A School in Zion

Reading Doctrine and Covenants 97 led me back to a talk President Jeffrey R. Holland gave as the president of BYU nearly four decades ago. He related, “Late last winter I was feeling pretty blue about something or other that didn’t seem quite right at the university and found myself wondering if all the effort was really worth it…. That led to a question I found myself asking late one night in the darkened study of the President’s Home: ‘Should the Church even have a university at all?’ Did it justify the effort, the expense, the toil, the tithing—and was it worth the pain?” He continued, “Thanks to my wife, I long ago established the habit of reading at least some scripture every night before retiring, however late it might be. So after such dark thoughts, I turned a lamp back on and reached for my scriptures. For whatever reason I decided not to pursue the ­sequential reading that I do most nights. I simply felt inspired to open the scriptures at random and find something fresh and unfamiliar…. This night I opened the book without prejudice and with, I think, a special measure of hope in my heart. Literally and truly the first words on which my eyes fell were these in section 97 of the Doctrine and Covenants: ‘Behold, I say unto you, concerning the school in Zion, I, the Lord, am well pleased that there should be a school in Zion” (D&C 97:3; emphasis added). He described the feeling that came over him after reading these words this way: “Those words hit me like a jackhammer. I chilled and blushed and chilled again. I stood up and walked around the room. I’m not embarrassed to tell you I was emotional—you know me well enough to have assumed that; I blubber if the sun comes up. And there across the street just a few yards from our home I thought I saw the statue of Karl G. Maeser smile.” He then acknowledged, “Now I know the school referred to in section 97 is technically not BYU. But BYU is, nevertheless, a legitimate academic descendant of the School of the Prophets, and I got a pat on the backside that night that suggested I stop whining and go to work; there was an inheritance to be claimed.” President Holland went on to then describe how our theology is based on learning and knowledge and education: it is a fundamental tenet of our faith that we are here on earth to learn and that “if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:19). We want to learn “of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:79).

            In speaking about the purpose of BYU, President Holland highlighted how fitting it is that the name it still carries is that of Brigham Young, an ardent advocate for learning. President Holland quoted these words of the second president of the Church: “What are we here for? To learn to enjoy more, and to increase in knowledge and in experience.” He also declared, “The object of this existence is to learn…. How gladly would we understand every principle pertaining to science and art, and become thoroughly acquainted with every intricate operation of nature…. What a boundless field of truth and power is open for us to explore! We are only just approaching the shores of the vast ocean of information that pertains to this… world, to say nothing of that which pertains to the heavens.” President Young also taught, “And when we have lived millions of years in the presence of God and angels…, shall we then cease learning? No, or eternity ceases…. We shall never cease to learn, unless we apostatize…. Can you understand that?” I love that declaration about the importance of learning and education—it is fundamental to our doctrine and essential for us to progress towards eternal life. This is why the Lord would say that He is “well pleased that there should be a school in Zion.” While at the time that revelation was given there was a specific place being built up as Zion—Jackson County, Missouri—He also said in the same revelation: “Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion—the pure in heart” (v21). And so I believe the Lord is telling us that it is good for us to focus on learning—whether through formal education or not—wherever the Saints striving to be pure in heart are found. And in our day the Lord is showing His firm commitment to education: last year just under 75,000 students were a part of the online BYU Pathway Worldwide, more than the physical BYU locations combined. That number will undoubtedly continue to rise in the future, and from it we see that the Lord is serious about giving knowledge to His people.

            These efforts in obtaining knowledge and education should not be motivated by selfish reasons. Rather, we strive to learn so that we can share the gospel and bless mankind, ultimately striving to help all of God’s children return back to Him. One of the major purposes of the School of the Prophets in 1833 was to prepare missionaries to go out and gather Israel to Zion. He told the Saints in 1832 to learn all these things “that ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:80). I love the injunction He gave shortly after that which surely is still relevant for each of us today: “It is my will that you should hasten to translate my scriptures, and to obtain a knowledge of history, and of countries, and of kingdoms, of laws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:53). President Holland finished his address this way: “Why have a temple of learning? How dare I ask Why? I will tell you why: ‘So that Satan cannot overthrow us, nor have any power over us here.’ Remember: ‘The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth. [And] light and truth forsake that evil one’ (D&C 93:36–37). May it be so for us this year and always.”