Lessons 5&6. "I will tell you in your mind and in your heart...This is the spirit of revelation."

For 10 February in De Montfort Ward.

Read Doctrine & Covenants sections 6, 8, 9, & 11. We will also talk about Section 7, as we don't have a chance to elsewhere.

“…the fundamental fact of the Restoration [is] the spirit of revelation.”

-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU Devotional, “Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence,” March 1999. Read, listen, or watch it here.

[Joseph Smith’s] life asked and answered the question “Do you believe God speaks to man?” In all else that he accomplishedin his brief 38 and a half years, Joseph left us above all else the resolutelegacy of divine revelation—not a single, isolated revelation without evidenceor consequence, and not “a mild sort of inspiration seeping into the minds of all good people” everywhere, but specific,documented, ongoing directions from God. As a good friend and faithful LDS scholar has succinctly put it, “At a time when the origins of Christianity were under assault by theforces of Enlightenment rationality, Joseph Smith [unequivocally andsinglehandedly] returned modern Christianity to its origins in revelation.”

Jeffrey R. Holland, “Prophets, Seers, and Revelators,” Ensign, Nov. 2004, 6; See Richard L. Bushman’s essay “A Joseph Smith for the Twenty-First Century” in Believing History (2004). Read, listen, or watch it here.

We will talk about Oliver, you can read a biographical sketch here. (I've updated this with the article on history.lds.org jlj 7/2/13)

Here is the manuscript of section 8 from the Joseph Smith Papers. We will specifically talk about the changes in verse 6. (We might also talk about it in regards to the translation of the Book of Mormon.)

Lesson 4. "Remember the New Covenant, Even the Book of Mormon"

For those of you in the DeMontfort Ward, this is our lesson for next week, 3 Feb.

Joseph Smith--History 1:27-65; Doctrine and Covenants 3, 5, 10, 17, 20:5-15, 84:54-62

Richard Lloyd Anderson's "By the Gift and the Power of God" here.

Jack Welch's "The Miraculous Translation of the Book of Mormon" in Opening the Heavens here.

A letter from Lucy Mack Smith to her brother, Solomon Mack, describing the Book of Mormon here.

"Joseph Knight's Recollection of Early Mormon History" from Dean Jessee's article in BYU Studies here.

Snowy Sunday

Due to the inclement weather....or the ice rink car park....no church today.

Instead of skipping today's week 3 lesson, we will have it next week. I will combine lessons 5&6.

So the schedule will look like:
27 Jan     3 "I Had Seen a Vision."
3 Feb      4 "Remember the New Covenant, Even the Book of Mormon"
10 Feb    5&6 "This is the Spirit of Revelation" & "I Will Tell You In Your Mind & in Your Heart"

We will proceed from there...

My Best Books

This is my short list of the best Doctrine & Covenants/Church History Books:

For essential historical context and some commentary: Steve Harper's Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants: A Guided Tour through Modern Revelations.

For some historical context and more doctrinal commentary: Stephen E. Robinson and Dean Garrett's A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, 4 vols.

For primary sources: Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820-1844. 
It is always better to read the original source than just what someone else says about it.

For the best Joseph Smith biography: Richard L. Bushman's Rough Stone Rolling.
Bushman held endowed chairs of history and religion at both Columbia University and Claremont Graduate University. He is a patriarch and a fantastic mentor of faithful scholarship. This book is written for a general audience, not just Latter-day Saints, and deals with many difficult topics, but in my mind clearly the best biography of Joseph.

Best source for early LDS Women's history during this period (Ok best is difficult, but this is a great resource): Rick Turley and Brittany Chapman's Women of Faith in the Latter-days. Volume 1 includes women born 1775-1820. Volume 2 is also available, 1821-1845. There is likewise a free supplement for Volume 1 here. Or here.

Week 3. "I Had Seen a Vision"

Joseph Smith History 1:1-26. The Joseph Smith History account is the 1838 published version of the First Vision. We will also discuss the other versions to which links can be found below.

Elder Russel M. Nelson on the First Vision accounts: "The most prominent account of the First Vision...was prepared by the Prophet for publication in 1838. At least three other accounts of the vision were also recorded [by Joseph]. These accounts were given under different circumstances to different audiences and for different purposes. Because each account emphasizes a different aspect of the same expereince, some of the detractors of the Church have attempted to point out discrepancies in the several accounts. In the January 1985 Ensign appears a most noteworthy article by Milton V. Backman, Jr., entitled "Joseph Smith's Recitals of the First Vision." You will want to study this and become familiar with each of the recorded accounts of the First Vision so that you will not be disarmed if you hear that more than one account was given." Russel M. Nelson, "At the Heart of the Church", in The Prophet and his Work: Essays from General Authorities on Joseph Smith and the Restoration (Deseret Book 1996): 53.

A great introduction to the different first vision accounts here: Steve Harper "A Seeker's Guide to the Historical accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision." 

You can read Joseph's first person accounts as well as some of the early second-hand accounts with introductions here: Dean Jessee "The Earliest Documented Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision" and John Welch & James Allen, "The Appearance of the Father and Son to Joseph Smith in 1820," in Opening the Heavens: Accounts of Divine Manifestations, 1820-1844 here.

Or straight from the manuscript versions provided by the Joseph Smith Papers (JSP).
1832 (This is the only account in Joseph's hand.)
1838 (This is the manuscript version of the JSH account.)

Weeks 1&2. Introduction and "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, Savior of the World."

Focused on Doctrine & Covenants Section 19.

President Henry B. Eyring on the Voice of the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants.

Gerrit Dirkmaat, Joseph Smith Papers Historian, on the great and marvelous revelations of God.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell likewise on the Voice of the Lord.

The Church History Department's Joseph Smith Papers (JSP).

The original manuscripts of the revelations in the Book of Commandments and Revelations (Revelations 1 - R1) and the Kirtland Revelation Book (R2).

BYU Studies published an extensive chronology of Joseph Smith's life. It is available for free download here.

There is also a cool timeline from the JSP here.