Premium Only Content

Dallin H. Oaks | Defending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution | General Conference April 2021 |
Defending Our Divinely Inspired Constitution
By President Dallin H. Oaks
First Counselor in the First Presidency
Our belief in divine inspiration gives Latter-day Saints a unique responsibility to uphold and defend the United States Constitution and principles of constitutionalism.
In this troubled time, I have felt to speak about the inspired Constitution of the United States. This Constitution is of special importance to our members in the United States, but it is also a common heritage of constitutions around the world.
I.
A constitution is the foundation of government. It provides structure and limits for the exercise of government powers. The United States Constitution is the oldest written constitution still in force today. Though originally adopted by only a small number of colonies, it soon became a model worldwide. Today, every nation except three have adopted written constitutions.1
In these remarks I do not speak for any political party or other group. I speak for the United States Constitution, which I have studied for more than 60 years. I speak from my experience as a law clerk to the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court. I speak from my 15 years as a professor of law and my 3½ years as a justice on the Utah Supreme Court. Most important, I speak from 37 years as an Apostle of Jesus Christ, responsible to study the meaning of the divinely inspired United States Constitution to the work of His restored Church.
The United States Constitution is unique because God revealed that He “established” it “for the rights and protection of all flesh” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:77; see also verse 80). That is why this constitution is of special concern for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout the world. Whether or how its principles should be applied in other nations of the world is for them to decide.
What was God’s purpose in establishing the United States Constitution? We see it in the doctrine of moral agency. In the first decade of the restored Church, its members on the western frontier were suffering private and public persecution. Partly this was because of their opposition to the human slavery then existing in the United States. In these unfortunate circumstances, God revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith eternal truths about His doctrine.
God has given His children moral agency—the power to decide and to act. The most desirable condition for the exercise of that agency is maximum freedom for men and women to act according to their individual choices. Then, the revelation explains, “every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:78). “Therefore,” the Lord revealed, “it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:79). This obviously means that human slavery is wrong. And according to the same principle, it is wrong for citizens to have no voice in the selection of their rulers or the making of their laws.
General Conference Sunday Afternoon Session April 2021
The Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ
Get your FREE copy 👉http://bit.ly/MyBookofMormon 🙏
Get your FREE copy of The New Proclamation to the World: “The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”
🙏🏼http://bit.ly/Restoration200
😇Come Unto Christ - Faith to Act - http://www.faithtoact.com
#GeneralConferenceApril2021 #FaithToAct #Christian
#BookofMormon #ComeUntoChrist #HeLives #HearHim #TheRestoration
-
8:07
MattMorseTV
4 hours ago $0.69 earnedTrump just LOWERED PRICES by 75 PERCENT.
4.77K19 -
LIVE
Misfit Electronic Gaming
6 hours ago $0.09 earned"LIVE" "Blind Descent' +"Dollhouse of Dead" Playtest 10 Followers till we hit 1000! We CAN do this!
106 watching -
21:53
Glenn Greenwald
6 hours agoMichael Tracey on the Street: What Do People Think of the Epstein Case?
98.1K52 -
2:26:28
megimu32
3 hours agoOTS: Board Games Gone Wild! The Loud, Weird & Chaotic Games That Raised Us
4.84K6 -
LIVE
DamnDanieI
3 hours agoKill First, Loot Later – OTG Live
292 watching -
56:41
Donald Trump Jr.
7 hours agoLies, Leaks, and Lawfare: Censorship Corruption Exposed | TRIGGERED Ep.263
126K117 -
1:19:46
Precision Rifle Network
4 hours agoS4E25 Guns & Grub - Rex Is Back, I shot the 6.5PRC finally...
4.47K1 -
LIVE
rhywyn
2 hours agoうつ
24 watching -
LIVE
RyuMuramasa✧
4 hours agoNEW Everdark Sovereign | Elden Ring Nightreign | LIVE Playthrough
32 watching -
1:17:04
Nikko Ortiz
11 hours agoLive - News, Politics, Podcast And Naaah Im Playin We Chillen
3.3K