'Solid, Strong, True'

As current prophet of the LDS Church, Gordon B. Hinckley, 95, guides the religion that Joseph Smith established 175 years ago. Recently he talked with NEWSWEEK's Elise Soukup and Jon Meacham about the experience of "revelation," Smith's legacy and the appeal of the church.

HINCKLEY: I almost stand in awe when I think of Joseph Smith. The angel appeared to him in 1823--he said to this simple little boy, "Your name should be known for good and evil throughout the entire world." Today we haven't seen the complete fulfillment of that. But goodness sakes, when we have a General Conference, which we do every six months, we broadcast to our people in 80 different languages and to 167 nations. It's a miracle.

Well, in the first place, the Lord picked him. I don't know why. But here was a clean, pure, unsophisticated mind that could be made the recipient of truth without any clouding of any preconceived ideas or notions.

His greatest contribution I think is defining the nature of deity. He saw the Father and the Son. He spoke with them. They were beings of substance. They were in form like a man. And they could express themselves and he could speak with them. Such an interpersonal relationship. And such a warm and reassuring thing to know the nature of God.

Every righteous man or woman is entitled to revelation concerning his own affairs. But, one [the church president] is entitled to revelation concerning the whole church. And I can say that I don't have any question that I have had experiences that I feel were not of my will or understanding, but of direction, impressions, which came from the Lord.

That's the purpose of a prophet. To answer the questions of the times, of the problems [with] which he's faced. You go through the Old Testament, you find that to be the case.

Hateful. Meanness. Bitterness. I don't like it. We're all sons and daughters of God, and therefore in a very literal sense, brothers and sisters. And we ought to treat each other that way.

Well, I was reading David McCullough the other day. He made a very, very interesting statement. He said George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and so on did not live in the past. They lived in their present. And they didn't have all the answers while they were living. And that's the way it was. Joseph Smith, he didn't live in the past, he lived in his present and walked accordingly and faced those problems.

Of course we are Christians. He's the whole cornerstone of our faith. His name is in the name of the church. And this book [the Book of Mormon] is another testament of him.

We live in a world of shifting values. The family is falling apart. Parents failing in what they ought to do. And they find in this church something that expects something of people, that has standards and holds to those standards and speaks of requirements and definitions and so on. And they find here a rock that is solid and strong and true and isn't wavering with every gust of wind.