D&C Lesson 1: Introduction to the Doctrine & Covenants and Church History

7/30/2019 D&C Lesson 1: Introduction to the Doctrine & Covenants and Church History

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The cloud stones, pictured above, are located on the east center tower of the Salt LakeTemple, and represent the gospel piercing through superstition and the error of the world(see Deseret News, Symbolism Can Be Seen in Architecture of Salt Lake Temple, November 27, 2008)

Because the Doctrine and Covenants is an important means of accomplishing this, they wbe on our handouts this year as a reminder.

To download past handouts, go to: highlandvalleysundayschoolnotes2012.blogspot.com

#1 Elder Bruce R. McConkie: Inthe temples the faithful enter intomany covenants pertaining to exal-tation. And so it goes, the morefaithful and devoted a person is, the

more of the covenants of the Lord he is en-

abled to receive, until he receives them infull and his calling and election is madesure.(Mormon Doctrine,Covenants, 167)

#3 President Lorenzo Snow: I canfellowship the President of theChurch if he does not know every-

#2A poorly educated, twenty-six-year-oldfarmer was planning to publish ten thousandcopies of his revelations that called hisneighbors idolatrous, commanded them torepent, and foretold calamities upon those

who continued in wickedness. Joseph was,by his own admission, no writer. He felt im-prisoned by what he called the total dark-ness of paper, pen, and ink and a crooked,broken, scattered, and imperfect Language.He thus considered it an awful responsibilityto write in the name of the Lord. Yet theLord had given him that responsibility. Hehad called upon my servant Joseph Smith,

Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, andgave him commandment and declared toJoseph that this generation shall have myword through you(D&C 1:17; 5:10). (Steven C.Harper, Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants), 5)

thing I know.... I saw the ... imperfections[Joseph Smith].... I thanked God that Hewould put upon a man who had those im-perfections the power and authority Heplaced upon him ... for I knew that I mysehad weakness, and I thought there was a

chance for me. (Cited by Neal A. Maxwell, in ConfereReport, October 1984, p. 10)

#4 Alexis de Tocqueville, the French ob-server of American life, was touring theStates when the Lord gave this revelation.He observed what the Lord decried andcalled it individualism. Writing a decade latRalph Waldo Emerson called it self-reliance

No law can be sacred to me but that of mnature, Emerson wrote. Good and bad arebut names very readily transferable to thator this; the only right is what is after myconstitution; the only wrong what is againit. He did not want to be told of what hecalled my obligation to put all poor men ingood situations. Are they mypoor? heasked. I grudge the dollar, the dime, thecent I give to such men as do not belong tme and to whom I do not belong.

Historians see in this period the in-stallation of ambition as the one commongood. Aspiration to acquire property andpower grew to become false gods. Religion


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too often assisted rather than checked theseworldly ambitions. A popular 1836 tract wascalled The Book of Wealth; in Which It IsProved from the Bible, That It Is the Duty ofEvery Man to Become Rich. By the time Jo-seph and his brethren began making plans

to publish the revelations, pride of self, oncethe mark of the devil, was now not just a le-gitimate emotion but Americas uncontestedgod. And since everyone had his own self,everyone had his own god.(see #2, p. 3)

#5 President Heber J. Grant: Iwish that I possessed the power toimpress upon the hearts and theminds of the Latter-day Saints thenecessity of becoming familiar with

the commandments contained in the D&C,and not only becoming familiar with them,but that I might have the power to impressupon their hearts and souls a determinationto keep those commandments, to live themin very deed and in their every-day lives.(CR,October 1928, 7)

#6 President Joseph F. Smith: Inmy judgment there is no book onearth yet come to man as importantas the book known as the Doctrineand Covenants, with all due respect

to the Book of Mormon, and the Bible, and

the Pearl of Great Price, which we say areour standards in doctrine. The book of Doctrine and Covenants to us stands in a peculiar position above them all.

I am going to tell you why. When Isay that, do not for a moment think I do n

value the Book of Mormon, the Bible, andthe Pearl of Great Price, just as much as aman that lives; I think I do. I do not knowanybody who has read them more, and I apreciate them; they are wonderful; they cotain doctrine and revelation and commandments that we should heed; but the Bible a history containing the doctrine and com-mandments given to the people anciently.

That applies also to the Book of Mormon. Iis the doctrine and the history and the commandments of the people who dwelt uponthis continent anciently.

But this Doctrine and Covenants contains the word of God to those who dwellhere now. It is our book. It belongs to theLatter-day Saints. More precious than goldthe Prophet says we should treasure it mo

than the riches of the whole earth. I wondif we do? If we value it, understand it, andknow what it contains, we will value it morthan wealth; it is worth more to us than thriches of the earth.(Doctrines of Salvation, 3:19899.)

Other thoughts too great not to include:President Joseph F. Smith:If we will put (the revelations in the Doctrine and Cove-nants) into practice, we will know the truth and there shall be no weapon formed againsus that shall prosper. There shall be no false doctrines, no teaching of men that will deceivus If we will search these revelations then we will be fortified against errors and we willbe made strong. (CR, Oct, 1931)

Elder Neal A. Maxwell:Thus, in many ways the Doctrine and Covenants is modernequivalent of the thundering directness of Sinai (The Doctrine and Covenants: The Voiceof the Lord, Ensign, Dec. 1978)
http://www.lds.org/study/topics/book-of-mormon?lang=enghttp://www.lds.org/study/topics/book-of-mormon?lang=eng


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LESSON 1 OUTLINE

To begin our study of the Doctrine & Covenants, lets define doctrineand covenants~What is doctrine? (teachings)

Teachings can be classified as either true or false.~Where do true doctrines come from? (God)

~And how does He disseminate them? (revelation)~And how can we know they are true? (revelation gained as a result of obedi-

ence to them, see John 7:16-17)This brings us to covenants.

~What is a covenant, in a gospel sense? (an agreement between God & man)~Who sets the terms of this agreement? (God)~How does God make known gospel covenants? (revelation to His prophets,

and to each of us individually)

So a covenant stipulates what we must do to receive a specific blessing, and we knoa doctrine is of God by obeying it.

~What is the purpose of doctrines and covenants? (to enable us, through theAtonement, to become like Christ and thus be able to live with Him eter-nally.)

So you could say gospel doctrines and covenants are synonymous!~What are some examples of covenants? (baptism, marriage, priesthood ordi-

nations)~How about tithing? (yes, we obey and God promises specific blessings)

~Sabbath observance?~Word of Wisdom?~How about the Book of Mormon? Is the Book of Mormon a covenant?

D&C 84:57

(The Lord was not pleased that the Saintstreated lightly the Book of Mormon)

Notice the Book of Mormon itself is a new covenant for our day!~What is it we are to do to satisfy our part of this covenant? (conform to its

teachings)~And what is the promise if we do? (see verse 58, the celestial kingdom)~What is the new and everlasting covenant? (the fullness of the gospel it em

braces all other covenants past and future, see Mormon Doctrine,covenants.)

Quotation #1

Obviously we cant cover every doctrine and covenant today, but Id like to point ouone more:


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D&C 98:3

(As we strive to keep our covenants, the Lordmakes this comforting promise to us)

~What is the promise? (that all our afflictions shall work together for our good

Lets turn to the history of the Doctrine & Covenants. Perhaps you, like me, have al-

ways had the impression that it evolved in an orderly mannerthat Joseph receivedrevelations, they were written down, collected, and eventually printed. Now I see itmore as Heavenly Father revealing a flood of knowledge to Joseph, and the Churchtrying to keep up with it all!

The early Saints were thrilled with Josephs revelations. They read them over andover. They committed them to memory. They would copy them by hand and then oters would copy the copies! Obviously access to them was limited, and the potentialfor error great.

So in November of 1831, Joseph gathered with Church leaders to discuss how best publish the revelations.

~How much formal education had Joseph received? (3rd grade)Everyone at this meeting was more educated, at least formally, than Joseph. Some them recommended that the language of certain revelations be improved prior totheir publication. Think of it! How would youfeel? Intimidated? Inadequate?

Quotation #2

And so, Joseph suggested that they pray. In response, section 1 was revealed to Jo-

seph, which is the preface to the Doctrine and Covenants. And by the way, as Presi-dent Benson said, the Doctrine and Covenants is the only book in the world that haa preface written by the Lord Himself.(CR, Oct 1986)

Lets turn to the Lords preface:D&C 1:24

~How does the Lord answer the criticism of the language of the revelations?(revelation is given for ourbenefit and understanding, not Gods!)

You would think this would silence the critics, but William E. McLellin had had moreformal education than any of the others. He was an impressive man, and he contin-ued to question Joseph. Again the Prophet sought the help of God, and a secondrevelation of the day was given: section 67.

D&C 67:5-8~What is Heavenly Father suggesting here? (that they choose someone to try

write a revelation as good as the least of the Lords to Joseph)~Whom did they choose? (William McLellin)


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Well, Josephs history says that William McLellin endeavored to write acommandment like unto one of the least of the Lords, but failed.(Dean C. Jessee, The Papof Joseph Smith, 1:367)

The next day he meekly offered his sustaining vote that the revelations be publishedas they were revealed, and apologized to the youthful prophet. Lorenzo Snow had

this to say about Josephs weaknesses:Quotation #3

Id like to touch on the spiritual state of the world at the time the Doctrine & Cove-nants was first published. Again, if youre like me, you hold an idealistic view of life the early 1800s: everyone was religious, every family studied the bible each eveninthe leaders of the government were great men, and so forth. Well, the Lord describour world at that time in different terms:

D&C 1:13, 15-17

Steven Harper in his bookMaking Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants, quotes writerand historians of the time:

Quotation #4In stark contrast, the Lord says in D&C 38:39: ...the riches of the earth are mine togive, but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old. In 49:20 the Lordtells us ...it is not given that one man should possess that which is above anotherIn 38:35 He commands us to ...look to the poor and the needy, and administer totheir relief that they shall not suffer.

The revelations reject selfishness and offer to the world Zion as an alternative.

-In 1833 only a few incomplete copies of what they calledA Book of Commandmenwas published because enemies destroyed the printing press.-In 1835 another edition was published.-In 1844 seven revelations were added, but publication was delayed due to the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. Section 135 was then added as well, which is a eulog

to Joseph.-The next several editions were published in England, beginning in 1845 by WilfordWoodruff.-Orson Pratt edited the 1876 edition, under the direction of Brigham Young. He add26 new sections, rearranged the order of the sections and divided them into verses.-There were more editions in 1879, and 1880.-In 1908 Wilford Woodruffs declaration to end the practice of plural marriage wasadded.


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-In 1921 Heber J. Grand directed another edition, which revised the footnotesand set the type in double columns. Josephs Lectures on Faith was removed aswell.-In 1981 the edition we use today was printed, which added sections 137 and 138,and the Official Declaration-2, on the priesthood being given to all worthy men.

Continuing revelation is a hallmark of the restored gospel. Do we appreciate theblessings of living in this day? Lets end with a quote from President Heber J. Grant:

Quotations #5 & #6

That we may gain a greater appreciation for our book as we study it this year is mprayer.

Documents

D&C Lesson 1: Introduction to the Doctrine & Covenants and Church History