Bishop Caussé Speaks of Truths Learned from the Restoration
Contributed By R. Scott Lloyd, Church News staff writer
Bishop Gerald Caussé speaks on the message of the Restoration during a session of the 2014 Seminar for New MTC Presidents and Visitors’ Center Directors January 13, 2015.
PROVO, UTAH
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not just another Christian Church, but rather it has unique elements that are essential to the salvation of mankind, Bishop Gérald Caussé taught during a session at the 2015 Seminar for New MTC Presidents and Visitors’ Center Directors on January 13.
Speaking on the topic “The Message of the Restoration,” Bishop Caussé, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, identified three essential truths conveyed in three major events associated with the Restoration.
The first event, he said, was the vision of the Father and the Son experienced by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the spring of 1820.
“It provides us knowledge of the true nature of the Godhead,” Bishop Caussé pointed out, citing John 17:3, which gives Christ’s words that life eternal is to “know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”
The second event, he said, is the translation of the Book of Mormon, which reveals a true knowledge of the doctrine of Christ with its elements of faith in Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
The third event, Bishop Caussé said, is the restoration of priesthood keys and ordinances by heavenly messengers, which relate to the doctrine of the eternal nature of the family unit.
“What investigators will remember best is those key doctrines of the Restoration we have mentioned,” he said.
Evidence of the verity of the Restoration doctrines is the testimony of those who have received a witness. When they testify, the Holy Ghost will bear witness of these truths, he said.
Investigators must understand that a universal apostasy occurred after the deaths of Christ and His Apostles; otherwise, there would have been no need for a Restoration, Bishop Caussé noted.
