The arrival of the Prophet in Kirtland, Ohio, marked the beginning of a period of rapid growth in the young Church. By June of 1831 its membership numbered more than two thousand. As was to be expected, this growth excited a great deal of opposition. Civic leaders, ministers, newspaper editors,Continue Reading

Section 41 Doctrine and Covenants 41 is of special importance because it restored the office of bishop in the Church of Christ. Though it would not be until the Church had established itself in the Salt Lake Valley that bishops would function in wards as they do in our day,Continue Reading

D&C 37 Go to the Ohio Though this revelation was given to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, it was directed to the Church, which consisted of small congregations in Fayette, Manchester, and Colesville. Given in December 1830, it was the last of nineteen revelations received by Joseph Smith that year.Continue Reading

D&C 30-36 There is quite a bit to cover in this segment of scripture. The context (at least in Joseph Smith’s life) is that of Joseph’s early work in the Bible translation, something we introduced back in our podcast covering D&C 29. Section 30 is given to David, Peter andContinue Reading

Doctrine and Covenants 29 Historical Background Joseph Smith received Doctrine and Covenants 29 in September 1829. John Whitmer is our source of the historical background of this section. Whitmer informs us that this revelation was given to “to six elders of the Church and three members” and explained that thisContinue Reading

Anciently the Sacrament was a meal. These meals took place in what are commonly called “house churches.” (You might even call it a home-centered church). The early Christian community started as a house church, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship… They broke bread in theirContinue Reading

The Articles and Covenants of the Church As early as June 1829 Joseph Smith asked Oliver Cowdery to formulate an expression of basic principles and practices of the soon-to-be-organized Church. Oliver in turn asked the Prophet to inquire of the Lord about what he should do. Doctrine and Covenants 18Continue Reading

Sections 6-9 of the Doctrine and Covenants deal with how the Lord speaks to us, and how we can invite revelation. So much of these sections are about actual application and relevance, so we will start with these ideas in the show notes. We begin with the list of scripturesContinue Reading

Doctrine and Covenants 3: The Lost Manuscript July 1828 – Joseph travels from Harmony, Pennsylvania to Palmyra, New York (about 200 kilometers away, a four day trip each way in 1828) because he has not heard back from Martin Harris. What were the events that led up to Section 3Continue Reading

Joseph Describes Spiritual Sight How could Joseph have had this vision of Moroni as he was in a room with his siblings at the time? Perhaps we are looking at this from a Western mindset and need to ask a different question. What kind of vision was this? What doContinue Reading