Question: Does the present-day Church seek to hide or downplay the Journal of Discourses?

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Question: Does the present-day Church seek to hide or downplay the Journal of Discourses?

While the Journal of Discourses is not, and has never been regarded as scripture or officially binding in itself, it contains a great deal of value

It is claimed that the Church is trying to "completely distance itself" from the Journal of Discourses.

While the Journal of Discourses is not, and has never been regarded as scripture or officially binding in itself, it contains a great deal of value.

Present-day Church members have had extensive exposure to the Journal of Discourses in their priesthood and Relief Society manuals which focus on teachings of past presidents of the Church. Critics may not be aware that these quotations are in the Journal of Discourses, since other primary or secondary sources are sometimes cited in the footnotes.

For Church leaders who lived and spoke during the time that the Journal of Discourses was in publication, there are many talks that have been cited in recent manuals:

• Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young (1997).
• Teachings of Presidents of the Church: John Taylor (2001).
• Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff (2004).
• Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith (1998).

To find a quote from these manuals in the Journal of Discourses, simply copy a few words or a phrase into the search box of the FairMormon Answers Wiki at the left side of the screen.

Contrary to critics' claims, members have probably been exposed to more material in the Journal of Discourses by way of the Priesthood and Relief Society manuals than any Church classes in the last few generations.

Some talks in the above works date from the same time period, but were not printed in the Journal of Discourses. Thus, the manuals draw on a wider collection of talks than the Journal of Discourses alone.

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