James E. Talmage Quotes - 56 quotes

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James E. Talmage

James E. Talmage (1862-1933) was an English-born chemist, geologist, and religious leader. He immigrated to Utah at age 14 and became a prominent figure in both academia and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Talmage served as a professor at Brigham Young Academy and the University of Utah, eventually becoming the president of the University of Utah. In 1911, he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a position he held until his death. Talmage authored several influential religious works, including "Jesus the Christ" and "Articles of Faith," which remain significant in Mormon literature. His contributions bridged the gap between science and religion, and he was known for his eloquence and scholarly approach.

quote icon Miracles cannot be in contravention of natural law, but are wrought through the operation of laws not universally or commonly recognized.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The Holy Priesthood is conferred, as an individual bestowal, upon men only, an this in accordance with Divine requirement. It is not given to woman to exercise the authority of the Priesthood independently; nevertheless, in the sacred endowments associated with the ordinances pertaining to the House of the Lord, woman shares with man the blessings of the Priesthood.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon “Mortal eye cannot see nor mind comprehend the beauty, glory, and majesty of a righteous woman made perfect in the celestial kingdom of God.”

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Within the Gospel of Jesus Christ there is room and place for every truth thus far learned by man, or yet to be made known.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Both Christ and the Apostles foretold a great falling away, a general apostasy, a long era of spiritual darkness, which was to be succeeded by a new dispensation distinguished by the restoration of the Gospel and the establishment of the Church of Christ on earth for the last time. The Scriptures affirm that the new dispensation is to comprise all the authority, powers, and gifts of earlier dispensations, and is therefore distinctively a time of restitution, reorganization, and restoration. It is appropriately named the Last Dispensation, and the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The Temple Endowment, as administered in modern temples, comprises instruction relating to the significance and sequence of past dispensations, and the importance of the present as the greatest and grandest era in human history. This course of instruction includes a recital of the most prominent events of the creative period, the condition of our first parents in the Garden of Eden, their disobedience and consequent expulsion from that blissful abode, their condition in the lone and dreary world when doomed to live by labor and sweat, the plan of redemption by which the great transgression may be atoned, the period of the great apostasy, the restoration of the Gospel with all its ancient powers and privileges, the absolute and indispensable condition of personal purity and devotion to the right in present life, and a strict compliance with Gospel requirements.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon We affirm that with the passing of the so-called apostolic age the Church gradually drifted into a condition of apostasy, whereby succession in the priesthood was broken; and that the Church, as an earthly organization operating under divine direction and having authority to officiate in spiritual ordinances, ceased to exist. If therefore the Church of Christ is to be found upon the earth today it must have been re-established by divine authority; and the holy priesthood must have been restored to the world from which it was lost by the apostasy of the Primitive Church. We affirm that the great apostasy was foretold by the Savior Himself while He lived as a Man among men, and by His inspired prophets both before and after the period of His earthly probation. And further, we affirm that a rational interpretation of history demonstrates the fact of this great and general apostasy.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The inhabitants of the telestial world—the lowest of the kingdoms of glory prepared for resurrected souls, shall include those “who are thrust down to hell” and “who shall not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection.” (76:82-85.) And though these may be delivered from hell and attain to a measure of glory with possibilities of progression, yet their lot shall be that of “servants of the Most High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.’ (v. 112.) Deliverance from hell is not admittance to heaven.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon “The Son of Man” was and is, specifically and exclusively, Jesus Christ … There is, however, a more profound significance attaching to the Lord’s use of the title “The Son of Man”; and this lies in the fact that He knew His Father to be the one and only supremely exalted Man, whose Son Jesus was both in spirit and in body—the Firstborn among all the spirit-children of the Father, the Only Begotten in the flesh—and therefore, in a sense applicable to Himself alone, He was and is the Son of the “Man of Holiness,” Elohim, the Eternal Father. In His distinctive titles of Sonship, Jesus expressed His spiritual and bodily descent from, and His filial submission to, that exalted Father … “The Son of Man” is in great measure synonymous with “The Son of God,” as a title denoting divinity, glory, and exaltation; for the “Man of Holiness,” whose Son Jesus Christ reverently acknowledges Himself to be, is God the Eternal Father.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The false doctrine that the punishment to be visited upon erring souls is endless, that every sentence for sin is of interminable duration, must be regarded as one of the most pernicious results of misapprehension of scripture. It is but a dogma of unauthorized and erring sectaries, at once unscriptural, unreasonable, and revolting to one who loves mercy and honors justice. True, the scriptures speak of everlasting burnings, eternal damnation, and the vengeance of eternal fire, as characteristics of the judgment provided for the wicked; yet in no instance is there justification for the inference that the individual sinner will have to suffer the wrath of offended justice forever and ever. The punishment in any case is sufficiently severe without the added and supreme horror of unending continuation. Justice must have her due; but when “the uttermost farthing” is paid, the prison doors shall open and the captive be free. But the prison remains, and the law prescribing punishment for offenses is not to be repealed.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recognizes two orders of Priesthood, the lesser called the Aaronic, the greater known as the Melchizedek order. The Aaronic Priesthood is named after Aaron, who was given to Moses as his mouthpiece, to act under his direction in the carrying out of God's purposes respecting Israel. For this reason it is sometimes called the Lesser Priesthood; but though lesser, it is neither small nor insignificant … The Melchizedek Priesthood is named after the king of Salem, a great High Priest before whose day it was known as “the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God. But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the Church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek.”

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The Melchizedek Priesthood is named after the king of Salem, a great High Priest before whose day it was known as “the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God. But out of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name, they, the Church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek.” This Priesthood holds the right of presidency in all the offices of the Church; its special functions lie in the administration of spiritual things, comprising the keys of all spiritual blessings of the Church, the right “to have the heavens opened unto them [the bearers of this Priesthood], to commune with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.”

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Christ affirmed that there would be a resurrection of the just and a later resurrection of the unjust, or resurrection unto life and damnation, respectively. (John 5:29.) Apostolic Scriptures are definite in segregating individual resurrections, in that every man shall come forth “in his own order” according to worthiness. (1 Cor. 15:20-23; Rev. 20:4-6.) The imminent but yet future advent of Jesus Christ is to be accompanied by a general resurrection of the just, while the yet unregenerate dead shall remain in their unrepentant state of duress until the Lord’s blessed reign of a thousand years on earth shall have passed. Then, in a period following shall come the resurrection of the wicked … No spirit shall remain disembodied longer than he deserves, or than is requisite to accomplish the just and merciful purposes of God. The resurrection of the just began with Christ; it has been in process and shall continue till the Lord comes in glory, and thence onward through the Millennium. The final resurrection, or that of the wicked, the resurrection to condemnation, is to be yet later.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon No soul is justified in postponing his efforts to repent because of this assurance of longsuffering and mercy. We know not fully on what terms repentance will be obtainable in the hereafter; but to suppose that the soul who has wilfully rejected the opportunity of repentance in this life will find it easy to repent there is contrary to reason. To procrastinate the day of repentance is to deliberately place ourselves in the power of the adversary.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The part taken by Jesus Christ in the creation, a part so prominent as to justify our calling Him the Creator, is set forth in many scriptures. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews refers in this wise distinctively to the Father and the Son as separate though associated Beings “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.”

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Modern revelation is in strict accord with Holy Writ of ancient record, and is explicit in affirming the graded conditions that await the souls of men. As made known in 1832 through the prophet Joseph Smith (see D&C, Sec. 76) there are three main kingdoms or degrees of glory in the hereafter—(1) the Celestial, of which the sun is relatively typical, (2) the Terrestrial, as far below the first as the moon is inferior to the sun in effulgence, and (3) the Telestial, which is the kingdom referred to by Paul but without name.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon JAMES E. TALMAGE: We claim scriptural authority for the assertion that Jesus Christ was and is God the Creator, the God who revealed Himself to Adam, Enoch, and all the antediluvian patriarchs and prophets down to Noah; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of Israel as a united people, and the God of Ephraim and Judah after the disruption of the Hebrew nation; the God who made Himself known to the prophets form Moses to Malachi; the God of the Old testament record; and the God of the Nephites. We affirm that Jesus Christ was and is Jehovah, the Eternal One.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Obedience is Heaven’s First Law …Pope's famous line, “Order is Heaven’s first law,” has often been misapplied. Order is a result of compliance with established requirements; of necessity, therefore, it cannot be first. It is an effect, not the primary cause. A more thoughtful generalization leads to the conclusion that obedience is the basal [i.e., fundamental; basic] law of Heaven, and that this law is equally valid and as truly operative in things pertaining to mortality.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon “Miracles cannot be in contravention of natural law, but are wrought through the operation of laws not universally or commonly recognized.”

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The Book of Mormon contains pointed and specific predictions of its own coming forth in the latter days, and these prophecies harmonize with the Biblical Scriptures … The nation thus “brought down” has spoken “out of the ground”; her speech has come forth “out of the dust’; for the original of the Book of Mormon was actually taken out of the ground, and the voice of the sacred record is as that of one speaking from the dust of the past.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Salvation is graded ever upward until it culminates in the glorious condition of exaltation. So [also] damnation is graded; else what did the Lord mean as recorded in the twelfth chapter of Mark. ... “These shall receive greater damnation”? Well, if there be a greater damnation there are lesser degrees of damnation and the term is used in the sense of deprivation and forfeiture. That man enters into a degree of damnation who has forfeited his opportunities and therefore has rendered himself incapable of the advancement that would otherwise be possible.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The man who cannot listen to an argument which opposes his views either has a weak position or is a weak defender of it. No opinion that cannot stand discussion or criticism is worth holding.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Much of the confusion existing in human conceptions concerning the nature of the Holy Ghost arises from the common failure to segregate His person and powers. Plain ly, such expressions as being filled with the Holy Ghost. and His falling upon persons, have reference to the powers and influences that emanate .. Chost may in this God, and which are characteristic of Him: for e way operate simultaneously upon many persons even though they be widely separated, whereas the actual per oom of the Holy Ghost cannot be in more than one place at a time. Yet we read that terough the power of the Spirit. the I Father and the Son oprate in their creative acts and in their general dealings with the human family. The Holvi Ghost may be regarded as the minister of the Godhead. carrying into effect the decisions of the Supreme Council.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon With all his scientific knowledge man knows but little respecting the enginery of creation; and yet the few forces known to him have brought about miracles and wonders, which but for their actual realization would be beyond belief. These mighty agencies, and the mightier ones still to man unknown, and many, perhaps, to the present condition of the human mind unknowable, do not constitute the Holy Ghost, but are the agencies ordained to serve His purposes.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon As the conducting medium in an electric circuit is capable of conveying but a limited current, the maximum capacity depending upon the resistance offered by the conductor and, as separate circuits of different degrees of conductivitv may carry currents of widely varying intensity, so human souls are of varied capacity with respect to the higher powers. But as the medium is purified, as obstructions are removed, so resistance to the energy decreases, and the forces manifest themselves with greater intensity.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon He will reveal all things necessary for the soul'sadvancement.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The power of the Holy Ghost then, is the spirit of prophecy and revelation; His office is that of enlightenment of the mind, quickening of the intellect, and sanctification of the soul.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Not a truth has ever been made the property of humankind except through the power of that great Spirit who exists to do the bidding of the Father and the Son.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The authority to so bestow the Holy Ghost belongs to the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood, whereas water baptism may be administered by a priest officiating in the ordinances of the lesser or Aaronic Priesthood. This order of authority, as made known through revelation, explains that while Philip had authority to administer the ordinance of baptism to the converted Samaritans, others who held the higher Priesthood had to be sent to confer upon them the Holy Ghost.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead.He is a Spirit, in the form of a man. The Father and the Son are personages of tabernacle; they have bodies of flesh and bones. The Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit, and has a spirit body only. His mission is to bear witness of the Father and the Son and of all truth. (P. 38.) As a Spirit personage the Holy Ghost has size and dimensions. He does not fill the immensity of space, and cannot be everywhere present in person at the same time.He is also called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Truth, and the Comforter.38.) His mission is to teach us all truth. He partakes of the things of the Father and the Son and reveals them to those who serve the Lord in faithfulness. It was through the teachings of the Comforter, or Holy Ghost, that the teachings of Jesus Christ were recalled by the apostles. It is through the teachings of the Holy Spirit that prophecy comes. (P. 38.)

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon It is a mistake, when we are called upon to confirm a someone a member of the Church, to say. "Receive ye the gift of the Holy Ghost." We should say. "Receive the Holy Ghost.That covers everything and they get the gift.What is the gift of the Holy Ghost? Nothing more nor less than the right to the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Every man may receive such a manifestation from the Holy Ghost when he is seeking for the truth, but not the power to call upon the Holy Ghost whenever he feels he needs the help, as a man does who is a member of the Church.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Now if we find ourselves in this condition of unbelief or unwillingness to seek for the light and the knowledge which the Lord has placed within our reach, then we are liable or in danger of being deceived by evil spirits, the doctrines of devils. and the teachings of men. And when these false influences are presented before us, we will not have the distinguishing understanding by which we can segregate them and know that they are not of the Lord. And so we may become prey unto the ungodly, to the vicious,to the cunning, to the craftiness of men.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon If we are humble, if we are diligent in the service of the Lord, if we seek to serve him with an eye single to the glory of our Father in heaven (keeping in mind that he has asked for that service with a full heart, with all our might, with all our mind, and with all our strength), we will not go astray. We will not be seduced by evil spirits nor by the spirits of men, but we will be led and directed by the Spirit of God.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon And it has been wisely said that the man who knows only half of any question is worse off than the man who knows nothing of it. He is not only one sided, but his partisanship soon turns him into an intolerant and a fanatic. In general it is true that nothing which cannot stand up under discussion and criticism is worth defending.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon A man may receive manifestations of the Holy Spirit.and then he may sin and the Spirit withdraws. He is left to himself, and he will forget, to a very large extent the things he learned before. But when a man has known the power of God, and partaken of it and then turns away, knowingly defying the truth, there is no forgiveness for him.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon All who partake of this, the greatest of sins, sell themselves as did Cain to Lucifer. They learn to hate the truth with an eternal hatred, and they learn to love wickedness. They reach a condition where they will not and cannot repent. The spirit of murder fills their hearts and they would, if they had the power, crucify our Lord again, which they virtually do by fighting his work and destroy it and his prophets.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon THE LIGHT OF CHRIST. The Holy Ghost shoulda not be confused with the Spirit which fills the immensity of space and which is everywhere present. This other Spirit is impersonal and has no size, nor dimension; it proceeds forth from the presence of the Father and the Sonand is in all things. We should speak of the Holy Ghost as a personage as "he" and this other Spirit as "it", although when we speak of the power or gift of the Holy Ghost. we may properly say "it".

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The inspiration which was promised to all flesh bvethe Lord through the prophecy of Joel, is not the promiseof the Holy Ghost, but the promise of the guidance of theLight of Christ, or the Spirit of Truth, which is given toevery man who comes into the world. It is through thisSpirit that the inspiration comes to those who are not members of the Church. This Spirit has been poured out andis the active agency by which the great discoveries in thesemodern times have been accompished. It is this Spirit whichthe Lord declares he will withdraw from the world, andwhich he said to Noah would "not always strive with man,"and not the Holy Ghost which they never had. It is thisSpirit which led Columbus in his discoveries.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon There is no forgiveness for denying the First Comforter. But if a man received honor enough to have the presence of the Son, he would also have the knowledge of theFirst Comforter and should he turn away, his sin wouldbe unpardonable. A man could not deny the Second Comforter any more than he could the first. If a man getsknowledge enough to have the companionship of the Sonof God, the chances are his call and election would be sure.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The Terrestrial Glory—We read of others who receive glory of a secondary order, differing from the highest as “the moon differs from the sun in the firmament.” These are they who, though honorable, failed to comply with the requirements for exaltation, were blinded by the craftiness of men and unable to receive and obey the higher laws of God. They proved “not valiant in the testimony of Jesus,” and therefore are not entitled to the fulness of glory.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon That is the explanation, a spiritual light and power that is divine proceeds forth from the presence of God and fills the immensity of space; that is how you reconcile the personality of God with God's everywhereness.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The baptism of fire, without doubt, had reference to the purifying qualities of the Holy Ghost, which, like fire, consumes or destroys the unholy affections of those who are made partakers of it. Those portions of the Holy Ghost which assumed the form of tongues, and were rendered visible had the appearance of fire.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Moses was baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, so that when he came down from mount Sinai, after being with the Lord many days, his face shone with that brilliancy that the children of Israel could not endure the brightness and intensity of the light, but fled and stood afar off. Moses was obliged to veil his face to hide the glory of his countenance from Israel. It is this same fire that has so often been exhibited by holy angels, when they have appeared in their glory to mortals. It was this same fire that rested upon the tabernacle and camp of Israel, for forty years in the wilderness. It was this same fire that broke forth among the rebellious ones, and consumed them by thousands. It was this same fire that consumed the sacrifice offered by Elijah, and even consumed the stones of the altar and great quantities of water, poured upon the same. It was this same fire that filled the temple of Solo- mon at the time of its dedication. It is this same fire that surrounds the Holy One of Israel: hence, Paul calls Him. "a consuming fire." It was this same fire which all who sincerely received John's baptism, had the promise of being baptized with. It was this same fire and Holy Ghost that descended from heaven like a rushing mighty wind, on the day of Pentecost-that was seen in the form of cloven tongues that controlled the tongues of the disciples to speak in many languages unknown to themselves.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Time would fail us to speak of the thousands of other examples in both the Old and New Testaments, where God manifested His blessings through obedience to some simple ordinance or requirement. The means ordained, through which many blessings were given, were in many instances entirely arbitrary, and apparently had no con- nection, as a cause producing the effect: in most instances, these arbitrary means were instituted to try the faith of the people; for if they had not faith sufficient to obey any command, however simple, God would not bestow the blessing. What could have been more simple than the means referred to in the last two paragraphs? And yet. how great were the blessings which followed these simple acts!

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The central fact connoted by this name, I Am, or Jehovah, the two having essentially the same meaning, is that of existence or duration that shall have no end, and which, judged by all human standards of reckoning, could have had no beginning; the name is related to such other titles as Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Two General Resurrections are mentioned in the scriptures, and these may be specified as first and final, or as the resurrection of the just and the resurrection of the unjust. The first was inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ; immediately following which many of the saints came forth from their graves. A continuation of this, the resurrection of the just, has been in operation since, and will be greatly extended, or brought to pass in a general way, in connection with the coming of Christ in His glory. The final resurrection will be deferred until the end of the thousand years of peace, and will be in connection with the last judgment.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon In some mysterious, incomprehensible way, Jesus assumed the responsibility which naturally would have devolved upon Adam but which could only be accomplished through the mediation of Himself, and by taking upon Himself their sorrows, assuming their responsibilities, and bearing their transgressions or sins In a manner to us incomprehensible and inexplicable, He bore the weight of the sins of the whole world, not only of Adam, but of his posterity.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon We affirm, on the authority of Holy Scripture, that the Being who is known among men as Jesus of Nazareth, and by all who acknowledge His Godhood as Jesus the Christ, existed with the Father prior to birth in the flesh; and that in the preexistent state He was chosen and ordained to be the one and only Savior and Redeemer of the human race.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Faith in Christ comprises belief in Him, combined with trust in Him. One cannot have faith without belief; yet he may believe and still lack faith. Faith is vivified, vitalized, living belief.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Fit Partakers of the Sacrament—The divine instructions concerning the sacredness of this ordinance are explicit; and the consequent need of scrupulous care being exercised lest it be engaged in unworthily is apparent. In addressing the Corinthian saints Paul gave solemn warnings against hasty or unworthy action in partaking of the sacrament, and declares that the penalties of sickness and even death are visited upon those who violate the sacred requirements.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon We learn that in due time everyone who has lived and died on earth shall be resurrected, “they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:29). However, the order in which we shall be resurrected is determined by individual conditions of righteousness or guilt. (See 1 Cor. 15:23; Rev. 20:5-6.) A latter-day Scripture, describing the general resurrection of the just, incident to the approaching advent of Christ, embodies the Lord’s declaration in these words: “The trump of God shall sound both long and loud, and shall say to the sleeping nations, Ye saints arise and live; ye sinners stay and sleep until I shall call again.” (D&C 43:18.)

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon The road to exaltation and perfection is opened through the Gospel of Christ. We cannot rationally construe our Lord’s admonition as implying an impossibility. We are not required to assume that man in mortality can attain the perfection of an exalted and glorified personage, such as either the Father or Jesus Christ. However, man may be perfect in his sphere as more advanced intelligences may be in their several spheres; yet the relative perfection of the lower is vastly inferior to that of the higher … After all, individual perfection is relative and must be gaged by the law operative upon us …The law of the Gospel is a perfect law; and the sure effect of full obedience thereto is perfection. Of those who attain exaltation in the celestial kingdom Christ has declared: “These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect Atonement through the shedding of his own blood.”

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Two general resurrections are specified; these we may distinguish as the first and the final, or as the resurrection of the just and that of the unjust respectively. Hear the words of Christ Himself relating to the dead and their assured coming forth: “For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:28, 29.) The first resurrection began with that of Jesus Christ and was continued thereafter as we read: “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (Matt. 27:52, 53.) The resurrection of the just is to be made general at the time of the Lord’s approaching advent in glory; but a fixed gradation is established as Paul averred: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” (1 Cor. 15:20-23).

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon Touching the relationship between Himself and the great patriarch of their race, Jesus thus affirmed and emphasized His own supremacy: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” Not only angered but puzzled, the Jews demanded further explanation. Construing the last declaration as applying to the mortal state only, they said: “Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?” Jesus answered, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” This was an unequivocal and unambiguous declaration of our Lord’s eternal Godship. By the awful title I AM He had made Himself known to Moses and thereafter was so known in Israel. As already shown, it is the equivalent of “Yahveh,” or “Jahveh,” now rendered “Jehovah,” and signifies “The Self-existent One,” “The Eternal,” “The First and the Last.” Jewish traditionalism forbade the utterance of the sacred Name; yet Jesus claimed it as His own. In an orgy of self-righteous indignation, the Jews seized upon the stones that lay in the unfinished courts, and would have crushed their Lord, but the hour of His death had not yet come, and unseen of them He passed through the crowd and departed from the temple. His seniority to Abraham plainly referred to the status of each in the antemortal or preexistent state; Jesus was as literally the Firstborn in the spirit-world, as He was the Only Begotten in the flesh. Christ is as truly the Elder Brother of Abraham and Adam as of the last-born child of earth.

- James E. Talmage

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quote icon A Thousand Years of Peace. WE believe . . . that Christ will reign personally upon the earth, and that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. (Articles of Faith, No. 10) … The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to reign personally upon the earth is near at hand, for the Scriptures so attest. Prophecies relating to this impending event specify a period of a thousand years, distinctively known as the Millennium … The Millennium is to be a Sabbatical era, when the earth shall rest; and men, relieved from the tyranny of Satan, shall, if they will, live in righteousness and peace. Man, to whom was given dominion over the earth and its creatures, shall rule by love, for enmity between him and the brute creation shall cease, and the ferocity and venom of the beasts shall be done away … In the era of peace both mortal and immortalized beings will tenant the earth; and though sin will not be wholly abolished nor death banished, the powers of righteousness shall be dominant. Though Satan shall afterward regain a measure of power over mankind, his time will be short and the earth shall eventually be restored to its paradisiacal glory, and become a fit abode for the glorified children of our God and His Christ.

- James E. Talmage

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