No Claim to Verbal Inspiration

“Mother has never laid claim to verbal inspiration, and I do not find that my father, or Elders Bates, Andrews, Smith, or Waggoner put forth this claim. If there were verbal inspiration in writing her manuscripts, why should there be on her part the work of addition or adaptation? It is a fact that mother often takes one of her manuscripts and goes over it thoughtfully, making additions that develop the thought still further.TOJ 114.1

“In her public ministry, mother has shown an ability to select from the storehouse of truth, matter that is well adapted to the needs of the congregation before her; and she has always thought that, in the selection of matter for publication in her books, the best judgment should be shown in selecting that which is best suited to the needs of those who will read the book.TOJ 114.2

“When we came to go over this matter for the purpose of giving historical references, there were some quotations which we could not find. In some cases there were found other statements making the same point, from other historians. Those were in books accessible in many public libraries. When we brought to mother’s attention a quotation that we could not find, and showed her that there was another quotation that we had found, which made the same point, she said, ‘Use the one you can give a reference to, so that the reader of the book, if he wishes to go to the source and find it, can do so.’ In that way some historical data have been substituted.”TOJ 114.3