LDS Doctrine and Covenants Critique
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The Doctrine and Covenants
Section 5
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Harmony, Pennsylvania, March 1829, at the request of Martin Harris.
1–10, This generation will receive the Lord’s word through Joseph
Smith; 11–18, Three witnesses will testify of the Book of Mormon;
19–20, The word of the Lord will be verified as in previous times;
21–35, Martin Harris may repent and be one of the witnesses.
1 Behold, I say unto you, that as my servant Martin Harris has desired
a witness at my hand, that you, my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., have got
the plates of which you have testified and borne record that you have
received of me; 2 And now, behold, this shall you say unto him—he who
spake unto you, said unto you: I, the Lord, am God, and have given
these things unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and have
commanded you that you should stand as a witness of these things; 3 And
I have caused you that you should enter into a covenant with me, that
you should not show them except to those persons to whom I commanded
you; and you have no power over them except I grant it unto you.
Note: God did not hide Himself or the stone tablets from the people.
“So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness,
while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all
the heads of your tribes and your elders. And you said: ‘Surely the
LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have
heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that
God speaks with man; yet he still lives. Now therefore, why should we
die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the
LORD our God anymore, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh
who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of
the fire, as we have, and lived? You go near and hear all that the LORD
our God may say, and tell us all that the LORD our God says to you, and
we will hear and do it.’” Deuteronomy 5:23-27
4 And you have a gift to translate the plates; and this is the first
gift that I bestowed upon you; and I have commanded that you should
pretend to no other gift until my purpose is fulfilled in this; for I
will grant unto you no other gift until it is finished.
Note: Joseph Smith had no special translation gift from God.
Smith owned at least two seer stones before his early twenties, when he
had employed them for treasure seeking at the bequest of Josiah
Stowell, before he founded the church. Other early Mormons, such as
Hiram Page, David Whitmer, and Jacob Whitmer, also owned seer stones.
Wikipedia Encyclopedia.
5 Verily, I say unto you, that woe shall come unto the inhabitants of the earth if they will not hearken unto my words;
Note: Believers will hearken unto the words of Jesus Christ not Joseph Smith.
"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away." Matthew 24:35
6 For hereafter you shall be ordained and go forth and deliver my words
unto the children of men. 7 Behold, if they will not believe my words,
they would not believe you, my servant Joseph, if it were possible that
you should show them all these things which I have committed unto you.
8 Oh, this unbelieving and stiffnecked generation—mine anger is kindled
against them. 9 Behold, verily I say unto you, I have reserved those
things which I have entrusted unto you, my servant Joseph, for a wise
purpose in me, and it shall be made known unto future generations; 10
But this generation shall have my word through you;
Note: Believers will listen to Jesus Christ not false prophets.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the
fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His
Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He
made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express
image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power,
when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of
the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as
He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Hebrews
1:1-4
11 And in addition to your testimony, the testimony of three of my
servants, whom I shall call and ordain, unto whom I will show these
things, and they shall go forth with my words that are given through
you. 12 Yea, they shall know of a surety that these things are true,
for from heaven will I declare it unto them. 13 I will give them power
that they may behold and view these things as they are; 14 And to none
else will I grant this power, to receive this same testimony among this
generation, in this the beginning of the rising up and the coming forth
of my church out of the wilderness—clear as the moon, and fair as the
sun, and terrible as an army with banners.
Note: Believers have the power to be witnesses for Jesus Christ not Joseph Smith.
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
15 And the testimony of three witnesses will I send forth of my word.
Note: Witnesses of Jesus Christ are blessed.
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds
of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly
glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12
16 And behold, whosoever believeth on my words, them will I visit with
the manifestation of my Spirit; and they shall be born of me, even of
water and of the Spirit—
Note: Believers are born again through the word of God not baptism.
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with
a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but
incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
because “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower
of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the
word of the LORD endures forever.” 1 Peter 1:22-25
17 And you must wait yet a little while, for ye are not yet ordained—
18 And their testimony shall also go forth unto the condemnation of
this generation if they harden their hearts against them;
Note: The original three witnesses harden their hearts against Joseph Smith.
All 3 left: Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, and David Whitmer all broke
with Joseph Smith and were excommunicated or separated from the church
around 1838.
19 For a desolating scourge shall go forth among the inhabitants of the
earth, and shall continue to be poured out from time to time, if they
repent not, until the earth is empty, and the inhabitants thereof are
consumed away and utterly destroyed by the brightness of my coming.
Note: As Joseph Smith was destroyed so shall the anti-Christ be destroyed.
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now
restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the
lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the
breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 2
Thessalonians 2:7-8
20 Behold, I tell you these things, even as I also told the people of
the destruction of Jerusalem; and my word shall be verified at this
time as it hath hitherto been verified.
Note: Jesus Christ specifically predicted the destruction of the temple.
Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him,
“Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” And
Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not
one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Mark 13:1-2
21 And now I command you, my servant Joseph, to repent and walk more
uprightly before me, and to yield to the persuasions of men no more; 22
And that you be firm in keeping the commandments wherewith I have
commanded you; and if you do this, behold I grant unto you eternal
life, even if you should be slain.
Note: Joseph Smith was a lawless man.
Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, was the
subject of approximately twenty-one documented criminal cases between
1826 and 1844 across New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois.
23 And now, again, I speak unto you, my servant Joseph, concerning the
man that desires the witness— 24 Behold, I say unto him, he exalts
himself and does not humble himself sufficiently before me; but if he
will bow down before me, and humble himself in mighty prayer and faith,
in the sincerity of his heart, then will I grant unto him a view of the
things which he desires to see.
Note: Believers will be witnesses of Jesus Christ not of plates.
“Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David,
that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath
to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would
raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke
concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left
in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised
up, of which we are all witnesses.” Acts 2:29-32
25 And then he shall say unto the people of this generation: Behold, I
have seen the things which the Lord hath shown unto Joseph Smith, Jun.,
and I know of a surety that they are true, for I have seen them, for
they have been shown unto me by the power of God and not of man. 26 And
I the Lord command him, my servant Martin Harris, that he shall say no
more unto them concerning these things, except he shall say: I have
seen them, and they have been shown unto me by the power of God; and
these are the words which he shall say.
Note: Believers will be witnesses of Jesus Christ not of plates.
So, when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why
do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our
own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus,
whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was
determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just and
asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of
life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. Acts
3:12-15
27 But if he deny this he will break the covenant which he has before
covenanted with me, and behold, he is condemned. 28 And now, except he
humble himself and acknowledge unto me the things that he has done
which are wrong, and covenant with me that he will keep my
commandments, and exercise faith in me, behold, I say unto him, he
shall have no such views, for I will grant unto him no views of the
things of which I have spoken. 29 And if this be the case, I command
you, my servant Joseph, that you shall say unto him, that he shall do
no more, nor trouble me any more concerning this matter.
Note: Believers will be witnesses of Jesus Christ not of plates.
But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey
God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you
murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to
be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of
sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy
Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Acts 5:29-32
30 And if this be the case, behold, I say unto thee Joseph, when thou
hast translated a few more pages thou shalt stop for a season, even
until I command thee again; then thou mayest translate again. 31 And
except thou do this, behold, thou shalt have no more gift, and I will
take away the things which I have entrusted with thee.
Note: Joseph Smith had no special translation gift from God.
The culture that early Latter-Day Saints developed in was steeped in
Western esotericism, which included American folk magic practices. A
seer stone in this culture was a prevalent divination tool used for a
form of crystal gazing, or scrying. Wikipedia Encyclopedia
32 And now, because I foresee the lying in wait to destroy thee, yea, I
foresee that if my servant Martin Harris humbleth not himself and
receive a witness from my hand, that he will fall into transgression;
33 And there are many that lie in wait to destroy thee from off the
face of the earth; and for this cause, that thy days may be prolonged,
I have given unto thee these commandments.
Note: Joseph Smith was a lawless man.
While in New York, Smith may have faced charges stemming from a violent
encounter with neighbors. Neighbor William Stafford recalled: "a
dispute arose between us, (he having drinked a little too freely) and
some hard words passed between us, and as usual with him at such times,
was for fighting. He got the advantage of me in the scuffle, and a
gentleman by the name of Ford interfered, when Joseph turned to
fighting him. We both entered a complaint against him and he was fined
for the breach of the Peace". In 1843, Smith corroborated the claim,
recalling a time when Stafford and "six other fellows pitched upon him
[Joseph] unawares. Joseph whipped the whole of them and escaped unhurt
which they swore to as recorded in Hurlburt's or Howe's Book." Quinn
notes: "Not surprisingly, the official History of the Church, published
in Salt Lake City, deleted this passage from the prophet's personal
journal, which endorsed the accuracy of affidavits by his Palmyra
neighbors" Wikipedia Encyclopedia
34 Yea, for this cause I have said: Stop, and stand still until I
command thee, and I will provide means whereby thou mayest accomplish
the thing which I have commanded thee. 35 And if thou art faithful in
keeping my commandments, thou shalt be lifted up at the last day. Amen.
Note: Believers in Jesus Christ will be resurrected to eternal life.
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection
at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the
life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And
whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son
of God, who is to come into the world.” John 11:24-27