Education for Eternity Virtual Tour (permanent exhibition)

Through study, experience, and revelation, inspired students can integrate sacred and secular education with character, service, and lifelong learning to better reflect Christ’s light and help build Zion.

Hear Professor John Rosenberg explain some of the elegant symbolism of the Joseph F. Smith Building, which houses the Education in Zion Gallery, and the importance of learning.

Study. Experience. Revelation

South entry wall, photo Roger Layton

“Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.” –Doctrine and Covenants 130:18

“Thy mind O Man . . . must stretch as high as the utmost Heavens, and search into and contemplate the lowest consideration of the darkest abyss, and expand upon the broad considerations of eternal expanse.” –Joseph Smith, 1839

Four Aims

North entry wall, photo Roger Layton

“The power of my Spirit quickeneth all things.” D&C 33:16

“You must not attempt to teach even the alphabet or the multiplication table without the Spirit of God.” –Brigham Young, 1876

The Spark from Heaven

Circle in Square symbol, photo Nick Cude

Representing heaven, eternity, or a wheel, circles in squares (signifying the four corners of the earth) convey motion, but with stability. Ancient cultures sometimes referred to the circle in the square as “the spark” — the light from heaven that energizes and animates earth.

In the gallery, the circle illustrates the study-experience-revelation cycle while the square represents the four aims of a BYU education. Just as a fire sends forth sparks, so must BYU students and alumni light the world as they help to build Zion.

Where else have you seen circles in squares?

Why do you think they are frequently incorporated into architecture and decorations?

Study - Experience - Revelation

Students know that learning comes in many forms. We learn from books, and we learn simply by living. Sometimes, learning comes in a flash of divine insight. True wisdom is the product of each of these learning styles, which reinforce one another in a never-ending cycle:

Joseph Smith and the Study, Experience, Revelation Cycle

Jorgé Cocco Santángelo’s First Vision (2016),
giclée
print in the Education in Zion Gallery; original oil on canvas, Church History Museum

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” James 1:5

Joseph Smith’s experience reveals the importance of gaining available knowledge by studying, learning through various experiences, and seeking personal revelation. The study-experience-revelation cycle is a pattern, but the steps are not necessarily sequential. Therefore it is represented by a circle that can be entered at any of the three points.

Hear Professor Russ Osguthorpe explain how perplexity fuels deep learning.

School of the Prophets: A Pattern for Church Education

School of the Elders (2008) oil on canvas, Education in Zion Gallery, photo Roger Layton

The artist represents a typical, open-air meeting of the School of the Elders, which was similar to the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, under eastern cottonwood trees in Jackson County, Missouri.

Study: Joseph Smith wished to organize a school to teach both secular and sacred truths and help prepare missionaries to spread the gospel.

Revelation: In late December 1832, Joseph received a revelation to establish a school for Church leaders and missionaries. The revealed pattern of teaching and learning developed faith, character, and knowledge in each participant. Although the School of the Prophets lasted only from January to April 1833, it became the model for later Church schools and set an example for classroom teaching in the Church to this day.

Experience: Students were to clean and groom themselves and come neatly dressed. School leaders also experimented with meeting times, eventually settling on early morning. Because the students used their moral agency to order the environment and to invite the Spirit into their studies, the Spirit amplified their learning.

How can you apply this information in your life?

For a people devoted to building Zion, all learning is relevant and all subjects are sacred. The Lord carefully instructed the School of the Prophets:

“Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand; “Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—"

“. . . seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”

D&C 88:78-79, 118

Church Academies

Weber Stake Academy c. early 1900s, Church History Library

In the late 1800s, several private Protestant religious schools opened in Utah to attract (and proselyte) LDS youth, and the Edmunds-Tucker Act prohibited sectarian teaching and made the territorial superintendent an appointed, rather than an elected, position. In response, Brigham Young began establishing Church-run schools.

Brigham Young Academy (BYA), established in 1876 served as a model for Church Academies that began the following decade when the First Presidency instructed each stake to establish schools to educate their youth. Stake members enthusiastically donated money, goods, and labor.

Brigham Young Academy and Stake Academies

Brigham Young Academy, c. 1895, L. Tom Perry Special Collections

Study: Brigham Young wanted Church doctrine to be taught alongside secular topics in his namesake academy. His successor, John Taylor, asked each Church stake to organize academies because public schools were becoming increasingly secular and Gentile-owned private schools sought to turn children from their parents’ faith.

Experience: The Church’s academies encountered fires, interference from the Edmunds-Tucker Act, and ongoing financial difficulties from the Saints’ poverty. Church leaders and Saints worked through these obstacles to further God’s work among the youth of Zion.

Revelation: Church leaders were inspired to organize academies and continue teaching spiritual and secular truths together. As for Brigham Young Academy, President John Taylor received a revelation that Christ himself oversaw the school.

Zion is the World

Zion is the World, photo Nick Cude

When the Church expanded internationally, leaders established schools to educate young Latter-day Saints. As public education systems improved nationally and internationally, leaders closed many Church schools and used those resources to expand the Seminary and Institute programs to be able to serve more youth worldwide.

The Rise of Seminaries and Institutes

Seminary and Institute wall, photo Roger Layton

In 1912, the Seminary program started for high school students, and by 1925 the Institute of Religion program began for college-aged students. Both programs were designed to supplement students’ academic schooling.

Today, Seminary enrollment exceeds 400,000 and Institute enrollment exceeds 350,000 in more than 150 countries. Those who have attended have strengthened their testimonies and gained a deeper understanding of the scriptures.

Reflections

Exterior glass on the Joseph F. Smith Building reflecting the mountains, photo Roger Layton

The study-experience-revelation cycle has benefitted the Saints since 1830, and it continues to bless Church members in the twenty-first century.

Hear Professor Russ Osguthorpe explain that learning is a form of repentance.

How can you use the study-experience-revelation cycle this semester?

After you graduate?

The Four Aims

Maeser and The Four Aims of a BYU Education

Karl G. Maeser, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, HBLL, BYU

In 1876, when Brigham Young commissioned the academy that became the university bearing his name, he conveyed a clear vision of its mission to Karl G. Maeser: “You must not attempt to teach even the alphabet or the multiplication table without the Spirit of God. That is all.”

At that time, national educators had begun to exclude religion from curriculums. However, religion became a centerpiece of the Academy’s curriculum.

Today, Maeser’s implementation of Young’s instructions have been articulated as the aims of a BYU education. These aims—spiritually strengthening, intellectually enlarging, character building, leading to lifelong learning and service—along with the mission statement, guide all of the university’s endeavors.

Four Aims

Four Aims Symbol Key, photo Nick Cude

Individually the four aims are not uncommon⎯-but together they are unique. Here are some quotes from Karl G. Maeser that go along with each aim.

Spiritually Strengthening
“Precisely as you partake of the Spirit, so will you progress in you[r] studies.”

Intellectually Enlarging
“It is not that which we eat that make[s?] physical power but that which is digested. So with the mind.”

Character Building
“Knowledge is not power unless sustained by . . . character.”

Lifelong Learning and Service
“While the infant begins, it is the sage only that never ceases to learn.”

Which quote inspires you most and why?

Hear Professor Mikaela Dufur talk about character as it relates to BYU basketball.

Four Aims on Campus

Y Mountain, BYU Photo

BYU’s unique combination of faith-based teaching and learning distinguishes it from other institutions of higher learning. The four aims educate our whole soul as we proceed toward an education for eternity.

“There is a spirit on this campus that cannot be found anywhere else. We call it the Spirit of the Y.” –Carr Krueger, BYU Alumni President, 2005

How have you applied the four aims of a BYU education in your life?

BYU Mission Statement

BYU Mission statement highlighting content connected to the four aims, design Kate Smitheal

“Notice how each aim is directly connected to specific portions of the mission statement. . . . One cannot fully understand the aims unless one fully understands the mission statement.” ⎯ BYU President Kevin J Worthen

Click here to view the full mission statement

Your Aims

Former University President Cecil O. Samuelson with students, BYU Photo

Speaking about the aims, former BYU President Cecil O. Samuelson remarked, “While we speak of them as BYU aims, we hope in the process of your experiences here that they have become your own personal aims as well. It would be my request and plea, if you will accept them as such, that you might consider how these aims will help focus and direct the rest of your lives.”

Alumni and Four Aims

Graduates from 2019, BYU Photo

“I am both hopeful and expectant that from this university there will rise brilliant stars in drama, literature, music, art, science, and all the scholarly graces. This university can be the refining host for many such individuals who in the future, long after they have left this campus, can lift and inspire others around the globe."

–Former Church President Spencer W. Kimball

Hear Professor Ron Saltmarsh tell a personal story about character and integrity from his days in the commercial music industry.

What do the four aims mean to you as a university student?

How will you continue to exemplify the four aims after graduation?

Conclusion

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The study-experience-revelation cycle and the four aims will help us learn and progress in our lives. Together these interpretative themes will help us to reflect Christ’s light and love, and they will help us become better disciples as we identify, develop, and magnify our God-given gifts.

Please Visit Us!

“There is much more to see and learn at the Education in Zion Gallery—including several intriguing temporary exhibitions! Please visit us!”

–Heather M. Seferovich, Curator