Quote mining/Journal of Discourses/JoD 6:163:Analysis

FAIR Answers—back to home page

Quote mining analysis

The quote and its use by the critic(s):

List	Actual quote	Critical use
*	...thus we are the only people that understand anything about the present position or the cause of the organization of the world and of man, and that understand anything correctly about a preparation for a future state; that we are the only people that know how to save our progenitors, how to save ourselves, and how to save our posterity in the celestial kingdom of God; that we are the people that God has chosen by whom to establish his kingdom and introduce correct principles into the world; and that we in fact are the saviours of the world, if they ever are saved;—when we reflect upon these things, there is something connected with them that is calculated to make our hearts swell with gratitude and thrill with joy; and when we feel the consoling influence of the Spirit of the Most High God resting upon us and round about us, and the visions and glories of the future that we are destined to enjoy are open to our minds, if we are faithful, and the great events that are about to transpire in the last days are manifested to our minds, there is something in them that is calculated to cause us to sing, Hosanna!—hosanna to the Lord God of Hosts! —John Taylor	...we are the only people that know how to save our progenitors, how to save ourselves, and how to save our posterity in the celestial kingdom of God;...we in fact are the saviours of the world...

Analysis

While the critical usage focuses on apparently arrogant claims by John Taylor, when taken in context the argument Taylor is making is that we should rejoice and be filled with gratitude. The critical usage misrepresents Taylor's intent by omitting the consequent of his argument in order to imply that his speech was one of self-congratulatory aggrandizement rather than the grateful rejoicing present in the actual speech.