The CHAIRMAN. You would obey the
command under such conditions?
Senator SMOOT. If God spoke to me.
Mr. TAYLER. What are the living
oracles?
Senator SMOOT. As I understand they
are men who preach the word—the living oracles are.
Mr. TAYLER. The men who preach the
Word?
Senator SMOOT. Preach under the inspiration
of the spirit of our Lord.
Mr. TAYLER. They are only oracles
when they speak with the inspiration of the Lord?
Senator SMOOT. I think so. (Proceedings
Before the Committee on Privileges and Elections of the United States Senate in
the Matter of the Protests Against the Right of Hon. Reed Smoot, a Senator from
the State of Utah, to Hold His Seat, 4 vols. [Washington, D.C.: Government
Printing Office, 1906)], 3:278; cf. “There are quite a number of things in the
Journal of Discourses that are not accepted by the church” [3:277])