Lesson 9 "The Only True and Living Church"

This week we will focus on Sections 20, 21, 27, and 115:1-4.

In class we will briefly cover the historical context and then spend most of our time in the text. We will end by talking about the sacrament. Two of my favorite talks on the sacrament have been given by Truman Madsen here and Elder Jeffery R. Holland here.

The public sale of the Book of Mormon began on 26 March 1830. Eleven days later the Church of Christ was organized by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Hyrum Smith, David Whitmer, Samuel Smith and Peter Whitner, Jr. Jeff Cannon from the JSP has a great Revelations in Context essay providing some much needed context to the organization of the church here. Finishing the Book of Mormon translation was essential to the church being established. If you haven't yet read "The Miraculous Translation of the Book of Mormon"by Jack Welch, it is here.

Section 20 is one section that has been revised many times over. Oliver Cowdery signed an early version of the precursor to 20--the Articles of the Church of Christ--in 1829. Scott Faurling analyses the relationship between the first draft and Section 20 here.

Lesson 8 - The Restoration of the Priesthood

This is for next Sunday, 24 February 2013.

Doctrine and Covenants 13, 20:38-67, 27:12-13; 84:6-30; 107:1-20; 110:11-16, JSH 1:66-73 (if you didn't already read Oliver's description, read it--I forgot that it is published at the end of JSH--as well as the original link that I used here).
We will spend more time with the sections underlined and we will also briefly touch on sections 22 and 121:34-44.
 
As often commemorated, the Aaronic priesthood was restored 15 May 1829. In contrast, we do not have a specific date for the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood. There is a brief, but useful discussion of the two main theories in terms of dating the reception of the Melchizedek Priesthood here. It is always best to go to the original sources. You have all of the original sources in one article here: Brian Cannon's "Priesthood Restoration Documents" published in BYU Studies. Decide what you think. Here is Larry Porter's classic Ensign article mentioned in both of these articles.

We will talk a little bit about Official Declaration Number 2. There is a fantastic, though lengthy, historical outline leading to June 1978 here written by Edward Kimball--son of President Spencer W. Kimball published in BYU Studies. I would urge you to think about OD2 not just as something that enabled all worthy men to hold the priesthood, but a revelation that gave all worthy members access to the highest priesthood blessings.

Priesthood structure is not a static thing. Some sections regarding the priesthood were edited, added to, and developed over time as priesthood structure was revealed (particularly 20 & 107). For further study on the development of priesthood structure see these articles by Bill Hartley: "From Men to Boys: LDS Aaronic Priesthood Offices, 1829-1996" here (find the correct pages in the Table of Contents); "The Preisthood Reform Movement, 1908-1922" here; and "The Priesthood Reorganization of 1877: Brigham Young's Last Achievement" here.

I think the following from the manual is helpful in organizing specific duties and responsibilities of individual priesthood holders and quorums. (And I know we won't have time to cover this in class.)

Aaronic Priesthood

Office	Duties	Quorum
Deacon	D&C 20:57–59; 84:111	D&C 107:85
Teacher	D&C 20:53–59; 84:111	D&C 107:86
Priest	D&C 20:46–52	D&C 107:87–88
Bishop	D&C 107:13–17, 68, 71–72, 87–88

Melchizedek Priesthood

Office	Duties	Quorum
Elder	D&C 20:38–45; 42:43–44;43:15–16; 107:11–12	D&C 107:89; 124:137
High priest	D&C 107:10, 12, 17	D&C 124:133, 136
Patriarch	D&C 124:91–93, 124
Seventy	D&C 107:25, 34, 38, 97	D&C 107:25–26;107:93–96; 124:138–39
Apostle	D&C 27:12–13; 107:23, 33, 35, 39, 58; 112:30–32; 124:128

Lesson 7 - "The First Ordinances and Principles of the Gospel"

This lesson is not historically focused--at all, so for this installment I will pick one of the first ordinances and one of the first principles of the gospel as our focus. (And I think my class may still be also still talking about revelation.)

One tidbit on baptism: Sections 13 & 22 are an essential beginning to discuss baptism. As Joseph and Oliver worked on the Book of Mormon translation of 3 Nephi 11, they realized that they did not have the power to baptize. They went to the woods to "inquire of the Lord respecting baptism for the remission of sins, that [they] found mentioned in the translation of the plates." (JSH 1:68) Joseph's remembrance of the visit of John the Baptist to restore the Aaronic priesthood and the power to baptize on 15 May 1829 is found in Section 13. You can find Oliver Cowdery's version of John's visit here (Letter I page 14-15). After the organization of the Church, Section 22 came when individuals already baptized in other faiths wanted to know if they needed to be re-baptized.

The Lectures on Faith were taught the winter of 1834 and 1835 in the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, Ohio. They were included in the first edition of the Doctrine & Covenants and every edition until 1921. The Lectures were published under Joseph Smith's name with his approval, but authors include Sidney Rigdon, Frederick G. Williams, Joseph Smith and potentially others.

There are some theological issues with the Lectures on Faith (particularly Lectures 2&5), but I think still a useful source to complement one's study of faith.

There is a free version of a mid-twentieth century publication here.

An article explaining the Lectures on Faith here.

And a brief explanation of the removal of the Lectures on Faith from the Doctrine & Covenants here.

Revelations in Context

lds.org has a great new resource--The Revelations in Context.

The article on Martin Harris here is good context for our discussion of the Book of Mormon tomorrow.

This one here on Oliver Cowdery will be good for next week's discussion of revelation.