"The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain"

In his talk entitled “The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain,” from the Sunday morning session of the 177th semiannual session of General Conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley illustrates that through studying the fruits of the First Vision, we can see for ourselves, and make the choice to believe in, “the very validity of this Church,” meaning the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In addition to employing a number of verses from scripture considered sacred (including many describing prophecies of a Church being brought forth in modern day), citing facts about the growth of the Church, and relating the story of Joseph Smith’s actions in bringing about the birth of the Church, President Hinckley’s humor, expression of love, and own validity as prophet – head of the very Church he’s discussing – help to further his assertion in the belief that the Gospel is true.

President Hinckley begins his talk by engaging his audience (those watching General Conference) through a humorous comment about soloists and musicians being able to repeat a song again and again, but speakers having to come up with something new to speak about each time they speak. This comment, along with President Hinckley’s obvious amiable nature, helps to add to the audience’s respect for him. In addition, President Hinckley, as president of the Church, is esteemed as the most knowledgeable with regard to the principles of the Gospel and the Lord’s will for His Church. His audience is led to trust in the honest recounting of the fruits of the First Vision, and the validity of the Church by these things. His expressions of love for and confidence in the goodness of his audience cause his audience to feel even more ready to trust and respect his judgments and opinions.

In addition to an argument built off of his own authority and his love of both the audience and the Church, President Hinckley establishes through facts that we can see the validity of the Church through an illustration of how the Church has endured, even though it has faced much opposition through the centuries. He quotes scriptures in which a church would be established by the Lord after an apostasy, using both the Book of Mormon – the book accepted by the LDS Church, and the Bible – the book accepted by the majority of Christian churches. He describes events that the world accepts as history, like the Nicene Creed, which merely compromised points of view of various doctrines, creating confusion about what aspects of Christianity were true. Then he recounts Joseph Smith’s history, making evident its legitimacy as a commandment to organize a church by explaining that it is the only event in all of Christian history in which Heavenly Father Himself appeared alongside the Savior. He describes the opposition the young Church faced, and how it bloomed anyway, with the Book of Mormon standing as a witness.