William J. Critchlow
Assistant to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles (October 11, 1958 – August 30, 1968)
General Conference Addresses
- October 1967 General Conference
- The Eternal Life of Man
- “This world drama is but a small part, a very brief act, in a great, grandiose drama that has been coursing through time and will continue to course through time for millions of years, without end. It is a drama within a drama, both by the same author. May he pardon me for the liberty I take in calling it Act 2—the mortal act—involving the cast in their mortal, flesh and bone, state. Act 1 I would call the pre-mortal act, involving the cast in their spirit state. The future, Act 3, will later involve the cast in their immortal state. I must call it the post-mortal or immortal act.”
- The Eternal Life of Man
- October 1966 General Conference
- The Gospel is Eternal: A New Witness to the Fact
- “Unlike the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, which was heralded in newspaper headlines and in radio broadcasts throughout the world, this discovery by Joseph Smith received practically no publicity. It deserved news headlines. Its message, like the message of the Dead Sea scrolls, could also shake the faith of Christians throughout the world. A basic, hardcore Christian concept may crumble under the impact of its message if it ever receives the same consideration and acceptance now being accorded the Dead Sea scrolls. But more about that concept when I finish my story about the Egyptian scroll.”
- The Gospel is Eternal: A New Witness to the Fact
- April 1966 General Conference
- A Basic Hard-Core Godhead Concept for Christian Creeds
- “Some of the Saints, I fear, fail to realize that he who places the seal upon the ordinances has power also to remove the seal when covenants are broken. How important it is that we remain faithful Saints to the very end.”
- A Basic Hard-Core Godhead Concept for Christian Creeds
- October 1965 General Conference
- Women and the Priesthood
- “Mortal men, even those who honor their priesthood, do not know the “substance” of a miracle, nor do some who treat their priesthood lightly fully realize that carelessness with priesthood power can be slowly lethal, producing a lingering, withering, spiritual death.”
- “But this I do know: Priesthood is the power of God, presently and purposely denied to women for reasons which he has not revealed. And when he whose business priesthood is wants the sisters to hold it, he will let his prophet know; and until then there is nothing we can do about it. And until the Lord or his prophet speaks, don’t ever, Sister, make a pretense to priesthood power, and never simulate a priesthood ordinance.”
- Women and the Priesthood
- April 1965 General Conference
- Read the Book of Mormon
- “How many times have you read it? Read it again. And this time read it slowly, so you can digest the spiritual calories you will find in it. Read it personally, putting yourself in the shoes of Lehi, who was told to take his family into the wilderness. What would you have done were you in his shoes? Put yourself in Nephi’s shoes. He was instructed to go after the brass plates. What would you have done in his shoes? Yes, read it personally.”
- “Read it for pleasure. Discover how it testifies of the Christ. Somebody said his name is mentioned 526 times therein. It testifies also of the Bible. Turn off the TV, turn off the radio, and read the Book of Mormon. You will enjoy it.”
- Read the Book of Mormon
- April 1964 General Conference
- Gospel Blessings—Future-Wise—Present-Wise—Past-Wise
- “My bride and I, pondering eternity, decided, of course, on a temple marriage. Our children came to us under that marriage covenant. The plans for building a “mansion in the sky” we found in the gospel plan—and in that plan we learned how to build, also how to save to insure eternal love and eternal life.”
- “Our Heavenly Father wants his children to be happy, to have joy and untroubled minds. He didn’t send us to earth to be rid of us. He loves us. He doesn’t always love the things we do, but he does love us, and he has provided for us a program, a recipe, if you please, for our happiness and peace of mind. We call it the gospel of Jesus Christ, a few clear, concise, simple laws which if observed will provide the joy he intended for us.”
- Gospel Blessings—Future-Wise—Present-Wise—Past-Wise
- October 1963 General Conference
- Priesthood—Asset or Liability
- “Sometimes men relax and treat their priesthood responsibilities lightly in the home, failing to teach their families the gospel, failing to have family prayers, failing to use the priesthood when sickness uninvitingly stalks the home. Husbands and sons are sometimes lax in their duties because they lack the cooperation and encouragement of their wives and mothers.”
- “No mortal man will ever realize all of the blessings in this great promise as he dwells here in this mundane period of our everlasting lives, but by reason of priesthood which is attained and honored, we have God’s promise that sometime we may become like unto God. “. . . all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.” Incidentally, God had something to say about those who do not honor their priesthood. I have not time to inject his dour warning into my remarks today. All who hold the priesthood, however, should read what he said.”
- “To you who bear the priesthood, may I say: In an inventory of your possessions—physical, mental, spiritual, and financial—priesthood, if honored, may be your greatest asset; it could be the best investment you ever made. It costs you nothing; its dividends can be fabulous. Appraise it honestly and list it high up among your assets on your life’s balance sheet. And you who are not honoring your priesthood, debit it high up on the liability side of your life’s balance sheet. It could well be your greatest liability. You could, sooner or later, find yourself bankrupt in the kingdom of God. As of this day, is your priesthood an asset or a liability?”
- Priesthood—Asset or Liability
- April 1963 General Conference
- God’s Prophet—David O. McKay
- “I love him, and I believe—I know that he is a prophet of God; that he holds all the priesthood keys, rights, powers, and authority which were conferred upon the Prophet Joseph Smith and upon his successors right down to and including President McKay.”
- God’s Prophet—David O. McKay
- October 1962 General Conference
- Jesus Is the Son of God
- “If Jesus is not the Son of God, he did blaspheme; he also lied. Why not compound the charge of blasphemy with perjury? Add fraud, deceit, or whatever else you will, the truth must come out, for every knee must bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Son of God.”
- Jesus Is the Son of God
- April 1962 General Conference
- Repentance—Spelled with 7 R’s
- “In a very few moments, one could inventory in the mind his or her more serious transgressions—those already repented of, and those still to be repented of. It will take a little longer, and the list will grow a little longer, if we add to it our sins of omission. Sometimes our sins of omission are greater than our sins of commission.”
- Repentance—Spelled with 7 R’s
- October 1961 General Conference
- Whom I Love I also Chasten
- “In the great holocaust to come, the earth will again be cleansed of wickedness as it was in the days of Noah, and God may spare again a righteous people, “if six-tenths or three-fourths of this people will keep the commandments of God.””
- “What are the commandments God would have us keep? Three serve the subject of my theme. He has instructed us: 1. to attend stake conference; 2. to attend Sacrament meetings; 3. the priesthood bearers to attend their priesthood meetings.”
- Whom I Love I also Chasten
- April 1961 General Conference
- Portrait of the Prophet Joseph Smith
- “I believe—I know Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God; that he was visited by heavenly messengers. Among them were John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John; Moses, Elias, Elijah; and one Moroni who led him to some hidden golden plates, the characters on which he translated and thus produced the Book of Mormon. I also believe—yes, I know, that he was visited by the Father and by the Son and was instructed by the Son.”
- Portrait of the Prophet Joseph Smith
- October 1960 General Conference
- The Church Is a Stage, Its Members Players
- “Families that have never had a missionary in the field have missed one of the grandest blessings that could come into their homes. Ask the mother who impatiently awaits her missionary son’s letters, who gleefully reads lines in them over the back fence to neighbors and over the phone to relatives and friends.”
- The Church Is a Stage, Its Members Players
- April 1960 General Conference
- A Divine Key to Knowledge
- “In fancy let’s assume that the plates had been deposited with the mummies and the Egyptian scrolls in the Chicago museum. Both would then have been destroyed by fire. Joseph Smith never did find time to translate the second scroll which he said contained the writings of Joseph, grandson of Abraham. Its contents are seemingly lost to the world. So, without the Lord’s intervention, “the greater things made manifest” in the sealed portion of the gold plates may have been similarly lost to the world. Surely God’s “ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” I am grateful that the Lord kept the plates. Sometime, I hope to read the “greater things” sealed therein.”
- A Divine Key to Knowledge
- October 1959 General Conference
- A Portrait of the Man of Galilee
- “You priesthood fathers would bless your wives and children if you would gather them around you and read to them the full text of the great Sermon on the Mount. Do it soon. It is the greatest speech ever delivered from the lips of men. It is the most widely circulated speech ever heard among men. It has been printed in thousands of books and uttered by thousands of speakers from thousands of pulpits to millions of people.”
- A Portrait of the Man of Galilee
- April 1959 General Conference
- Happiness
- “These people have certain characteristics in common. Friendliness is one of them; humility is surely another; the hospitality of their leaders is another which I have greatly enjoyed. But the outstanding characteristic, it seems to me, is happiness. Their countenances literally radiate happiness. They seem to have left all of their worries and troubles at home. They obviously came to conference to feast, spiritually, of course, and they seem to delight in paying their devotions.”
- “Our Heavenly Father loves us. I love my children dearly, but his love for us, his spirit children, is infinite, divine.”
- “Ignorance is no excuse for violating civil laws; perhaps our Heavenly Father may not accept it as an excuse for violating his laws.”
- Happiness
- October 1958 General Conference
- A New Call
- “My brothers and sisters, I have a strong testimony of the gospel. I have that conviction which President Richards spoke of yesterday, that President David O. McKay is a prophet of God, and I so sustain him. I love that man. We love him in Ogden. All Weber County loves him. He is our own. He is from Weber County and maintains a part time residence there. And we loved his brother, whose place I seem to be taking among the Assistants to the Twelve. I hope that in time the people of Weber County may come to respect and love me as they loved Thomas E. McKay.”
- “Happiness, much of it, is a by-product of service.”
- A New Call
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