John Taylor

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Education

John Taylor the third modern day prophet of The Church of Latter-day Saints said the following:

And I wish to say to you further, that if you will go before the Lord in all humility, and ask him for wisdom and intelligence, your prayers will be heard. You are commanded to search after wisdom from the best of books, and also through faith; and I will promise you that diligent study of our own works will place you in possession of a fund of knowledge that you never dreamed of. And then devote your leisure time to the acquisition of such useful knowledge as can be obtained through the schools, and from works on the sciences; but do not be led by their nonsense and skepticism, and false theories. And in doing this, seek earnestly for the Spirit of God to aid you, to enlighten your mind, that you may the better comprehend truth, and be able to discard error. (JD 19:245)

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"Whatever you do, be choice in your selection of teachers. We do not want infidels to mold the minds of our children. They are a precious charge bestowed upon us by the Lord, and we cannot be too careful in rearing and training them. I would rather have my children taught the simple rudiments of a common education by men of God, and have them under their influence, than have them taught in the most abstruse (or complex) sciences by men who have not the fear of God in their hearts.... We need to pay more attention to educational matters, and do all we can to procure the services of competent teachers. Some people say, we cannot afford to pay them. You cannot afford not to employ them. We want our children to grow up intelligently, and to walk abreast with the peoples of any nation. God expects us to do it; and therefore I call attention to this matter. I have heard intelligent practical men say, it is quite as cheap to keep a good horse as a poor one, or to raise good stock as inferior animals. Is it not quite as cheap to raise good intelligent children as to rear children in ignorance?" (page 90-91 from John Taylor 2003 Relief Society Manual)

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"Shall we employ teachers that will turn the infant minds of our children away from the principles of the gospel, and perhaps lead them to darkness and death?" ( Journal of Discourses, vol. 19 p. 249, Oct. 21, 1877.)

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"I would rather have my children taught the simple rudiments of a common education by men of God and have them under their influence, than have them taught in the most abstruse sciences by men who have not the fear of God in their hearts." Journal of Discourses Vol. 24 p 167 May 19 1883

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We want to study also the principles of education, and to get the very best teachers we can to teach our children; see that they are men and women who fear God and keep his commandments. We do not want men or women to teach the children of Latter-day Saints who are not Latter-day Saints themselves. Hear it ye elders of Israel and you school trustees. (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 20, p. 179)

Last update: November, 2006

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