![Latter-day Saint Scripture Quadruple Combination](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Latter-day_Saint_Scripture_Quadruple_Combination.jpg)
The Pearl of Great Price is part of the canonical
standard works
The standard works of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church, the largest in the Latter Day Saint movement) are the four books that currently constitute its open scriptural canon. The four books of the standard works are:
* ...
of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
(LDS Church) and some other
Latter Day Saint
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by J ...
denominations.
The first paragraph of the Introductory Note in the LDS edition of the Pearl of Great Price states: "The Pearl of Great Price is a selection of choice materials touching many significant aspects of the faith and doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These items were produced by
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
and were published in the Church periodicals of his day."
The name of the book is derived from the
Parable of the Pearl
The Parable of the Pearl (also called the Pearl of Great Price) is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in Matthew 13 and illustrates the great value of the Kingdom of Heaven.
This is the penultimate parable in Matthew 13, coming just before ...
told by Jesus in
Matthew 13
Matthew 13 is the thirteenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. Verses 3 to 52 of this chapter form the third of the five Discourses of Matthew, called the ''Parabolic Discourse'', based on th ...
.
A copy of the Pearl of Great Price owned by NASA photographer M. Edward Thomas's wife Ruth C. Thomas traveled to the Moon and back in 1972 with astronaut
John Young John Young may refer to:
Academics
* John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow
* John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Col ...
aboard
Apollo 16
Apollo 16 (April 1627, 1972) was the tenth crewed mission in the United States Apollo space program, administered by NASA, and the fifth and penultimate to land on the Moon. It was the second of Apollo's " J missions", with an extended sta ...
.
Contents
The Pearl of Great Price contains five sections:
Book of Moses
The Book of Moses begins with the "Visions of Moses," a prologue to the story of
the creation and the
fall of man
The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God in Christianity, God to a state of guilty disobedience.
*
*
*
* ...
(Moses chapter 1), and continues with material corresponding to
Smith's revision (JST) of the first six chapters of the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...
(Moses chapters 2–5, 8), interrupted by two chapters of "extracts from the prophecy of Enoch" (Moses chapters 6–7). Portions of the Book of Moses were originally published separately by the LDS Church in 1851, but later combined and published as the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price. The same material is published by the
Community of Christ as parts of its
Doctrine and Covenants
The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Chur ...
and
Inspired Version of the Bible.
Book of Abraham
![Abraham Facsimile 1 1851 Denoised](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Abraham_Facsimile_1_1851_Denoised.png)
The Book of Abraham is an 1835 work produced by
Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...
that he said was based on Egyptian
papyri
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, ''Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a d ...
purchased from a traveling
mummy
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...
exhibition. According to Smith, the book was "a translation of some ancient records ... purporting to be the writings of
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
, while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon
papyrus
Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...
". The text that Smith produced describes a story of Abraham's early life, including a vision of the
cosmos
The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity.
The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...
.
The Book of Abraham was
canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
in 1880 by the LDS Church as part of the Pearl of Great Price.
Thus, it forms a doctrinal foundation for the LDS Church and
Mormon fundamentalist
Mormon fundamentalism (also called fundamentalist Mormonism) is a belief in the validity of selected fundamental aspects of Mormonism as taught and practiced in the nineteenth century, particularly during the administrations of Joseph Smith, ...
denominations of the
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
. It is not considered to be a
religious text
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...
by the
Community of Christ. Other sects in the
Latter Day Saint movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Jo ...
have various opinions regarding the Book of Abraham, with some rejecting and some accepting the text as inspired scripture. The book contains several doctrines that are distinct to
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of t ...
, such as the concept of God organizing eternal, pre-existing elements to create the universe instead of creating it ''
ex nihilo
(Latin for "creation out of nothing") is the doctrine that matter is not eternal but had to be created by some divine creative act. It is a theistic answer to the question of how the universe comes to exist. It is in contrast to ''Ex nihilo ni ...
''.
The Book of Abraham papyri were thought lost in the 1871
Great Chicago Fire
The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 10 ...
. However, in 1966, several fragments of the papyri were found in the archives of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
in New York, and in the LDS Church archives. They are now referred to as the
Joseph Smith Papyri
The Joseph Smith Papyri (JSP) are Egyptian funerary papyrus fragments from ancient Thebes dated between 300 to 100 BC which, along with four mummies, were once owned by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Smith said that t ...
. Upon examination by professional Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists, these fragments were found to bear no resemblance to Smith's interpretation, and were identified as common
Egyptian funerary texts
The literature that makes up the ancient Egyptian funerary texts is a collection of religious documents that were used in ancient Egypt, usually to help the spirit of the concerned person to be preserved in the afterlife.
They evolved over time, ...
, dating to about the first century BC. As a result, the Book of Abraham has been the source of significant controversy, with
criticism from Egyptologists and
Mormon apologists
Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics an ...
defending its authenticity.
Joseph Smith–Matthew
Joseph Smith–Matthew (abbreviated JS–M) is an excerpt from Joseph Smith's "
retranslation
Retranslation refers to the action of "translating a work that has previously been translated into the same language" or to the text itself that was retranslated. Retranslation of classic literature and religious texts is common. Retranslation may ...
" of portions of the
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...
. It was originally published in 1831 in
Kirtland, Ohio
Kirtland is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,937 at the 2020 census. Kirtland is known for being the early headquarters of the Latter Day Saint movement from 1831 to 1837 and is the site of the movement's first t ...
, in an undated
broadsheet
A broadsheet is the largest newspaper format and is characterized by long Vertical and horizontal, vertical pages, typically of . Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner (format), Berliner and Tabloid (newspaper format), ta ...
as "Extract from the New Translation of the Bible".
Joseph Smith–Matthew includes Smith's retranslation of Matthew 23:39 and all of
Matthew chapter 24. The text deals mainly with
Jesus'
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
prophecy of the coming destruction of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and of similar calamities that will precede his
Second Coming
The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is a Christian (as well as Islamic and Baha'i) belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The idea is based on messi ...
. Joseph Smith–Matthew contains significant changes and additions to the original biblical text.
Joseph Smith–History
Joseph Smith–History (abbreviated JS–H) is an excerpt from the autobiographical record of some of the early events in Joseph Smith's life. Like many of Smith's publications, it was dictated to a scribe.
The incidents described in Joseph Smith–History include the
First Vision
The First Vision (also called the grove experience by members of the Community of Christ) refers to a theophany which Latter Day Saints believe Joseph Smith experienced in the early 1820s, in a wooded area in Manchester, New York, called the ...
and the visitation of the
angel Moroni
The Angel Moroni () is an angel whom Joseph Smith reported as having visited him on numerous occasions, beginning on September 21, 1823. According to Smith, the angel was the guardian of the golden plates, buried in the hill Cumorah near Smith's ...
. In its current form, the narrative ends with Smith translating the
Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...
, shortly before the foundation of Smith's
Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to:
Church groups
* When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16.
* The entire body of Ch ...
, though the original ''
Times and Seasons
''Times and Seasons'' was a 19th-century Latter Day Saint newspaper published at Nauvoo, Illinois. It was printed monthly or twice-monthly from November 1839 to February 1846. The motto of the paper was "Truth will prevail," which was printed u ...
'' serial it is based on continued the story until the mid-1830s.
Articles of Faith
The Articles of Faith are a
creed
A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets.
The ea ...
composed by Joseph Smith as part of
an 1842 letter sent to
"Long" John Wentworth, editor of the ''
Chicago Democrat
The ''Chicago Democrat'' was the first newspaper in Chicago, Illinois. It was published from 1833 to 1861. In 2017 Atom, LLC restarteChicago Democratand has built a website aimed at statewide coverage of news, sports, weather and information in Il ...
'', and first published in the Latter Day Saint newspaper ''
Times and Seasons
''Times and Seasons'' was a 19th-century Latter Day Saint newspaper published at Nauvoo, Illinois. It was printed monthly or twice-monthly from November 1839 to February 1846. The motto of the paper was "Truth will prevail," which was printed u ...
''. It is a concise listing of thirteen fundamental doctrines of
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religious tradition and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity started by Joseph Smith in Western New York in the 1820s and 1830s. As a label, Mormonism has been applied to various aspects of t ...
. Most
Latter Day Saint
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by J ...
denominations view the articles as an authoritative statement of basic theology. For some sects, they are known collectively as "An Epitome of Faith and Doctrine".
Changes
The original contents of the Pearl of Great Price were significantly different, reproducing material found in the
Doctrine and Covenants
The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Chur ...
and a poem entitled "Oh Say What is Truth?" (which is now found in the
LDS Church hymnal). In 1878, some material was added to the
Book of Moses
The Book of Moses, dictated by Joseph Smith, is part of the scriptural canon for some in the Latter Day Saint movement. The book begins with the "Visions of Moses," a prologue to the story of the creation and the fall of man (Moses chapter 1), a ...
. The Pearl of Great Price was canonized by the LDS Church in 1880. In 1902, the material reproduced in the Doctrine and Covenants was removed. Two other documents, ''Vision of the Celestial Kingdom'' and ''Vision of the Redemption of the Dead'', were added to the Pearl of Great Price in 1976 and moved to the LDS Church edition of the Doctrine and Covenants (sections 137 and 138) in 1979.
1851 edition
The Pearl of Great Price was first compiled by
Franklin D. Richards in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, England. Some items duplicated text that was already available in the Doctrine and Covenants. It contained the following entries (the placement of the text in today's LDS Church publications is noted in parenthesis):
*Extracts from the Prophecy of
Enoch
Enoch () ''Henṓkh''; ar, أَخْنُوخ ', Qur'ān.html"_;"title="ommonly_in_Qur'ān">ommonly_in_Qur'ānic_literature__'_is_a_biblical_figure_and_Patriarchs_(Bible).html" "title="Qur'ānic_literature.html" ;"title="Qur'ān.html" ;"title="o ...
Moses 6:43–7:69
*A message from God, given to
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
Moses 1:1–42
*Untitled
Moses 2:1–58:13–30
*The Book of Abraham includin
Facsimile Nos. 12an
3from the Book of Abraham
Book of Abraham
*An extract from a
Translation
Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
of the Bible
Joseph Smith–Matthew
*A Key to the Revelations of
St. JohnDoctrine and Covenants 77
*A Revelation and Prophecy
Doctrine and Covenants 87
*Extracts from the History of Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith–History
*From the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church Commandment to the Church concerning baptism
Doctrine and Covenants 20:37, 71–75
*The duties of members after they are received by baptism
Doctrine and Covenants 20:68–69
*Method of administering the
Sacrament of the Lord's SupperDoctrine and Covenants 20:75–79
*The Duties of the
Elders,
Priests
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in p ...
,
Teachers
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
,
Deacons
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
, and Members of the Church of Christ
Doctrine and Covenants 20:38–44107:1120:45–59, 70, 80
*On
PriesthoodDoctrine and Covenants 107:1–10, 12–20
*The Calling and Duties of the
Twelve Apostles
In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...
Doctrine and Covenants 107:23, 33
*The Calling and Duties of the
Seventy
70 (seventy) is the natural number following 69 and preceding 71.
In mathematics
70 is:
* a sphenic number because it factors as 3 distinct primes.
* a Pell number.
* the seventh pentagonal number.
* the fourth tridecagonal number.
* the fif ...
Doctrine and Covenants 107:34, 93–100
*Extract from a revelation given July, 1830
Doctrine and Covenants 27:5–18
*Rise of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Doctrine and Covenants 20:1–36
*''
Times and Seasons
''Times and Seasons'' was a 19th-century Latter Day Saint newspaper published at Nauvoo, Illinois. It was printed monthly or twice-monthly from November 1839 to February 1846. The motto of the paper was "Truth will prevail," which was printed u ...
'', vol. III, p. 709
Articles of Faith
*"Truth" (a poem by
John Jaques)
"O Say, What is Truth?" #272 in
LDS Church hymnal) (not a canonized work)
Notes
References
*.
*.
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*The at
Wikisource
Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually rep ...
The Pearl of Great Price full HTML text, official LDS Church edition, churchofjesuschrist.org
The Pearl of Great Price official LDS Church edition (pdf)
*Digitized copy o
The Pearl of Great Price(1851) in th
Rare Book and Special Collections Divisionin the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Introductory note to The Pearl of Great Price churchofjesuschrist.org
"historical notes on The Pearl of Great Price" boap.org
- Contents listed by edition
*
The 1851 Pearl of Great Price (first edition) at
Wikisource
Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually rep ...
* (1920 edition)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearl Of Great Price (Mormonism)
1851 non-fiction books
1851 in Christianity
Works in the style of the King James Version
Standard works