, to be like him, filled them with the spirit of rejoicing, and they "shouted for joy." The experience and knowledge obtained in this mortal life they could not get in any other way. (p. 58)
The inspiration of the Lord has gone out and taken hold of the minds of men, though they know it not, and they are directed by the Lord. In this manner he brings them into his service that his purposes and his righteousness, in due time, may be supreme on the earth.
Now let me say briefly that I do not believe for one moment that these discoveries have come by chance, or that they have come because of superior intelligence possessed by men today over those who lived in ages that are past. They have come and are coming because the time is ripe, because the Lord has willed it and because he has poured out his Spirit on all flesh. (p. 183)
I will give you a key for your guidance. Any doctrine, whether is comes in the name of religion, science, philosophy, or whatever it may be, that is in conflict with the revelations of the Lord that have been accepted by the Church as coming from the Lord, will fail.
And whenever you find any doctrine, any idea, any expression from any source whatsoever, that is in conflict with that which the Lord has revealed and which is found in the holy scriptures, you may be assured that it is false; and you should put it aside and stand firmly grounded in the truth in prayer and in faith, relying upon the Spirit of the Lord for knowledge, for wisdom, concerning these principles of truth. (p. 321)
There is no knowledge, no learning that can compensate the individual for the loss of his belief in heaven and in the saving principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. An education that leads a man from these central truths cannot compensate him for the great loss of spiritual things. (p. 321-322)
Let that great temple of learning--the Brigham Young University, and all that is associated with it--be prospered to the full. Let thy enlightening power rest upon those who teach and those who are taught, that they may "seek learning, even by study and also by faith." . . .
May those who teach and study in all academic fields have their souls enlightened with spiritual knowledge so they will turn to thy house for blessings and knowledge and learning that surpass all that may be found elsewhere.
We are sending you out as artists, scientists, teachers and philosophers. Will you never forget the theme of the lesson we are talking about, that you are but branches of a divine tree and that you of yourself, you can do nothing? All truths whether called science or religion, or philosophy, come from a divine source.
You, then, I plead with you, do not in your search for truth, allow yourselves to become severed from the "vine." In all your learning, measure it and test it by the white light of truth revealed to the prophet of God and you will never be led astray. ("Life Under Control." BYU Commencement Address. Provo, Utah, June 4, 1951, p. 19).
The first purpose of our Church schools is to teach truth, secular truth, so effectively that students will be free from error, free from sin . . . free from vain philosophies and from untried theories of science.
The second objective and purpose is to educate youth, not only for time, but for all eternity.
Their third objective is to so teach the gospel that students will not be misled by purveyors of false doctrines, vain speculations or faulty interpretations.
The fourth objective, to prepare students to live a well-rounded life.
And the final objective of Church schools: to set the stage for students to acquire a testimony of the reality of God and the divinity of his work . . . and to help youth to gain a testimony that God lives and that his work is divine. (Cited in Edwin J. Butterworth, "The Unified Church School System." Era 59, November 1956, p. 197)
May I begin by reminding you of the Lord's own charge to this Church and the world. These are his words:
And even so I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world, to be a light unto the world, and to be a standard for my people, and for the Gentiles to seek to it, and to be a messenger before my face to prepare the way before me. (D&C 45:9.)When the meaning of this revelation is understood, it should be a reminder that every institution which is a part of the kingdom of God must keep in mind the purpose of the restored gospel--to be that light unto the world and a standard for this people and all men to seek.
Brigham Young University, led by its President, must never forget its role in bringing to reality the ancient prophecy--to build the mountain of the Lord's house in the tops of the mountains, so great and so glorious that all nations may come to this place and be constrained to say "show us your way that we may walk therein." (See Isaiah 2:3.) (p. 12)
This, our day, was prophesied of as a day when "there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and . . . many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." (2 Peter 2:1-2.) So the Church of Jesus Christ declares with a boldness that is always characteristic of truth. "We believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." (Article of Faith 9.) And again, ". . . We believe all things, we hope all things. . . . If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." (Article of Faith 13.) Indeed, the Church of Jesus Christ does not ask us to give up any truth that we may learn from science or philosophy, law or medicine. Rather, the Church has commanded -- [quotes D&C 88:78-79]
If we will carefully analyze that commandment of the Lord, we will find broadly enumerated many of the studies outlined in scholastic courses: astronomy, the physical sciences, mineralogy, history, current events, political science, law, medicine, world history, and so on through the entire school curriculum. What the Church does ask of us in all our worldly studies are these two things:
First, that we measure every teaching to be found in the world of book learning by the teachings of revealed truth, as contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we find in school texts claims that contradict the word of the Lord as pertaining to the creation of the world, the origin of man, or the determination of what is right or wrong in the conduct of human souls, we may be certain that such teachings are but the theories of men; and as men improve their learning and experimentation, the nearer will their theories coincide with the truths that God has given to His church. And second, that there are, beyond the things we can discern by the physical senses of "the natural man," things of a spiritual nature: [Quotes 1 Corinthians 2:11-14]
Within the limits of the natural man, methods of experimentation are pretty well established. With mortar and pestle, test tubes and Bunsen burners, with acids and materials to be analyzed, we can proceed to our discovery of the component parts of water or to learn the various properties of phosphorus, for example. A student of science soon comes to realize the limitations of his scientific research. When one climbs Pikes Peak he discovers that even from his vantage point the surrounding country is but a territory with receding horizons and yet other mountains to climb. So the naturalist stands in reverent awe as he contemplates how the delicate coloring, the fragrant odors and delicious tastes of nature's products are made by processes far beyond his grasp. The great surgeon, by dissection and with scalpel and microscope, has learned much about the human body and how it works, but he knows full well that beyond his reach is the soul or intelligence in man that defies analysis with the tools at his command. Every astronomer knows likewise that all he has been able to discern with the powerful telescope now provided for his use but leads him to realize that there are worlds without number beyond his present scientific sight.
It was the great scientist, Sir Isaac Newton, in recognition of man's limitation, who declared:
I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
My association with men of great learning in science and philosophy or in religion leads me to conclude that one's faith in spiritual matters is disturbed by his scientific or philosophical studies only because his knowledge in either or both science and religion is deficient.
In things of the spiritual world that can only be spiritually discerned, the methods of finding truth are no less clearly defined than in the physical laboratory. It was the Master who, in reply to the question as to how His hearers were to know whether His teachings were of God or whether He spoke of himself, suggested a simple method for perceiving spiritual truth: "If any man will do [God's] will, he shall know. . . ." (John 7:17) In numerous revelations His will and the steps that must be taken by him who would learn spiritual truths are made clear:
. . . if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. (Moroni 10:4-5)
There must be, first, desire, then study, then prayer, and finally practice. "Prove me now herewith and see," the Lord constantly enjoins him who would know divine truth. We make a grave mistake that leads only to confusion when we presume to discover spiritual truths by the methods of the physical laboratory.
I was greatly impressed when I heard one of the greatest scientists and scholars of our day, Dr. Robert A. Millikan, at a convention of scientists at Fresno, California, in 1937, counsel his listeners to be as scientific in proving religious teachings as they were in their studies in science. He declared that nothing spiritual should be discarded until it had been submitted to the most careful experimentation and testing to prove or disprove the whole matter.
It has been said by some who speak loosely that "he who never doubted, never thought." Youth must understand that faith, not doubt, is the beginning of all learning, whether in science or religion. It is faith in the wisdom of ages past that leads one to further study, experimentation, and new discovery. It is faith that leads us to seek for spiritual knowledge and power by studying out in our own mind the matter in question, by applying all possible human wisdom to the solution of the problem, and then asking God if the conclusion is right. If it is right, our bosom shall burn within us and we shall "feel" that it is right, but if our conclusion is not right, we shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause us to forget the thing that is wrong. (See D&C 9:8-9.)
The expert in the scientific field is one who by his experimentation has come to know that an announced theory is true. An "expert," so-called, in the spiritual world is in the making when he, by humility and faith, knows that God hears and answers prayer. Such a one has "arrived" when he has an unshakable testimony that God is our Father and that through His Son, Jesus Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. The Lord has given the inspired truth that "it is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance." (D&C 131:6) Does this mean that one must be a college graduate or a man of letters to be saved? Not at all. Man cannot be saved in ignorance of those saving principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ even if he were to have all the book learning in the world. We have been plainly taught by the leaders of this dispensation that "the principle of knowledge is the principle of salvation . . . [and that] the principle of salvation is given us through the knowledge of Jesus Christ." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 297)
Reading the experiences of others, or the revelation given to them, can never give us a comprehensive view of our condition and true relation to God. Knowledge of these things can only be obtained by experience through ordinances of God set forth for that purpose. (Ibid., p. 324)
But the Lord has encouraged us to strive diligently for knowledge and intelligence from every source. Here are the Prophet's inspired words of counsel:
"Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another he will have so much the advantage in the world to come." (D&C 130:18-19)
One who violates the fundamental human virtues cannot have the greatest truths of the spiritual world unfolded to him.
In a university publication I once read an article by a student entitled "Up from Heaven," suggesting that belief in the supernatural was childish and must eventually be overcome by advancement in intellectual studies.
Each of us has no doubt known many like this young student, who, because of their "little learning," think they have outgrown the Church and religion. As a matter of fact, when we consider seriously the fact that the Church of Jesus Christ requires sacrifice of one's time and talents and means in order to qualify as a worthy citizen of the kingdom, and that "pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep [ourself] unspotted from the world" (James 1:27), we are led to this sure conclusion: that person who thinks he has outgrown his church and his religion has in reality proved himself too small to bear the responsibilities his membership entails and has shut himself up in his small intellectual world, and the vast treasures in the unseen world of spiritual truths are closed to his understanding.
"And if your eye be single to [God's] glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things." (D&C 88:67)
Many of our youth have completed their high school or university education, some of them have been graduated to still higher schools of education, and some of them have taken jobs or have become married and have settled down to the serious problem of everyday living. They must not be among those who are blinded to the wealth of learning beyond the understanding of the "natural man." They are standing on the threshold of the most profound of all schools of learning, the "University of Spirituality," if they will only keep God's commandments.
May each of us seek out of the best books "all that has been revealed" and be guided in our search for the truth and seek just as earnestly to know "all that may yet be revealed" and thus make our lives balanced and complete. (pp. 72-78)
It is a glorious privilege, my young brothers and sisters, to be attending this, the greatest university in all the world. There is no other one that can compare with it. There are many universities with greater enrollment, larger faculty and more elaborate facilities, institutions which develop the mind--but this one is designed to teach the mind, the heart and the spirit. Here you have the privilege not only of following the regular academic subjects, but to learn how eventually to exalt yourselves and to help yourselves to become Gods.
Not only carnal temptations of the flesh are here to be wrestled with but also the spirit of the so-called intellectual freedom, and this spirit may invade our ranks. one young man resisted the counsel given by me on one occasion saying, when I had assured him that a certain action was a wrong and sinful one, "That's your opinion and this is mine."
And I replied, "Yes, if that were true, I would agree with you. Your mind may be brighter than mine, your gray matter thicker and grayer, your logic and thinking processes might be far more alert than my own, but you have forgotten one thing. Your opinion, no matter how erudite, is matched not by mine but by the composite of the inspiration of all the ancient prophets of at least six millennia and of the Creator himself. Your logic is hardly an equal to the inspiration and revelation from the Lord which I am representing to you. Your deliberations look rather puny when compared to the knowledge and wisdom of the God who made your mind and gave it function. (pp. 10-11)
BYU must be a bastion against the invading ideologies that seek control of curriculum as well as classroom. We do not resist such ideas because we fear them, but because they are false. BYU must continue to resist false and capricious fashions in education, holding fast to those basic principles which have proved true and right and have guided good men and women and good universities over the centuries. (p. 9)
Learning that includes familiarization with facts must not occur in isolation from concern over our fellowmen. It must occur in the context of a commitment to serve them and to reach out to them. (p. 385)
Secular knowledge has eternal significance. We believe in and encourage education, but not for education's sake alone. We educate ourselves in the secular field and in the spiritual field so we may one day create worlds, people and govern them. (p. 386)
The secular without the foundation of the spiritual is but like the foam upon the milk, the fleeting shadow.
Do not be deceived! One need not choose between the two . . . for there is opportunity to get both simultaneously; but can you see that the seminary courses should be given even preferential attention over the high school subjects; the institute over the college course; the study of the scriptures ahead of the study of man-written texts; the association with the Church more important than clubs, fraternities, and sororities; the payment of tithing more important than paying tuitions and fees?
Can you see that the ordinances of the temple are more important than the Ph.D. or any and all other academic degrees? . . .
The Lord emphasized: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)
If we spend our mortal days in accumulating secular knowledge to the exclusion of the spiritual then we are in a dead-end street, for this is the time for man to prepare to meet God; this is the time for faith to be built, for baptism to be effected, for the Holy Ghost to be received, for the ordinances to be performed. Contemporary with this program can come the secular knowledge, for even in the spirit world after death our spirits can go on learning the more secular things to help us create worlds and become their masters. . . .
A highly trained scientist who is also a perfected man may eventually create a world and people it, but a dissolute, unrepentant, unbelieving one will never be such a creator even in eternities.
Secular knowledge, important as it may be, can never save a soul nor open the celestial kingdom nor create a world nor make a man a god, but it can be most helpful to that man who, placing first things first, has found the way to eternal life and who can now bring into play all knowledge to be his tool and servant.
Our training must not only teach us how to build dams and store water to dampen parched earth to make the desert blossom as the rose and feed starving humanity, but it must prepare us to dam our carnal inclinations and desires with self-denial, creating reservoirs to be filled with spirituality.
We must study not only to cultivate fertile acres, plant seeds therein, and nurture them on to harvests, but we must plant in the hearts of men seeds of cleanliness and righteous living and faith and hope and peace.
We must not only know how to kill weeds and noxious plants which befoul our crops, but learn to eradicate from the souls of men the noxious theories and manmade sophistries which would cloud issues and bring heartache and distress to men.
We must not only be trained to inoculate and vaccinate and immunize against disease, set broken limbs, and cure illnesses, but we must be trained to clarify minds, heal broken hearts and create homes where sunshine will make an environment in which mental and spiritual health may be nurtured. . . .
Our schooling must not only teach us how to bridge the Niagara River gorge, or the Golden Gate, but must teach us how to bridge the deep gaps of misunderstanding and hate and discord in the world. (pp. 390-391)
In your pursuit of truth, remember that while some truths matter more than others, all true principles are a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no true principle that we need to fear . . .
However, there is a lot in the world that attempts to pass itself off as truth when it is not. A good education will help you to distinguish between sense and nonsense. As you also receive real literacy in things spiritual, you will have added discernment with which to weigh and test ideas and assertions as you make decisions and judgments. (p. 391)
Life at BYU is not just preparation. Sometimes people go to college to prepare to live. Not so at the BYU. We come here to begin our life. We live every phase of life. We have our studies, our good clean fun, our athletics. We do our courting, we marry, we have our families. We have the Church with all its quorum, ward, and stake activities. We have missionary work. The whole Church has moved in to be at our beck and call. We at BYU are living, not merely preparing to live. (p. 395)
BYU students are guests of the Lord and his tithe-paying people. Beloved students, you are guests here -- guests of the Lord, whose funds pay in large measure for your education. You are guests of the Lord, his Church, his leaders, his administration, his people. You and your parents make a smaller but necessary contribution.
In a faraway land to the south is an old man, somewhat crippled, untrained. The children, several, are ragged, the clothes are hand-me-downs, and winter or summer they trudge barefooted to a little primitive school. The home is tiny -- two small rooms, one under the other with a ladder connecting. The little mother makes baskets and sells at the public market. The father makes chairs and tables out of the native jungle trees and, in his calloused, leathery bare feet, walks long distances, carrying his furniture those miles to market, hopefully. The middleman or the bargaining buyer leave him very little profit from his honest labor; but because he is a faithful member of the Church, he takes his tithing to his branch president and it finally reaches the treasury house and part of it is allocated to the Brigham Young University. And he, this dear old man, and she, this deprived little mother, and they, these gaunt little children, along with their fellow members and numerous others who are tithe payers, become host to you, the guests, and supply a goodly percentage of the wherewithal for land and buildings and equipment and instructions.
The boy working in the cornfield in India is your host, for he returns his 10 percent.
The rich man living in his luxury who pays his tithing is your host.
The widowed mother with several hungry children is your hostess.
The janitor of your meetinghouse is your host.
The Navajo on the desert following his little band of sheep trying to find enough grass -- he is your host. His dollars are few, his tithing is meager, but his testimony of the gospel, his dreams for his children, and his love for his fellowmen and his Lord induce him to send in his little tithing. He also becomes a joint host for you. (p. 396)
Maintain a special character for BYU. I joy with you in this greatest university under the sun. Perhaps it is not the largest, though it is impressive in its size; perhaps not the most renowned, though it is known favorably and appreciated from ocean to ocean and pole to pole; perhaps not the most richly endowed, yet having a host who is at once generous, firm, secure, and financially adequate. But here is the institution with every proper advantage: a great, dedicated administrator; a loyal and highly trained faculty; a strong, devoted staff; with excellent facilities; and presided over generally by men and women of faith, character, devotion, and love; and a student body unexcelled -- students with purpose, understanding, strength, and proper direction. What a great school and what a desirable place to be, and how grateful we should be! . . .
We are different. We are a peculiar people. We hope we shall always be unusual and peculiar. On this great campus, we need not dress as extremists do on other campuses. We need not follow the world in thought or action. We need not bow to pressures which restrain and limit and coerce. Our programs -- music, drama, etc. -- need not be the type that others produce. Our journalistic work need not follow the world. Our standards need not be set by men of selfish minds. We may live in the outskirts of the world yet be not of the world. Why must people ape in every field the stupid and silly actions and plans and programs of the world? . . .
Let us keep it an island of beauty and cleanness in an ocean of filth and destruction and disease. Let us keep it as a spring of pure, cool water though surrounded by sloughs and stagnant swamps of rebellion and corruption and worldliness outside.
Let us keep it a place of peace in a world of confusion, frustration, mental aberrations, and emotional disturbances. Let us keep it a place of safety in a world of violence where laws are ignored, criminals coddled, enforcement curtailed, buildings burned, stores looted, lives endangered.
May we keep this glorious place a home of friendships and of eternal commitments; a place of study and growth and improvement; a place where ambition is kindled and faith is nurtured and confidence strengthened; and where love for God and our fellowmen reaches its highest fulfillment. (pp. 398-399)
During the past several years many of our institutions of learning have been turning out an increasing number of students schooled in amorality, relativity, and atheism -- students divested of a belief in God, without fixed moral principles or an understanding of our constitutional republic and our capitalistic, free enterprise economic system. This follows a pattern which was established years ago at some of our key colleges that produced many of the teachers and leaders in the educational field across the country today.
The fruits of this kind of teaching have been tragic, not only to the souls of the individuals involved, but also to the parents, and even to our country. . . .
The whole process can be quite insidious. Young people know that the best jobs are available to college graduates. They want to do well at school. When exam time comes, they must give back to the teacher what the teacher wants. Now under the guise of academic freedom -- which some apparently feel is freedom to destroy freedom -- some teachers reserve to themselves the privilege of teaching error, destroying faith in God, debunking morality, and depreciating our free economic system. If questions reflecting the teacher's false teachings appear on the exam, how will the student answer who believes in God and morality and our Constitution? One student put on his exam paper what he knew the professor wanted to see, but then the student added a little p.s., which said, "Dear Professor So and So: I just want you to know I don't believe one word of what I just wrote above."
These kinds of professors -- and I hope there are none on this campus, and if there are such here they should be dismissed -- are not concerned about the truth, or even giving both sides of a question that only has one right answer. They weight the scales on the side of falsehood. If they can see there is another side, it usually gets but passing and belittling reference. To give the impression they are objective, these professors often invite someone to present a different point of view in one lecture, while the professor spends the whole semester pointing out the other side.
Now truth, if given as much time and emphasis as error, will invariably prove itself. And if our young students could have as much time studying the truth as they and some of their professors have had time studying error, then there would be no question of the outcome.
The problem arises when under the pressure of a heavy course of study and the necessity of parroting back what certain professors have said, the student does not have the time or take the time to learn the truth. If he does not learn the truth, someday he will suffer the consequences. Many an honest student, after graduation, has had to do some unlearning and then fresh learning of basic principles which never change and which he should have been taught initially. . . .
Now these false educational ideas -- set forth in many textbooks today -- are prevalent in the world, and we have not entirely escaped them among teachers in our own system. There are a few teachers within the Church who, while courting apostasy, still want to remain members of the Church, for being members makes them more effective in misleading the Saints. But their day of judgment is coming, and when it does come, for some of them it would have been better, as the Savior said, that a millstone had been put around their necks and they had drowned in the depths of the sea, than to have led away any of the youth of the Church.
The Lord has stated that His Church will never again be taken from the earth because of apostasy. But He has also stated that some members of His Church will fall away. There has been individual apostasy in the past, it is going on now, and there will be an even increasing amount in the future. While we cannot save all the flock from being deceived, we should, without compromising our doctrine, strive to save as many as we can. For, as President J. Reuben Clark said, "We are in the midst of the greatest exhibition of propaganda that the world has ever seen." Do not believe all you hear.
Students, study the writings of the prophets. . . . pray for inspiration and knowledge. Counsel with your parents. Let Sunday be the day to fill up your spiritual batteries for the week by reading good Church books, particularly the Book of Mormon. Take time to meditate. Don't let the philosophies and falsehoods of men throw you. Hold on to the iron rod. Learn to sift. Learn to discern error through the promptings of the Spirit and your study of the truth. (pp. 4-7)
Sometimes in our attempts to mimic the world, contrary to the prophet's counsel, we run after the world's false educational, political, musical, and dress ideas. (p. 305)
Only a Zion people can bring in a Zion society. And as the Zion people increase, so we will be able to incorporate more of the principles of Zion until we have a people prepared to receive the Lord.
On this campus [BYU], in due time, there will be an increasing number of textbooks written by inspired men of the Church. There will be less and less a tendency to subscribe to the false teachings of men. There will be more and more a tendency first to lay the groundwork of the gospel truth in every subject and then, if necessary, to show where the world may fall short of that standard. In due time there will be increased teaching by the Spirit of God, but that can take place only if there is a decreased promotion of the precepts of men. (p. 305)
The faculty and student body should know the Book of Mormon better than any other book. Not only should we know what history and faith-promoting stories it contains, but we should also understand its teachings. If we really did our homework and approached the Book of Mormon doctrinally, we could expose the errors and find the truths to combat many of the current false theories and philosophies of men, including socialism, humanism, organic evolution, and others.
I have noted within the Church the difference in discernment, in insight, in conviction, and in spirit between those who know and love the Book of Mormon and those who do not. That book is a great sifter. (p. 307)
Yes, men and women who turn their lives over to God will find out that he can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life to God will find he has eternal life. (p. 310)
God loves us, he's watching us, he wants us to succeed, and we'll know someday that he has not left one thing undone for the eternal welfare of each of us. If we only knew that there are heavenly hosts pulling for us--friends in heaven, whom we can't remember now, who yearn for our victory. This is our day to show what we can do--what life and sacrifice we can daily, hourly, instantly bring to God. If we give our all, we will get his all from the greatest of all. (p. 313)
Today there are much worse things that can happen to a child than not getting a full education. In fact, some of the worst things have happened to our children while attending colleges led by administrators who wink at subversion and amorality.
Said Karl G. Maeser, "I would rather have my child exposed to smallpox, typhus fever, cholera, or other malignant and deadly diseases than to the degrading influence of a corrupt teacher. It is infinitely better to take chances with an ignorant but pure-minded teacher than with the greatest philosopher who is impure." (p. 225)
For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the second coming of the Lord. Some individuals will fall away; but the kingdom of God will remain intact to welcome the return of its head--even Jesus Christ. While our generation will be comparable in wickedness to the days of Noah, when the Lord cleansed the earth by flood, there is a major difference this time. It is that God has saved for the final inning some of His strongest children, who will help bear off the kingdom triumphantly. That is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God. (pp. 104, 105)
In all ages the prophets have looked down through the corridors of time to our day. Billions of the deceased and those yet to be born have their eyes on us. Make no mistake about it--you are a marked generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time as there is of us. Never before on the face of this earth have the forces of evil and the forces of good been so well organized. Now is the great day of the devil's power. But now is also the great day of the Lord's power, with the greatest number ever of priesthood holders on the earth. (p. 105)
It is a joy to know that at Brigham Young University increased attention is being given to one of what I consider the three greatest objectives of this institution. The first objective is to help build real Latter-day Saints -- men and women who live according to the standards of the Church and kingdom of God. Second, to train young men and women for honorable vocations and for life. And third, to teach the responsibilities of citizenship. This includes an understanding of the principles of Americanism, and a love for the Constitution of this land and the glorious concepts and principles embodied in that great document. It also means to teach something of the prophetic history of this great nation and of the fruits of our free enterprise system. (p. 294)
Let us never lose sight of the fact that education is a preparation for life -- and that preparing for life is far more than knowing how to make a living or how to land on the moon. Preparing for life means building personal integrity, developing a sound sense of values, increasing the capacity and willingness to serve. Education must have its roots in moral principles. If we lose sight of that fact in our attempt to match our educational system against that of the materialists, we shall have lost far more than we could possibly gain. (p. 297)
The world worships the learning of man. They trust in the arm of flesh (see D&C 1:19). To them, men's reasoning is greater than God's revelations. The precepts of man have gone so far in subverting our educational system that in many cases a higher degree today, in the so-called social sciences, can be tantamount to a major investment in error. (p. 319)
What of spiritual values and the religious ideals of past generations, which have been the great stabilizing influence on society? Modern thinkers claim these have been the great deterrents to man in the freedoms he now seeks. There is a great effort on the part of so-called modernists to change religious beliefs and teachings of the past to conform to modern thought and critical research. They de-emphasize the teachings of the Bible by modern critical methods and deny that scripture is inspired. The modernist teaches that Christ is not the Son of God. He denies the doctrine of the atoning sacrifice by which all men may be saved. He denies the fact of the resurrection of the Savior of the world and relegates him to the status of a teacher of ethics. Where, then, is hope? What has become of faith?
There are those who declare it is old-fashioned to believe in the Bible. Is it old-fashioned to believe in God, in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God? Is it old-fashioned to believe in his atoning sacrifice and the resurrection? If it is, I declare myself to be old-fashioned and the Church is old-fashioned. In great simplicity the Master taught the principles of life eternal and lessons that bring happiness to those with the faith to believe. It doesn't seem reasonable to assume the necessity of modernizing these teachings of the Master. His message concerned principles that are eternal. Following these principles, millions of persons have found rich religious experiences in their lives. People of today's world are seeking a meaningful purpose in life, and thousands are seeking a religious experience that is meaningful. Can such an experience be found in meditation only, or by a seance? Can a meaningful experience be found in trips with drugs or in love-ins? Such an attempt is to go through the back, the side door, or over the wall, not through the way pointed out by the Lord. ("Where, Then, Is Hope?" Improvement Era, December 1970, pp. 115-116)
Hunter, Howard W. That We Might Have Joy. Salt Lake: Deseret, 1994.
This gospel imperative expresses the very nature of Church education. The doctrine of making hearers into doers of the world extends to the point at which we believe that what we know and do in the gospel needs to become ingrained into the very nature of our being. Nels L. Nelson expressed this gospel imperative in one of his books defining the Mormon concept of education: "The only kind of education which squares with the ideals of Mormonism is that which trains a man to do. If it be asked, to do what, the answer is, to do the things that need to be done . . .True education is therefore training a man to do his part in the social world . . . "Knowledge is only half of intelligence. To stop here is to be falsely educated. If, however, the truth perceived becomes a dynamic fact in a man's character; if it is incorporated into his mental attitude, and reacts immediately upon his life; if, in short, it ceases to be something in a man, and becomes the man himself, changing the very . . . [character] of his soul, then knowledge has passed over into power--or character--or wisdom--or, to adopt the term used by Joseph Smith, has passed over into intelligence, and it is such a process alone that represents true education." (Scientific Aspects of Mormonism [New York and London; G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1904], 151-52.) (p. 134)
In a few days you will face these students, the thousands upon thousands who will gather here from the distant places. I have met some of them recently--a shy girl from Nevada whose coming here represents the fulfillment of the hope of her life and the dream of her parents; a disillusioned girl from California, a little tarnished in her standards, whose presence on this campus is an answer to the pleadings, the anxious, tearful pleadings of her mother; a young man also from California, one of a handful chosen from hundreds of thousands of bright high school seniors, winner of a prized scholarship that might have taken him to any university in America, but who has come to B.Y.U. to refine his talents and increase his knowledge; a boy from the Orient, small and frail and frightened. All of his earnings, all of the hoarded savings of his parents have been gathered to send him here that you might teach him. I could go on at length concerning these young men and women who are coming to you--the spoiled son from the wealthy home; the occasional lad who is sent to be reformed; the eager, bright young men and women who have been out in the world as missionaries.
They have come to be taught. What will you teach them? (p. 2)
I give you these great words of Paul to Timothy: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord."
I wish every member of this institution would print that and put it on his mirror where he would see it every morning as he begins his day. "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord." (p. 8)
It goes without saying that the chief reason for the university is to train students--for the most part, young men and women. There is, of course, ancillary work that goes on in the nature of research and such matters, but the university was organized and has been continued through more than a century to equip those who come here to learn so that they may go forth to serve. I fear that sometimes in this great process some are prone to emphasize the shadow and lose sight of the real substance. We train students to take their places in the world, but, to quote the words of the Master, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36).
I don't wish to touch on any sensitivities here, but I do raise these questions. Do we operate a law school with wonderful and costly facilities to train men and women to be clever in wrestling the law to gain selfish and unprincipled ends? Or is there an objective of greater substance, to train them not only to be able lawyers, but to use their skills in upholding justice, equity, freedom, and the principles of government which the Lord has set forth in his revealed words?
We have a great school of business, and we shall soon have a wonderful new facility in which to house it. Are we sometimes prone to emphasize the shadow of the creation and accumulation of wealth to please the vanity and satisfy the ambition of those who create and accumulate wealth only for selfish purposes? Or are we imparting the real substance of teaching that with wealth goes responsibility--responsibility to promote the common good, to conserve and enhance the environment as we utilize the resources of nature, and to nurture the spirit of the free enterprise system while at the same time cultivating a consideration and a balance that will bless not only the entrepreneurs and their stockholders, but also the much larger spectrum of society as a whole?
As we train engineers, do we kid ourselves in believing that we have done well if we simply qualify our graduates to be able to employ the technical skills of engineering? Is there not also needed a much greater substance in equipping those engineers with an appreciation for the great social qualities developed through the centuries which make life worthwhile in what otherwise would become a mechanistic society? (p. 28)
Are we not really boxing with shadows in any of our disciplines if we leave out of what we teach a recognition of God in the affairs of men and in the workings of the universe? The real substance which must be expected on this campus lies in bringing into the fabric of our teaching the recognition of God as Creator and Ruler and the recognition of the Light of Christ as that influence which has touched the minds and hearts of great men in all ages as they have sought for truth in the varied fields of their interests.
We must never forget, my beloved associates, that Brigham Young University is the university of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There must be in the very substance of our teaching recognition of God as our Eternal Father, of Jesus Christ as the Savior and Redeemer of mankind, and of the revealed word as divine wisdom.
Our students, with those who sacrifice to send them here, have the right to expect that they will leave not only with increased knowledge but with increased faith as well. If they leave only with knowledge, they will have lost the substance while grasping for the shadow. (pp. 28-29)
We must never diminish that broad expanse of learning. We must constantly add to it as the knowledge of mankind increases across the world. This university must be in the forefront of such learning because the Lord himself has marked the breadth and depth of that field that is as vast as the universe and as complex as the human personality. (p. 49)
On this campus we must have the highest of academic standards. We must be second to none. That does not mean we are trying to copy some other great institution. It does mean that in the pursuit of our academic goals we must not be sullied by lack of integrity as scholars, but rather that we must pursue our quest for truth in a diligent and excellent way without forsaking the perspective that comes of recognition of God as the eventual source of all truth. We must acquire learning "by study and also by faith" as the Lord has instructed us. (D&C 88:11)
In speaking of the highest academic standards, has anyone a more inspiring yardstick by which to measure the acquisition of learning than that given by the Lord himself? "The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth." (D&C 93:36) Is not that what we are after? Light and truth become the summum bonum of all true learning. (p. 50)
I am confident that never in the history of this institution has there been a faculty better qualified professionally nor one more loyal and dedicated to the standards of its sponsoring institution. Likewise, I am satisfied that there has never been a student body better equipped to learn at the feet of this excellent faculty, nor one more prayerful and decent in attitude and action. (p. 22)
This institution is unique. It is remarkable. It is a continuing experiment on a great premise that a large and complex university can be first class academically while nurturing an environment of faith in God and the practice of Christian principles. You are testing whether academic excellence and belief in the Divine can walk hand in hand. And the wonderful thing is that you are succeeding in showing that this is possible--not only that it is possible, but that it is desirable, and that the products of this effort show in your lives qualities not otherwise attainable. (p. 22)
Every one of us who is here has accepted a sacred and compelling trust. With that trust, there must be accountability. That trust involves standards of behavior as well as standards of academic excellence. For each of us it carries with it a larger interest than our own interest. It carries with it the interest of the university, and the interest of the Church, which must be the interest of each and all of us. (p. 24)
We are, of course, properly concerned about you who teach at this great institution. You are the bone and sinew of the university. We are concerned that your academic credentials be the very best and that there be a quality of excellence in all you do. We are also concerned with your faith, your principles. I hope you will not regard us as being unduly cautious or unnecessarily critical. We act in the spirit spoken of by Alma concerning teachers in his day. Said he: "Trust no one to be your teacher . . . , except he be a man of God, walking in his ways and keeping his commandments." (Mosiah 23:14) (p. 25)
This is a world-class university, a great temple of learning where a highly qualified faculty instruct a large and eager body of students. These teachers impart with skill and dedication the accumulated secular knowledge of the centuries while also building faith in the eternal verities that are the foundation of civilization. (p. 26)
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