“He Lives! The Witness of Latter-day Prophets,” Ensign, Mar. 2008, 8–11
He Lives!
The Witness of Latter-day Prophets
“And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!” (D&C 76:22).
“He lives!” So testified the Prophet Joseph Smith of the Savior Jesus Christ. With such certitude, all subsequent Presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators—have testified of the Savior’s reality, divinity, Atonement, and Resurrection.
President Gordon B. Hinckley
“I know that I am not the head of this Church. The Lord Jesus Christ is its head. My mission, my chief responsibility, my greatest honor comes in bearing solemn testimony of His living reality. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who condescended to come into this world of misery, struggle, and pain, to touch men’s hearts for good, to teach the way of eternal life, and to give Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. He is ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He shall reign forever and ever’ (Handel’s Messiah). … I bear solemn witness that He lives and stands on the right hand of His Father.”1
President Howard W. Hunter (1907–95)
“I am grateful … for my affiliation with a people who have a firm conviction that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ; and I bear witness to you that the story of the babe born in the manger at Bethlehem is not a myth of the past, but that Jesus, the Son of God was born of Mary into mortality; that he lived among men; that he died upon the cross and was resurrected; that he actually and truly lives today; and that he is a personal being and is the Savior of the world.”2
President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994)
Photograph of Ezra Taft Benson by Busath Photography
“The question is sometimes asked, ‘Are Mormons Christians?’ We declare the divinity of Jesus Christ. We look to Him as the only source of our salvation. We strive to live His teachings, and we look forward to the time that He shall come again on this earth to rule and reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In the words of a Book of Mormon prophet, we say to men today, ‘There [is] no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent’ (Mosiah 3:17).”3
President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985)
“We place [Jesus Christ] on a pedestal as no other group I know of. To us he is not only the Son of God, he is also a God and we are subject to him. …
“No matter how much we say of him, it is still too little.
“He is not only the Carpenter, the Nazarene, the Galilean, but Jesus Christ, the God of this earth, the Son of God, but most importantly, our Savior, our Redeemer. …
“I add my own testimony. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.
“He is my friend, my Savior, my Lord, my God.”4
President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973)
“After a long night of searching and days of spiritual preparation that followed, I came to know as a witness more powerful than sight, until I could testify with a surety that defied all doubt, that I knew with every fiber of my soul that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that He lived, He died, He was resurrected, and today He presides in the heavens, directing the affairs of this church, which bears His name because it preaches His doctrine. I bear that testimony humbly and leave you my witness.”5
President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972)
“Salvation is in Christ. It comes because of the infinite and eternal atonement which he wrought by the shedding of his blood. He is the Son of God, and he came into the world to ransom men from the temporal and spiritual death that came because of what we call the fall.
“Through his goodness and grace all men will come forth from the grave, to be judged according to the deeds done in the flesh. …
“I know that he lives, that he rules in the heavens above and in the earth beneath, and that his purposes shall prevail. He is our Lord and our God. As he himself said to Joseph Smith: ‘The Lord is God, and beside him there is no Savior’ (D&C 76:1).”6
President David O. McKay (1873–1970)
“ ‘How can we know the way?’ asked Thomas, as he sat with his fellow apostles and their Lord at the table after the supper on the memorable night of betrayal; and Christ’s divine answer was: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. …’ (John 14:5–6.) And so he is! He is the source of our comfort, the inspiration of our life, the author of our salvation. If we want to know our relationship to God, we go to Jesus Christ. If we would know the truth of the immortality of the soul, we have it exemplified in the Savior’s resurrection. …
“… He is the one Perfect Being who ever walked the earth; the sublimest example of nobility; Godlike in nature; perfect in his love; our Redeemer; our Savior; the immaculate Son of our Eternal Father; the Light, the Life, the Way.”7
President George Albert Smith (1870–1951)
“The Savior died that we might live. He overcame death and the grave and holds out to all who obey His teachings the hope of a glorious resurrection.”8
“I have found many in the world who have not known that we believe in the divine mission of our Lord, and I have been led to say upon more than one occasion that there are no people in the world who so well understand the divine mission of Jesus Christ, who so thoroughly believe him to have been the Son of God, who are so sanguine [confident] that at the present time he is enthroned in glory at the right hand of his Father, as the Latter-day Saints.”9
President Heber J. Grant (1856–1945)
“To members of the Church throughout the world, and to peace-lovers everywhere, we say, behold in this Man of Galilee not merely a great Teacher, not merely a peerless Leader, but the Prince of Peace, the Author of Salvation, here and now, literally and truly the Savior of the World!
“… Jesus is the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of mankind, who came to the earth with a divinely appointed mission to die for the redemption of mankind. Jesus Christ is literally the Son of God, the Only Begotten in the flesh. He is our Redeemer, and we worship him.”10
President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918)
“The Holy Spirit of God has spoken to me—not through the ear, not through the eye, but to my spirit, to my living and eternal part,—and has revealed unto me that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I testify to you that I know that my Redeemer lives. Furthermore, I know that I shall see Him on this earth, and that I shall see Him as He is. … The Lord has revealed this to me. He has filled my whole spirit with this testimony, until there is no room for doubt.”11
President Lorenzo Snow (1814–1901)
“That Being who dwelt in Heaven, who reigned there before the world was, who created the earth, and who, in the meridian of time, came down to perfect and save that which He had created, has appeared to men in this age.”12
“We testify to the whole world that we know, by divine revelation, even through the manifestations of the Holy Ghost, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and that he revealed himself to Joseph Smith as personally as he did to his apostles anciently, after he arose from the tomb, and that he made known unto him [the] heavenly truths by which alone mankind can be saved.”13
President Wilford Woodruff (1807–98)
“The object of Christ’s mission to the earth was to offer himself as a sacrifice to redeem mankind from eternal death. … He acted strictly in obedience to his Father’s will in all things from the beginning, and drank of the bitter cup given him. Herein is brought to light, glory, honour, immortality, and eternal life, with that charity which is greater than faith or hope, for the Lamb of God has hereby performed that for man which [man] could not accomplish for himself. …
“There is no being that has power to save the souls of men and give them eternal life, except the Lord Jesus Christ, under the command of His Father.”14
President John Taylor (1808–87)
“Anointed, indeed, with the oil of gladness above His fellows, He struggled with and overcame the powers of men and devils, of earth and hell combined; and aided by this superior power of the Godhead, He vanquished death, hell and the grave, and arose triumphant as the Son of God, the very eternal Father, the Messiah, the Prince of peace, the Redeemer, the Savior of the world; having finished and completed the work pertaining to the atonement, which His Father had given Him to do as the Son of God and the Son of man.”15
President Brigham Young (1801–77)
“I testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world; I have obeyed his sayings, and realized his promise, and the knowledge I have of him, the wisdom of this world cannot give, neither can it take away. …
“Our Lord Jesus Christ—the Savior, who has redeemed the world and all things pertaining to it, is the Only Begotten of the Father pertaining to the flesh. … He has tasted death for every man, and has paid the debt contracted by our first parents.”16
The Prophet Joseph Smith (1805–44)
“And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—
“That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;
“That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him” (D&C 76:40–42).
The Second Coming, by Grant Romney Clawson