From the Tabernacle on Temple Square, television commentator Larry King asked President Gordon B. Hinckley and two other religious leaders a variety of questions dealing with the prospects for peace and complexities of a new millennium.
For one hour on Christmas Eve, with millions of viewers tuned in to commemorate the birth of the Savior, the microphone of a major player in the world's media came to Church headquarters. The result was the broadcasting of the living testimony of a prophet.
"On this Christmas Eve, we're in beautiful Salt Lake City, home of the Mormon Tabernacle," said Larry King, host of the nationally broadcast talk show, CNN's "Larry King Live."
"We have three outstanding guests — in fact, three wise men . . . [who] are our guests this evening," Mr. King said.
Speaking by way of satellite hookups that connected three sites of the globe — Salt Lake City, Washington, D.C., and the fields outside Bethlehem in the Holy Land, Mr. King addressed three prominent religious leaders in a round-robin format.
He first introduced President Gordon B. Hinckley, who sat across the table from him in the Tabernacle. He then introduced the Rev. Robert Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif., and television evangelist of the "Hour of Power," who was in the Shepherds' Fields near Bethlehem. Nobel Peace Prize laureate South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, located in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., was also introduced.
In the Tabernacle, surrounded by large pink and red poinsettia plants, with the pipes of the organ creating a dramatic backdrop, Mr. King asked the three religious leaders a variety of questions dealing with the prospects for peace in the new millennium, the need to forgive, and why God allows calamity.
Referring to the recent natural disaster in Venezuela, Mr. King said, "You believe in a higher power, President Hinckley. That could have been prevented. But when it does happen, you don't question your faith?"
"No," responded President Hinckley with his hand resting on a set of the scriptures and a porcelain statue of the "Christus" seen over his shoulder in the background. "We go to work to repair the damage. We can do nothing about what happened. But we can do a very great deal about what has happened in terms of the people who are dispossessed and in such terrible difficulty.
"We have from our Church, right tonight, people in Venezuela who are working in the mud and the damp and the cold and the bitterness of that whole situation to bring help and comfort. The tragic thing is that it happened, yes. But even more tragic is when people do nothing about it.
"The test of religion is doing something with the knowledge that you have of the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world, who prompts you by His life and action to do something that brings relief and comfort and sustenance to people."
Mr. King asked President Hinckley if "all religions, despite [their] differences, can come together."
President Hinckley responded: "We have our differences, of course we do, but there's a greater spirit of tolerance, I think a greater spirit of acceptance of other religions. . . . We're all of one great family, the family of God. And we must learn to get along, one with another, respect one another."
"[It] hasn't always worked out that way, though," Mr. King countered.
"No, it hasn't always worked out, but Christianity hasn't failed," President Hinckley said. "It's the greatest success story in the world. When all is said and done, it has succeeded in doing so very, very many things. And the fact that we still have problems that we've not overcome in human relationships does not mean that it has not succeeded."
Speaking on "this rather historic Christmas Eve" to a nationwide audience, President Hinckley had opportunity to give his witness about the divinity of the Savior, and to give a brief history of the Church, starting with the construction of the Tabernacle.
"How old is this place?" asked Mr. King as he took a sweeping glance around the Tabernacle.
"It came into use about 1870 as a gathering place out here in the desert," said President Hinckley, explaining how "a great bridgework of timbers" was placed on a series of pillars, and how the wood joints were bound together by green rawhide that tightened as it dried. It was "a tremendous engineering feat," he said.
"[The Tabernacle Choir] has been singing since before the Tabernacle was built," he continued, in response to a question about the longevity of the choir.
Turning attention to a new book written by President Hinckley to be released in March by Random House and Times Books, Mr. King asked, "What do you mean by the title of the book: Standing for Something?"
"This book becomes a plea to people to stand up, declare their return to values, to be honest, to be upright, to be men and women of integrity, to be men and women who have faith . . . to tie the family together which has been falling apart," President Hinckley said.
"Why should we have to stand up and say that?" asked Mr. King.
"Because we need to make some declaration that will mean something to others. When we make a declaration, we make a self-commitment. And that commitment becomes binding upon ourselves.
"Let virtue move across the country, the nation, the world. Let it become contagious. Most other problems will take care of themselves if that happens."
In a discussion about the welfare of today's youth, President Hinckley said, "Everything, I believe, starts in the home. When parents abdicate their religious values, their children pick up none of those values, then we're sliding downhill. But it's my witness that there are very, very many who are doing a good job. . . . Let us not forget that we have many who have found the way and are living the teachings with which they are guiding their lives and are making of themselves productive and valued citizens of society. We're not failing."
As part of each commercial break, segments of the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Concert, portions of which were recorded at the weekly Sunday morning broadcast of "Music and the Spoken Word," were rebroadcast.
"We're happy to have you . . . to have you here in this sanctified and wonderful hall with this great music of the Tabernacle Choir and these wonderful Christmas decorations, all of which are here in tribute to our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose birth we commemorate at this time," concluded President Hinckley.
