President Ezra Taft Benson summarizes this central doctrine: “The Book of Mormon tells us of the Messiah’s great atoning sacrifice. It describes how Jesus willingly suffered the pains of all men and specifies the conditions by which His atonement may bring us to a remission of our sins, a peace of conscience, and great joy” (Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988], 55). James E. Talmage expressed this truth as follows: “Thus no man can consistently hope for salvation in the kingdom of God except through the Atonement of Jesus Christ; and the Atonement is made operative for the remission of sins through individual compliance with the conditions explicitly set forth by “the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” (Heb. 5:9). Christ’s method of saving souls is that of providing definite means, which any one may accept or reject to his own eternal gain or loss” (The Vitality of Mormonism [Boston: Gorham Press, 1919], 64).