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Discourses of Brigham Young: Second President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
1925. Brigham Young, second President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, and first Governor of Utah, was the founder and chief builder of the Great Intermountain West of the United States of America. He is recognized as one of the foremost colonizers and empire builders of all time. In this book Young is allowed to speak for himself. Excerpts have been made from his many discourses, and these have been arranged to show the coherent system of faith which he continuously taught his people and by which he was enabled to win success for his followers. Partial Contents: The Godhead; The Communication Between God and Man; Pre-existence, the Plan of Salvation; Free Agency; The Power of Evil; The Law of Eternal Progression; The Destiny of Man; Dispensations of the Gospel; The Last Days; The Scriptures; The Priesthood; The First Principles of the Gospel; The Word of Wisdom; The Family; Some Womanly Duties; Obedience; Gratitude, Humility, Devotion, Liberality, Honesty; Happiness and Social Enjoyments; Education; Self Control; Our Fellow-Men; Unity and Cooperation; Thrift and Industry; Wealth; Missionary Work; Visions, Mysteries and Miracles; Trials and Persecution; Political Government; Death and Resurrection; The Spirit World; Eternal Judgment; Salvation; Temples and Salvation for the Dead; Man's Search for Truth and Salvation; Testimony of the Truth; The Church and Kingdom of God on Earth; Some Effects of the Gospel; Joseph Smith the Prophet; and The Settlement in the West. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.
498 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1941
37 people are currently reading
909 people want to read
About the author
Brigham Young
172 books64 followersBrigham Young was an American leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death. He was also the founder of Salt Lake City and the first governor of the Utah Territory, United States. Brigham Young University was named in his honor.
Young had a variety of nicknames, among the most popular being "American Moses," (alternatively the "Modern Moses" or the "Mormon Moses") because, like the Biblical figure, Young led his followers, the Mormon pioneers, in an exodus through a desert, to what they saw as a promised land. Young was also dubbed the "Lion of the Lord" for his bold personality, and was commonly called "Brother Brigham" by Latter-day Saints.
Young had a variety of nicknames, among the most popular being "American Moses," (alternatively the "Modern Moses" or the "Mormon Moses") because, like the Biblical figure, Young led his followers, the Mormon pioneers, in an exodus through a desert, to what they saw as a promised land. Young was also dubbed the "Lion of the Lord" for his bold personality, and was commonly called "Brother Brigham" by Latter-day Saints.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
January 25, 2018
Only 100 pages left! This book has taken me a couple of years to read because I only read a few pages at a time. It's packed with the wisdom and opinions of Brigham Young, the first Governor of Utah, and second Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He also happnes to be my 3rd great-grandfather, so it speaks to me and helps me want to be a better person who would please him.
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July 11, 2010In an attempt to understand Mormonism better, I've been looking at the edges recently -- the Deseret alphabet pleases me enough, and Under the Banner of Heaven was fascinating. More than anything, I suppose, the Mormons I meet consistently rank among the most fascinating and adaptive people I know. I'm certainly not giving up my deep-rooted envy of the Jewish civilization and culture, but perhaps I can be jealous of two ethnoreligious confederacies? In any case, the Reverend Young seems one of those larger-than-life individuals who shaped whole states and peoples; anyone who claimed "Intelligent beings are organized to become Gods, even the Sons of God, to dwell in the presence of the Gods" (pg. 245), and managed to convince people, seems well worth studying.
Though for that matter, old Mssr. Smith seems himself not uninteresting:
anyway this'll be fun enough to curl up with at night in the atlanta summer...by which i mean generally not very much fun at all, but what're ya gonna do? mmm bodychowder sauna: i'm soaking in it.
Though for that matter, old Mssr. Smith seems himself not uninteresting:
Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet...When they can get rid of me, the devil will also go.- (History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 408, 409)
anyway this'll be fun enough to curl up with at night in the atlanta summer...by which i mean generally not very much fun at all, but what're ya gonna do? mmm bodychowder sauna: i'm soaking in it.
April 17, 2011
This was the FIRST official Mormon book I ever read. I had read "The 27th Wife" in high-school and my
parents suggested some LDS neighbors might have some ideas of other things to read. Interestingly enough they (the Hutchings) leant me this book. I was not given a copy of the Book of Mormon by them
which surprises me as I look back on it.
I read it well before I read The Book of Mormon.
Brigham Young was a giant! Like him or not, Brigham Young was one tough man and was exactly what the Mormons needed to survive after Joseph Smith's death.
I disagree with Young's conclusions about the Apostasy of the Church but it was worthwhile to read his POV.
parents suggested some LDS neighbors might have some ideas of other things to read. Interestingly enough they (the Hutchings) leant me this book. I was not given a copy of the Book of Mormon by them
which surprises me as I look back on it.
I read it well before I read The Book of Mormon.
Brigham Young was a giant! Like him or not, Brigham Young was one tough man and was exactly what the Mormons needed to survive after Joseph Smith's death.
I disagree with Young's conclusions about the Apostasy of the Church but it was worthwhile to read his POV.
March 17, 2008
This book is amazing. When Brigham Young describes the gospel as truth, in any form, it's the wake up call the church needs. We get so into our tunnel vision and we only look for truth within the scriptures but truth is everywhere. And as Brigham says, the people who bring us that truth are Latter-Day Saints, whether they know it or not. We need to realize without seeking out truth from other sources we will never have a full and complete knowledge of the gospel.
September 8, 2018
I learned more doctrine reading this book than any other book save the scriptures (The Holy Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price). I read it twice, but know I missed a TON and will read it again in the future!!
May 17, 2023
Nearly four hundred of Brigham Young's sermons were recorded in the Journal of Discourses. In this 1925 volume, John A. Widtsoe selects excerpts from Young's sermons and arranges them thematically. Some of Young's most controversial teachings (polygamy, blood atonement, the curse of black skin) are mentioned in passing, but the famous quotes about punishing interracial marriage or adultery with death on the spot are left out. I don't think the doctrine that Adam is God is included in this volume and Brigham Young's belief that there is life on the sun is also left out of this collection. There are still a lot of interesting things left in, though.
He says a lot of things present-day Mormons still believe, as well as things that are no longer taught. Present-day Mormons fast on the first Sunday of the month, but apparently in Brigham Young's day, it was the first Thursday of the month. Young says you don't need to pay tithing unless you want to, which definitely isn't taught in the Mormon church today. He tells Latter-day Saints not to call outsiders Gentiles, which present-day Mormons often do.
He mentions knowing passwords, signs, and tokens to get past the doors into the celestial kingdom, which reminds me of the ancient Egyptian belief that you need to know the names of several gatekeepers to get into the afterlife.
There are millions of earths like ours. We will become Gods ourselves and create our own earths. All people will be saved except the sons of perdition (those who receive the Holy Ghost and then sin against it). He mentions fathers who were exalted millions of years before Adam's time. God currently lives on another world and was once like us. There is no beginning or end. There have always been Gods and there will always be men passing through worlds. God and Jesus both have bodies, but the Holy Ghost doesn't.
Apparently, gold and silver decompose like hair or wheat, it just takes longer. Young said there is life in all matter. It is in rock, the sand, the dust, in water, air, the gases.
He said it's wrong to go to the moon because God designed the earth for us. There is clear and pure matter between us and the stars that we can't see, but there's enough of it to create millions of earths.
I was surprised to find that Young thought spirit-rapping, mesmerism, and such can come from either good or evil spirits. He predicts that Christians will soon do away with the Bible which doesn't seem likely.
He says people shouldn't blindly trust their leaders (including himself), but rather ask God if their leaders are right. He says you don't need to confess your sins to clergy, which goes against the current Mormon practice of confessing to a bishop.
Regular members of the church may receive revelations of the past or future or new doctrine of the Church, but "he must rarely divulge it to a second person on the face of the earth, until God reveals it through the proper source."
We'll all be vegetarians during the Millennium and should start being kind to animals now. In fact, he says we shouldn't eat pork and it's best for children not to eat meat at all.
He claims eating too much and drinking coffee or tea gives you a disease that cuts your life expectancy in half or two thirds! He says warm houses cause colds, so it's better to live outdoors. He also says children shouldn't be sunburned like the natives.
He says all the arts and sciences are from God. Other religions say the earth was created 6,000 years ago, but this contradicts geology which says the earth has been in existence for millions of years. Mormonism, according to Brigham Young, will never contradict the facts of science.
The earth itself will be resurrected as well as every living thing "that has abided by the law by which it was made," so I guess not every dog goes to heaven, just the ones who abided by the doggie law.
I'll end this review with a few fun quotes from Brigham Young:
"A woman can throw out of the window with a spoon as fast as a man can throw into the door with a shovel."
"Keep your dish right side up so that when the shower of porridge does come, you can catch your dish full."
"A lie will creep through the keyhole and go a thousand miles while truth is getting out of doors."
"The spirit spreads through a telegraphic influence or force that is independent of wires."
"You may, figuratively speaking, pound one Elder over the head with a club, and he does not know but what you have handed him a straw dipped in molasses to suck."
He says a lot of things present-day Mormons still believe, as well as things that are no longer taught. Present-day Mormons fast on the first Sunday of the month, but apparently in Brigham Young's day, it was the first Thursday of the month. Young says you don't need to pay tithing unless you want to, which definitely isn't taught in the Mormon church today. He tells Latter-day Saints not to call outsiders Gentiles, which present-day Mormons often do.
He mentions knowing passwords, signs, and tokens to get past the doors into the celestial kingdom, which reminds me of the ancient Egyptian belief that you need to know the names of several gatekeepers to get into the afterlife.
There are millions of earths like ours. We will become Gods ourselves and create our own earths. All people will be saved except the sons of perdition (those who receive the Holy Ghost and then sin against it). He mentions fathers who were exalted millions of years before Adam's time. God currently lives on another world and was once like us. There is no beginning or end. There have always been Gods and there will always be men passing through worlds. God and Jesus both have bodies, but the Holy Ghost doesn't.
Apparently, gold and silver decompose like hair or wheat, it just takes longer. Young said there is life in all matter. It is in rock, the sand, the dust, in water, air, the gases.
He said it's wrong to go to the moon because God designed the earth for us. There is clear and pure matter between us and the stars that we can't see, but there's enough of it to create millions of earths.
I was surprised to find that Young thought spirit-rapping, mesmerism, and such can come from either good or evil spirits. He predicts that Christians will soon do away with the Bible which doesn't seem likely.
He says people shouldn't blindly trust their leaders (including himself), but rather ask God if their leaders are right. He says you don't need to confess your sins to clergy, which goes against the current Mormon practice of confessing to a bishop.
Regular members of the church may receive revelations of the past or future or new doctrine of the Church, but "he must rarely divulge it to a second person on the face of the earth, until God reveals it through the proper source."
We'll all be vegetarians during the Millennium and should start being kind to animals now. In fact, he says we shouldn't eat pork and it's best for children not to eat meat at all.
He claims eating too much and drinking coffee or tea gives you a disease that cuts your life expectancy in half or two thirds! He says warm houses cause colds, so it's better to live outdoors. He also says children shouldn't be sunburned like the natives.
He says all the arts and sciences are from God. Other religions say the earth was created 6,000 years ago, but this contradicts geology which says the earth has been in existence for millions of years. Mormonism, according to Brigham Young, will never contradict the facts of science.
The earth itself will be resurrected as well as every living thing "that has abided by the law by which it was made," so I guess not every dog goes to heaven, just the ones who abided by the doggie law.
I'll end this review with a few fun quotes from Brigham Young:
"A woman can throw out of the window with a spoon as fast as a man can throw into the door with a shovel."
"Keep your dish right side up so that when the shower of porridge does come, you can catch your dish full."
"A lie will creep through the keyhole and go a thousand miles while truth is getting out of doors."
"The spirit spreads through a telegraphic influence or force that is independent of wires."
"You may, figuratively speaking, pound one Elder over the head with a club, and he does not know but what you have handed him a straw dipped in molasses to suck."
July 11, 2017
I have owned this book for nearly a decade and always wanted to read it but never had a strong enough desire to do so. I wish that desire was stronger a decade ago. I really loved this book. Reading the sermons of Brigham Young gave me an insight to him that I hadn't seen before. I thoroughly enjoyed the doctrinal topics. Brigham Young had such a way to briefly and powerfully teach and testify of the doctrines of the gospel. I found on each page things that interested me or would benefit me in knowing. The one hard thing was in actually reading the book. With each paragraph a different thought or coming from a different sermon, there was no flow and this made it hard to read at times or took longer than I expected. I would recommend this book to those wanting to get to know Brigham Young better and the doctrines he taught.
December 1, 2023
Say what you will about Brigham Young, he was a genius from the pulpit. Logically Widtsoe watered the harangues down some--this book was used as a priesthood manual one year--but by censuring Young's profanity and fire, some of the feeling is lost. Still, it's east to appreciate Young's wit and rhetoric in these discourses.
February 21, 2019
Very thought provoking....
December 31, 2020
Really interesting to see the way he thought and his vision for the Saints.
October 15, 2025
"I really love president Young's teachings. During the months of my conversion his brilliant mind and very practical way to live, gave me pure wisdom that I could never imagine." --Customer Review
July 26, 2019
I really liked it and recommend it for writers at all levels.
November 2, 2019
This book had literally hundreds of excellent quotations on a host of gospel topics. Some of my favorites were in the topics of obedience, faith, repentance, the plan of salvation, death, the spirit world, work, self-reliance, trials, and revelation. Brigham Young's testimony and teachings are really amazing. This book strengthened my testimony that he was a prophet of God and that he taught the truth.
Re-read October 2019:
This is truly one of the most edifying books I have ever read. Definitely worth the re-read.
Re-read October 2019:
This is truly one of the most edifying books I have ever read. Definitely worth the re-read.
September 13, 2008
What I "read" was actually a download of the audiobook from:
http://www.ldsaudio.com/shop/audio_it...
AUTHOR(S): Brigham Young
NARRATED BY: Nathan K. Wright
RUNNING TIME: 1360 Min.
Audiobook MP3 22h 39m 45sec Lectures LDS Nonfiction 04/23/07
http://www.ldsaudio.com/shop/audio_it...
AUTHOR(S): Brigham Young
NARRATED BY: Nathan K. Wright
RUNNING TIME: 1360 Min.
Audiobook MP3 22h 39m 45sec Lectures LDS Nonfiction 04/23/07
June 13, 2009
I adore Brigham Young! He tells it how it is. Great parenting resource. A spectrum of solid counsel, some of which is more pioneer-appropriate (would like mothers not to scrub their children's faces so roughly) but vast majority is true today as it was then. Another book I read and re-read!
July 9, 2010
I have slowly been reading this book for the past few months and have loved it. I love not only how he presents the doctrine but his straight-forward manner of teaching that covers all aspects of spiritual and temporal matters.
July 23, 2015
What a wonderful book. Wisdom in every page. He reaffirms the decision I made in 1962 to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. An inspired man. Very straight forward and clear advice and doctrine.
March 11, 2008
I love his teachings. This makes for a good reference.
April 16, 2008
A majority of what can be considered truth and correctly recorded from the journal of discourses is found herein.
April 23, 2008
Softcover.
April 5, 2009
President Young tells it like it is, and it is awesome.
April 20, 2009
This is an excellent reference book for those of us who are a little intimidated by the entire Journal of Discourses. It contains quotes from Brigham Young on a wide variety of topics.
August 12, 2012
This was a great book I think he was a very strong and courages leader who cared for the members of the church and I think he was a wonderful prophet
December 25, 2025
Subject Themed Quotations.
August 11, 2012
lOVED! wONDERUL BOOk! so many insights!!!
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May 29, 2014i want to read
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July 29, 2017I decided I needed to learn more about Brigham Young, so I thought I'd start with his own words rather than what others have said about him. I later found out that this book isn't exactly his words, but were transcribed somewhat incorrectly from the shorthand notes of his original discourses. In addition, this collection of discourses is carefully arranged--nothing very controversial. All of that said, I really liked what I read. He felt like a very pragmatic, no-nonsense leader, and he cared deeply about the temporal and spiritual salvation of his people. He felt strongly, and I'm excited to learn more about his life, leadership, and the things that happened during his presidency.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews