David A. Bednar

You are currently browsing articles tagged David A. Bednar.

No Atonement Except for the Character of Christ

November 10, 2009 in Jesus Christ by Greg | No comments

Last weekend, in an address about the recent Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple Dedication, our stake president referred to a talk by David A. Bednar called “The Character of Christ.”¹ In this talk, Elder Bednar stated:

Last September I participated in an area training meeting in Twin Falls, Idaho. Elder Neal A. Maxwell presided at the training session, and on a Friday night and a Saturday morning he, the Idaho Area Presidency, and other general church officers instructed a group of approximately one hundred stake presidents. It was a meaningful and memorable time of spiritual enrichment, learning, and edification.

During the course of his teaching and testifying, Elder Maxwell made a statement that impressed me deeply and has been the recent focus for much of my studying, reflecting, and pondering. He said, “There would have been no Atonement except for the character of Christ.” Since hearing this straightforward and penetrating statement, I have tried to learn more about and better understand the word “character.” I have also pondered the relationship between Christ’s character and the Atonement–and the implications of that relationship for each of us as disciples. This morning I hope to share with you just a few of the learnings that have come to my mind and heart as I have attempted to more fully appreciate this teaching by Elder Maxwell.

No Atonement Except for the Character of Christ »»

Bednar, David A. “The Character of Christ”. 25 Jan 2003. BYU – Idaho. 8 Nov 2009.↩

David A. Bednar on Proposition 8 Video

October 16, 2008 in Government by Greg | 6 comments

In this video presentation, David A. Bednar¹ discusses Proposition 8 with a group of young adults.

Noteworthy points I especially appreciated included:

“If tolerance is the premise” of the propostion, “then its not a one way tolerance . . . it goes both ways. And people can talk, they can appreciate each other and they can have divergent and very different points of view, and they can still get along. And they can even still love each other.”
A vote against Proposition 8 will essentially create a “tyranny of tolerance”. On its face, a vote against “seems to be tolerant, but it only goes in one direction” and will create “inevitable clashes between religious liberty and free speech.”
A vote against Proposition 8 will likely have “extended ripples over time”. These ripples may include treating “heterosexual marriage and homosexual-marriage . . . on equal footing” in public education and “be infused into the school curricula, and be mandated.”
Happiness “comes in a variety of ways, but all of those ways focus on and lead to the marriage between a man and a woman. And if they are blessed to have children, the rearing and nurturing of those children. That’s what it’s all about.”

From all that I gather, a vote in favor of Proposition 8 will have little to no consequences for its opponents. On the other hand, a vote against Proposition 8 will likely have disastrous consequences on families and future generations of children.

Sources: