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An Analysis of the Doctrinal Teachings of President George Albert Smith

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An Analysis of the Doctrinal Teachings of President George Albert Smith Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1975 An Analysis of the Doctrinal Teachings of President George Albert Smith Robert K. McIntosh Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons, Mormon Studies Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation McIntosh, Robert K., "An Analysis of the Doctrinal Teachings of President George Albert Smith" (1975). Theses and Dissertations. 4928. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4928 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. AN ANALYSIS OF THE DOCTRINAL TEACHINGS OF PRESIDENT GEORGE ALBERT SMITH A thesis presented to the department of church history and doctrine brigham young university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of arts by robert K mclntoshmeintosh august 1975 this thesis by robert K mclntoshmeintoshis accepted in its present form by the department of church history and doctrine of brigham young university as satisfying the thesis requirement for the degree of master of arts 01 myrumpyrum L andrus committeevommittee chairmanchainman walter D bowen committee member N atete lamaro6elamarberrettLamar Berrettrrettarett department clairmcaairmchairman typed by janice K perry ii acknowledgementsacknowledge MENTS the writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to the following to president george albert smith whose life and teachings made this study possible to the executive committee of the board of trustees to the grad- uate school and to the department of church history and doctrine of brig- ham young university for permission to pursue this study to dr hyrum andrus committee chairman for his wise counsel and his pursuit of excellence throughout the progess of this study to dr walter D bowen committee member for his example and encouragement to dr william 0 nelson friend and brother in law for his sug- gestionsgestions and advice to dr leroy mckenzieMe kenzleKenzie of the university of lethbridge for his careful review of the manuscript in preparation to david ayres of the university of lethbridge for his sugges- tions and comments to sandra knight thera earl and janice perry for their typing of the manuscript to my wife susan and our five children robbie david michelle deborah and nathan who have been a constant inspiration throughout the iii iv preparation of this work to the family of george albert smith edith emily tom and sharon for their friendship and encouragement finally the writer wishes to express appreciation for the oppor- tunity and privilege of attending the brigham young university this thesis has been one of the outstanding experiences of his life TABLE OF CONTENTS page acknowledgementsacknowledgeMENTSME NTS iii LIST OF TABLES chapter 1 introduction I11 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 4 definition OF TERMS 5 SOURCES OF DATA 12 METHODS AND procedures 13 limitations OF THE STUDY 13 OUTLINE OF THE THESIS 14 2 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF GEORGE ALBERT SMITH 16 AGE OF TURMOIL 16 BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE FROM 187918891879 1889 18 YEARS OF preparation FROM 189019021890 1902 23 HIS apostleship FROM 190319451903 1945 24 GEORGE ALBERT SMITHS presidency FROM 194519511945 1951 27 3 THE GODHEAD 31 GOD THE FATHER 32 v vi chapter page JESUS CHRIST THE SON 43 THE HOLY GHOST 49 SUMMARY 55 4 THE PLAN OF SALVATION 57 MANS PURPOSE ON EARTH 62 MANS postmortalPOST MORTAL STATE 65 SUMMARY 71 5 THE PRINCIPLE OF revelation 73 THE importance OF THE STANDARD WORESWORKS 74 THE PLACE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE CHURCH AND THE GENERAL authorities 79 THE responsibility OF THE SAINTS TO THE PROPHET 82 THE GENERAL conferences OF THE CHURCH 93 SUMMARY 98 6 THE FAMILY 99 THE ETERNAL NATURE OF THE FAMILY UNIT 100 THE HOME AS A foundation FOR HAPPINESS 101 THE ROLE OF THE HUSBAND 104 THE ROLE OF THE WIFE 108 THE importance OF CHILDREN 110 THE responsibility OF parenthood 113 admonitions TO CHILDREN 123 vii chapter page SUMMARY 126 7 CHARITY 128 THE PRINCIPLE OF CHARITY 128 A LIVING EXAMPLE OF CHARITY 135 SUMMARY 142 8 missionary WORK 144 THE importance OF missionary WORK 145 THE BLESSING OF missionary SERVICE 149 PROBLEMS AND prophecies 150 HOW MEMBERS CAN BE missionaries 153 SUMMARY 155 9 THE SAINTS AND THE UNITED STATES government 157 THE constitution OF THE UNITED STATES 158 THE responsibility OF THE SAINTS TO FREE government 162 SUMMARY 168 10 THE LATTER DAYS 170 A TIME OF TURMOIL 173 THE DIVINE SOLUTION 182 TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA 184 SUMMARY 189 viii chapter page ii11 FINAL THESIS SUMMARY 190 THE FREQUENCY OF HIS BASIC DOCTRINES 190 SUMMARY STATEMENT 204 bibliography 205 appendixes 211 APPENDIX A FAVORITE SCRIPTURE references OF PRESIDENT GEORGE ALBERT SMITH 212 APPENDIX B EPITAPH ON THE TOMBSTONE OF THE GRAVE OF GEORGE ALBERT SMITH 216 APPENDIX C highlights IN THE LIFE OF GEORGE ALBERT SMITH 187019511870 1951 217 APPENDIX D PEDIGREE CHART OF PRESIDENT GEORGE ALBERT SMITH 219 APPENDIX E OVERVIEW OF THE ANCESTRY OF GEORGE ALBERT SMITH 220 APPENDIX F THREE OCCASIONS WHEN GEORGE ALBERT SMITHSMITHSS LIFE WAS PRESERVED 224 APPENDIX G GEORGE ALBERT SMITHS FEELINGS AT THE TIME OF HIS CALL TO THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES 229 APPENDIX H GEORGE ALBERT SMITHSMITHSIS FEELINGS AT THE TIME OF HIS CALL AS PRESIDENT OF THE QUORUM OF TWELVE APOSTLES 232 APPENDIX I1 BLESSING BY PRESIDENT HEBER J GRANT UPON THE HEAD OF ELDER GEORGE ALBERT SMITH SETTING HIM APART AS PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES july 8 1943 235 IX page APPENDIX J FAVORITE KEY WORDS OF GEORGE ALBERT SMITH 237 APPENDIX K A LISTING OF SOME OF THE prophe- cies OF GEORGE ALBERT SMITH FROM 190419501904 1950 238 LIST OF TABLES tabletabie page 1 the frequency of george albert smiths emphasis of the basic doctrines of the church 191 2 the fifteen doctrines most frequently emphasized by president george albert smith 200 3 the ten doctrines least emphasized by president george albert smith 1 1 11 203 4 favorite scripture references of president george albert smith 212 5 total number of times george albert smith made reference to each of the standard works 214 6 most often quoted stories from scripture 215 x chactechaptechapterr I11 introduction it is a challenging task to adequately analyze the theology of george albert smith the eighth president prophet seer and revelator of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints except for sharing the 1 gospel with others a compilation of his writings edited by preston nibley there are no books of theology which bear his name the works of george albert smith are limited to discourses found in the general conference re- ports editorials in church periodicals and a few letters to relatives and 20 friends his name is seldom referred to in critical writings of the church 1prestonnprestonpreston nibley sharing the gospel with others salt lake city deseret book 1948 2 2briefbrief reference to his doctrinal teachings can be found in roy doxey latter day prophets and the doctrine and covenants salt lake city deseret book co 1956 vols 141 4 daniel ludlow latter day prophets speak salt lake city bookcraft 1951 alma P burton doctrines from the prophets salt lake city bookcraft inc 1965 duane S crowther life everlaseverlasting salt lake city bookcraft inc 1967 V dallas merrell family leadersleadership salt lake city deseret book co 1963 richard vetterliVetteriiterllthe constitution by a thread salt lake city paramount publishers 1967 gerald newquist prophets principles and national sur- vival salt lake city publishers press 1964 alice K chase sayings of a saint salt lake city wheelwright lithographingLithographing co 1951 and glen R stubbs A biography of george albert smith 1870 to 195111195 unpublished doctors dissertation brigham young university 1974 appp 403425403 425 1 2 added to this is the fact that his writings were never intended to be objec- tive works in theology instead they were extortiveexhortexhortiveive in nature given to move the audience toward a love for god most of his talks were determined 3Q by the occasion nowhere did george albert smith give a detailed outline of his theology though george albert smith did not present a systematic outline of his theology his basic beliefs formed the warp and woof of every discourse which he presented like jesus president smith did not reveal the truths 4 he taught so much through the written word as through the vocal word and as christs theology is revealed through the extemporaneous occasion passing a fig tree that did not bear fruit observing a woman being stoned for adultery and watching in rapture the birds of the air and the lilies of the field so george albert smiths theology sprang from the time and the place of his discourse the sorrows of mothers lamenting the departure of their sons to war a conversation with the governor of utah and a train ride with a roman catholic bishop who comments on the high morality of the latter day saints george albert smith general conference address official report of the one hundred thirteenth annual general conference of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints april 1943 salt lake city the church of jesus christ of latter day saints nndd p 89 hereafter cited as CR see also improvement era hereafter cited as ledLEJIE may 1949 p 302 4 he did write editorials for the improvement
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