REXBURG—From the early days of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints education and the pursuit of knowledge has been encouraged. In today’s BYU-Idaho devotional, Justin Collings, the academic vice president of Brigham Young University, shared teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith, and the vision Smith had for education among members of the Church.
Collings taught three fundamental reasons for learning that Smith taught in his life. The first is to become more like Heavenly Father. Through understanding His character, students can become more like Him, Collings said.
The second purpose is to be prepared to serve God and His children more effectively.
“Joseph taught that Saints need to learn broadly so we can be prepared to do the Lord’s work in the last days,” Collings said.
The final reason behind the importance of learning in this life is to experience joy.
“Joseph believed that learning is part of our nature as intelligent beings and is therefore a source of enduring joy,” Collings said. “His teachings are suffused with watchwords such as knowledge, intelligence, light, and truth.”
In his devotional address, Collings also focused on what should be learned in the pursuit of knowledge.
“Since learning is fundamental to our nature and central to our joy, it shouldn’t surprise us that Joseph’s revelations and teachings envision a sweepingly expansive curriculum,” Collings said. “What are we to learn? The short answer seems to be: everything.”
Brigham Young taught that the gospel embraces truth from all sources.
“The Savior is the source of all truth,” Collings said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio. “He tells us in (Doctrine and Covenants) section 93, I am the spirit of truth. Truth is knowledge of things as they are and as they were and as they are to come. And all pursuit of truth is sanctioned as part of the gospel. And we're encouraged to learn broadly, widely, and throughout our lives.”