Neal A. Maxwell

You are currently browsing articles tagged Neal A. Maxwell.

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:

The Temptation of Christ by Ary Scheffer 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.

Continue reading No Atonement Except for the Character of Christ »»

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

Ann Madsen – Leading Our Children to the Temple

August 17, 2009 in Temple by Greg | 1 comment

Dr. Ann Madsen, a senior lecturer in Ancient Scripture at Brigham Young University, gave a talk entitled “Come Ye, and Let Us Walk in the Light of the Lord – Leading Our Children to the Temple” at the 2004 BYU Family Expo Conference. The following is a synopsis of her talk:

Ann Madsen I asked our grown married children, “Why do you love the temple? How did we prepare you to do that?” Their answers could be summed up, “You would come home from the temple all aglow, and we could feel it.”

Orson Pratt gives us a wonderful vision of the light we bring home from the temple: “In the latter days there will be a people so pure in Mount Zion . . . that God will manifest himself, not only in their Temple . . . but when they retire to their [homes], behold each [home] will be lighted up by the glory of God, a pillar of flaming fire by night.”1

I heard Elder Russell M. Nelson say recently, “Children understand that they have a Heavenly Father. They need to be taught that the temple is the way to return to Him.”

In 1893, at the time of the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple, Elder Franklin D. Richards said: “The Temple is full of Divine telegrams. The blessings of heaven are treasured up there, and these temples are the great repositories of eternal life, glory, honor and immortality, waiting for the children of God to come up and bring their offerings of broken hearts and contrite spirits, and draw upon those treasures.”2

Continue reading Ann Madsen - Leading Our Children to the Temple »»

  1. Journal of Discourses. 16:36.↩
  2. Richards, Franklin D. Collected Discourses. 1893. Vol. 3.↩

China, Russia, and Fascism

January 25, 2009 in Fascism by Greg | 6 comments

Last week, I came across a couple of articles on China, Russia, and Fascism. I thought each one was well-written and important enough to add a short note to our blog.

China and Russia’s View of the United States

The first excerpt comes from The Richter Report and is reminiscent of Neal A. Maxwell’s statement that someday there will come a “gigantic, global collapse” as quoted in Pride and Selfishness:

The reckless expansion of credit and debt has been at the heart of all great depressions throughout history. However, our American politicians and “mainstream” economists believe that debt-spending is the key to economic recovery. That is why the perspective of  outside observers can be very helpful.

Chinese Flag A recent article published in the China Business News sent yet another warning shot in the direction  of the United States. The article would not have seen the light of day had it not been approved for publication by the Chinese government. The author, Xiang Songruo, a professor at Central China University, said that America  must “repay its debts” and “lead a more frugal life.” In the event that the United States asked China to buy more of its debts, the professor suggested that China should demand the following conditions:

1) The U.S. should cancel the limits on high-tech exports to China and allow China to acquire advanced technology and high-tech companies from the U.S.; 2) The U.S. needs to open its financial system to Chinese financial institutions, allowing all Chinese firms to open branches and develop business in the U.S.; 3) The U.S. should not prevent Europe from cancelling the ban against selling weapons to China; 4) The U.S. should stop selling military weapons to Taiwan; 5) The U.S. should loosen its limits on numbers of Chinese tourists and allow them to travel freely in the U.S.; and, 6) The U.S. should never restrain China’s exports to the U.S. and force renminbi appreciation in the name of domestic protectionism and employment.

And if we don’t do what China wants us to do? “Then China’s choice is quite simple: rationally adjust the structure of its foreign currency reserve assets and avoid the risk of U.S. national debt according to market rules.” Translation? You people are broke. We are going to make the rules from now on. If you don’t do what we want, we will dump all our US dollar foreign currency reserves and crash your economy even worse than it has already crashed.

Continue reading China, Russia, and Fascism »»

Prop 8 and Neal A. Maxwell

December 5, 2008 in Government by Greg | 1 comment

During the course of debate leading up to Prop 8, an email containing a reference to a talk by Neal A. Maxwell made its rounds among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and others. Many felt this talk which was given in 1978 – “Meeting the Challenges of Today” - was prophetic given the debate over Proposition 8. Perhaps one of the reasons many felt that Elder Maxwell’s talk adumbrative is because his message is directly applicable to the present debate.

YouTube Preview Image

Here is an excerpt of Elder Maxwell’s talk from which Seth Adam Smith’s masterful video was taken:

Discipleship includes good citizenship; and in this connection, if you are careful students of the statements of the modern prophets, you will have noticed that with rare exceptions–especially when the First Presidency has spoken out–the concerns expressed have been over moral issues, not issues between political parties. The declarations are about principles, not people, and causes, not candidates. On occasions, at other levels in the Church, a few have not been so discreet, so wise, or so inspired.

But make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters; in the months and years ahead, events will require of each member that he or she decide whether or not he or she will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions (see 1 Kings 18:21).

President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had “never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional, or political life” (CR, April 1941, p. 123). This is a hard doctrine, but it is a particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ.

We are now entering a period of incredible ironies. Let us cite but one of these ironies which is yet in its subtle stages: we shall see in our time a maximum if indirect effort made to establish irreligion as the state religion. It is actually a new form of paganism that uses the carefully preserved and cultivated freedoms of Western civilization to shrink freedom even as it rejects the value essence of our rich Judeo-Christian heritage.

Continue reading Prop 8 and Neal A. Maxwell »»

Pride and Selfishness

October 20, 2008 in Religion by Greg | No comments

I found this quote a few years ago by Neal A. Maxwell1 who warned about the dangers of pride and selfishness. I had never thought of the fall of the “great and spacious building” in Lehi’s dream as a “gigantic, global collapse”.

I don’t know if this will occur in the next year – or in the next 100 years – given recent events. But it appears that at some point in the future, a global collapse will occur.

Neal A. MaxwellScriptural warnings often couple pride and selfishness. (See, for example, D&C 56:8.) Pride can be characteristic of a whole race and will cause one of the hingepoint happenings in human history. As far as the spread of the gospel is concerned, the time will come when the Lord will take His gospel elsewhere from the proud and resistant Gentiles. He told the Nephites: “At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.” (3 Nephi 16:10.)

Before the millennial time when the arrogancy of the proud will cease, the Gentiles will be in a circumstance of “great pride, unto boasting, and unto great swelling, envyings, strifes, malice, persecutions, and murders, and all manner of iniquities.” (Helaman 13:22.)

The gigantic, global collapse that is yet to come will not be that of a failing stock market, but the fall of hardened mind-sets and collective pride when it all finally tumbles. Nephi testified: “It came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Thus shall be the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (1 Nephi 11:36.)2

Sources:

  1. Elder Neal A. Maxwell served as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from July 1981 to his death in 2004. He is widely known for his unique gift of speech and writing.↩
  2. Maxwell, Neal A. Meek and Lowly. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1994. 53.↩