The Divine Origin of the Family Proclamation

Since its release on September 23, 1995, The Family: A Proclamation to the World has become a needed doctrinal anchor during a time of confusion and opposition regarding the centrality of the family. In this episode Dr. Byran B. Korth, professor and associate department chair of Church history and doctrine, discusses his article on the divine origin and inception of the family proclamation and details its inextricable connection to seership and revelation. “But a seer can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed . . . ” (Mosiah 8:17). Dr. Korth discusses the revelatory process used by prophets and seers to craft the proclamation precept upon precept during the nearly year-long process. Additionally, he explains two profound truths about the proclamation: first, that it serves as a response to the rise of the antifamily movement at world conferences of the United Nations in the latter quarter of the twenty-first century, and second, that it was divinely designed by the Lord’s watchmen to declare to the world the role of the family in God’s plan.   

Publications: 

• “Seership and World Conferences: The Divine Origin and Inception of the Family Proclamation” (in Religious Educator, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2023)
• “Staying by the Tree of Life” (in Book of Mormon Insights: Letting God Prevail in Your Life, Religious Studies Center, 2024)
• “Becoming as Little Children: Participating in the Household of God” (in The Household of God: Families and Belonging in the Social World of the New Testament, Religious Studies Center, 2022)
• “The How and What of Modern Religious Transmission and Its Implications for Families” (Journal of Family Psychology, 35.4, 2021)
• “Parents Teaching Children to Believe in Christ: ‘An Echo of a Celestial Pattern’” (in Give Ear to My Words: Text and Context of Alma 36 – 42, Religious Studies Center, 2019)
• “Joseph Smith’s 1839 – 40 Visit to Washington” (in Latter-day Saints in Washington, D.C.: History, People, and Places, Religious Studies Center, 2021)

Click here to learn more about Byran Korth