Article of Faith 8 – Scriptures and Record Keeping

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
- Articles of Faith 1:8

What is the Word of God

The word of the God is any word spoken by God, and can be considered as scripture. It is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, [and] for instruction in righteousness [2 Tim 3:16]. While we may hear the voice of the Lord in our minds through the Holy Spirit [D&C 8:2-3], or in visions [2 Ne 4:23, Num 24:4], by angels [2 Ne 32:3], or in rare cases in person, the "word of God" need not be spoken by God directly. In speaking of church leaders called in the latter days, the Lord declared:

whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.
- D&C 68:4

God declared in the opening section of the Doctrine and Covenants that it doesn't matter whether the word comes by his own voice or the voice of his servants: it is the same [D&C 1:38]. For this reason, we rely upon the words of ancient and modern prophets to receive the word of the Lord as it pertains to doctrine, correction for the saints, direction for the church of God, and warning to the world.

Keeping Records

God has often commanded his people to make records. Adam was instructed to keep a book of remembrance in which inspired writings were kept. From this book their children were taught to read and write, and so both their revelations and their language were preserved simultaneously [Moses 6:5-6]. Moses was commanded to write the words which were spoken to him by the Lord [Moses 2:1; Ex 24:4], as were Jeremiah [Jer 30:2] and Habakkuk [Hab 2:2]. Isaiah was commanded to write so that his words would be a testimony to future generations [Isa 30:8]. John was commanded to write the vision of his revelation of the apocalypse, now called the book of Revelations [Rev 1:19]. Nephi was commanded to craft plates and record upon them the ministry of the prophets among his people [2 Ne 5:30]. Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were commanded to write what they had seen in a vision, and to do so quickly before the spirit left them following their vision [D&C 76:80].

Indeed the Lord has issued a standing commandment that anyone who receives the word of the Lord shall write it, and that all men will be judged against these inspired writings [2 Ne 29:11]. This extends to the common man, who, although his inspired writings may not be considered scripture for his lack of authority, will be judged according to the inspiration he receives, and his words may be of benefit to himself later, and to those of his friends, family, or posterity who receives them.

Nephi often states his purpose in crafting and keeping records. In 2 Nephi, he writes that

...[T]hese things which I write shall be kept and preserved, and handed down unto my seed from generation to generation...as long as the earth shall stand; and they shall go according to the will and pleasure of God; and the nations who shall possess them shall be judged of them according to the words which are written. For we labor diligently to write, so persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that is is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. ... And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may lok for a remission of their sins. ... And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony against you; for they are sufficient to teach any man the right way.
- 2 Nephi 25:21-28

The purpose of record keeping was likely very clear to the Nephite prophets. Nephi and his brethren went to great lengths to acquire the plates of brass [1 Ne 3-4], which contained Lehi's genealogy, and a collection of numerous prophetic teachings given up to Lehi's time, as well as the five books of Moses, and the history of the Jews [1 Ne 5:11-14]. King Benjamin later highlights how these plates were essential is preserving the history and the gospel for the Lehite people, saying it were not possible that our father, Lehi, could have remembered all these things, to have taught them to his children, except it were for the help of these plates [Mosiah 1:4], and that without them, his entire people would have suffered in ignorance,...not knowing the mysteries of God [Mosiah 1:3].

In his writing, it seems clear that Nephi understood the impact that his records would have on his people, if not during the period of their civilization, then in the latter days. He said explicitly that his writing was to convince his posterity of the saving power of Jesus Christ. He aimed to provide a patriarchal testimony, and to preserve the gospel for future generations who would eventually be willing to accept that testimony.

This purpose is further clarified in the writings of Enos, who was a nephew of Nephi and one of the many custodians of Nephi's small plates. He struggled with the Lord in prayer, and, as we must assume, discovered through his faith the will of God concerning the records and the Lamanites. He pleaded with the Lord:

if it should so be, that my people, the Nephites, should fall into transgression, and by any means be destroyed, and the Lamanites should not be destroyed, that the Lord God would preserve a record of my people, the Nephites; even if it so be by the power of his holy arm, that it might be brought forth at some future day unto the Lamanites, that, perhaps, they might be brought unto salvation
- Enos 1:13

The Lord was ready to grant this blessing to Enos, for it is the same promise he had made to Enos' fathers [Enos 1:18]. Presumably this includes Nephi, and possibly also Jacob, Lehi, and/or others.

Keeping records isn't only a practice of value to the righteous. The wicked priests of King Noah, after their escape into the wilderness were appointed as vassal rulers under the King of the Lamanites, and immediately began to teach the language of the Nephites and record keeping practices. After this, the people immediately began to increase in riches, commerce, and wisdom [Mosiah 24:5-7]. Literacy and record keeping are core practices in the pursuit of knowledge.

In teaching his sons prior to anointing one of them king, King Benjamin taught about the importance of the records which had been handed down by his fathers. He showed them the plates of brass, which contained portions of the Old Testament, as well as a handful of other prophecies which are not included in our Old Testament. He then testified of their importance: they had been essential in preserving their language, so that the people could be taught, and maintain their language [Mosiah 1:4]; they contained such a quantity of records and teaching that they couldn't have hoped to retain them all by oral tradition [Mosiah 1:4]; they provided legitimacy to the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it was clear that the gospel was not some new teaching concocted by the priests, or had not been altered from teachings in previous generations, but was established and standardized by ancient records [Mosiah 1:5]. He then proceeded to testify of the plates of Nephi: that they were true, and had likewise provided important historical and religious context to their situation in the Americas, and evidence that God had been involved and instructed the people up to this point [Mosiah 1:6].

Book of Life

John prophesies of the judgement in Revelations saying, And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works [Rev 20:12]. Joseph Smith comments on these records in an epistle to the saints in which he teaches that the these books are the records kept on Earth [D&C 128:7]. These books also contain the records of ordinances performed, both for the living and for the dead, which must be recorded as well as sealed by the Holy spirit of promise, or the sealing power of the priesthood [D&C 127:7; 128:8]. The Book of Life, referenced in Revelations, is the same set of records as they are maintained in heaven, thus when it is said of the sealing power, whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven [Matt 16:19], it can also be understood that whatever is performed by authority and faithfully recorded on earth shall be recorded in heaven [D&C 128:9].

Standard Works

The scriptural canon of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are collectively referred to as the standard works. They consist of The Bible (the King James Version is preferred, but other versions have been referred to on occasion), The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price.

The Bible

The word Bible comes from the Greek "τὰ βιβλία" meaning, "the books." The Septuagint—the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible—was used as the basis for the Christian Old Testament, and was divided as follows [5]:

• The first books of the Bible come from the Hebrew Torah. These are the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They are sometimes referred to as "the law."

• The next books are a collection of narrative histories and prophecies, the books of Joshua through Kings. These are taken from the Nevi'im, a section of the Hebrew Bible also called the "the prophets". The books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi are also taken from the Nevi'im, and are known as the latter prophets [6].

• The remaining books are taken from the Ketuvim, the section of the Hebrew Bible known as "the writings." It contains the books of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, and the poetic books of Psalms, Proverbs, and Job [7]. Some of these books are treated differently in the Christian bible, as Chronicles, Ruth, Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah are treated as more historical books, while Daniel is treated as being more prophetic.

The books of the New Testament were mostly aggregated by the 4th century AD. It was originally written in Greek, and is divided into the following sections:

• The Gospels are narrative accounts written by Jesus' followers and describe the events of his ministry, form his birth, to post-mortal ministry. The first three—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—are called "synoptic" meaning look-alike because of their similarity in content. The Gospel of John takes a very different approach and contains more teachings of Jesus than narrative.

• The Acts of the Apostles is something like a sequel to the Gospel of Luke. It details the acts of Jesus' apostles after his resurrection, including some of their ministries and teachings.

• The Epistles are a collection of letters written by various church leaders to congregations or peers in the church. The first thirteen are assumed to be written by Paul, and it is suspected that the epistle to the Hebrews was as well. The remaining 7 are referred to as the Catholic Epistles (as opposed to the Pauline Epistles), adn were written by other (non-Paul) leaders of the early church.

• Revelations (or the Apocalypse) is a transcription of a vision given to the Apostle John. It is a prophetical book detailing a largely symbolic narrative of the events in the last days before the second coming of Jesus Christ, and after his return.

The books are ordered as outlined above, with the gospels first (though they have been reordered since early manuscripts), then the acts, the Pauline Epistles ordered by length (keeping sequels together), then the remaining epistles, and finally Revelations [4].

The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is a compilation of records—some verbatim, some abridged—of people who lived anciently upon the American continent(s).

The group which gets the most screen-time in the Book of Mormon is the Nephites. Lehi and his family, including his sons Nephi and Laman, were brought to the Americas by the hand of God shortly before the destruction of Israel by the Babylonians [1 Ne 1:4, 19; 1 Ne 2:1-2] After arriving in the New World, their civilization split into tribes: the Nephites being those who followed Nephi's prophetic counsel; and the Lamanites, who, with Laman, rejected Nephi's leadership and teaching [2 Ne 5:1-7]. The lines between the civilizations shifted over time, as the duration of the record spans just over 1000 years, but the division between Nephites and Lamanites is recurring throughout the record.

A few hundred years after their arrival, they discovered the people of Zarahemla, who were also led out of Israel before the destruction of Jerusalem [Omni 1:15-16], and included Mulek, the son of King Zedekiah [Mosiah 25:2].

The other group was brought forth by the hand of God at the time that the languages were confounded at the Tower of Babel [Ether 1:33]. These were known as the Jaredites in the record, and may be in part the civilization known to history as the Olmecs [1]. Their entire civilization was destroyed as a result of internal warfare sometime between 600 and 130 BC. One of the last surviving members, Coriantumr, was discovered by the people of Zarahemla before their discovery by the Nephites [Omni 1:20-22]. Their records were later discovered by a party of Nephites who were lost in the wilderness [Mosiah 21:25-27], and the record was translated by King Mosiah [Mosiah 28:11]

The Book of Mormon consists primarily of 3 records:

• The (small) plates of Nephi: These plates were crafted by the prophet Nephi in his old age, and contain a brief account of his upbringing and history, as well as a record of his ministry, including prophecies of his own and of other prophets pertaining to the modern day [1 Ne 19:2-4, 6; 2 Ne 5:30-32]. These plates were kept by his brother, Jacob, and later Jacob's posterity, until the family line was broken, and the plated were entrusted to king Benjamin.
• The (large) plates of Nephi: These plates were also crafted by the prophet Nephi, presumably when he was younger, and contain a secular history of the Nephite people [1 Ne 19:2, 4; 2 Ne 5:29,]. These plates were kept by the kings, and later, after the beginning of the reign of the Judges in 91 BC., by the prophets. These records were abridged by the prophet-historian Mormon before being included in the record currently known as the Book of Mormon.
• The plates of Ether: These plates contain a secular and spiritual history of the people of Jared, who were led to the Americas shortly after the time of the Tower of Babel [Ether 1:33]. Their keeper is unclear in the current record, but they were also abridged by Mormon before being included as the Book of Ether [Ether 1:1-2].

A handful of other additions were made, including an editorial by Mormon at the end of the his inclusion of the small plates of Nephi [W of M 1]; the Book of Moroni, which includes commentary by Mormon's son, Moroni, before the records were sealed up; and the omission of a portion of the large plates of Nephi covering the same period of history as the small plates of Nephi. This omission is due to an error on the part of the translators, in which 116 pages of manuscript were lost in the translation process. The translators were instructed by the Lord not to re-translate them [D&C 10:1-3, 10-19, 30].

As the Book of Mormon was translated by Joseph Smith, it serves as a testimony of the validity of Josephs work in restoring the church of Jesus Christ. Indeed, the truth of the entire latter-day work of the church stands or falls with the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, which is why all are invited to read it and contemplate ts truthfulness [Moroni 10:3-5]. The Book of Mormon also stands as a testimony that God loves all his children, and will provide the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all who will listen [2 Ne 29:7-8]. As supplemental scripture, it also contains additional teachings about Jesus Christ and his gospel, which are meaningful to any true follower of Jesus Christ.

The Doctrine and Covenants

The Doctrine and Covenants is a collection of revelations given to Joseph Smith, and a handful of others. It also includes several letters written to church members throughout the history of the church [D&C 128; D&C 135; OD 1; OD 2].

The revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants were first published in the Book of Commandments in 1835. As it was revised throughout the years, additional sections were added, as well as the Official Declarations. These declarations were made to all church members, and outlined significant policy changes in church administration. The section most recently added was 138, including a vision of the spirit world given to President Joseph F Smith. Shortly after, the Lectures on Faith—a collection of lectures written by Joseph smith for teh school of the prophets—were removed. Official Declaration 2 was the final addition, in 1978. All other additions have been cosmetic updates to standardize formatting, or correct auxiliary historical background provided in headings [2].

The Doctrine and Covenants provides a great deal of clarification and elaboration on doctrines taught in the Book of Mormon and the Bible. It is straightforward in its treatment of the subjects, and if typically given in the Savior's voice—the letters and some later sections are the exceptions. Some of the sections give very specific advice to certain individuals, calling them to repentance, or sending them on missionary assignments, but the teachings therein are relevant for individual study. The Doctrine and Covenants is further testimony that God continues to speak to his prophets in the latter days. It refutes the idea that the line of prophets ended with Malachi, or with Jesus' Apostles. God performs his work and leads his church with prophets just as he has always done [Amos 3:7; Eph 4:11-12].

The Pearl of Great Price

The Pearl of Great Price is a collection of sacred materials published by Joseph Smith. It has 5 sections.

• The Book of Moses: a selection of Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Genesis. Joseph Smith spent some time re-translating the Bible, restoring sections which were lost or poorly translated. His translation of the Bible was owned by the Community of Christ, but the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has received permission to print selections of it in our Bibles. Most of these selections are contained or referenced in footnotes, but this selection from the Book of Genesis is included as a large block in the Pearl of Great Price.

• The Book of Abraham: a translation of several papyri which which cane into the church's possession around 1835. These papyri contained some of the writings of Abraham, though likely copies of copies. They contain accounts given by Abraham of the creation, and promises he received from God.

• Joseph Smith—Matthew: another extract of Joseph Smith's translation of the Bible. It contains a translation of Matthew 24, which translation differs significantly from the text in the King James Version.

• Joseph Smith—History: an account of Joseph Smith's first vision, in which he was instructed to organize the church. We have four recorded accounts of Joseph's vision; this version was given in 1838, but published in 1842 in Times and Seasons, the Church's newspaper at that time. It highlighted the first vision as the beginning of the rise of the Church, and the event that set the restoration in motion.

• The Articles of Faith: a collection of statements of belief. Joseph Smith was asked by John Wentworth of the Chicago Democrat to give a brief overview of the Latter-day Saint movement. In the response, Joseph gave another account of his first vision; The Standard of Truth, a prophecy about the future of the church and its expansion; and the Articles of Faith, a collection of 13 succinct statements of belief which sum up our doctrines [3]. They were also published later in Times and Seasons.

The Pearl of Great Price was likely named for the metaphor given in the book of Matthew [Matt 13:45-46]. The writings it contains give valuable insights on the creation and fall, and teach a good deal about Moses, Abraham and other early prophets. Many of its writings have been used in temple ordinances as well. It is a further testimony of Joseph Smith's mission and role as a prophet of God.