“Natural man, with all of his new and wonderful
but as yet unbridled and unregenerated potential,
must be made ‘submissive’ to the Holy Spirit, a
spirit that still entices and lifts us upward.... Our
deepest desires, our premortal yearnings, are still
divine in their origins, and they are still deep in our
souls. The echoes of our earlier innocence still
reverberate, and the light that forsakes the evil one
still shines. Our hearts can—and in their purity,
do—desire that which is spiritual and holy rather
than that which is ‘carnal, sensual, and devilish.’ If
that were not so, we would be in a hopeless condition
indeed, and the idea of real choice would be
jeopardized forever. We praise God our Father that
our true heritage is of him and that by yielding and
submitting to his eternal influence we can overcome
the enmity which separated us from him and turn
those gifts from nature to our blessing rather than
our cursing” (Christ and the New Covenant,205–7).
Elder Merrill J. Bateman
“The scriptures state that men and women are created
in the image of God (see Genesis 1:26–27, Abraham
4:27–28). Both women and men have within them
the attributes of divinity, and both are blessed as
they fulfill their divine callings. The apostle Peter
and King Benjamin indicate that we partake of the
divine nature through Christ’s atonement aided by
the Holy Ghost (see 2 Peter 1:3–8, Mosiah 3:19). It
is interesting to observe the similarity of the fruits
of the Spirit to the divine seeds inherited from
Heavenly Parents (see Galatians 5:21–22, 2 Peter
1:3–8). Since ‘light cleaveth unto light’ and Spirit
to spirit, the Holy Ghost is able to quicken us by a
portion of light that causes the divine seeds within
to bud and to flower (D&C 88:29, 40). The degree
of light and the extent to which the attributes
flourish is a function of how well women and men
bridle their passions and are obedient to divine
principles” (“The Eternal Family,” 112–13).
Elder J. Richard Clarke
“Throughout the ages, evil forces have attacked the
family. Why do you suppose Satan is so obsessed
with its dissolution? Because it stands for everything
he wants and cannot have. He cannot be a husband,
a father, or a grandfather. He cannot have posterity
now or ever. Satan cannot even keep those he has
led away from God. He has no eternal kingdom or
inheritance” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1989, 74;
or Ensign,May 1989, 60).
OUR FADING CIVILITY
President Gordon B. Hinckley
President of the Church
Brigham Young University
commencement and
inauguration ceremony,
25 Apr. 1996Your secular education is designed to give you an
improved opportunity in the great marketplace of
the world. You, in most cases, will be compensated
according to the value society places upon your skills.
But, as you have been told before, there should be,
there must be, another side to the coin you carry
with you from BYU. President David O. McKay,
who for many years served as chairman of the
Board of Trustees, once said:
“True education does not consist merely in the
acquiring of a few facts of science, history, literature
or art, but in the development of character. True
education awakens a desire to conserve health by
keeping the body clean and undefiled. True education
trains in self denial and self mastery. True education
regulates the temper, subdues passion and makes
obedience to social laws and moral order a guiding
principle of life. It develops reason and inculcates
faith in the living God as the Eternal Father of all”
(Conference Report,April 1928, 102)....
In your studies many of you have chronicled the
march of civilization. It has been a truly remarkable
odyssey as through the centuries society has made
progress as people have lived together in communities
with respect and concern one for another. This is
the hallmark of civilization. And yet at times we
wonder how much progress we have really made.
This century which now draws to a close has
witnessed more wars and more death and suffering
than any other century in human history....
Civility and mutual respect seem to have disappeared
as people kill one another over ethnic differences.
But civility also appears to be fading much closer
to home. Civility covers a host of matters in the
relationships among human beings. Its presence is
described in such terms as “good manners” and
“good breeding.” But everywhere about us we see
the opposite....TEMPTATIONS OFSATANAND THENATURALMAN 331