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The Church of Jesus Christ is Organized  (D&C 19–24; 26–28) [1830]By Randal S. Chase Introduction There are three sections of the Doctrine and Covenants associated with the Church's organization. All were given at the home of Peter Whitmer Sr., in Fayette , New York . D&C 20 April 1830 The Constitution of the Church D&C 21 April 6, 1830 Given at organizational mtg D&C 22 April 1830 Given shortly thereafter D&C 20 and 22 were accepted by the members of the Church at the time as the “Articles and Covenants of the Church.” This made them the first officially...

Reading Recommendations: Massacre at Mountain Meadows, Ronald W. Walker is an independent historian and writer of Latter-day Saint history living in Salt Lake City; Richard E. Turley, Jr. is Assistant Church Historian for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Glen M. Leonard is former Director of the LDs Museum of Church History and Art. On September 11, 1857, a band of Mormon militia, under a flag of truce, lured unarmed members of a party of emigrants from their fortified encampment and, with their Painte allies, killed them. More than 120 men, women, and children perished in the slaughter....

  Gospel Library  Ensign » 1985 » July   The Restoration of Priesthood Keys on Easter 1836,Part 2: Symbolism of Passover and of Elijah’s Return John P. Pratt, “The Restoration of Priesthood Keys on Easter 1836, Part 2: Symbolism of Passover and of Elijah’s Return,” Ensign, Jul 1985, 55On Easter Sunday, 3 April 1836, the Savior, Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared in succession in the Kirtland Temple and restored priesthood keys required for the dispensation of the fulness of times. (See D&C 110.) Elijah’s coming had been prophesied more than twenty-two centuries earlier by Malachi. (See Mal. 4:5; D&C 110:14.)This article reviews the...

  Gospel Library Ensign » 1985» June The Restoration of Priesthood Keys on Easter 1836,Part 1: Dating the First Easter John P. Pratt, “The Restoration of Priesthood Keys on Easter 1836, Part 1: Dating the First Easter,” Ensign, Jun 1985, 59On Easter Sunday, 3 April 1836, the Savior, Moses, Elias, and Elijah appeared in succession in the Kirtland Temple and restored priesthood keys required for the dispensation of the fulness of times. (See D&C 110.) Elijah’s coming had been prophesied more than twenty-two centuries earlier by Malachi. (See Mal. 4:5; D&C 110:14.)This is the first of two articles that discuss the importance...

Yesterday, I attended the dedication of the LDS temple in Draper. As I was sitting, waiting for it to start, I thought of the open house that had preceded the dedication, and of the several temple open houses in other U.S. cities that I had volunteered to help with, and how we worked darn hard to get media coverage and non-Mormons to attend. Then it occurred to me that it's a tad unreasonable to strain to get as many non-Mormons as possible to walk through the temple and see the altars and all and not expect them to be curious...

Having grown up Mormon in Colorado, I recognize that Mormons are "marginalized" in some places, as Dennis Clayson argues in "Bigotry against Mormons apparently acceptable in Utah," (Opinion, March 21). As a teenager, I regularly had to explain myself to people who had no idea what a Mormon was. However, one would be hard pressed to imagine that Mormons are marginalized in Utah. So although Clayson makes an important point (that some people say stupid and hurtful things about Mormons), he ignores the chief context of the issue: the reality of power in Utah. In Utah, Mormons dominate both politics...

Today, many people generally view Mormons as a people with strong family values and clean living, according to one pastor at McLean Bible Church. Some also believe they are just one of many Christian denominations. But that view is the result of a multibillion dollar campaign over the last couple of decades by Mormons who have attempted to present themselves in such a way, according to Todd Phillips, teaching pastor at Frontline, the young adult ministry of McLean in Virginia. Many Americans, including Christians, see Mormons as "just another branch of Christianity who talk about Jesus all the time and...

 Atonement of Jesus Christby Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the foreordained but voluntary act of the Only Begotten Son of God. He offered his life, including his innocent body, blood, and spiritual anguish as a redeeming ransom (1) for the effect of the Fall of Adam upon all mankind and (2) for the personal sins of all who repent, from Adam to the end of the world. Latter-day Saints believe this is the central fact, the crucial foundation, the chief doctrine, and the greatest expression of divine love in the Plan of Salvation. The Prophet...

OGDEN — The defense has filed a motion to suppress Riqo Perea’s police confession to a double gang shooting that has him facing the death penalty. The motion filed in 2nd District Court is so far less than two pages long, basically a notice of intent to ask Judge Ernie Jones to suppress Perea’s alleged admissions after the Aug. 5, 2007, shooting at a wedding party. Two died and two were injured in a northern Ogden neighborhood. Killed were Sabrina Prieto, 22, and Resendo Nava Nevarez, 29. If found guilty in their slayings on the capital charges, Perea could be...

GARDEN OF GETHSEMANEA talk given by Elder Bruce R. McConkieof the Quorum of the Twelve at theApril 1985 General Conference I feel, and the Spirit seems to accord, that the most important doctrine I can declare, and the most powerful testimony I can bear is one of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. His atonement is the most transcendent event that ever has or ever will occur, from creations dawn and through all the ages of a never ending eternity. It was the supreme act of goodness and grace that only a God could perform. Through it...

  M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N EThe Temple and the AtonementBy Truman Madsen We have been in Israel on and off, for nearly six-and-a-half years.  It was evocative in ways I cannot put in words.  We came daily, my wife and I, for two years to that magnificent building on Mount Scopus, the Jerusalem Center, your center. We walked into an office which is all glass on the west side and looked out early in the morning upon descending gold, because as the sun rises it strikes the taller buildings first...

British Columbia has charged two fundamentalist Mormon men with violating the Criminal Code provision against polygamy. The defendants will argue "God made me do it," claiming their practice of polygamy is part of the religious freedom guaranteed by Section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms... ...What the U.S. Supreme Court said in its 1878 Reynolds decision is still compelling: Religious freedom means the state cannot punish people for religious opinions, but it can certainly regulate secular institutions such as marriage. The justification for prohibiting polygamy is that it leads to treating women and children as chattels and undermines...

'Power in that text': The Joseph Smith manual By Michael De GrooteMormon TimesPublished: Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 Most Mormons may never see even one volume of the Joseph Smith Papers -- let alone pay $50 to own one. But already, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have benefited from the scholarship of that project as reflected in "Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith." "I think there is great power in that text," said Ronald O. Barney (pictured above), a project editor and executive producer of "The Joseph Smith Papers" program on KJZZ-TV in...

The time in which we now live. The days (or dispensation of time) just before the second coming of the Lord. I tell you what shall befall you in the last days, Gen. 49: 1. The Redeemer shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, Job 19: 25. In the last days, the Lord’s house shall be established, Isa. 2: 2. In the last days perilous times shall come, 2 Tim. 3: 1-7. Latter-day scoffers shall deny the Second Coming, 2 Pet. 3: 3-7. I prophesy unto you concerning the last days, 2 Ne. 26: 14-30. Thus shall my...

It is April 6th. Modern scripture records that Jesus Christ was born on this day.1 Humbly I speak of this glorious being to whom each of us owes so very much. I know that what the scriptures teach of Him is true and will use some of them in expressing personal feelings. Paul testified, "Being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him."2Eternal salvation--how precious! But you must obey Him to obtain it. "Jesus said, . . . I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet...

Absolutely laughable in 1830, now not only well established as an ancient practice, but as a particularly significant ancient practice in the Middle East in the era of 600 B.C.--especially for religious documents. Most significant, perhaps, is the ancient practice of "scriptorio"--putting the title page at the END of the book, something which is a hallmark of ancient writings on plates from the Middle East, and which is also strong evidence of authenticity for the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith could not have known of "scriptorio" when he translated the gold plates and noted that the title page was at...

In the aftermath of Proposition 8, it’s open season on Mormons, and the producers of HBO’s series Big Love are in the best position to give the Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) a big slap. The series focuses on members of one of several splinter groups that have left the Mormon Church over the issue of polygamy. To understand what this means to Mormons, it’s worth indulging in a little history. When the Mormon prophet Wilford Woodruff declared in 1890 that it was God’s will that Latter-day Saints no longer take multiple wives, some Mormons clung...

Blacks in the ScripturesClick to listen to Audios Since the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1830, there have been numerous works attempting to answer the many questions regarding Blacks in the eyes of God. This is the first of such projects in the history of the LDS Church to be based primarily upon the scriptures. Darius Gray and Marvin Perkins are active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and have utilized the Old and New Testaments, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price...

Silvia H. Allred First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency "The Lord taught that “except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”1 Baptism is, therefore, essential for our salvation. Before the resurrected Savior ascended to heaven, He instructed His disciples, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”2 At the time of the Restoration, He repeated His mandate: “Wherefore, you are...

Where did Joseph Smith get the idea of ancient records on metal plates hidden in a stone box that was buried in the earth? Critics mocked this for decades--until many other examples of ancient records preserved on plates or in stone boxes were found. In our day, scholars know that there is a vast ancient tradition pertaining to preserving sacred records by concealing them for some future time. Some of this evidence is brought together lucidly in John A. Tvedtnes, The Book of Mormon and Other Hidden Books (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000). Also see...