Notice to the elders of the Church, 2 June 1894
CARD TO THE ELDERS.
To the Elders of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints:
DEAR BRETHREN—Certain parties
who appear to be anxious for notoriety,
and who desire to take advantage of
the prominence and achieve the dig-
nity which discussion with the
Elders of this Church would
give them, have sent to repre-
sentative Elders of the Church chal-
lenges to hold discussion upon the
doctrines and the validity of the au-
thority of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints. People of this
kind in California and elsewhere have
of late been very persistent in demand-
ing an acceptance of their challenge
—the question, for debate, as they put
it, being:
First—Was Brigham Young the lawful
and legitimate successor of Joseph Smith
(the Seer), to the prophetic office and
presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints?
Second—And is Utah the appointed
place for the gathering of the Saints in
the last days, as spoken by the Prophets
of God, including Joseph Smith, the
Seer?
We take this public method of say-
ing to all our Elders that we con-
sider it entirely unnecessary for the
vindication of the principles of the
Church, or to prove the authority of
the Priesthood of the presiding authori-
ties of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, to resort to any
such method for their vindication.
We leave this for the Lord to prove
and sustain, and we think it folly to
submit the claims of our Church or the
Priesthood to the arbitrament of man.
The Lord has said, "By their
fruits, ye shall know them;" 3 Nephi 14:20 and
to these we can confidently point,
feeling satisfied that the people who
are seeking for truth and looking for
the evidence which the truth always
furnishes, can more readily obtain this
knowledge by calm investigation and
close observation than by controversy.
It is our counsel, therefore, that any
Elder who may have received and
accepted such a challenge take no
steps whatever towards meeting
his challengers, but that he
leave them severely alone.
No Elder in such a position need
feel that any responsibility or discredit
will attach to him for declining any
discussion into which he may
have been drawn; such respon-
sibility we freely assume. We
wish it to be further understood
that this is our counsel to all of our
Elders at home and abroad.
Your Brethren,
WILFORD WOODRUFF,
GEORGE Q. CANNON,
JOSEPH F. SMITH,
First Presidency of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
