Search the scriptures; know personally what Lord says
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After Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath at the pool of Bethesda, Jewish officials in Jerusalem accused Him of breaking the Sabbath. Responding to the religious leaders who sought to apply the letter of the law, Jesus admonished: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." (John 5:39.)
President Marion G. Romney, in an April 1973 meeting of seminary and institute of religion coordinators, spoke of searching the scriptures:"I don't know much about the gospel other than what I've learned from the standard works. When I drink from a spring I like to get the water where it comes out of the ground, not down the stream after the cattle have waded in it. . . .
"I appreciate other people's interpretation, but when it comes to the gospel we ought to be acquainted with what the Lord says. You ought to read . . . all the scriptures with the idea of finding out what's in them and what the meaning is and not to prove some idea of your own. Just read them and plead with the Lord to let you understand what He had in mind when He wrote them." (Quoted by Bishop J. Richard Clarke of the Presiding Bishopric in an October 1982 general conference address.)
The Prophet Joseph Smith counseled: "Search the scriptures - search the revelations which we publish, and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to His glory nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourselves and not for another. You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation. . . . (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 11-12.)
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(ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)
Articles on this page may be used in conjunction with the Gospel Doctrine course of study.
Information compiled by Gerry Avant
Sources: Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith; Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage; and October 1981 and October 1982 general conference reports.
