D&C 135 – John Taylor reports the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith Historical Context Steven Harper gives the following historical background to D&C 135: It was “a deliberate political assassination, committed or condoned by some of the leading citizens of Hancock County.”[1]Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill, CarthageContinue Reading

D&C 129 – Instructions by Joseph Smith, Nauvoo, Feb. 9, 1843 Historical Background When the Prophet first learned these principles contained in D&C 129 is not known. We can be confident, however, that it was some time before this section was recorded. Given that all priesthood and keys restored inContinue Reading

D&C 109 The Dedicatory Prayer of the Kirtland Temple – March 27, 1836 Historical Background The following background information provided by Ostler and McConkie is valuable: In preparation for the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Oliver Cowdery, as well as Warren A. CowderyContinue Reading

D&C 102 February 17, 1834 Historical Background During the winter of 1833-4, while the Saints in Missouri were still in distress at having been driven out of Jackson County and the Kirtland Saints were making preparations to come to their aid, Joseph Smith continued to receive revelation on a numberContinue Reading

D&C 77 Questions and Answers concerning St. John’s Ἀποκάλυψις Apokalypsis, or Revelation[1]ἀποκάλυψις definition:   1. Laying bare, making naked, 2. A disclosure of truth, instruction, 2a. Concerning things before unknown, 2b. Used of events by which things or states or … Continue reading In the form of questions and answers, the ProphetContinue Reading

After returning to Hiram from the Amherst conference, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon resumed their labors on the translation of the New Testament. The vision recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 76 was received while they were translating John 5:29. Philo Dibble, one of a dozen men present when this visionContinue 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

Seven of the eleven witnesses of the Book of Mormon were members of the Whitmer family by blood or marriage. The Book of Mormon translation was finished at the Whitmer home in Fayette; near it the Three Witnesses saw Moroni and the plates; there the organization of the Church andContinue Reading

D&C 12 is given to Joseph Knight Sr., at Harmony, Pennsylvania, May 1829 Who was Joseph Knight and what was his association with the Prophet Joseph Smith? How is D&C 12 like other revelations? How does this section of scripture apply to us? Joseph Knight (1772-1847, dies at Mount Pisgah,Continue Reading

The Book of Mormon Translation Process -By Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig Ostler I wanted to include this excerpt from McConkie and Ostler’s book Revelations of the Restoration in order to provide one analysis of the process of the Book of Mormon translation. My understanding from the historical accounts isContinue Reading