D&C 20:1-16

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Doctrine & Covenants > Section 20 > Verses 1-16
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Outline and brief summary

The relationship of verses 1-16 to the rest of section 20 is discussed at D&C 20.

  • Click the edit link above and to the right to add outline or summary


Detailed discussion

Verse 6

This verse brings up the repentance of Joseph. There may be several reasons this was included. One, it may serve to remind those close to him that while he was mortal and at times foolish, he had repented and the Lord saw him as mature enough to receive angels and perform a great work. Two, it may be included as a reminder of God's "grace" (see verse 4). All of us need repentance; and this latter day work is a proclamation of the principles of the gospel. Three, it may serve to give us a simple narrative framework. He received a remission of his sins (the First Vision). Then he was "entangled"(v.5), and felt a need to repent. It was this feeling that led him to pray, which led to the visitation of Moroni (v.6). That visit brought him commandments and power (v.7-8), which led to the translation of the Book of Mormon.

Verse 8

The phrase in this verse, "the means which were before prepared" likely refers to the Urim and Thummim which was buried by Moroni with the gold plates.

Verses 9-12

These verses all seem to be connected to the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon:

  • is a record of a fallen people (v.9)
  • contains a fulness of the gospel (v.9)
  • is to Gentiles and Jews (v.9)
  • given by inspiration (v.10)
  • confirmed by angels to others, and declared by witnesses to the world (v.10)
  • also proves that the scriptures (the Bible as already received by the world) are true (v.11)
  • proves that God calls men now as He did in past (v.11)
  • this shows that he is the same God yesterday, today, and forever (v.12)

This seems to be one way to read the logic running through these verses.

Verse 11

  • One way to read verse 11 is that the Book of Mormon is doing the proving. It proves to the world that "the holy scriptures" - meaning the scriptures the world already has, i.e., the Holy Bible) - are true. See 1 Nephi 13:39-40.


Parallel passages

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Questions for further study and reflection

Verses 2-3

  • Why are Joseph and Oliver called the "first elder" and "second elder"?

Verse 4

  • To what does the word “this” refer in the first phrase of this verse? What does it mean to say that something is “according to the grace of our Lord"? What does the phrase “to whom be all glory, both now and forever” mean? What does that phrase tell us?

Verses 5-12

  • Notice that this is one long sentence. What’s this sentence as a whole about?

Verses 5-6

  • Verse 12 ends the sentence stretching from verses 5-12. There the Lord says "proving to the world that the holy scriptures are true." Here, at the beginning of the same sentence, in verses 5 and 6, the Lord recounts Joseph's sin and repentance. Is the fact that Joseph Smith sinned and then repented part of what proves that the holy scriptures are true? If so, how? If not, why does the Lord bring up Joseph's sin and repentance here?

Verse 5

  • What does it mean to receive a remission of sin? How do we get entangled in the vanities of the world? What does “vanities of the world” mean?

Verse 6

  • Do we know to what angelic visitation this verse refers?

Verse 7

  • How can commandments inspire us?

Verse 8

  • We probably all know what “power from on high” means. And we all know what it means to translate the Book of Mormon. But what does it mean that Joseph was given power to translate “by the means which were before prepared"?

Verse 9

  • Were the descendants of Lehi the only people in the world who enjoyed the fulness of the gospel between the end of Christ's mortal ministry and the dawning of the dispensation of the fulness of times?

Verse 10

  • When this verse says the Book of Mormon was given by inspiration, is it referring to the inspiration the Lord gave the Book of Mormon prophets or to the inspiration he gave Joseph Smith? When the verse says the Book of Mormon “is confirmed to others by the ministering of angels,” of whom is it speaking? Who is it that declares the Book of Mormon to the world?

Verse 11

  • Is it the presence of the Book of Mormon that constitutes the proof or the confirmation one receives through the Spirit?

Verse 12

  • Did God start out as a God or was there a different God before him?

Verse 13

  • What does the pronoun "them" refer to? Does it mean that the world will be judged out of the books (Book of Mormon and Bible)? The witness in this verse would then refer to the Three and Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon and/or perhaps any one who preaches the scriptures to the world.


Footnotes


Additional resources

Verse 1

Verse 9


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