Needless to say, the presentation and the work were gladly accepted and gave President Smith great delight.
The Committee on Study for the Priesthood Quorums, being apprised by the compilers of the work, conceived the idea, under the initiative of Elder David O. McKay, of the Council of the Twelve, of making it a text book for the Priesthood. The volume is now presented to the Melchizedek Priesthood Quorums of the Church for their study and consideration. To accompany it is "A Guide" for the direction of teachers and students, and adopted for convenience in reference and study.
The sermons and writings of President Joseph F. Smith teach, in wisdom and moderation, practically every essential doctrine of the Latter-day Saints concerning the present life and the life hereafter. Not only that, but they abound in helpful counsel and advice on everyday practices in right living, stated in simple and persuasive language. President Smith's sermons and writings breathe the true spirit of the Gospel, are sound as gold in tenet and precept, and express the will of the Master in every word. Gathered, classified, arranged, and printed as in this volume, they constitute a compendium of the doctrine and teachings of the Church that we believe will stand as a safe guide for its members for generations to come.
In presenting this compilation to the public, we are confident that every reader will be fully repaid in its perusal, containing, as it does, rich and vital selections from the sayings, teachings and sermons of one of the foremost prophets of the Lord in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times.
COMMITTEE ON COURSES OF STUDY FOR THE PRIESTHOOD.
SALT LAKE CITY, MAY, 1919.
Gospel Doctrine
Chapter I
TRUTH, THE FOUNDATION
OUR HOPE FOUNDED ON TRUTH. Our hope of salvation must be founded upon the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, for we cannot build upon error and ascend into the courts of eternal truth and enjoy the glory and exaltation of the kingdom of our God. That cannot be done.—Oct. C. R.,[A] 1917, p. 3.
[Footnote A: October Conference Report.]
THE GOSPEL FOUNDED IN TRUTH. I have no fears in my heart, or mind, that that which is called "Mormonism"—which is indeed the gospel of Jesus Christ—will not bear the scrutiny of science and the researches of the learned and literate into all truth. The gospel of Jesus is founded in truth. Every principle of it is susceptible of demonstration beyond any just reason for contradiction. The Lord is doing his work and will do it, and no power can stay it.—Oct. C. R., 1908, p. 127.
TRUTH THE FOUNDATION. We believe in righteousness. We believe in all truth, no matter to what subject it may refer. No sect or religious denomination in the world possesses a single principle of truth that we do not accept or that we will reject. We are willing to receive all truth, from whatever source it may come; for truth will stand, truth will endure. No man's faith, no man's religion, no religious organization in all the world, can ever rise above the truth. The truth must be at the foundation of religion, or it is in vain and it will fail of its purpose. I say that the truth is at the foundation, at the bottom and top of, and it entirely permeates this great work of the Lord that was established through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith, the prophet. God is with it; it is his work, not that of man; and it will succeed, no matter what the opposition may be. We look now at the opposition arrayed against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and smile, so to speak, with feelings of confidence, doubly assured by the experience of the past, in comparison to the feelings that possessed the souls of our fathers and mothers in the early days of the Church, when they were but a handful, with all the world arrayed against them; just a few poor, homeless people, driven from their possessions, cast out from the communities in which they sought to establish themselves and build their homes. When I think of our people, thrust into the wilderness wandering and seeking for a place where the soles of their feet might rest, and see, then, the world arrayed against them, and think of the little chance that appeared before them, for success and the accomplishment of their purposes, I wonder that more of them did not tremble and falter than did; but some of them were true in the midst of it all, even unto death. If it had been necessary for them to have been martyred for the truth, willingly would they have given their lives, as they gave all else that they possessed in the world, for the knowledge they had of the divinity of the work in which they were engaged. Are we as faithful today? Are we as devout as our fathers were? Oh, my God, help me to be as true as they were! Help me to stand as they stood, upon the pedestal of eternal truth, that no power on earth, or in hell, may remove me from that foundation. This is my prayer to the Lord for my own sake, and it is my prayer to him for every Latter-day Saint throughout the length and breadth of the world.—Apr. C. R.,[A] 1909, p. 7.
[Footnote A: April Conference Report.]
MAN SAVED BY TRUTH. We have no ill feelings in our hearts toward any living creature. We forgive those who trespass against us. Those who have spoken evil of us, and who have misrepresented us before the world, we have no malice in our hearts toward them. We say, let God judge between them and us; let him recompense them for their work. We will not raise a hand against them; but we will extend the hand of fellowship and friendship to them, if they will repent of their sins and come unto the Lord and live. No matter how malicious they may have been, or how foolish they may have acted, if they will repent of it we will receive them with open arms and we will do all we can to help them to save themselves. I cannot save you; you cannot save me; we cannot save each other, only so far as we can persuade each other to receive the truth, by teaching it. When a man receives the truth he will be saved by it. He will not be saved merely because some one talks to him, but because he received and acted upon it. The gospel is consistent, it is common sense, reason, revelation; it is almighty truth from the heavens made known to man.—Apr. C. R., 1902, p. 86.
GOSPEL TRUTH CAN NOT BE SUPERSEDED. There is no science, nor philosophy, that can supersede God Almighty's truth. The Lord has said, "My word is truth," and indeed it is; and I believe that the Latter-day Saints know enough about the word of God to know it is his word when they see it and shun whatever is not; and that they win abide by the word of God, for it is truth. As the Savior said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." I believe that the Latter-day Saints, and especially the leading men in Israel, have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the principles of the gospel that they know the truth, and they are made free by its possession—free from sin, free from error, free from darkness, from the traditions of men, from vain philosophy, and from the untried, unproven theories of scientists, that need demonstration beyond the possibility of a doubt. We have had science and philosophy through all the ages, and they have undergone change after change. Scarcely a century has passed but they have introduced new theories of science and of philosophy that supersede the old traditions and the old faith and the old doctrines entertained by philosophers and scientists. These things may undergo continuous changes, but the word of God is always true, is always right. I want to say to you that the principles of the gospel are always true—the principles of faith in God, of repentance from sin, of baptism for the remission of sins by authority of God, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost; these principles are always true and are always absolutely necessary for the salvation of the children of men, no matter who they are or where they are. These principles are always true, and you cannot get away from them. No other name, under heaven, is given, but that of Jesus Christ, by which you can be saved or exalted