the thinker

Arrogance

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Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. (1805 – 1844):

...if any man preach any other Gospel than that which I have preached, he shall be cursed.

Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 366, also in History of the Church, v. 6, p.365

Come on! ye persecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet... When they can get rid of me, the devil will also go.

Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, v. 6, pp. 408-409

Prophet Brigham Young (1801 – 1877):

If I had forty wives in the United States, they did not know it, and could not substantiate it, neither did I ask any lawyer, judge, or magistrate for them. I live above the law, and so do this people.

Journal of Discourses, v. 1, p. 361

Brother Cannon remarked that people wondered how many wives and children I had. He may inform them that I shall have wives and children by the million, and glory, and riches, and power, and dominion, and kingdom after kingdom, and reign triumphantly.

Journal of Discourses, v. 8, pp. 178-179

If you do not know whose right it is to give revelations, I will tell you. It is I.

"October Conference Minutes [October 6, 1844]," Times and Seasons, October 15, 1844, v. 5, no. 19, p. 683

I have never preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call scripture.

Journal of Discourses, v. 13, p. 95

He has told you that he is an old man. Do you think that I am an old man? I could prove to this congregation that I am young; for I could find more girls who would choose me for a husband than can any of the young men.

,Journal of Discourses 5:211, September 6th, 1857

Getting into Heaven only with consent of Joseph Smith

From Brigham Young:

Joseph Smith holds the keys of this last dispensation, and is now engaged behind the vail in the great work of the last days. I can tell our beloved brother Christians who have slain the Prophets and butchered and otherwise caused the death of thousands of Latter-day Saints, the priests who have thanked God in their prayers and thanksgiving from the pulpit that we have been plundered, driven, and slain, and the deacons under the pulpit, and their brethren and sisters in their closets, who have thanked God, thinking that the Latter-day Saints were wasted away, something that no doubt will mortify them - something that, to say the least, is a matter of deep regret to them - namely, that no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are - I with you and you with me. I cannot go there without his consent. He holds the keys of that kingdom for the last dispensation - the keys to rule in the spirit-world; and he rules there triumphantly, for he gained full power and a glorious victory over the power of Satan while he was yet in the flesh, and was a martyr to his religion and to the name of Christ, which gives him a most perfect victory in the spirit-world. He reigns there as supreme a being in his sphere, capacity, and calling, as God does in heaven. Many will exclaim - "Oh, that is very disagreeable! It is preposterous! We cannot bear the thought!" But it is true.

Journal of Discourses 7:289 (Oct 9, 1859)

Prophet Wilford Woodruff (1807-1898):

…kings would tremble upon their thrones at my word…. I should become a Counsellor & multitudes should seek counsel at my mouth & I should have great wisdom & power to fly through the midst under heaven…I should have power over my enemies & have long life & bring many into the kingdom of God Also that I should have the riches of the earth.

Wilford Woodruff, 1836-1837 Diary, under April 4 11, 1837, reprinted in Dean Jessee, "The Kirtland Diary of Wilford Woodruff," BYU Studies, Summer 1972, v. 12, p. 388

Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley

We can respect other religions and must do so. We must recognize the great good they accomplish. We must teach our children to be tolerant and friendly toward those not of our faith. We can and do work with those of other religions in the defense of those values which have made our civilization great and our society distinctive…

General Conference, April 1998.

We must not be clannish. We must never adopt a holier-than-thou attitude. We must not be self-righteous. We must be magnanimous, and open, and friendly. We can keep our faith. We can practice our religion. We can cherish our method of worship without being offensive to others. I take this occasion to plead for a spirit of tolerance and neighborliness, of friendship and love toward those of other faiths.

Pioneer Day Commemoration, July 2001.

We are greatly misunderstood, and I fear that much of it is of our own making. We can be more tolerant, more neighborly, more friendly, more of an example than we have been in the past. Let us teach our children to treat others with friendship, respect, love, and admiration. That will yield a far better result than will an attitude of egotism and arrogance.

General Conference, April 2000.