Midterm Flashcards
Who is the chief cornerstone of the Restored Church?
Jesus Christ
Why and how is Jesus Christ considered the chief cornerstone?
The entire Church is based off of Him and His teachings
What is the fundamental doctrine of the Church?
The doctrine that Jesus is the Christ and salvation is found only in and through faith in Him as our Savior
How are Latter-day Saints unique in their beliefs about Jesus Christ when compared with other Christians?
Restored truths help us to understand more about Him
What are the 6 major periods in Church history?
Beginnings (1820–1831)
Two Church Centers (1831–1838)
Nauvoo (1839–1846)
Church in the West (1846–1950)
Expansion (1950–1989)
Worldwide Church (1990–Present)
Beginnings
1820-1831
Two Church Centers
1831-1838
Nauvoo
1839-1846
Church in the West
1846-1950
Expansion
1950-1989
Worldwide Church
1990-present
Beginnings headquarters
Fayette, New York
Two Church Centers headquarters
Far West, Missouri
Nauvoo headquarters
Nauvoo, Illinois
Church in the West headquarters
Salt Lake City, Utah
Expansion headquarters
Salt Lake City, Utah
Worldwide Church headquarters
Salt Lake City, Utah
Why was there a second church center established in Independence, Missouri?
Because the Lord revealed that it was the location of Zion, the New Jerusalem
According to the Doctrine and Covenants, how are we to “seek learning”?
By study and faith
What databases and online resources are available to aid in your search for learning about Church doctrine and history?
BYU studies quarterly, BYU RSC, The Joseph Smith Papers, Lee Library Foundations of the Restoration, LDS General Conference Corpus, Scriptures Citation Index
What is “doctrine”?
What are the four types of doctrine?
Core, supportive, policy, esoteric
Core doctrine
Unchanging truths of salvation
Supportive doctrine
Elaborative, descriptive, timely teachings expanding on core doctrine
Policy doctrine
Timely statements related to applications of supportive or core doctrine
Esoteric doctrine
Unknown or partially revealed and yet to be revealed truths
What are the four levels of evaluating an official Latter-day Saint teaching?
Harmonized scriptures, united voice of the first presidency and quorum of the twelve, repeated teachings of general authorities, church publications
Five factors for evaluating a historical source
Primary Source
Contemporary Account
Objective Perspective
Relationship to Other Sources
Supporting Evidence
Primary source
produced by a participant or observer of the event
Contemporary account
recorded at or relatively near the time of the events
Objective perspective
looking for the motivations and degree to which the author may be motivated to introduce bias.
Relationship to other sources
to compare the account with other sources dealing with the same events.
Supporting evidence
based on supportive data and avoid subjective opinion, hearsay, and conjecture
What is the Great Apostasy?
A period of time without priesthood authority and with corruptions of gospel principles
What is the Protestant Reformation?
Reforms to the Catholic church during the 16th century
What is American religious freedom?
Freedom to join a church or not
What is the Second Great Awakening?
An increased interest in religion in the early 1800s
What is the burned over district?
Western New York, it had a large amount of religious revival meetings
Why are there different first vision accounts?
Different audiences and purposes
How many primary accounts of the first vision exist?
4
When were the primary accounts of the first vision written?
1832, 1835, 1838, 1842
1832 account
unpublished autobiography
1835
To Robert Matthews, recorded by Warren Parrish
1838
To the church, published in the Times and Seasons (now found in Pearl of Great Price)
1842
To Chicago editor, John Wentworth, the Wentworth letter
Who wrote the secondary accounts of the First Vision?
Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, Levi Richards, David Nye Wright, Alexander Neibur
What are two primary doctrinal messages from the First Vision?
Apostasy in doctrine (creeds) and ordinances
What is a creed?
A formal statement of faith and doctrine
What are the basic Christian creeds?
The Apostles’ Creed (4th century)
The Nicene Creed (4th century)
The Athanasian Creed (4th century)
The Chalcedonian Creed (5th century)
How do creeds define a modern Christian?
What does it mean that churches “deny [God’s] power”?
disregard the ordinances of the gospel
When and how did Joseph Smith obtain his brown seer stone, and what did he use it for?
As a teenager, see things beyond the natural eye
How many years passed from Moroni’s first visit to Joseph Smith until Joseph could obtain the gold plates?
4 years
What messages did Moroni give Joseph Smith when he visited him in September 1823?
Gold plates and fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy
What did Joseph need to repent of before he could obtain the plates?
To not want the plates for monetary gain
What year did Joseph Smith obtain the gold plates?
1827
How was the Book of Mormon translated – according to Joseph Smith and others who watched him?
Using the seer stones/Urim and Thummim in a hat
What were the instruments used in the translation of the Book of Mormon?
Seer stones, also called Urim and Thummim
Urim and Thummim
Includes all seer stones Joseph used in the translation of the Book of Mormon. Stones in the spectacles, brown seer stone, etc.
What is the scriptural definition of “the gospel”?
the doctrine of Christ and the fulness of His gospel
How is the Book of Mormon the “most correct” of any book on earth?
has the most correct descriptions and teachings of the fundamentals of the gospel and most clearly describes the doctrine of Christ
Who were the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon plates?
Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris
How did the experiences of the Three Witnesses and the Eight Witnesses differ?
The Three Witnesses had a visionary experience—they saw an angel, heard the voice of the Lord testifying the translation was correct, and were commanded of God to bear witness. It was a supernatural witness. But what to those who dismiss the supernatural, saying it was all in their minds? In the Lord’s wisdom, he called Eight Witnesses to have a temporal, tactile, and tangible witness. This was not visionary. It was not supernatural. It was factual, hard evidence. The three gave testimony to angels, translation, and God, and the eight to the fact that Joseph really had plates.
What is the difference between priesthood power, authority, offices, keys, and ordinances?
How did Joseph Smith receive the priesthood?
What does “the laying on of hands” mean?
What priesthood and keys did John the Baptist restore?
Aaronic
What priesthood and keys did Peter, James, and John restore?
Melchizedek
What occurred in the “chamber of father Whitmer,” and what is its relationship to the office of elder?
Joseph and Oliver received the word of the Lord regarding the Melchizedek priesthood
What occurred at the June 1831 conference regarding “high priesthood” or “Melchizedek’s priesthood”?
The authority of the Melchizedek priesthood was manifested and conferred, for the first time, upon several of the elders
What other angels are part of the Melchizedek Priesthood restoration?
Moses, Elias, Elijah, Michael, Gabriel, Rafael
What offices of the priesthood existed when the Church was organized?
Elder, priest, teacher and deacon
When and where was the Church organized?
April 6, 1830, Fayette, New York
Where is the Church’s “Articles and Covenants” found in the Doctrine and Covenants, and how were those articles created?
Section 20, 1830 conference
What foundational Church doctrines are included in Doctrine and Covenants 20
a brief history of its rise, its foundational doctrines, and a description of priesthood offices, ordinances, and procedures for the Church.
To what five titles was Joseph Smith sustained at the Church’s organization?
Seer, translator, prophet, apostle, and elder
What is “canon”?
a document is added to the Latter-day Saint standard works, or scriptures.
What are the Manuscript Revelation Books?
What is the 1833 book of commandments?
What were the original doctrine and covenants parts of the books title?
Doctrines- lectures on faith
Covenants- “100” revelations (two marked section 66)
When was the original edition of the Doctrine and Covenants published?
1835
What edition of the Doctrine and Covenants removed the “Lectures on Faith”?
1921
What is the current edition of the Doctrine and Covenants?
2013
What does it mean that the Doctrine and Covenants is an open book of scripture?
What is the historical context of Doctrine and Covenants 1? (How and why was it received?) Why is it called the “preface” to the Doctrine and Covenants?
Dictated to Joseph at a conference in November 1831
What does the word “hearken” (the first word in Doctrine and Covenants 1:1) mean?
To attend, to regard, to give heed to what is uttered; to observe or obey
Why were changes made to the text of some Doctrine and Covenants revelations before they were published?
Do all sections in the Doctrine and Covenants claim to be the direct spoken words of the Savior?
What are the Stewardship Principle, the Brethren Principle, and the Front Door Principle pertaining to personal revelation?
S: responsibilities. HIram Page. No one can receive revelation that contradicts the prophet
B: what happens if someone says something that isn’t revelation
F: no running for callings, doing things in secret. Excludes the possibility of secretly
What book of scripture is known as the “keystone” of the Church?
What book of scripture is known as the “capstone” of the Church?
What does it mean that Joseph Smith “translated” the Bible?
An act of interpretation and clarification. Sometimes adding new information. Not to turn it back to its original form, but to correct for understanding.
How was Joseph’s translation of the Bible accomplished?
Scribes marked changed verses and wrote the changes on separate sheets of paper
By what names has Joseph’s Bible translation been known?
New translation, inspired version, Joseph Smith translation
What types of changes to the Bible did Joseph Smith make?
Clarification, correcting errors, addition, explanations, deletions, removing contradictions, grammatical changes, and no changes
How does the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) contribute to the restoration of truth and the education of Joseph Smith?
The Bible translation process was an important tool that the Lord used to help Joseph better understand gospel doctrines of the kingdom of God. Joseph’s translation work directly and indirectly influenced dozens of revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants
How many changes did Joseph Smith make to the Bible, and how many of those changes are included in the Latter-day Saint Bible today?
What was the process of acquiring and printing the JST?
Why was Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible considered to be open ended?
Where did the Book of Moses come from?
Where did the Book of Abraham come from?
When was the Book of Abraham translated?
What are some of the academic challenges and responses to the Book of Abraham?
What does it mean that Abraham desired the “blessings of the fathers”?
What does it mean that Abraham desired the “blessings of the fathers”?
What is the Abrahamic covenant?
1- His posterity would be numerous
2- “His seed, or descendants, would receive the gospel and bear the priesthoodLinks to an external site.
3- “Through the ministry of his seed, ‘all the families of the earth [would] be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal’
Who may the planet Kolob best symbolize?
Jesus because He is closest to God
What are the facsimiles in the Pearl of Great Price, and what can they represent?
1- a deliverance scene, with Abraham being faithful and miraculously saved by the Lord.
2- a hypocephalus—meaning “under or beneath the head.” A hypocephalus is an oval or circular object that Egyptians placed under the head of their dead. It represented the eye of Horus, the sun god, and portrayed knowledge relating to resurrection and life after death.
What main gospel themes are present in the Book of Abraham?
Priesthood, posterity, promised land
How did we get the Pearl of Great Price, and when was it canonized?
A collection of revelations, JST, AoF, Moses, Abraham. Canonized at October 1880 conference by a vote.
What is the Lamanite Mission and its major effect on the Church?
(1) “go forth unto the Lamanites, to proclaim glad tidings of great joy unto them, by presenting unto them the fulness of the Gospel”; and 2) “also, to rear up a pillar as a witness where the Temple of God shall be built, in the glorious New-Jerusalem.”
Where was the Church first commanded to gather in this dispensation?
Ohio
What is the City of Zion (also known as the New Jerusalem)?
Independence, Missouri
Where will the latter-day city of Zion be built?
Independence, Missouri
What was Joseph Smith’s vision for Zion?
would be so holy that “even upon the bells of the Horses shall be written Holiness to the Lord.”
What are some of the many definitions for the word Zion?
Location of a future, holy city, the status of an individual’s standing before God and others, the organized wards and stakes of Zion
What Doctrine and Covenants section is known as “the Law” of the Church?
42
What kinds of laws are included in The Law (D&C 42)?
vs. 4-17) Ye elders shall go forth and preach the gospel.
(vs. 22) Thou shalt love thy wife [spouse] with all thy heart.
(vs. 27) Thou shalt not speak evil of thy neighbor, nor do him harm.
(vs. 30) Thou wilt remember the poor and consecrate of thy properties.
(vs. 40) Thou shalt not be proud in thy heart.
(vs. 42) Thou shalt not be idle.
(vs. 45) Thou shalt live together in love.
(vs. 53) Thou shalt stand in the place of thy stewardship.
(vs. 54) Thou shalt not take thy brother’s garment / Thou shalt pay.
(vs. 55) Thou shalt give[your excess] into my storehouse.
(vs. 56) Thou shalt ask [for revelations].
(vs. 58) Ye shall teach [the gospel] to all nations.
(vs. 59) Thou shalt govern my church according to the law.
What are the definitions of and differences between “all things common,” the United Firm (Order), and the law of consecration?
early Saints giving over to the Church all their properties and being deeded back a portion according to their wants and needs
What are three key celestial principles of consecration?
Ownership, stewardship, agency & accountability
What was the first Doctrine and Covenants section canonized and published?
1831
WhowasHiramPage,andwhatroledidhisseerstoneplayinearlyChurchhistory?
received revelation through a seer stone that contradicted several of Joseph Smith’s revelations.
WhowasLauraHubbel?WhyissherememberedinChurchhistory?
Woman who claimed to receive revelations in secret
WhatistheApocrypha?WhatdidtheLordinstructJosephSmithregardingitstranslation?
A book similar to the old and new testament. The Lord said that Joseph did not need to translate it because it was not doctrine
Whatroledoconsecration,stewardship,andaccountabilityplayinthelawofconsecration?
