Preamble
Why Was The Family Proclamation Given?
Throughout history, the Lord has called prophets to reaffirm eternal truths during times of uncertainty. As confusion about the family increased throughout the world, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles issued The Family: A Proclamation to the World to provide a clear witness of God's plan for His children and the central role of the family in that plan.
12 scriptures4 scholarship2 stories
With so much of sophistry that is passed off as truth, with so much of deception concerning standards and values, with so much of allurement and enticement to take on the slow stain of the world, we have felt to warn and forewarn.
Read this line in context →Scriptures
A Voice of Warning
So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days.
Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
A prophet is a watchman on the tower, protecting us from spiritual dangers we may not see. … And don’t be alarmed when the prophet’s warning voice counters popular opinions of the day. The mocking fireballs of annoyed disbelievers are always hurled the moment the prophet begins to speak.
Sophistry and the Slow Stain
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
Scholarship
Sophistry and the Slow Stain
From 1970 to 1980, the number of cohabitating couples more than tripled, the percentage of children born to unmarried women nearly doubled, the marriage rate dropped 15 percent, and the divorce rate increased by 52 percent.
The proclamation’s warning did not arrive in a vacuum. In the quarter century before 1995, family structure in the West shifted faster than in any comparable period on record — and the legal definition of marriage itself had just been put in play. In December 1990, three same-sex couples applied for marriage licenses in Hawaii, and the resulting case (Baehr v. Lewin) pushed the question toward the courts nationwide. The Brethren watched these currents gathering and, in President Hinckley’s words, “felt to warn and forewarn.”
In furtherance of this we of the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles now issue a proclamation to the Church and to the world as a declaration and reaffirmation of standards, doctrines, and practices relative to the family which the prophets, seers, and revelators of this church have repeatedly stated throughout its history.
Read this line in context →Scriptures
By the Voice of His Servants
What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.
And every decision made by either of these quorums must be by the unanimous voice of the same; that is, every member in each quorum must be agreed to its decisions, in order to make their decisions of the same power or validity one with the other—
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
The inspiration identifying the need for a proclamation on the family came to the leadership of the Church over 23 years ago. Subjects were identified and discussed by members of the Quorum of the Twelve for nearly a year. Language was proposed, reviewed, and revised. Prayerfully we continually pleaded with the Lord for His inspiration on what we should say and how we should say it. … I testify that the proclamation on the family is a statement of eternal truth, the will of the Lord for His children who seek eternal life.
In 1994, a year before the proclamation was presented, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles discussed how society and governments were pulling away from God’s laws for family, marriage, and gender. … The proclamation has a divine origin, so we must treat it with the reverence deserving words from God.
Stories
Why a Proclamation in 1995
Three days before general conference, Relief Society General President Elaine L. Jack sat with the First Presidency as President Hinckley weighed whether to read the new proclamation. When it was read aloud that Saturday evening, she felt it lived up to everything that had been said of it — “When the proclamation was read on Saturday evening, it was worthy of all that had been said of it.”
A woman’s influence on the delivery of the Family Proclamation
Scholarship
Why a Proclamation in 1995
The original plan was to present the family proclamation to the entire Church at the April 1995 general conference. However, due to President Hunter’s passing in March 1995, President Hinckley felt that it would be wiser to wait for the October 1995 general conference. … President Hinckley ultimately introduced “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” in the September 1995 general Relief Society meeting.
Since it was given in 1995, it has been cited more than 250 times in general conference, hangs on the walls of many Latter-day Saint homes, and is presented to leaders throughout the world.