SCRIPTURE READING EXERCISE.

(A) THE BOOK OF DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS.

SPECIAL TEXT: "Behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. Now behold this is the Spirit of revelation; behold this is the Spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea, on dry ground.."—THE LORD TO OLIVER COWDERY.

NOTES.

1. How the Revelations were Received: The Prophet Joseph Smith received revelations in every way that the Lord communicates his mind and will to man. Like Moses he knew the Lord face to face, stood in his very presence, and heard his voice, as in the first communication the Lord made to him, usually called the Prophet's first vision (See History of the Church, Vol. I, chapter 1, also Pearl of Great Price, p. 85), as also in the vision given in the Kirtland Temple where he and Oliver Cowdery saw the Lord standing on the breastwork of the pulpit and heard him speak to them. He received communications from angels as in the case of Moroni, who revealed to him the Book of Mormon; John the Baptist, who restored the Aaronic Priesthood; and Peter, James and John, who restored the Melchisedek priesthood; also the communications of the angels mentioned in what is usually called, the Kirtland Temple Vision. (See Doc. & Cov., Sec. 110.)

He received communications through Urim and Thummim, for by that means he translated the Book of Mormon and received a number of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants, among others sections 3, 6, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17. He received divine intelligence by open visions, such intelligence as is contained in section 76, and section 107. He also received revelations through the inspiration of God, operating upon his mind; and indeed the larger number of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants were received in this manner. Speaking of the revelations which were compiled preparatory to the publication of the Book of Commandments, he desired that the labors of himself and brethren who had been associated with him from the early days of the Church up to that time should be acknowledged and made a matter of record, saying, "If this conference thinks these things worth according to the mind of the spirit, for by it these things [the collected revelations] were put into my heart, which I know to be the Spirit of truth." This indicates the medium through which most of the revelations came—from the inspired mind of the Prophet. (See also Doc. & Cov. Secs. 8, 9.)

2. The Manner of Inditing Revelations: Elder Parley P. Pratt gives the following description of the manner in which a revelation was given through the Prophet in his presence.

"After we had joined in prayer in his translating room he dictated in our presence the following revelation: Each sentence was uttered slowly and very distinctly, and with a pause between each, sufficiently long for it to be recorded, by an ordinary writer, in long hand. This was the manner in which all his written revelations were dictated and written. There was never any hesitation, reviewing, or reading back, in order to keep the run of the subject; neither did any of these communications undergo revisions, interlinings, or corrections. As he dictated them so they stood, so far as I have witnessed; and I was present to witness the dictation of several communications of several pages each. (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, pp. 65-6.)

The statement of Elder Pratt needs modifying, at least to the extent of saying, that additions were made sometimes to the revelations, as a comparison between the revelations as they appeared in so much of the "Book of Commandments" as was published at Independence, in 1833, and the same revelations as they stand in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. Indeed in the Doctrine and Covenants additions are sometimes noted (see section 20, verses 65-67, and foot-note, also section 27, introduction; also sec. 42, verses 31 and 34 and footnote). In the main, however, the statement of Elder Pratt may be taken as not only applying to the revelations which he witnessed the dictation of, but to all that the Prophet received.

3. The Divers Manners in which Revelations were Given in Ancient Times: As to the various ways in which the prophets in olden times received revelations, (agreeing with the various ways in which God communicated his mind and will to Joseph Smith) I quote the following from the "Annotated Bible," published in 1859.

"The divine communications were made to the prophets in divers manners; God seems sometimes to have spoken to them in audible voice; occasionally appearing in human form. At other times he employed the ministry of angels, or made known his purposes by dreams. But he most frequently revealed his truth to the prophets by producing that supernatural state of the sentient, intellectual, and moral faculties which the scriptures call 'vision.' Hence prophetic announcements are often called 'visions,' i. e., things seen; and the prophets themselves are called 'seers.' Although the visions which the prophet beheld and the predictions of the future which he announced were wholly announced by the divine Spirit, yet the form of the communication, the imagery in which it is clothed, the illustrations by which it is cleared up and impressed, the symbols employed to bring it more graphically before the mind—in short, all that may be considered as its garb and dress, depends upon the education, habits, association, feelings and the whole mental, intellectual and spiritual character of the prophet. Hence the style of some is purer, more sententious, more ornate, or more sublime than others."

Also the Reverend Joseph Armitage Robinson, D. D., Dean of Westminster and Chaplain of King Edward VII of England, respecting the manner in which the message of the Old Testament was received and communicated to man, said, as late as 1905:

"The message of the Old Testament was not written by the divine hand, nor dictated by an outward compulsion; it was planted in the hearts of men, and made to grow in a fruitful soil. And then they were required to express it in their own language, after their natural methods, and in accordance with the stage of knowledge which their time had reached. Their human faculties were purified and quickened by the divine Spirit; but they spoke to their time in the language of their time; they spoke a spiritual message, accommodated to the experience of their age, a message of faith in God, and of righteousness as demanded by a righteous God." (Defense of the Faith and the Saints, p. 266-7.)

4. The Spirit of Revelation: In one of the revelations there is given a description as to the manner in which revelations are given through the operation of the spirit of the Lord upon the mind of man, "for, verily," as Job puts it, "there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Lord giveth them understanding." The revelation alluded to, is one given to Oliver Cowdery in relation to his having the privilege of translating ancient records, by means of Urim and Thummim. The Lord said concerning such translation:

"Behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. Now, behold, this is the Spirit of revelation; behold, this is the Spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground." (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 8.)

Oliver's faith, however, seems to have failed him in the matter, and in explanation of that failure, the Lord said to him:

"And, behold, it is because that you did not continue as you commenced, when you began to translate, that I have taken away this privilege from you. Do not murmur, my son, for it is wisdom in me that I have dealt with you after this manner. Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought, save it was to ask me; but, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right; but if it be not right, you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought, that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore you cannot write that which is sacred, save it be given you from me." (Doc. & Cov.. Sec. 8.)

From this, it appears, that the co-operation of the mind of man by mighty effort is necessary to the obtaining of the spirit of revelation. Prophets are not mere automations, who repeat, machine like, what is given them. There must be striving for the Spirit of truth, and the power to express it.

1. The sections cited in this and the following classification do not give all the revelations of the respective classes, only a few as illustrations.2. See note [1].