Elder Dallin H. Oaks on the sacred and inspired family proclamation

Elder Dallin H. Oaks (b. August 12, 1932) served as president of BYU from 1971-1980.  He was then appointed as a justice of the Utah Supreme Court, and resigned when he was called to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 1984.

"The gospel plan each family should follow to prepare for eternal life and exaltation is outlined in the Church’s 1995 proclamation, 'The Family: A Proclamation to the World.' Its declarations are, of course, visibly different from some current laws, practices, and advocacy of the world in which we live. In our day, the differences most evident are cohabitation without marriage, same-sex marriage, and the raising of children in such relationships. Those who do not believe in or aspire to exaltation and are most persuaded by the ways of the world consider this family proclamation as just a statement of policy that should be changed. In contrast, Latter-day Saints affirm that the family proclamation defines the kind of family relationships where the most important part of our eternal development can occur....

"Converted Latter-day Saints believe that the family proclamation, issued nearly a quarter century ago and now translated into scores of languages, is the Lord’s reemphasis of the gospel truths we need to sustain us through current challenges to the family."

- Dallin H. Oaks, "The Plan and the Proclamation," General Conference October 2017
Click here to read or listen to the full talk

Elder Oaks' discussion of the history of the "Family Proclamation" was fascinating. It was interesting to hear that even some of the Quorum of Twelve responded to the First Presidency's suggestion that a formal document be created with some skepticism, wondering if there were really a need for such a document. But in the 22 years that have followed since its issuance to the Church and to the world, it's become clear that we desperately needed the clear, prophetic call as the moral values of the world have fallen away. So much has changed in those 22 years, in ways none of us anticipated in 1995. The role of prophets, seers, and revelators is to anticipate the needs of God's people, and this is a profound example of them having filled that role.

How grateful we are to be prophet-led! How careful we should be to listen to, and follow, their inspired counsel!

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2017)