Tag Archives: Ezra Taft Benson

From the Bottom Looking Up

Ezra Taft Benson taught us a great deal on the topic of pride, especially helping us recognize it’s prevalence. He taught,

“Most of us consider pride to be a sin of those on the top, such as the rich and the learned, looking down at the rest of us. (See 2 Ne. 9:42.) There is, however, a far more common ailment among us—and that is pride from the bottom looking up. It is manifest in so many ways, such as faultfinding, gossiping, backbiting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, and being unforgiving and jealous.”

“Beware of Pride”
April 1989 General Conference

Worthy Fathers, Worthy Sons

Ezra Taft Benson taught,

“Why did righteous fathers in the Book of Mormon go to so much trouble to teach their sons the word of God? King Benjamin said it was to fulfill the commandments of God. (See Mosiah 1:4.) He further stated that were it not for their having the brass plates which contained the commandments, they would have “suffered in ignorance.” ( Mosiah 1:3.) Could the lack of teaching the scriptures in our homes be a source of our suffering in ignorance today?”

“Worthy Fathers, Worthy Sons”
October 1985 General Conference

Christ Takes the Slums Out of People`

Ezra Taft Benson taught,

The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature…Yes, Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world. Men changed for Christ will be captained in Christ…Finally, men captained by Christ will be consumed in Christ. To paraphrase President Harold B. Lee, they set fire in others because they are on fire. Their will is swallowed up in his will. They do always those things that please the Lord. Not only would they die for the Lord, but more importantly they want to live for him. Enter their homes, and the pictures on their walls, the books on their shelves, the music in the air, their words and acts reveal them as Christians. They stand as witnesses of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places…When we awake and are born of God, a new day will break and Zion will be redeemed.

(Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, October 1985, pp. 5-6)

Waiting, A Trial of Life

Ezra Taft Benson taught,

“One of the trials of life is that we do not usually receive immediately the full blessing for righteousness or the full cursing for wickedness. That it will come is certain, but often times there is a waiting period that occurs, as was the case with Job and Joseph. In the meantime the wicked think they are getting away with something. The Book of Mormon teaches that the wicked “have joy in their works for a season, but by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return.”

(President Benson, CR, April 1988, p. 5)

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Handling Objections

President Ezra Taft Benson taught,

All objections, whether they be on abortion, plural marriage, seventh-day worship, etc., basically hinge on whether Joseph Smith and his successors were and are prophets of God receiving divine revelation. Here, then, is a procedure to handle most objections through the use of the Book of Mormon.

First, understand the objection.

Second, give the answer from revelation.

Third, show how the correctness of the answer really depends on whether or not we have modern revelation through modern prophets.

Fourth, explain that whether or not we have modern prophets and revelation really depends on whether the Book of Mormon is true.

Therefore, the only problem the objector has to resolve for himself is whether the Book of Mormon is true. For if the Book of Mormon is true, then Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was His prophet, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and it is being led today by a prophet receiving revelation.

“The Book of Mormon is the Word of God,” First Presidency Message, January 1988