Joseph Fielding Smith: Time Will Level All Things

In the October 1952 General Conference, Joseph Fielding Smith, then President of the Council of the Twelve, closed his address by saying the following [1]:

I am going to read to you a statement that I made sometime ago which I think is true, and which is a guide to me and I hope may be to you.

So far as the philosophy and wisdom of the world are concerned, they mean nothing unless they conform to the revealed word of God. Any doctrine, whether it comes in the name of religion, science, philosophy, or whatever it may be, if it is in conflict with the revealed word of the Lord, will fail. It may appear plausible. It may be put before you in language that appeals and which you may not be able to answer. It may appear to be established by evidence that you cannot controvert, but all you need to do is to abide your time. Time will level all things. You will find that every doctrine, every principle, no matter how universally believed, if it is not in accord with the divine word of the Lord to his servants, will perish. Nor is it necessary for us to try to stretch the word of the Lord in a vain attempt to make it conform to these theories and teachings. The word of the Lord shall not pass away unfulfilled, but these false doctrines and theories will all fail. Truth, and only truth, will remain when all else has perished. The Lord has said, "And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come."

In his book, Man, His Origin and Destiny, published less than two years later, President Smith referenced his 1952 talk and quoted the above passage (beginning with, "So far as the philosophy..."). Later that year he wrote a letter to Henry Eyring in response to Eyring's critical review of the book. That letter again referred to the 1952 talk and quoted the same passage, except for the last sentence. More recently, last year's manual Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith included the same passage in Chapter 10, with citation to the 1952 General Conference.

However, as President Smith indicated in introducing the passage, he had used the passage on an unspecified previous occasion. By accident I came upon what may be the origin of the passage, and there is a certain irony about it.

Twenty-two years earlier, Joseph Fielding Smith gave a speech that was published in the October issue of Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine titled, "Faith Leads to a Fulness of Truth and Righteousness." In the speech, he categorically denounced the idea of pre-Adamites and any death on earth before the fall of Adam. He also said,

If members of the Church would place more confidence in the word of the Lord and less confidence in the theories of men, they would be better off. I will give you a key for your guidance. Any doctrine, whether it comes in the name of religion, science, philosophy, or whatever it may be, that is in conflict with the revelations of the Lord that have been accepted by the Church as coming from the Lord, will fail. It may appear to be very plausible: it may be put before you in such a way that you cannot answer it, it may appear to be established by evidence that cannot be controverted, but all you need do is to bide your time. Time will level all things. You will find that every doctrine, theory, principle, no matter how great it may appear; no matter how universally it may be believed, if it is not in accord with the word of the Lord, it will perish. Nor is it necessary for us to try to stretch the word of the Lord to make it conform to these theories and teachings. The word of the Lord shall not pass away unfulfilled. [italics in original]

It was this speech, which was a response to B.H. Roberts and his embargoed book manuscript, The Way, the Truth, the Life, that led President Heber J. Grant in 1931 to declare to the General Authorities that the Church had no doctrine on pre-Adamites (for or against), and enjoined them to cease discussion of the matter. Except...President Grant did authorize Elder James E. Talmage to give (and publish) a speech of his own titled, "The Earth and Man," which was intended as a balance to Smith's speech [2].

President Smith's advice is fine as far as it goes. The irony is that it appears to have been first advanced in a speech that precipitated a controversy among his fellow leaders about what the word of the Lord actually meant.


Notes:

1. Conference Report, Oct. 1952, 60

2. The story of this controversy is told here and here.

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