Mormon Musings

“I believe that our Heavenly Father wants to save every one of his children.  I do not think he intends to shut any of us off…. “…I believe that in his justice and mercy he will give us the maximum reward for our acts, give us all that he can give, and in the reverse, I believe that he will impose upon us the minimum penalty which it is possible for him to impose.” President J. Reuben Clark -Conference Report, Oct. 1953, 84

I would like to urge you brethren to read the scriptures, not somebody's interpretation of them. Read them. They are the original sources. You go to them and read them. Make up your own minds about them. When the Prophet, Seer and Revelator speaks, when he interprets, we follow. So with the brethren when they speak under the influence of the Holy Ghost. We have a growing lot of books, a growing lot of courses of study, but I urge you to read the scriptures, so that you may get your own idea as to what they mean. J. Reuben Clark, April 1950 General Conference

What a narrow measure it is to try and judge and calculate the infinite by the little our finite minds know. A story is told of Lincoln, who was supposed to be a great skeptic in his younger life. When he was down at Richmond as the war was drawing to a close one of his early companions—I think it was General Reynolds—suddenly came around the corner of the tent where the President was living and found him reading the Bible. The General began to twit him about reading the Bible, basing the raillery on the early life, as he understood it, of Lincoln. Then Lincoln said: "Well, I have grown older and wiser. I now read the Bible. I believe all I can and I take the rest on faith." And that is about where all of us are when it comes to the infinities that are involved in our spiritual welfare. J. Reuben Clark, April 1950 General Conference

I am again impressed, as always, by the strength of the priesthood. I have seen it work in the lives of many men. I have seen them grow under its power and its influence. I have seen men moving in the walks of life of the world increased in power and in influence, far beyond their natural abilities, and I am sure the only reason for it was the possession of the priesthood. The priesthood, of course, must not be taken lightly, and as I have said to you before, the priesthood cannot be taken off and put back on at will as you would a coat. Once endowed by the priesthood it remains with you. You may forfeit its power, the power may go, but your priesthood is still there, and in the days to come God will judge us by the use we have made of it, and we can no more escape that consequence than we can escape death. That fact should be with us always and never absent from us. President J. Reuben Clark, April 1950 General Conference

“I  believe  that  our  Heavenly  Father  wants  to  save  every  one  of H is  children.  I  do  not  think  He  intends  to  shut  any  of  us  off. … “… I  believe  that  in  His  justice  and  mercy  He  will  give  us  the  maximum  reward  for  our  acts,  give  us  all  that  He  can  give,  and  in  the  reverse,  I  believe  that  He  will  impose  upon  us  the  minimum  penalty  which  it  is  possible  for  Him  to  impose”  (J. Reuben Clark,  Conference  Report,  Oct.  1953,  84).