“The Guilty Taketh the Truth to Be Hard”

K. Douglas Bassett

2 Ne. 9:40; Mosiah 13:4; Moro. 9:4-5; Mark 4:17

“The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know… . ‘The guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center’ (1 Ne. 16:1,3). Or, to put it in another prophet’s words, ‘Hit pigeons flutter.’ … The world prefers that prophets either be dead or mind their own business. Some so-called experts of political science want the prophet to keep still on politics. Some would-be authorities on evolution want the prophet to keep still on evolution. And so the list goes on and on. How we respond to the words of a living prophet when he tells what we need to know, but would rather not hear, is a test of our faithfulness.” (Ezra Taft Benson, BYU Speeches of the Year, pp. 26-30)

Latter-Day Commentary on the Book of Mormon

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