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Quotes from BYU Faculty Members

Jae R. Ballif

Ballif, Jae R. "Wisdom and Charity." Address given at the Annual University Conference, Brigham Young University, August 1980, pp. 20-25.

As truth is revealed to the soul on any subject, it becomes necessary to change, or repent, to change the way we think and feel and act until what we do is more in harmony with the truth and with God. The advantage and value of one's faith and effort that bring forth deeper understanding are not realized until that actual change has been accomplished. So the simple law of the gospel that has worked in all ages will continue to provide us the opportunity to develop and approach perfection. (p. 22)

. . .

To know God is to be like him. One cannot have a close personal relationship with the savior in an enduring way until he has acquired an understanding of truth and a capacity for love like the Savior's. No other faculty, no other institution, in the world has such an ambitious view of life. We cannot be satisfied with just being good. We must become perfect. (p. 22)

Lewis M. Bastain

Bastain, Lewis M. "The Sure Foundation Laid by the Prophet Joseph Smith." Proceedings of the Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1991), pp. 25-30.

We all take pride, I believe, in the motto of BYU, "The Glory of God Is Intelligence." How often have we considered its meaning in its true context? We turn to Doctrine and Covenants 93, verse 36, and read: "The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth." We read in verse 37: "Light and truth forsake that evil one." It seems that the primary function of intelligence is not scholarship in its various manifestations but rather moral and spiritual advance. Verse 38 assures that we started out innocent in our pre-earth beginning and warns us that as we grow to the age of accountability, "the wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth." That is, Satan diminishes our intelligence and leads toward darkness and error as he increases our stupidity (the opposite of intelligence) in two principal ways--first, by tempting us to disobey the light--that sense of right--that is given to every one of us as we come into this world (see D&C 84:46); and, second, and I believe of great educational significance, by binding us to "the tradition of [our] fathers." (D&C 93:39) I believe that this verse enjoins us to make the most careful and critical scrutiny of our tradition, our cultural heritage, and--especially for us who teach--our educational heritage. (p. 28)

Todd A. Britsch

Britsch, Todd A. "Excellence, Charity, and the University." Address given at the Annual University Conference, Brigham Young University, August 1994, pp. 19-25.

I have returned to the conviction that for BYU to be excellent, it must first be good. That is, that we will never maintain or improve any important standard of academic achievement if we do not first attain the Lord's standards of virtue. This also implies that we must do what would be shocking to many other institutions: acknowledge the Lord's hand in all of our accomplishments. Ultimately, I am convinced that our value as a university is dependent on our capacity to live together in charity. (p. 20)

. . .

Although some of the greatest scholars in my experience were people of profound kindness and humility, such virtues are not generally associated with the best-known institutions of higher education. But I believe that if BYU is to become excellent it must be the Lord's, and that if BYU is to be the Lord's we must be that in his own way. I am convinced that even if we had unlimited resources we could not go out and purchase the excellence that the Lord wants. Instead, I believe that he would wish us to become great by becoming one in charity. In saying this I do not wish to imply the slightest diminution of rigor. Discipleship demands discipline, and I fear that too often when we talk of not doing something the world's way we are really asking to be evaluated by some lower standard. But despite this caveat, I believe that our excellence will closely parallel our capacity to develop charitable relations with our students and colleagues. (p. 20)

. . .

I have been able to identify a few units whose successes clearly exceed the sum of their individual parts. Faculty of these departments, because of their concern for each other and for their students, often subordinate personal desire to the good of the whole. Their scholarship is often collaborative; when not, it is frequently focused on topics that will contribute to the department's areas of emphasis or curriculum. They don't complain when a good, streamlined set of requirements does not include a course that matches their dissertation topic. They nominate their colleagues for awards and are genuinely delighted by the successes of others. They counsel at length with their students. They feel comfortable praying about hiring decisions or expressing their deepest religious beliefs to each other. They attend forums and devotionals, college and university lectures, and honor their students at commencement and convocation exercises. They read each other's work and make helpful suggestions. In short, they have learned to live in charity. But remarkably, this charity has given their units such a high degree of excellence that it can be recognized by those who would never understand its origins. I invite you to think about your own relations to your colleagues and academic units and how greater charity might help you develop a higher degree of excellence. (pp. 20-21)

. . .

Like many of you, I longed for the time that circumstances would be such that my son [who died a year earlier] could enroll at BYU. It was here that I wanted him to learn the beauty of mathematical formulae. It was at BYU that I hoped he could develop a profound understanding of the scriptures. It was from you that I wanted him to study humanities, biology, the fine arts, sociology, and all of the other wonderful things we get to deal with every day. I believed that his whole life could be changed if he could be a student here. . . .

Now when I look across the campus, I see tens of thousands of students whose parents' wishes are much the same as mine. They see in BYU the one place where their children's eternal education can take place. I hope that we will never take casually the extraordinary faith they place in us. (p. 25)

Britsch, Todd A. "Building a Whole University." Address given at the Annual University Conference, Brigham Young University, August 1995, pp. 45-52.

Surveys of our alumni and current students show that they chose BYU more for its LDS environment and potential for strengthening their faith than for any other reason. And their response to the spiritual environment here is overwhelmingly affirmative. They feel very good about religion classes and such experiences as devotionals and firesides. If there is an area in which they might wish greater emphasis on the gospel and on spiritual matters, it is in the courses offered as part of their academic major.

A few years ago I was invited to have lunch with a number of Ezra Taft Benson scholars. During our conversation, I asked them if anything had surprised them about BYU. I expected that at least some of them would say that it had been more difficult than they had expected. Instead, they answered, almost to a person, that they had expected more discussion of the gospel in their nonreligion classes. I do not relate this story to be critical; indeed, I believe that the integration of all truths achieved by this faculty is remarkable. What I do mean to say is that we need feel no embarrassment about fulfilling our aim to be spiritually strengthening in all of our courses. Our students expect it and desire it. (p. 49)

Cheryl Brown

Brown, Cheryl. "Bright Minds and Broken Hearts." Devotional Address given at BYU, January 28, 1997.

Marden J. Clark

Clark, Marden J. "On the Mormon Commitment to Education." Dialogue 7(4), Winter 1972, pp. 11-19.

As with the learning of man so with the intellect of man, when it conflicts with God's knowledge or God's will or man's spirituality or even simple humility, it can lead man astray. But finally I refuse the dichotomy. Intellect and spirit may somehow be separate entities within us. They are certainly words to describe differing and sometimes opposing experiences or activities. But I refuse the usual picture of them as in fundamental conflict. I refuse it on empirical grounds because I cannot find the dichotomy in my own experience of either the spiritual or the intellectual. My most significant experiences have involved such a fusing of the spiritual, the artistic, the intellectual, even the physical, that no dissecting could separate them. I refuse it on religious grounds because I have to believe in the organic integrity of God's highest creation. Man is, or can be and strives to be, one. One with himself and, through the atonement, one with God. And one not merely by denying the body or the intellect or the will in favor of the soul or the spirit. All these can and must work together in the highest service of man--and of God. At least this much is implied in our commonly proclaimed goal in education: "the whole man." (p. 19)

Clark, Marden J. "On the Mormon Commitment to Education." Dialogue 7(4), Winter 1972, pp. 11-19.

As with the learning of man so with the intellect of man, when it conflicts with God's knowledge or God's will or man's spirituality or even simple humility, it can lead man astray. But finally I refuse the dichotomy. Intellect and spirit may somehow be separate entities within us. They are certainly words to describe differing and sometimes opposing experiences or activities. But I refuse the usual picture of them as in fundamental conflict. I refuse it on empirical grounds because I cannot find the dichotomy in my own experience of either the spiritual or the intellectual. My most significant experiences have involved such a fusing of the spiritual, the artistic, the intellectual, even the physical, that no dissecting could separate them. I refuse it on religious grounds because I have to believe in the organic integrity of God's highest creation. Man is, or can be and strives to be, one. One with himself and, through the atonement, one with God. And one not merely by denying the body or the intellect or the will in favor of the soul or the spirit. All these can and must work together in the highest service of man--and of God. At least this much is implied in our commonly proclaimed goal in education: "the whole man." (p. 19)

Paul Alan Cox

Cox, Paul Alan. "Seeing with New Eyes." BYU Devotional address, Brigham Young University, October 10, 1995.

We do not typically have access to a complete view of reality. But if we candidly acknowledge our limitations, and then humbly seek the Lord's assistance, He can broaden our vision. Let me give four examples where such broadened vision can assist us in our studies.

1. Submission to Authority

Authority is a very important issue in scholarly work. As you write term papers, you need to consult books and articles. Soon, however, you learn that not all written materials are of equal authority. An article clipped from a tabloid paper purchased at the grocery store carries far less weight than an article written by a recognized scholar in a peer-reviewed journal. While we week to cultivate gifted scholars at BYU, we realize that other virtues should be developed to complement scholarly gifts. As Elder Maxwell warns in the new book On Becoming a Disciple-Scholar, "Genius without meekness is not enough to qualify for discipleship."

At BYU we have access to a different type of authority. While we respect renowned scholars because of what they know, we pay even greater respect to the Lord's servants because of who called them. . . . (pp. 4-5)

2. Waiting Upon the Lord

The second way that spiritual enlightenment can help us in our academic work is by teaching us to wait upon the Lord. In this age of the Internet and the World Wide Web, we might become frustrated when requested inspiration does not come as quickly as we might wish. In our studies and in our life, we need to learn to humbly wait upon the Lord. . . . (p. 6)

3. Seek for the Beautiful

Great works from Bacchus by Euripides to MacBeth by Shakespeare properly demonstrate the deleterious consequences of evil. But I reject arguments that a higher sense of morality can be approached by portraying an explicit taxonomy of rape and carnage in films and books. . . .

Like most members of the Church, I believe that "if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, we [should] seek after those things." . . . (p. 8)

4. Mechanism and the Role of God in the Universe

For some scholars, I fear, limited mortal vision causes them to believe that mechanistic descriptions of the universe leave no room for God. Most people, when they see a beautiful sunset, or a delicate flower, sense the loving hand of the Creator. Sometimes, however, university students who learn the physical mechanisms involved in the colors of the sunset, or the unfolding of a flower come to believe that the role of God in their lives has been lessened. A panoramic vision of reality would teach us that nothing could be further from the truth. . . . That science which most increases our perception of beauty, I believe, best advances our understanding of the universe. . . . To a disciple, studies in botany or astrophysics do not weaken faith, but instead increase admiration and love for the Creator. . . . (p. 9)

A. Garr Cranney

Cranney, A. Garr. "Laying the Foundations: A Personal Narrative and Witness." Proceedings of the Second Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1992), pp. 67-74.

It has since occurred to me how much I would have benefited if someone had guided me through all this in the first year of my BYU employment. Those who accept employment here should know the historical heritage of the university, especially the words of the prophets and many others who have spoken about what this university is, why it exists, and what it should be doing. Since orientation courses for new faculty are common in American universities, I would recommend something of this order be done on our own campus. Many will think, as did I, they already know it, but they will find they do not. They have been too long in the secular libraries of their disciplines, and despite their loyalty to the Church, they will be largely unaware of the divine detail and specific direction of the words of our prophets on education. I believe we all should spend more time in this library of the Lord. (p. 70)

K. Newell Dayley

Dayley, K. Newell. "And Also By Faith." BYU 1993-94 Devotional and Fireside Speeches. BYU University Publications, 1994, pp. 75-84.

To seek learning by faith is to qualify to learn under the influence of the Holy Ghost. Though the way we must qualify is clear, it is not easy. Constant awareness, personal discipline, a willingness to change and grow, and humility must replace pride, behavioral rigidity, weakness of character, and a casual approach to life. Phrased in the vernacular, we must be willing to "walk the talk." (p. 79)

. . .

In an institutional environment, surrounded by power structures of our own making, one may succumb to temptations of a . . . subtle nature. Intellectual pride can replace honest inquiry, especially if praise becomes a subconscious objective. Contention, so destructive of spiritual means, may be easily justified as an essential learning behavior--a method of keeping others honest even if it might require us to sometimes be dishonest. Gratitude may be replaced by expectations of adulation and comfortable support. A focus on personal accomplishment, excellence, or professional advancement may replace a desire to serve the needs of others. In these and a number of other ways we may distance ourselves from our Father in Heaven and his ways and slowly, almost imperceptibly, become hard in our hearts. When this condition exists, learning by faith is no longer possible. (p. 83)

Eugene England

England, Eugene. "Great Books or True Religion: Defining the Mormon Scholar." Phi Kappa Phi Initiation Banquet, Brigham Young University, March 27, 1975.

You must develop your own vision of what, as an intellectual, your contribution to the Kingdom might be, of how you might love the Lord as he commanded--with all your mind, as well as your heart, might, and strength. You must develop your own style and your own standards, not with arrogant indifference to the standards and resources of the Western intellectual tradition which has helped form you, but with the courage to go creatively beyond that tradition in finding a way to be properly loyal to your special gifts and to the Church and the Restored Gospel. Let me read you one remarkable manifesto for Mormon intellectuals, one with which some of you are familiar and which I think ought to inspire and give some direction to us all. This is B. H. Roberts, member of the First Council of Seventy, writing in 1906 in an interesting context: in creating a course of study for the Church's Seventies, he had proposed a new and more naturalistic understanding of the manner in which Joseph Smith may have used divine instruments--the Urim and Thummim, etc.--in translating the Book of Mormon. He received many letters challenging or agreeing with his theory and a lively exchange with his critics was printed in the Improvement Era. The following appears near the end of one of his responses:

I believe "Mormonism" affords opportunity . . . for thoughtful disciples who will not be content with merely repeating some of its truths, but will develop its truths; and enlarge it by that development. Not half--not one-hundredth part--not a thousandth part of that which Joseph Smith revealed to the Church has yet been unfolded, either to the Church or to the world. The work of the expounder has scarcely begun. The Prophet planted by teaching the germ-truths of the great dispensation of the fullness of times. The watering and the weeding is going on, and God is giving the increase, and will give it more abundantly in the future as more intelligent discipleship shall obtain. The disciples of "Mormonism," growing discontented with the necessarily primitive methods which have hitherto prevailed in sustaining the doctrine, will yet take profounder and broader views of the great doctrines committed to the Church; and, departing from mere repetition, will cast them in new formulas; cooperating in the works of the Spirit, until they help to give to the truths received a more forceful expression, and carry it beyond the earlier and cruder stages of its development.

Neil J. Flinders

Flinders, Neil J. "Establish 'Schools Pleasing Unto Me.'" Proceedings of the Second Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1992), pp. 139-150.

Flinders, Neil J. "Scholarship and the Latter-day Saints: Hubris or Humility?" Proceedings of the Third Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1993), pp. 103-111.

Jon D. Green

Green, Jon D. "Zion and Technology: A Not-So-Distant View." BYU Devotional Address. May 7, 1996. Full Text.

Bruce C. Hafen

Hafen, Bruce C. "Linger Awhile, Thou Art So Fair': Thoughts on the Value of Teachers." BYU Today, November, 1989, pp. 51-56.

It would enhance our sense of being needed to note some recent developments that have thrust BYU onto the national and world stage. During the past generation, American society (including American higher education) has experienced a profound rattling of its own moral foundations and its sense of both control and direction. During this same time, student quality and the quality of faculty research and teaching at BYU have increased dramatically. These two apparently unrelated developments have brought the world's needs and our capacities closer together than they have ever been before. One might even ask of the faculty and students at BYU today what Mordecai of old asked the heroic Esther: "Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (p. 54)

. . .

In the far away professional places where I have been in recent years, I sense a growing curiosity and at times even a veiled hunger to understand what accounts for our increasing strength in a time of apparent weakness in the surrounding culture. This is not the time for a detailed account of the mounting evidence I see, even in my own discipline, but whether in a conference on children at Harvard Law School, a visit with a distinguished physician from Beijing or a supreme court judge in East Berlin, an interdisciplinary conference on the future of American family life at Stanford, or a conversation with a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court about lawyers' ethical foundations, I sense a new national and international appreciation for what BYU has to offer, and I believe this phenomenon is only in it beginning stages. Increasingly we will see disillusioned people come to the tops of these mountains and say, teach us your ways. Some of them will add--and please hurry. (pp. 54-55)

. . .

As Oliver Wendell Holmes said . . . we must share the action and the passion of our times at the peril of being judged not to have lived. What this faculty has to give has never been so needed. Fortunately, we have never been so ready to give. Even then, we have barely begun to prepare as thoroughly as the needs of the times will require. Who knoweth, whether thou art come to the kingdom for just such a time as this? (p. 55)

Hafen, Bruce C. "All Those Books and the Spirit Too!" Address given at the Annual University Conference, Brigham Young University, August 1991, pp. 1-7.

All BYU faculty and staff must seek to integrate the gospel and its teachings into everything we do. We must all be truly bilingual, speaking fluently both the language of our disciplines and the language of the scriptures, yet our priorities are clear: our professional credentials may have earned us passports to Athens, but our citizenship must always remain in Jerusalem. (p. 2)

. . .

Thomas O'Dea postulated that authentic religion and genuine intellectual inquiry simply may not be compatible. As our increasingly bright students struggle with that challenge, they will find their best resolution not in abstract debates, but in the lives of their teachers, their campus job supervisors, or the leaders in their student wards. BYU offers something the institutes of religion cannot fully offer: LDS professionals highly trained in all the major fields who have worked through the O'Dea issues with wonderfully productive outcomes. This makes BYU the ideal place for the Church's most promising young people to be tutored by role models who have achieved professional and religious harmony. Please let our students get to know your hearts as well as your minds. Share with them, build them. Reach out to touch them. Reach out to teach them.

No one at BYU is making a more significant contribution than those of you whose thoughts and example reach the hearts of BYU students in ways that stir them to a sense of the sacred. As one of Merlin Myers' students said recently at Merlin's funeral, "What was that feeling we sensed at times in his anthropology classes? It was not like sacrament meeting--it was almost like the temple because he made us forever conscious of the difference between the sacred and the profane." The parents of these young men and women send them here for that very purpose. Many of those parents are on their knees every night, praying that you will touch their hearts. Thank God, literally, so many of you do. Many, many people in the permanent BYU community take the spiritual mission of this school with utmost seriousness. Whether in the boiler room, a dormitory, a counseling session, a faculty office, or a student ward, you work, you fast, and you pray for our students and for the rest of us. (p. 2)

Hafen, Bruce C. "The Dream is Ours to Fulfill." BYU Studies 32(3), 1992, pp. 11-25.

We have been too reticent about the place of religion in academic life at BYU. In Marilyn Arnold's words,

The committee [on academic long-range planning] could not help wondering why, given the Board's makeup and concerns and the religious devotion of nearly all members of the campus community, this matter had not been widely and vigorously discussed before. Perhaps BYU is just now reaching the maturity that allows it to move, in its quest for academic legitimacy, beyond defensiveness and imitation of established institutions. Of course, we must not relax our efforts at academic excellence, but it is time for us also to become more fully the institution envisioned by the prophets. (p. 13)

. . .

Each of us . . . could recount our personal confrontations between sacred and secular systems of thought. My struggles were typical. I yearned to know if religious literalism is compatible with a fully breathing, stretching life of the mind. I found that the best resolution of the faith versus reason dilemmas, better than any book or argument of abstract reasoning, is the example of faithful and competent teachers in my own discipline--one of whom was Dallin Oaks--who have answered my questions with their lives. For a generation of LDS scientists, that role model was Henry Eyring. For many LDS doctors, it is Russell Nelson. To know teachers such as these is to be set free from the burden--sometimes the agony--of wondering whether serious religious belief and serious professional or academic commitments can fill the same heart at the same time. (p. 15)

. . .

It isn't enough just to ask that BYU personnel avoid damaging students' religious faith in the ways described by our new academic freedom statement. When we go beyond that minimal threshold to ask whether someone has contributed enough in citizenship, teaching, and scholarship to warrant continuing faculty status or other special recognition, we look for extensive fulfillment of BYU's aspirations, not merely the absence of serious harm. The University's new policy on advancement and continuing status describes this approach.

It also matters how job applicants see these issues. I well remember interviewing two well-trained applicants for the same position one day. When I asked how each one felt about the Church influence here, one said, "Oh, the Church is no problem for me--I've learned not to let it get to me." The other said, "The Church and the gospel are my whole life. That is why coming to work at BYU is my lifelong dream." The vast attitudinal difference between these people was, and should be, a major factor in deciding whom to hire. We aren't looking for people who merely tolerate our environment or who will try not to harm it; we seek believing, thoughtful people for whom this is the freest intellectual and spiritual environment in the world. (p. 21)

. . .

In the twenty-one years since I joined the BYU faculty, I have watched the faculty, the staff, and the students of this University take an astonishing leap in the quality of their teaching, learning, and scholarship. I can bear firsthand witness that BYU's recent emergence onto the national and international stage is winning, in many circles, the honest and deserved admiration of a society desperate for educational leadership because of that society's moral decay and intellectual confusion. And this leadership role is being thrust upon the University not in spite of its lifeline to the Church, but precisely because of it. (p. 24)

Hafen, Bruce C. "Teach Ye Diligently and My Grace Shall Attend You." Address given at the Annual University Conference, Brigham Young University, August 1993, pp. 1-11.

The university's dual heritage gives us membership in and allegiance to two different worlds--the world of higher education and the world of the Church.

Imagine two circles, side by side, representing those two worlds. Color the higher education circle red, and color the Church circle blue. Bring the two circles toward each other until they overlap somewhat. Color the overlap area purple, the color resulting from mixing blue and red. BYU belongs in the purple overlap area with its dual nature--it is genuinely part of the Church, yet genuinely also part of American higher education, inevitably affected by what happens in either world. In this unique domain we have found a "more perfect" way to teach and learn.

Yet some people in the red world of education look at a purple BYU and say, "Hey, you're not red like us, you strange duck!" And some people in the blue world of the Church say, "Hey, you're not blue like us, you strange duck!" This can give BYU people feelings of tension, if not an identity crisis--despite being part of the great purple tradition of religious higher education. But that tension and our unique identity are the course of our greatest contributions to both the red and blue worlds--and our ability to contribute is improved every time someone in either of those worlds better understands how our purple nature can bless them in ways that a simple blue or simple red entity never could. (pp. 3-4)

. . .

Church values obviously shape our discretionary judgments in appropriate ways--not because we have to follow Church values, because we get to follow them. Sometimes the blue world defines us in ways that people in the red world can't understand, but those limits do what the Lord's discipline always does--it enables greater, not lesser, educational perfection than the red world knows. (p. 6)

. . .

We must also insist on both rigorous analysis and impeccable judgment in doing work that integrates the gospel with academic disciplines. When such work is poorly done, it can turn on the Church either because it just isn't very careful work, or because it may appear to judge the Church by the limited lights of the academic discipline alone. Let us not stretch unwisely, therefore, to include Church issues in our work. But let us also avoid the extreme of believing that being independent of or critical of the Church is the best evidence of educational quality. Our dual commitment asks for mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive, forms of excellence. (pp. 7-8)

Hafen, Bruce C. "The Spirit of the Army." Address given at the Annual University Conference, Brigham Young University, August 1994, pp. 1-9.

BYU aspires to excellence in both its religious and its academic missions. To compromise either part is to undermine its institutional purpose.

The presence of the best-prepared students, faculty, and staff in BYU's history creates an environment of high spiritual and intellectual quality. Both anti-intellectual and anti-Church attitudes are misplaced here. Neither a mediocre university nor a spiritually half-hearted one will help the Church fulfill its expanding mission. We are conscious of the history of many other church-related universities, where growing academic aspirations have often become associated with reduced denominational loyalties. We are also conscious of the history of many smaller church-related colleges that have minimized their academic aspirations as a way of emphasizing their religious priorities. BYU will choose neither of these paths. Rather, we embrace the difficult but promising task of combining genuine religious faith and serious intellectual effort. This combination of commitments represents the best possible way to teach and learn.

Therefore, all faculty, staff, and students should engage their academic and professional tasks with a sense of rigor and intensity that represents the very best in the historic role of American universities.

Scholarly work at BYU should frequently integrate religious perspectives with the perspectives of a faculty member's discipline. However, integration of this kind requires real rigor in both the religious and the disciplinary dimensions, lest the integration appear to devalue either the religious or the academic field, or both.

The university community should model the attributes of Zion, seeking a spirit of charity and mutual respect in all personal and professional relationships, including those between students and faculty, staff and faculty, men and women, members and nonmembers of the Church, and people from differing national, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. (pp. 3-4)

. . .

If the Church can have only one university as it enters the 21st century, what kind of university will help the Church most and why? Dean Clayne Pope has argued persuasively that this recent shift from an open university to a restrictive one heightens BYU's symbolic role in demonstrating the consistency between religious faith and intellectual achievement. As Clayne put it, "We cannot fill this role if we are second-rate academically. What symbolic point do we make if we combine faith and second-rate scholarship?" Stated another way, Elder Neal A. Maxwell has stated that a mediocre university cannot help the Church enter the nations of the world the way a superb university can. (p. 6)

. . .

One friend . . . said to me, "All of my professional life I have believed in the possibility and in the blessings of building a truly first-rate university that is fully dedicated to the leadership and the values of the Church. But today I don't know if the idea of BYU can really work."

He and I exchanged glances that somehow reflected the weight of our both having invested so much of our careers, our time, our means, and our energy in this place we care about so much. Then in various ways we said to one another, I suppose that whether the idea of BYU works is basically up to us, to people like you and me. The "grand experiment" of which President Hinckley spoke isn't going to happen all by itself. Sometimes it feels like there is some adverse force at work, trying to pull our dreams apart. Perhaps that is because we are often dealing with the contrary elements of a large and powerful paradox--elements in apparent contradiction and natural tensions, elements like personal freedom and submission to authority, the life of the mind and the life of the spirit, an educational world colored red and a Church world colored blue. But when we actively wrap our arms around this paradox and lovingly but knowingly hold its forces together in productive equilibrium, the BYU idea works. We have seen it work time after time, and its blessings are worth every ounce of strength it takes to clasp our arms around the dream and hold on to it--if need be, when we "stretch forth [our arms] all the day long." (see Jacob 6:4) (p. 7)

Hafen, Bruce C. "Come, Come, Ye Saints." Address given at the Annual University Conference, Brigham Young University, August 1995, pp. 30-44.

The [university self-study] data show an incredibly high level of agreement among all of the university's constituents that BYU's most important purpose, and its most distinctive characteristic, is to nurture an educational environment based on the integration of both spiritual and academic values. Given the priority of that widely shared premise, it is most heartening to discover that an overwhelming percentage of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and Church members all find that, in general, the university is effectively fulfilling this high aspiration. These are not trivial findings in a day when American higher education is being buffeted to an unprecedented degree by philosophical confusion and dwindling public support.

However, our Committee on the External Environment tells us that certain forces will increasingly threaten our ability to pursue this unique and successful mission. Because of a disturbing pattern of social deterioration and moral permissiveness, combined with a trend toward secular sameness throughout higher education, we can expect less tolerance for religious explanations of BYU's distinctiveness. This puts a premium on our ability to perform with unarguable competence. Only if we demonstrate clear professional soundness can we defend our religiously based approach against ever less tolerant critics. As Elder Neal Maxwell once said, we cannot let the world condemn our value system by pointing to our professional mediocrity. To the extent that BYU people respond favorably to this challenge, the coming environment will not only tolerate us--many in that environment will look to us for both moral and intellectual leadership in American and international society. It will be a time of great opportunity for us, and I believe we will be equal to it.

This theme of an integrated spiritual and academic learning environment does produce some challenges on the campus. Our Combined Surveys Analysis Committee found that this theme engenders strong feelings, not because some care about it and others don't, but precisely because everyone cares about it so much. On closer analysis, the Committee reported the rich insight that, although BYU faculty differ among themselves about the choice of means to achieve religious development and the integration of spiritual and academic goals, the faculty do not differ about the importance of the ultimately religious ends for which the university exists. There is stunningly broad agreement that BYU's most important specific goals are to develop students who behave ethically, who serve God and their fellow beings, and who have strong testimonies of the restored gospel. But people choose various ways of achieving these goals, leading not only to a variety of approaches but also to deep concerns among some about the methods used by others.

I find great reassurance in these insights. Ours is not a community that is divided about its loyalties. It is, rather, a community of sometimes diverse opinions about how best to fulfill our deeply shared loyalties to the Lord, his Church, and our students. It helps me to realize that differing approaches to shared ends will produce occasional tensions. Those tensions are healthy--even needed, when handled properly--in part because not all students respond well to the same approach. (p. 34)

. . .

How can we help each BYU student develop spiritual integrity in an attitude of faith? The best answer just might vary with the individual student and with the distinctive experience each of us brings to the teaching task.

A teacher who wants to encourage a student to be more believing may emphasize the need to trust authority; a teacher who wants to emphasize students' responsibility for their own learning may encourage a student to ask probing questions. One person's approach can seem wrongheaded to those who take a different approach. When that happens, let us not dogmatically condemn another teacher's choice of means to the ends we all share. We might even consider the strengths of the other person's approach as we adapt our advice to the needs of an individual student. Our tolerance for differing means should, of course, stay within boundaries that affirm professional civility and reinforce the divinity of the Lord's church. But we would do well to avoid leaping to conclusions about the methods and motives of our colleagues on many professional as well as religious questions, large and small. (pp. 34-35)

. . .

I think of a group of several hundred thoughtful educators I met in Zurich, Switzerland, who are concerned about the deterioration of the social, intellectual, and moral fabric in Western society. When they learned about Brigham Young University, with 1,500 faculty and nearly 30,000 bright and able students who live drug-free lives of integrity, chastity, and rigorous intellectual and spiritual development, one of them asked in a voice near tears, "Is there really such a place? Are there really 30,000 students in one place who freely choose to live and learn that way? Such a place fulfills my dream for the ideal education, for it builds the ideal society."

I think next of a moment last spring in an advisory board meeting in New York City for a group of scholars interested in issues of religion and society in the United States and beyond. A noted religious and intellectual leader unexpectedly asked if I would tell the group "what is new these days among the Mormons." He explained that he was asking this question because he realizes increasingly that, compared to other American religious groups, the Mormons are becoming what he called "major players," a growing Church with "great vitality." Others in the group commented on the growing influence they see across the country from faithful and able Mormon scholars, mostly from the BYU faculty. They also displayed an astute understanding of the spectrum that ranges from Mormon scholars who are faithful to their Church to those who are uncomfortable with their Church--a phenomenon they have commonly seen in other religious groups. They continued with serious but sincere questions, wondering why we do missionary work in Latin American and how our leaders are chosen. It became very clear to me that these sophisticated people know more about us than we might assume. And they take BYU very seriously, urging our help in addressing the social and religious issues of the day. To them, this university is coming of age, both intellectually and spiritually--and it is doing so not in spite of our serious religious commitments, but precisely because of them. (pp. 39, 40)

. . .

God promised the Nephite people as a community that if they would keep his commandments, they would "prosper in the land." We ordinarily assume the word "prosper" in this context means material prosperity. I once heard Elder Marion D. Hanks offer an alternative interpretation, namely, that "prosper in the land" means being within the constant influence of the Lord's presence. He derives this interpretation from the Lord's phrasing of his promise: "Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land; but inasmuch as ye will not keep my commandments ye shall be cut off from my presence." (2 Nephi 1:20) The Saints' faithfulness thus allows them to enter into his rest and to stay there.

I believe this promise extends to the Saints of the BYU community. When we so live that this community "prospers" in this sense, we are in the world but we are not of the world. We are no longer of the world because having the Lord's Spirit abide with us lifts us above the constraints of mortality, even as it strengthens us to endure the demands of mortality. As Alma's people found, God's influence makes our mortal burdens lighter. As Moses found when he entered God's presence, that holy environment replaces our myopic sense of time with the eternal perspective of Him for whom all things are present. And as Joseph F. Smith taught, the Lord blesses those who enter into his rest to be free from "unsettled, restless" feelings of mortal discouragement, "suspicion, unrest, [and] uncertainty." (Gospel Doctrine, 126) In this condition of transcending our own mortality, we will have cast the influence of Satan from our midst as Moses did before regaining the Lord's presence. We will also be free from the spirit of contention, which cannot be where God is. Then we will know what Enos called "the joy of the saints." (Enos 1:3)

In some miraculous way, living this close to the Lord can transform our perspective and ultimately our nature. Perhaps this transformation is symbolized by our movement during mortality from the telestial to the terrestrial world, enabled by overcoming the adversary and increasing our obedience. We know this can happen to individuals. Can it happen to communities? Joseph and Brigham and Heber thought a community of faith made the transformation more likely because of the reinforcement made possible when people "love one another and never dissemble, But cease to do evil and ever be one." ("Now Let Us Rejoice," Hymns, 1985, no. 3) That is why the early Saints longed for Zion--"a land of peace, . . . a place of safety . . . ; And the glory [the presence] of the Lord shall be there." (D&C 45:66-67) Is it inconsistent to think of a university as such a place? No, for the Lord himself said, "I . . . am well pleased that there should be a school in Zion." (D&C 97:3) (pp. 42-43)

Richard F. Haglund Jr. and David J. Whittaker

Haglund, Jr., Richard F. and David J. Whittaker. "Intellectual History." In Daniel H. Ludlow (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Mormonism (New York: Macmillan, 1992).

The Church encourages its members to be learned in gospel principles and in every edifying branch of knowledge that supports a life of Christian service. Latter-day Saints value intellectual activity because it can develop and enrich life and faith, beautify the earth and ameliorate mankind's temporal suffering, and further the growth of the kingdom of God on earth. LDS theology takes with utmost seriousness the divine injunction to learn to know, to love, and to serve God with all one's heart, might, mind, and strength. (Deut. 6:5; 1 Chr. 28:9; Matt. 22:37; D&C 4:2; cf. John 17:3) In this sense, intellectual activity can be an act of worship.

One of the divinely ordained purposes of life is to gain spiritual and intellectual experience in mind and spirit (see Reason and Revelation). The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that "by proving contraries, truth is made manifest." (HC 6:248) To "study it out in your mind" is often a prerequisite to heavenly assistance (D&C 9:8), and communication from God may sometimes be recognized by its effect on the mind. Latter-day Saints were enjoined early to seek knowledge out of the best books (D&C 88:118) and to establish schools (see Schools of the Prophets) for instruction in both sacred and secular matters.

. . .

INTELLECTUAL PROLOGUE TO THE RESTORATION. Latter-day Saints believe that God prepared the intellectual, political, and spiritual environment prior to the restoration of the gospel through such cultural and religious movements as the Renaissance and the Reformation, particularly as these were manifested in Puritanism and the English Enlightenment.

. . .

ENCOUNTER WITH SCHOLARLY SECULARISM (1896-1918). The transformation of Mormon village life began as the first generation of Latter-day Saints started to pursue advanced studies of geology, agricultural science, chemistry, and engineering. Such studies brought the Saints face to face with a secular and skeptical society. James E. Talmage studied geology at Lehigh and Johns Hopkins universities and returned to Utah in 1885 to teach and write about many topics, including evolution and the age of the earth. As president of the University of Utah and later as an apostle, he exerted an enormous influence by systematizing LDS theology in two seminal works, The Articles of Faith and Jesus the Christ. John A. Widtsoe, later an apostle, studied biochemistry at Harvard and Gsttingen; he returned to Utah in 1900 and became president of Utah State University in 1907, playing a pivotal role first in agricultural education and research and later as an educational administrator and writer on intellectual issues facing Church members.

The Mutual Improvement Association (see Young Men; Young Women) chose as its study manual for 1909 Widtsoe's book Joseph Smith as Scientist, and the Improvement Era frequently ran articles by LDS scientists discussing Latter-day Saint doctrines in light of current scientific theories. Utah universities also began to invite the scholarly luminaries of the day to campus as guest lecturers. However, concerns were raised by the Church's educational administrators when some faculty members advanced evolutionary treatments of the creation accounts in Genesis. By 1911 these concerns led to a policy that temporarily discouraged discussions in Brigham Young University classrooms of such theories.

ADAPTATION AND CONFRONTATION (1918-1945). With worldwide industrialization and the ravages of World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution, agrarian idealism in America and the old order in Europe gave way before new political, economic, and social theories. For both Church leaders and lay members, deeply ingrained concepts of stewardship, cooperation, and individual moral responsibility clashed sharply with the militance of organized labor, the totalitarian excesses of fascism and communism, and the greediness of unregulated capitalism.

The need for teachers in Church schools and institutes of religion swelled to a small stream what had been only a trickle of Latter-day Saints sent "East" for professional training. The "Divinity School" group of Saints at the University of Chicago (see R. Swenson, "Mormons at the University of Chicago Divinity School," Dialogue 7 [Summer, 1972]:37-47) drew on their experience of LDS group life to write scholarly articles suggesting answers to the pressing social and economic problems of their day. In this academic setting, these LDS graduate students were also confronted with "higher criticism" of the Bible (see Bible Scholarship), stimulating some to take a moderate, conciliatory approach to scriptural interpretation, analogous to the neo-orthodox movement among Protestant theologians.

During this era, the Church and its members were recognized as a major force in American religious life. The Encyclopedia Americana commissioned a lengthy article by Elder B. H. Roberts for the centennial of the Church. Latter-day Saints who were influential outside the Great Basin included Harvey Fletcher in physics, E. E. Erickson in philosophy, J. Reuben Clark, Jr. in international affairs, Franklin S. Harris in agricultural science; and Henry Eyring in chemistry.

URBANIZATION AND GLOBAL MISSION (1945-1990).After World War II, a technocracy based on the positivist view of physical and social sciences dominated the intellectual landscape. Molecular biologists, armed with the tools of physics, seemed to be on the verge of controlling life itself; social scientists, bolstered by mathematics and computers, explained human behavior without reference to man's divine nature.

While existentialist theologians alternately despaired of or embraced the "secular city," LDS leaders again sounded the call to heed revelation as the source of ultimate truth while using science and technology to spread the gospel and alleviate human suffering. LDS emphasis on individual and group guidance through revelation created significant intellectual stresses for the increasing numbers of Church members being trained in the professions. A number of scholars wrote cogently to this generation of Latter-day Saint students about the historical, philosophical, and theological foundations of Church doctrines and advocated integrating intellectual pursuits with the spiritual need to love, to serve, and to have faith in Jesus Christ.

. . .

LDS theology has consistently seen the mind in the service of and as a companion to the spirit. The two remain creatively engaged: The intellect tends to notice problems and to ask questions, while the spirit is drawn toward finding answers and receiving assurance (see Alma 32:21-34); the intellect is often solitary and introspective, while the life of the spirit fosters charitable service and yearns for the collective building of the kingdom of God. Pride is a threat to all: It can cause the intellectual to substitute human judgment for revelation in matters of doctrine and revealed truth or can cause people to "hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves" (2 Ne. 9:28; cf. 1 Cor. 2:5-7); pride can also transform faith and trust into overconfidence and dogmatism. The scripture states: "To be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God." (2 Ne. 9:29)

Martin B. Hickman

Hickman, Martin B. "Academic Freedom at Brigham Young University," An address to the Association of American University Professors, BYU Chapter, Spring 1971. [Quoted in Ernest Wilkinson, Brigham Young University: The First One Hundred Years, Vol. 4, pp. 63-64.]

Now the Church has never hidden . . . what it considers the mission of BYU to be. One would have to be illiterate or obtuse not to know that BYU exists under a different mandate than most private and all public universities. Hence, I assume that any teacher who gives consideration to teaching at BYU must also weigh the implications of that mandate. The decision to come to BYU . . . reflects ultimately an acceptance of the values on which this university rests and a desire to participate in its mission.

If these are the motives which bring a teacher to BYU, then academic freedom is completely compatible with the open commitment of the university to an explicit value system. Indeed, teaching at BYU may be a means of restoring the wholeness to one's life. Those of us who have taught elsewhere are very much aware that our employment was conditional upon how successfully we camouflaged the sources of our value system--the gospel . Whatever academic freedom we had, it did not include the right to place our classwork explicitly within the overarching concepts of the gospel. Our values had to be smuggled in or deliberately excluded; we lived a dual life as scholar and Mormon, unable in the classroom to unite the two into an integral whole. That division of professional and religious life is overcome at BYU and the opportunity is thus created to restore to our lives an abiding unity. Unless this right to unite our scholarly and religious lives has a significant meaning for us, unless teaching at BYU is a flight to freedom, unless we welcome the values of the gospel with the joy of the returning pilgrim, the decision to come to BYU loses the heart of its meaning.

Donald K. Jarvis

Jarvis, Donald K. "An Expanded Definition of Teaching With the Spirit." BYU Revelation and Reason Seminar, November 12, 1992.

LDS members are particularly obligated to get beyond simple lecturing methods where students sit passively. If we don't believe in one preacher preaching to a passive congregation on Sunday, why should we believe it is going to work the rest of the week in our classes? Students must become actively engaged in good educational causes, independent of us. The central metaphor of the Gospel, repeated over and over for good reason in holy places, is leaving Eden for the lone and dreary world to achieve divine growth by encountering and dealing with opposition, exercising initiative and choice. The distinguishing methodology of the Church and one of the great secrets of its success is the pervasive delegation of power and speaking time, the absence of a spotlight-hogging paid priesthood. The central myth of the Gospel (and I use myth in its most powerful meaning), the account most often quoted throughout the Church, is that of the two plans offered for running this world: Satan's plan was low-risk, lock-step teaching with him getting all the attention. Christ's plan involved less glory for him but more agency, risk, and individual growth for us. I realize there are serious dangers to nailing the Gospel to the mast of any one methodology, but don't all these central Gospel metaphors and methods have important implications for our teaching methods? (p. 5)

Alan F. Keele

Keele, Alan F. "The World is Charged with the Grandeur of God: A Mandate for Eternal Education." BYU Devotional Address. June 4, 1996.

Full Text.

Arthur Henry King

King, Arthur Henry. "The Idea of a Mormon University." BYU Studies 13(2) Winter 1973, p.115-125.

The obvious object of BYU is to serve the Church; for, whether we have grown up in it or are converts to it, if we believe in the Church, we believe that it is the most important organization on this earth, the instrument of God's will; that Christ is its head; and, therefore, that anything that the Church sets up must be finally and ultimately to serve the Church. This means that BYU serves the Church as a servant in that full sense in which "servant" is used in the New Testament: in the sense of "ministers" we are the servants of the Church.

In considering how to serve the Church on campus, many of us think that BYU ought to be like other universities for this, that, and the other reason; and yet at the same time the same people want BYU to be different and better, which indeed it should be. Ends and means come in here. It is no good pursuing means that will change or even obliterate the end. To use divine means to any other than divine ends and to use means that will change your divine end to something else is to be Satanic. When we wear those robes of the false priesthood we are more tempted to do Satan's work. Ends and means need sorting out.

I ask this fundamental question--it is the main question that I have to ask, because it is the one that subsumes all the other questions in this context: Why do we have to be like other American universities? Why do we have to be like any other Western university at all, since these are ultimately heretical phenomena? All other universities in the world except this one are in decline. They are in moral decline and therefore they are also in intellectual decline; for the one will follow from the other, and follow fast, as it is already doing. I notice in the universities I know that as members of the staff become more cynical, agnostic, atheistic, so are they inclined to earn more money, to wish to become TV personalities or to act as international consultants instead of paying more attention to their own students. They explain that they are not well enough paid and therefore have to earn money on the side. The idea of the universitas of fellow-feeling, the idea of the bond between teacher and taught shrinks, because where the staff is cynical and self-centered, the students rapidly become so too. Some colleagues at BYU believe at the bottom of their souls that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence; I have spent most of my life in the grass on the other side of the fence; it is plastic, that is why it holds its color so well and needs no watering. (pp. 118-119)

King, Arthur Henry. "The Unknown Temple on Campus." Lecture given in the Alice Louise Reynolds Room, HBLL at BYU on December 3, 1980.

What we are here to consider in this university is not how we can interpret the gospel to fit the contemporary world picture, but the other way around. We are not here to adapt the gospel to our subject, but the contrary: we are here to see what happens to our subjects from the point of our gospel base and for all of us there is that gospel base. (pp. 16-17)

King, Arthur Henry. "As the Days of a Tree Are the Days of My People." Commencement Address, Brigham Young University, April 18, 1986.

When you have the scriptures in your heart and your mind and your soul, then you have a means of measuring all things; you have a means of judgment of everything else. (p. 5)

. . .

You can judge what you ought to read of other literature by what the scriptures show you; because the scriptures . . . are the best works ever written or spoken . . . Great writers tell us much truth; but only the scriptures tell us the whole truth. What goes for literature, the power to see what is good in literature because you are soaked in the scriptures, goes for the other arts as well. You will not want to look at bad things on your walls or listen to bad music (which most of you do) if you are soaked in the scriptures, because it doesn't fit. But you will love "The Messiah" (I mean the oratorio), because it springs up out of the scriptures. (p. 7)

Barbara Day Lockhart

Lockhart, Barbara Day. "Absolute Truth in Academe." Proceedings of the Third Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1993), pp. 119-126.

If we do not confirm our findings by revelation, then our scholarship will be shoddy. We may become renowned in our field but in practice we may be doing little more than perpetuating false concepts prevalent in the world today. Most likely we will not become renowned at all, but instead will waste our days copying the ways of the world. It makes little sense to testify to the truth on Sunday and then put it aside during our workdays. If we are not using the truth to enlighten our thinking, we may as well not have it.

If we do let the Spirit guide, our scholarship will soar. Our findings may or may not be acknowledged by society at this time but we will be dealing with the truth, and the truth is always profound. (p. 121)

Tony R. Martinez

Martinez, Tony R. "Reaching Our Potential in the Lord's Way." BYU Devotional Address, July 23, 1996.

Full Text.

Robert L. Millet

Millet, Robert L. "BYU As A Covenant Community: Implications for Excellence, Distinctiveness, and Academic Freedom." Religious Education Faculty Lecture, October 29, 1992. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University.

Full Text.

It would seem that a Mormon college or university seeks to do more than provide a healthy climate and an atmosphere suited to finding one's eternal companion (as valuable as such things are). For this campus to become a "temple of learning" we need to stretch beyond what the Christian college seeks to do. We must constantly ask ourselves: What difference does it make that there was a Joseph Smith, a Restoration, or modern revelation? How does my religion, my way of life, my revealed worldview, impact what I study or the discipline in which I spend my professional life? Am I at peace, one with myself, or do I tend to compartmentalize my life, being a behavioral scientist, for example, on Monday through Saturday and a Latter-day Saint on Sunday? Is there any tie between the scriptures I read, the sermons I hear, the prayers I utter, and the work I do in my chosen field? Finally, how willing am I to ask such questions? Is it difficult to do so, and if so, why? Is my intellectual quest merely an effort to master and acclimate myself to an academic discipline, to memorize and converse in the vocabulary of the prevailing school or trend, or rather is mine a sincere effort to seek for, tap into, acknowledge, and adapt to eternal truth, to judge and assess all things thereby? (p. 13)

. . .

We can be thoroughly competent disciples and thoroughly competent professionals. If we had to choose, then surely we would choose commitment to the faith. But we do not. We do not hide behind our religion, but rather we come to see all things through the lenses of our religion. (p. 14)

. . .

I am one who is not too excited about seeking to merge and mesh everything or to locate and point out similarities between what the world teaches and what we believe. I see limited value in taking an idea from this text or that theory and then saying, "Oh, look! This sounds similar to what Jesus said" or "That's interesting! That sounds very much like what Paul (or Joseph Smith or Ezra Taft Benson) taught on the matter." I suppose there is some merit in that approach, but it does not, from my perspective at least, require the kind of mental and spiritual discipline (nor yield the same righteous fruits) of seeking to filter all that we study and declare through the teachings and doctrines of the restored gospel. It is simply a matter of perspective, or orientation, a matter of what comes first, a matter of where we start. "If we start right, "Joseph Smith observed, "it is easy to go right all the time; but if we start wrong, we may go wrong, and it [will] be a hard matter to get right" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 343). (pp. 14-15).

. . .

We cannot fully appreciate the power and depth and breadth of the Restoration until we immerse ourselves in what people have put forth without the aid of modern revelation. It is then that the light of truth can shine forth in a way that could not otherwise be the case. We really do have something to offer the academic world . . . but we will make very little difference in what others think or feel if we spend most of our time belittling or denigrating their way of viewing things. (p. 16)

. . .

As we ponder upon the challenges we face at Brigham Young University now and in the days to come, there seem to be certain principles that ought to govern what we do and say. . . . To paraphrase Jacob for our purposes, "Before ye seek to become a great university, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ, ye shall become a great university, if ye seek to do so; and ye will seek to do so for the intent to do good--to bless the sons and daughters of God and glorify Him whose we are." We must consecrate our hearts and minds, must rivet ourselves on the things of God as well as prepare ourselves academically to make a difference in our chosen field of study. Whenever we fail to build our scholarship on the rock of the Restoration, we sacrifice our distinctiveness and come short of what could be (pp. 45-46).

. . .

I know there are some who feel there should be no distinction made between the secular and the spiritual at Brigham Young University. Though such an approach is neat and tidy, though it certainly does much to avoid placing one dimension of learning and experience above another, it is inconsistent with the teachings of latter-day apostles and prophets. It is true that to God all things are spiritual (D&C 29:34), but God has all knowledge and power. . . . Our views are at best an approximation of what is. (p. 48)

. . .

We must open ourselves to very serious spiritual introspection and make whatever individual and institutional adjustments in our lives that might be necessary to enable this campus to become the temple of learning that it has been prophesied to become. We must ask ourselves hard questions, like the Master's apostles: "Lord, is it I? (Matthew 26:22). "Search your hearts," Joseph Smith the Prophet counseled the members of the Church, "and see if you are like God. I have searched mine," he added, "and feel to repent of all my sins." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 216.) Perhaps one might ask: Is my commitment to the Church and kingdom known? Is it obvious? Can people tell by my words, my works, or my appearance where my heart is? Have I matured beyond the point where I am prone to yield to the easier approach to university life--the compartmentalization of the spiritual and academic? Am I willing to pay the price to acquire new vision? It is not enough for us to be members of the Church who attend our meetings, observe the standards, pay tithing, and attend the temple, although such should and must be part of our lives. What is needed is vision, perspective, and orientation, a peculiar kind of orientation that drives us to put first things first. (p. 51)

. . .

Like an individual, an institution that is reborn will show forth the fruit of the Spirit. Its faculty members will mirror and reflect the light of the Lord. They will be far less concerned with what the academy thinks of their labors than what the Lord and the board of trustees think. Having thus an eye single to the Lord and his overarching purposes, they shall be filled with that light and truth, that intelligence the scriptures call the glory of God. Viewing all things through the lenses of the Restoration will then follow naturally and be reflected in the teachings and writings of men and women with regenerate hearts. And as we begin to do what we alone have been charged to do here at Brigham Young University, we shall become a light to the religious and academic world; such will come, ironically, because we sought first the glory of God. In other words, if BYU is ever to achieve its prophetic destiny, is ever to make its mark in the world as a spiritual and intellectual Mount Everest, it must more closely approximate Mount Zion. As time passes, as President Spencer W. Kimball prophesied, there will be "a widening gap between this University and other universities both in terms of purposes and in terms of directions" ("Second Century Address," p. 4). (p. 54)

Millet, Robert L. "Knowledge by Faith: A Concept of Higher Education in Zion." Proceedings of the Second Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1992), pp. 33-40.

Millet, Robert L., "Leap of Faith." Address given to Brigham Young University Marriott School of Management, August 28, 1996. Full Text.

Hugh W. Nibley

Nibley, Hugh W. Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless, ed. Truman Madsen. (Provo, Utah: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1978).

Nibley, Hugh W. Approaching Zion. (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1989).

Nibley, Hugh W. "Not to Worry." In Susan Easton Black (Ed). Expressions of Faith: Testimonies of Latter-day Saint Scholars. (Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1996).

Terrance D. Olson

Olson, Terrance D. "To Be Learned for the Sake of Goodness." This People 16(2), Summer 1995, pp. 15, 17.

I'm convinced that learning is fundamentally a moral enterprise and should be evaluated as such. That idea concerns some, for they fear "censorship." They worry that whoever in a culture is in charge of the moral climate will institute repressive measures against learning. They would rather see learning as neutral, objective, or amoral--a variety of words that convey that learning is beyond or more fundamental than the moral sphere. In practice, nothing may be more repressive than insisting we must be neutral, objective, or amoral in what we promote in art or literature or film. When the freedom to express the moral foundations of our judgments is censored, we paint a false picture of the meaning of our lives. We are limited from teaching criteria of judgment that allow righteous judgment. We then can not assess, evaluate, declare, or measure unrighteous judgment. When moral judgments are censored, children grow up thinking they are educated simply because they are learned. Goodness, then, has no place in learning. No wonder some fall back on the idea that it is "good" to learn for the sake of learning. Then we don't have to make a judgment about the moral value of what is being learned. In reality, learning is inescapably a moral enterprise, as is all of human experience, because humans fundamentally have a moral sense, a conscience, a light within. That seems to be a valid starting point for any learning. (p. 17)

Russell T. Osguthorpe

Osguthorpe, Russell T. "The Education of the Heart." Devotional Address, Brigham Young University, March 21, 1995.

Questions of the heart emerge on their own; we don't sit down one day and decide to create them. They come through the natural course of living the way God wants us to live. But once a question comes, it demands our full attention; we are compelled to action. We cannot rest, we cannot feel peace until we have found the answer or the answer has found us. We must lie in wait at times, wondering if the answer is obtainable, but then, without warning, it arrives--often in a form that we did not expect, usually in a way that teaches us more than we set out to learn.

The search for truth demands that we have faith, that we ponder and pray, and that we open ourselves to guidance from others and from God. Such effort requires our utmost commitment, our maximum energy, our whole being. It is not a search that we can enter and exit when a bell rings in a school building, when a class starts and stops, or when a semester begins and ends. Once we have taken our first step on the path, we must follow it to its conclusion. (pp. 4-5)

Robert S. Patterson

Patterson, Robert S. "Approaching a School in Zion." Proceedings of the Second Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1992), pp. 53-58.

Martha M. Peacock

Peacock, Martha M. "The Searching Mind." BYU Devotional. May 21, 1996.

Full Text.

Dale F. Pearson

Pearson, Dale F. "Absolute Truth and an Imperfect World: The Search for Knowledge and Understanding." Proceedings of the Third Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1993), pp. 113-118.

Noel B. Reynolds

Reynolds, Noel B. "Reason and Revelation." In Philip L. Barlow (Ed.) A Thoughtful Faith: Essays on Belief by Mormon Scholars (Centerville, UT: Canon Press, 1986), pp. 205-224.

LeGrand A. Richards

Richards, A. LeGrand. "God or Mammon: Not Both/And, But Either/Or." Proceedings of the Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1991), pp. 93-98.

Can I call a time-out from my religion while I objectively distance myself in scholarship? If I were to try, wouldn't my very attempt merely be describing a dimension of my religion--a religion that divides my life into categories like parlor games? No one would doubt that my religion must guide my conduct as an instructor both inside and outside the classroom, but my profession claims to pursue truth. As a professor pursuing "secular" truth, am I temporarily exempt from my religious covenants as long as I conform to the accepted standards of my profession? Is it sufficient that I try to be a good example in the way I relate to my students and colleagues? John Taylor reminds me that as Latter-day Saints:

We wish to comprehend and embrace all truth and seek for and obtain everything that is calculated to exalt, ennoble, and dignify the human family. And wherever we find truth, no matter where, or from what source it may come, it becomes part and parcel of our religious creed, or our moral creed, or our philosophy, as the case may be, or whatever you may please to term it. (The Gospel Kingdom, pp. 48-49)

If my religion encompasses all truth in all subject areas, how dare I presume that my pursuit of the so-called "secular" truth should be governed primarily by the secular standards of my profession? What if the division of secular and religious truth is a human division without divine sanction? The scriptures do speak of the temporal as an inherent part of mortality, but certainly the temporal is not synonymous to the secular. (p. 95)

Richards, A. LeGrand. "One Latter-day Saint's Pedagogy." Proceedings of the Third Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1993), pp. 97-101.

We should not focus on learning in order to know more than the rest of the world, but to bring them to Christ. (p. 100)

Chauncey Riddle

Riddle, Chauncey. "A BYU for Zion." BYU Studies 16(4), Summer 1976, pp. 485-500.

What kind of an institution must BYU be to be fully acceptable to the Lord as part of Zion? . . . May I share with you six factors which I personally believe would help qualify this university to be part of Zion.

[1] Dependence upon the Savior.

[2] Morality, the key to knowledge.

[3] Concern for the poor.

[4] Emphasis on doing.

[5] Careful distinction between being intelligent and being intellectual.

[6] No priestcraft.

Riddle, Chauncey C. "Creating Zion." Proceedings of the Third Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1993), pp. 91-95.

I see the place of BYU in Zion to be a bridge between the world and the kingdom of God. It will become a center of truth and ability, which surpasses every other institution in the world that is not related to the Church. It will be a light from Christ to all the world, to teach the world how to live in harmony, peace, prosperity, and technical benevolence. It will help those who do not accept the restored gospel of Christ to profit from the other blessings of Christ. Through this means many will be brought to Christ and will enter at the narrow way. (p. 95)

Jame Siebach

Siebach, James. "The Paideia of Holiness." Proceedings of the Second Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1992), pp. 59-65.

Andrew Skinner

Skinner, Andrew C. "To Be Or Not To Be a 'Renaissance Man:'" Some Historical Roots Help Resolve the Dilemma." Proceedings of the Third Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1993), pp. 145-151.

Brent D. Slife

Slife, Brent D. "Integrating" the Sacred and the Secular: My Experiences and Lessons from Four Christian Universities." Presentation at BYU Faculty Center Brown Bag. October 25, 1996.

Full Text.

John S. Tanner

Tanner, John S. "The Pyramid of My Profession." Proceedings of the Second Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1992), pp. 47-51.

I envision such a faculty for BYU, one neither driven by fear nor seduced by fame, but led by love. Tough love, demanding and at times confrontational, but love all the same. (p. 51)

C. Terry Warner

Warner, C. Terry. "An Open Letter to Students: On Having Faith and Thinking for Yourself." The New Era, November 1971, pp. 14-19.

There only seems to be opposition between secular knowledge and faith when, as is usually the case, they are misunderstood. . . . According to the common misconception, human knowledge is a collection of facts that fit themselves together into the one true picture of reality. . . . this erroneous view of knowledge goes hand in hand with an erroneous conception of faith . . . (pp. 14, 15)

Warner, C. Terry. "Honest, Simple, Solid, True." BYU Devotional Address given January 16, 1996.

President Bateman last week expressed his conviction that this university is part of the Kingdom of God. Perhaps this means that, like Zion itself, "it cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom"--which requires, among other things, that we be united. (D & C 105: 4-5) It means devoting our time and energy to one another, rather than concentrating only on our own function and advancing only our own interests. Upon returning from class one day, my daughter shared this experience of one of her classmates. Chris was a young father who, not far into the semester, had become overwhelmed by the pace of the class. His attendance flagged; after a while he did not come at all. My daughter was surprised when he showed up for the mid-term exam. When the test was over he told her that a few days before, the professor, one of the most internationally distinguished at this university, knocked on the door of the trailer where Chris lived with his family. Since Chris had no phone, the professor had gone to the school records, located the number of his parents in Pennsylvania, and obtained his address by calling them. At the door he said simply, "I haven't seen you for a while and have worried about you. The mid-term exam is coming up and I'd like to know what I can do to help you prepare." Honest, simple, solid, true.

Except for differences in detail, this same story can be told about many on this campus--about faculty or staff members caring for one another, about administrators making accommodation for individuals' special needs, about students sustaining each other and their teachers through difficult times. One Saturday morning our family was working in the garden when the Jeff Hollands drove up in front with a firm cabbage to give us and sang in unison from their car, "Hooray for the Warners, hooray, hooray, hooray!" I suspect they stopped at other places that morning. He was our president at the time.

This university has not come this far because we have more time for scholarship than the faculty and students elsewhere, or because our IQs are higher, or because we're more fiercely competitive. And it will not realize its prophetic destiny for any of these reasons. We have come this far and we will attain that destiny because, in the long term and very often in the short one, people respond more energetically, think more clearly, work more joyfully, and build more wisely, when they put one another ahead of self; when they welcome the interruption brought on by another person's need; when they do their work in ways that enhance each other's work; when they forget about getting credit; when they renounce in their hearts all sense of belonging to an elite company, even a company of the brightest or best-trained or the most doctrinally pure; when they reach out to and embrace those who are violating all these principles. I am here this day because of those who treated me graciously in spite of my frequently making things worse by trying aggressively to make them better, when patience would have been much the wisest way.

Please do not misunderstand: I offer here no excuse for poor performance or low expectations. Letting one's colleagues or students or teachers or family down is no more caring than it is honest. I am not speaking of lowering our aims but of raising them--precisely by purifying our hearts in Christ and putting each other first for His sake.

Alan L. Wilkins

Wilkins, Alan L. "Faithful Questions: Seeking For and Being Found By Truth." BYU Devotional Address given December 5, 1995. Full Text.

Rich N. Williams

Williams, Rich N. "Where Your Heart Is, There Will Your Treasure Be Also: Intellectual Allegiance in a School of Zion." Proceedings of the Third Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 1993), pp. 75-79.

Our leaders have continually admonished us that we should be at the forefront of learning in all fields, and have told us that revelation may come through various scholarly endeavors and research activities. This revelatory function can be served on behalf of the world by Latter-day Saint scholars. It seems, though, that there are at least two senses in which the phrase "be at the forefront of learning in all fields" can be read. One reading would put us in positions of prominence and acclaim achieved by taking the disciplines seriously, accepting the corpus of work already in place, basing ourselves on the guiding assumptions and fundamental principles of the tradition. This amounts, in short, to doing what the world does better than the world does it. I would argue against such a reading.

The other reading of the admonition would interpret the forefront as the critical cutting edge. To be on the forefront in this reading is to be engaged in fundamental questioning and critique of the disciplines and their traditional foundations. It is to be pushing the boundaries of scholastic and intellectual orthodoxy and suggesting and pursuing new paths. In my view the restored gospel obligates us to this latter course in our intellectual lives. The restored gospel marks the new paths; the light of revelation illuminates them. Sadly, in my view, too many Mormon intellectuals seem willing to challenge religious orthodoxy, but not scholarly or intellectual orthodoxy. We seem caught in the intellectual patterns of the apostasy, thus locked in the tensions of our frenetic, but foundationless, age. (pp. 77-78)

. . .

I believe that for Latter-day Saint scholars, the call of the gospel is the call to sell all that we have, to fulfill our covenants, to put our disciplines and intellectual allegiances on the alter, to overthrow the tradition as necessary (and I believe that in most disciplines it is eminently necessary) and turn it upside down. Only when our allegiances are first to those with whom we have covenanted can we undertake our intellectual pursuits for the right reasons " . . . for the intent to do good . . . " (Jacob 2:19). It is with intellectual treasure as it is with worldly treasure. If our hearts are set upon God and our allegiances are to him and those others with whom we have made covenants first, then we will have a clearer vision of the treasure. We can bring our treasures to the academic world, "even hidden treasures." (D&C 89:19) In this light we will be able to be truly on the forefront of the disciplines. We will see and understand "things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man." (D&C 76:10) This is the intellectual burden that the restored gospel places upon us and the one we can bear up at a school in Zion. (p. 79)

Warner P. Woodworth

Woodworth, Warner P. "The Redesign of Education: New Paradigms and Practices for Building Zion in School." Proceedings of the Second Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1992), pp. 89-95.