What of spiritual values and the religious ideals of past generations, which have been the great stabilizing influence on society? Modern thinkers claim these have been the great deterrents to man in the freedoms he now seeks. There is a great effort on the part of so-called modernists to change religious beliefs and teachings of the past to conform to modern thought and critical research. They de-emphasize the teachings of the Bible by modern critical methods and deny that scripture is inspired. The modernist teaches that Christ is not the Son of God. He denies the doctrine of the atoning sacrifice by which all men may be saved. He denies the fact of the resurrection of the Savior of the world and relegates him to the status of a teacher of ethics. Where, then, is hope? What has become of faith?
There are those who declare it is old-fashioned to believe in the Bible. Is it old-fashioned to believe in God, in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God? Is it old-fashioned to believe in his atoning sacrifice and the resurrection? If it is, I declare myself to be old-fashioned and the Church is old-fashioned. In great simplicity the Master taught the principles of life eternal and lessons that bring happiness to those with the faith to believe. It doesn't seem reasonable to assume the necessity of modernizing these teachings of the Master. His message concerned principles that are eternal. Following these principles, millions of persons have found rich religious experiences in their lives. People of today's world are seeking a meaningful purpose in life, and thousands are seeking a religious experience that is meaningful. Can such an experience be found in meditation only, or by a seance? Can a meaningful experience be found in trips with drugs or in love-ins? Such an attempt is to go through the back, the side door, or over the wall, not through the way pointed out by the Lord. ("Where, Then, Is Hope?" Improvement Era, December 1970, pp. 115-116)
This gospel imperative expresses the very nature of Church education. The doctrine of making hearers into doers of the world extends to the point at which we believe that what we know and do in the gospel needs to become ingrained into the very nature of our being. Nels L. Nelson expressed this gospel imperative in one of his books defining the Mormon concept of education: "The only kind of education which squares with the ideals of Mormonism is that which trains a man to do. If it be asked, to do what, the answer is, to do the things that need to be done . . .True education is therefore training a man to do his part in the social world . . . "Knowledge is only half of intelligence. To stop here is to be falsely educated. If, however, the truth perceived becomes a dynamic fact in a man's character; if it is incorporated into his mental attitude, and reacts immediately upon his life; if, in short, it ceases to be something in a man, and becomes the man himself, changing the very . . . [character] of his soul, then knowledge has passed over into power--or character--or wisdom--or, to adopt the term used by Joseph Smith, has passed over into intelligence, and it is such a process alone that represents true education." (Scientific Aspects of Mormonism [New York and London; G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1904], 151-52.) (p. 134)
Hunter, Howard W. That We Might Have Joy. Salt Lake: Deseret, 1994.