LDS Articles of Faith, Part XLIII

Article Nine, Latter-day Revelation, part I

The 9th LDS Article of Faith says, “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” This Article contradicts the LDS claim that the Book of Mormon (B. of M.) contains “the fulness of the everlasting gospel.” Since LDS claim the B. of M. contains the “fulness of the everlasting gospel,” why do they need more revelations? Isn’t the “fulness of the everlasting gospel” full enough? Article 9 was given to support revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants (D. & C.) and revelations given through LDS presidents who are called “living prophets,” of the LDS Church. Joseph Smith said, “Take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations (in the D. & C. & by LDS prophets), and where is our religion? We have none.” He didn’t mention the Bible, which raises questions about the LDS claim that they are Christians who believe the Bible! No unique LDS doctrine is in the B. of M., but many are in the D. & C., which makes it very important to them. The introduction in the front of every B. of M. says both the Bible and B. of M. contain “the fulness of the everlasting gospel,” but neither of them contain all the doctrines LDS teach today. Christianity has always been based on the Bible. But Smith said that Mormonism is based on the B. of M. and LDS revelations, not the Bible!

D. & C. Section 1 was the preface to the original 1833 Book of Commandments which became the D. & C. in 1835. Sec. 1 is now called “The Lord’s preface to the doctrines, covenants, and commandments given in this dispensation.” D. & C. 1:37 says, “Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled. In verse 38 “the (LDS) Lord” said, “My word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled.” D. & C. 3:1 & 3 says “The works, and designs, and purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught…It is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men.” These verses clearly explain what they mean!

“The (LDS) Lord” told LDS to “gather to one place” in “revelations to Smith” in D. & C. Sections 29:1-8; 45:62-71; 57:1-5; 84:1-5; 97:18-19; 133:4-9 etc. Joseph Smith said D. & C. 45:62-71 was revealed to him on March 7, 1831. The heading over D. & C. 45 says “the (LDS) saints are commanded to gather and build the New Jerusalem, to which people from all nations will come.” Verses 66-67 says, the gathering place “shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God; and the glory of the Lord shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion.” Smith said the Lord revealed D. & C. 84 to him on September 22 and 23, 1832. Verse 4 says, “Verily this is the word of the Lord, that the city New Jerusalem shall be built by the gathering of the (LDS) saints, beginning at this place, even the place of the temple which temple shall be reared in this generation. For verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house (temple) shall be built unto the Lord.” That “revelation” was given nearly 200 years ago, but that temple and city still haven’t been built in Independence, MO and the generation living in 1832 all passed away over 100 years ago! D. & C. 45:66-67 said that city was to be “a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the (LDS) saints and the wicked would not come to it.” But LDS were there only a few months when they were forced to leave by earlier Missouri settlers (see LDS History of the Church vol. I, p.394 for more details). The “wicked” people of Missouri still occupy the area where LDS were to build their “New Jerusalem” and temple! That location in MO was never “a land of peace, a city of refuge or a place of safety for the LDS saints!” Smith said the Lord revealed that content to him, but it failed to happen, so, did it come from the Lord or was it what Smith wanted to happen? Read D. & C. 3:1 & 3 again in the 2nd paragraph of this blog.

Smith was in Kirtland, OH, when he said he received the revelation in D. & C. 97 on August 2, 1833 about “Zion, Jackson County Missouri.” In it “the Lord” said in v. 19, “Zion is the city of our God, and surely Zion cannot be moved out of her place, for God is there, and the hand of the Lord is there.” Communications were slow in 1833, so Smith didn’t know that two weeks before this “revelation,” on July 23, 1833, the LDS leaders in Zion (Independence, MO) had signed an agreement with the people in MO saying they would leave the area before January 1834 (see LDS History of the Church, vol. I, p. 394). It is understandable that Smith didn’t know about this, but why didn’t “the (LDS) Lord” know about it when he gave Smith the revelation?

Smith said he received D. & C. 124 as a revelation on January 19, 1841 commanding LDS to build a temple and “Nauvoo House” in Nauvoo, IL that was to be a boarding house for strangers and a home for Smith and his descendants. D. & C. 124:59 says, “Let my servant Joseph (Smith) and his seed after him have place in that house, from generation to generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord.” Joseph died before the Nauvoo House was finished, but his wife later lived in part of it for a while. The RLDS, (now called Community of Christ) own it and rent it to visitors of Nauvoo. When Smith told LDS to build a temple in Nauvoo, some may have asked why God commanded them to build a temple and New Jerusalem in MO when they weren’t allowed to do it? So, in D. & C. 124:49-52 “the (LDS) Lord” said, “When I give a commandment unto any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to accept of their offerings. And the iniquity and transgression of my holy laws and commandments I will visit upon the heads of those who hindered my work, unto the third and fourth generation, so long as they repent not, and hate me, saith the Lord God. Therefore, for this cause have I accepted the offerings of those whom I commanded to build up a city and a house unto my name, in Jackson County, Missouri, and were hindered by their enemies, saith the Lord your God. And I will answer judgment, wrath, and indignation, wailing, and anguish, and gnashing of teeth upon their heads, unto the third and fourth generation, so long as they hate me, saith the Lord your God.” People in MO never suffered any of those things. The “LDS” Lord said in D. & C. 57:1-5 when LDS “gathered to Independence, MO” it would be an “everlasting inheritance.” But it was never a place of peace, refuge, and safety, nor an everlasting inheritance! See D. & C. 1:37 in the 2nd paragraph of this blog. In the D. & C., the Lord often told LDS to gather to one place, yet the LDS First Presidency, now says, “We wish to reiterate the long standing counsel to members of the (LDS) Church to remain in their homelands rather than immigrate to the United States” (The Ensign magazine, March 2000, p.79). Did the Lord change His mind? See II Tim. 2:13.

Next time we will look at a few more “modern LDS revelations.”