Prophets Speak of Constitution

                As leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we believe the Constitution of the United States to be an inspired document.  We consider the Founding Fathers to have been raised up for that very purpose and to have been inspired in the writing of the Constitution.  We believe this land has always been sacred, and we also believe that God protected this land and inspired men to create this free nation as a place where He could restore His gospel.

                Latter-day Saints believe that prophets in ancient America saw America in vision and wrote the things that we needed to know.  “In the Book of Mormon, prophets predicted that America would be a nation wherein no kings would rule (2 Nephi 10:11-14).  The people who would possess the land would be `free from bondage and from captivity, and from all other nations (Ether 2:12).  The Gentiles were to be `established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father’ (3 Nephi 21:4).  This, so that the Book of Mormon could come forth and the Lord’s church be established.  `And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood’ (Doctrine and Covenants 101:80; 109:54).

                Modern prophets from Joseph Smith to Thomas S. Monson have described the Constitution of the United States as “a glorious standard,” “a sacred document,” “a model for other constitutions,” and “the first written constitution.”  George Washington thought the drafting of the U.S. Constitution constituted a miracle.

                President Gordon B. Hinckley said in August 1999:  “Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States were brought forth under the inspiration of God to establish and maintain the freedom of the people of this nation.  I said it, and I believe it to be true.  There is a miracle in its establishment that cannot be explained in any other way.”

                President Thomas S. Monson said on September 17, 2002:  “Let us pause and reflect upon the many blessings we as Americans have received from our Constitution and the debt of gratitude we owe those heroic signers.  As we do so, we might also recognize that freedom is not free.  Sacrifice has been required to protect and to preserve the very freedoms we cherish.”