Brigham Young Unfiltered His Life, Conversion, and Faith in His Own Words

Authors

LaJean Purcell Carruth

Keywords

Brigham Young, dedicatory prayers, tabernacle, Church history

Abstract

On October 6, 1867, the Saints met in the new Salt Lake Tabernacle for the first time. Brigham Young rose, made some remarks about the still unfinished state of the organ, and then dedicated the tabernacle to the Lord. This dedicatory prayer was completely unknown until I found the original shorthand record of it several years ago and transcribed it; prior to that time, the earliest known dedication of the tabernacle was 1875. He prayed, “O God our Heavenly Father who dwells in the heavens, in the name of thy Son Jesus Christ we come before thee at this time to worship thee. On this occasion we ask for the aid of thy Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray, what we should ask for, [and] how to ask that we may receive.”1 This and other prayers by Brigham Young tell us a lot about the man: in prayer, the “Lion of the Lord” was a humble, pleading servant.

Recommended Citation

Carruth, LaJean Purcell (2025) "Brigham Young Unfiltered His Life, Conversion, and Faith in His Own Words," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 64: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol64/iss1/3