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Quotes

Latter-day Saint Quotes About Faith

Latter-day Saint quotes on faith include stories like Jesus walking on water.

Joseph Smith echoed the words of Paul to the Romans in an 1839 discourse: “Faith comes by hearing the word of God.” Similarly, it was New Testament teachings about faith that led him to the Sacred Grove, and President Russell M. Nelson teaches that faith in God will move mountains. These Latter-day Saint quotes on faith in Jesus Christ include selections from BYU Devotionals, general conferences, and the standard works.

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Devotional Theology

The Resurrection We Didn’t Expect

Symbolic painting of Christ’s empty garden tomb at dawn, with golden light pouring from the entrance—evoking the miracle of resurrection and new life.

Paul’s thought did not run from plight to solution, but rather from solution to plight. -E. P. Saunders

Jewish people did not see themselves as in a dire predicament from which they needed rescue. By virtue of their place in the covenant, God’s loving care was the precondition in which they found themselves; their task was to honor the law as a pledge of their desire to maintain their blessedness. Neither did the apostle Paul “perceive himself to have a ‘plight’ from which he needed salvation.”

That is a version of Christianity we have rather imposed upon the past, largely a heritage of the fourth century, when it became common to think of the human condition as one in need of rescue.

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Book excerpts Devotional

Easter Weekend: An Essay by Eugene England

An abandoned theater with an empty stage illuminated by a single spotlight, evoking themes of self-reckoning and existential struggle in Eugene England’s Easter Weekend essay.

It might have been 1986, because Easter came in March and I was on my way to Montreal. But I went to see Dustin Hoffman in The Death of a Sales­man (bought a ticket at the last minute from a scalper), so it must have been two years earlier on my way to Boston.

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Joseph Smith Latter-day Saint History

What Is the 1832 Account of the First Vision?

A painted glass depiction of God and Jesus appearing to Joseph Smith in the 1832 account of the First Vision.

The 1832 account of the First Vision is the earliest version on record. While there are four known published accounts, this is the most unique and the only one written in Joseph Smith’s hand. New research suggests Joseph may have intentionally used biblical phrasing to signal his prophetic calling. In this interview, Kyle Beshears discusses how Joseph’s 1832 efforts to connect with Protestant contemporaries may explain the account’s strange language.

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Doctrine and Covenants

Agency: Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants

The Last Judgment (Washington D.C. Temple Mural) painting of the Savior with the righteous on his right hand and wicked on his left, reflecting the importance of agency as a theme in the Doctrine and Covenants.
The Last Judgment by John Scott. Image courtesy churchofjesuschrist.org

The Doctrine and Covenants includes discussion about agency and free will. A volume from the Maxwell Institute’s Themes in the Doctrine and Covenants series looks at what agency means, the extent to which it exists, and what that means for disciples of Jesus Christ. In this interview, author Terryl Givens discusses his new book, Agency.

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Brigham Young Theology

What Did Brigham Young Teach About Adam and God?

Brigham Young preaching a controversial sermon on Adam-God in 1852.

Brigham Young taught that Adam was an exalted being who came to earth from another world. His teachings are often called the “Adam-God theory” or “Adam-God doctrine,” though Young didn’t use either term. While The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has distanced itself from Young’s teachings, the Adam-God theory remains a point of debate among scholars, fundamentalist groups, and critics of the faith. In this interview, author Samuel Weber explores the evolution of Brigham Young’s teachings about Adam and God.

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Latter-day Saint History

“Carry On”: A History of the Young Women Organization

A collage of photographs of Latter-day Saint young women from 1870 to 2024.

Carry On is the first extended scholarly history of the Young Women organization in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The book was written over a decade, coinciding with Young Women President Emily Belle Freeman’s desire to understand the organization’s history better. It documents how the name has changed since 1870, demonstrates how leaders like Ardeth Kapp impacted the church, and identifies God’s love for His daughters as a prevailing theme. In this interview, Lisa Olsen Tait discusses her new book, Carry On: The Latter-day Saint Young Women Organization, 1870-2024.

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Categories
Joseph Smith

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith: Revised and Expanded Edition

A cropped section of the book cover of The Revised and Expanded Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, published by Greg Kofford Books.

Alonzo Gaskill and Richard Moore have created a revised and expanded edition of Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (TPJS), first published by Joseph Fielding Smith in 1938. They intend to provide readers with the earliest-known manuscripts, make it easier to compare Joseph Smith quotes with the previous book, and further the legacy of the classic publication. The new edition published by Greg Kofford Books uses, but doesn’t exclusively rely on, scholarship produced by the Joseph Smith Papers Project. In this interview, Gaskill and Moore discuss their new book.

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Devotional

Prayer As Worship and Surrender

An AI-generated painting of an old man praying as a form of worship and surrender, rather than a selfish act, creating a feeling similar to that sparked by Terryl Givens' essay on prayer.

The vision does not terrify but soothe…here is rest indeed. The God of peace makes all things peaceful;…We see him as a king who after hearing causes in his court all day long, has dismissed his crowds of attendants, ended the labour of the day, and retired to his palace at nightfall. He entered his chamber with the few friends who share the intimacy of that retreat. …his serenity mounts as he looks calmly round upon the faces of his dearest companions. … So (in this inner chamber of contemplation) God deigns to show himself lovable, serene and peaceful, sweet and gentle, full of mercy towards all who look on him.” —Bernard of Clairvaux (352-53)

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Ancient history

Reading the Herculaneum Scrolls

An aerial of Herculaneum, the sister city of Pompeii destroyed by Mount Vesuvius

Everyone knows the story about Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. It’s as famous as the Dead Sea Scrolls. But did you know that the city of Herculaneum (or Ercolano) met a similar fate? Join Kenneth Lapatin, curator of the J. Paul Getty Museum, for a discussion of the book, Buried by Vesuvius: The Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum. 

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