Keywords

General Conference, Latter-day Saints, footnotes

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The usage of footnotes[1] in general conference addresses has surged since 1990, and this trend appears to have started with Elder Russell M. Nelson, then a newly called Apostle. At the time of this writing, he has amassed 1,966 footnotes over ninety-one conference addresses, more than double the footnotes of any other speaker. In recent conferences, all the Apostles (and nearly all other speakers) have used footnotes. We submit that footnotes (particularly the footnotes given by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve) merit increasing attention by religious educators and all who read these reports. Consider an excerpt from Elder Dale G. Renlund’s address in April 2022, where he uses a footnote to teach more of the doctrine of repentance. He first says in his conference talk, “Even after sincere repentance, however, we may stumble. Stumbling does not mean that the repentance was inadequate but may simply reflect human weakness. How comforting to know that ‘the Lord sees weaknesses differently than He [sees] rebellion.’”[2] Following that gentle commentary, he next leaves a footnote that carries a more serious and direct message about repentance: “Consciously planning a sin with the callous plan to repent afterwards—in other words, preplanned repentance—is repugnant to the Lord. Those who do so ‘crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh’ (see Hebrews 6:4–6). This warning should be considered: ‘For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation’ (Hebrews 10:26–27).”[3] Studying (and teaching from) conference footnote