Bruce McConkie gets a bad rap at times, but he deserves such for producing one of the worst talks of all time:
The anti-intellectual nature of the
article is exemplified by this attitude towards study of the original language
texts of the Bible:
When a
knowledge of ancient languages is used properly—as a means of gaining
inspiration about particular passages—it merits a rating of, say, one or one
and two-tenths. Improperly used—as an end in itself—its value sinks off the
scale to a minus five or a minus ten, depending upon the attitude and spiritual
outlook of the user.
Those who
turn to the original tongues for their doctrinal knowledge have a tendency to
rely on scholars rather than on prophets for scriptural interpretations. This
is perilous; it is a sad thing to be numbered with the wise and the learned who
know more than the Lord.
Interestingly, his then-future father in
law and Church president, Joseph Fielding Smith, did not share McConkie’s (very
errant) attitude towards studying the original languages of the Bible:
In the
summer of 1922, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, Apostle and Church Historian, had
written, “The study of Hebrew is the most important of all the languages for
our young people at this time. . . . The day of the Gentile is drawing to its
close and the day of the Jew is at hand, so far as the Gospel is concerned.”[50]
The president of BYU concurred: “It seems to me very desirable for us to have
scholars in various languages, particularly those which have had to do with the
work of the chosen people of the Lord on the earth. Among these of course
Hebrew ranks first. . . . I think it would be highly desirable for the Church University
to offer courses in Hebrew . . . I should certainly like to have a good man in
Hebrew connected with our institution if we could afford it.”[51] Elder Smith
replied, “I have always regretted that we had no scholars in the Church who understand
Hebrew and also Egyptian, both languages being of the greatest value to us.”[52]
(V. Wallace McCarlie Jr. and Andrew C. Skinner, “Sidney B. Sperry: Seeking to
Know the Word,” in Avram R. Shannon, Gaye Strathearn, George A. Pierce, and
Joshua M. Sears, eds., Covenant of Compassion: Caring for the Marginalized
and Disadvantaged in the Old Testament [Provo, Utah: Religious Studies
Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2021], 28, here, p. 13)
Notes for the Above
[50]
Joseph Fielding Smith to Franklin S. Harris, Salt Lake City, September 5, 1922,
Harris MSS, Perry Special Collections. He indicates that Elder John A. Widtsoe
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and President Anthony W. Ivins of the
First Presidency concur that Hebrew is preeminent and should be taught.
[51]
Franklin S. Harris to Joseph Fielding Smith, Provo, Utah, September 7, 1922,
Harris MSS, Perry Special Collections.
[52]
Joseph Fielding Smith to Franklin S. Harris, Salt Lake City, September 11, 1922,
Harris MSS, Perry Special Collections. “We strand in a peculiar position as a
people, in regard to education, because of the message we have for the world.
The Gospel was to be preached first to the Gentile and then to the Jew (D&C
90:9). The time has now come when the Gospel message must go to the Jew and to
the Lamanite, in fulfillment and the predictions of old. The Jew is, as the
Book of Mormon declares, he would do, ‘beginning to believe in Christ.’ We are
certainly in need of missionaries who are acquainted with Hebrew and Jewish
customs so that they will understand how to appeal to these scattered sheep of
the House of Israel.”
