Parley P. Pratt

1. Parley P. Pratt “This [the Light of Christ] is the true light, which in some measure illuminates all men. It is, in its less refined existence, the physical light which reflects from the sun, moon, and stars, and other substances; and by reflection on the eye, makes visible the truths of the outward world. It is also, in its higher degrees, the intellectual light of our inward and spiritual organs, by which we reason, discern, judge, compare, comprehend and remember the subjects within our reach. Its inspiration constitutes instinct in animal life, reason in man, vision in the Prophets, and is continually flowing from the Godhead throughout all his creations.” (Key to the Science of Theology, 9th ed., pp. 46-47)

2. Bruce R. McConkie “When the Eternal Father announced his plan of salvation --a plan that called for a mortal probation for all his spirit children; a plan that required a Redeemer to ransom men from the coming fall…when the Father announced his plan, when he chose Christ as the Redeemer and rejected Lucifer, there was a war in heaven…Lucifer sought to dethrone God, to sit himself on the divine throne, and to save all men without reference to their works. He sought to deny men their agency so they could not sin. He offered a mortal life of carnality and sensuality, of evil and crime and murder, following which all men would be saved…Christ and Michael and a mighty host of noble and great spirits preached the gospel of God and exhorted their brethren to follow the Father. Lucifer and his lieutenants preached another gospel, a gospel of fear and hate and lasciviousness and compulsion. They sought salvation without keeping the commandments, without overcoming the world, without choosing between opposites.” (The Millennial Messiah, pp. 666-667)

3. Bruce R. McConkie “It is with them [those with mental deficiencies] as it is with little children. They never arrive at the years of accountability, and are considered as though they were little children. If because of some physical deficiency, or for some other reason unknown to us, they never mature in the spiritual and moral sense, then they never become accountable for sins. They need no baptism; they are alive in Christ; and they will receive, inherit, and possess in eternity on the same basis as do all children.” (Ensign, April 1977, p. 6)

4. Joseph Smith “I have meditated upon the subject, and asked the question, why it is that infants, innocent children, are taken away from us…This world is a very wicked world; The Lord takes many away, even in infancy, that they may escape the envy of man, and the sorrows and evils of this present world; they were too pure, too lovely, to live on earth; therefore, if rightly considered, instead of mourning we have reason to rejoice as they are delivered from evil, and we shall soon have them again.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 196-197)