Benson’s most
controversial sermon, however, was given in a 1980 devotional address at
Brigham Young University. In “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet,” Benson
made a number of statements in what was a clear indication of “his own future
intentions as church president” (Quinn, Mormon Hierarchy, 100, explains:
“To most observers, Benson’s 1980 talk at BYU was an announcement of his own
future intentions as church president.”). At the time, he was the president of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and stood in line to replace the ailing
eighty-five-year-old Spencer Kimball, who suffered from declining health.
Benson confidently assured BYU students and faculty that “the prophet will never
lead the Church astray.” More controversially, he asserted “that the living
prophet is more important . . . than a dead prophet” and added that “the
prophet may be involved in civic matters.” For some critics, this marked Benson’s
clear intention to have the church endorse right-wing political candidates in
the name of God. For others, it means that Benson was a “false prophet” for
callously dismissing the teachings of earlier prophets (Ogden Kraut to Ezra
Taft Benson, April 6, 1980, Box 55, Folder 4, Arrington Papers).
Scores of listeners
expressed outrage over the address and flooded the First Presidency with
letters. Additionally, news outlets picked up the story and criticized Benson
for his blatant partisanship. For Kimball, who shunned conflict, Benson’s
divisive rhetoric posed a challenge to the church. He had already “called in [Benson]
several times to discuss political statements he had made.” Similarly, he refused
to publish Benson’s 1979 general conference sermon in international church
magazines fearing it might impede church efforts to gain missionary access in
communist countries. Benson’s ill-advised BYU speech forced Kimball to call
Benson in once again. According to general authorities with direct knowledge of
the affair, President Kimball asked Benson to apologize to the Quorum of the
Twelve but they “were dissatisfied with the response.” The enfeebled president
then instructed Benson to apologize again the following week, this time to a
combined meeting of all the general authorities. The apostle also prepared a
written apology to the public, though it is not clear if he delivered it (In “Apology”
[1989], Ezra Taft and Flora A. Benson file, 1980-1992, LDS Church History
Library).
Benson’s BYU sermon
was the last time he spoke exclusively in public about politics or communism.
The church resident had chastised him, indeed humiliated him, before his fellow
general authorities. For the good of the church—and himself—Benson had the good
sense to see that political winds in the church were shifting. (Matthew L.
Harris, Watchman on the Tower: Ezra Taft Benson and the Making of the Mormon
Right [Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2020], 102-3)