Published Revelations

The Joseph Smith Papers: Revelations and Translations #2

by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, Richard L. Bushman

In November 1831, Joseph Smith and his associates in the leadership of the Church of Christ decided to publish Smith's dictated revelations for the first time. Several score revelations, dating from as early as July 1828, would be printed in a volume to be called the Book of Commandments. For an organization less than two years old with a membership of just a few hundred, the decision to print ten thousand copies appears overly ambitious, but Joseph Smith had already published five thousand copies of the Book of Mormon under even more modest circumstances. He understood that printing was essential both to preserve and to disseminate the sacred texts God had given him. With publication they could "go forth unto all flesh" as authorized by the revelation intended to end the book. Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations features the Book of Commandments and the other major printed versions of Joseph Smith's revelations that were published or in the process of being published during his lifetime. Revelations and Translations, Volume 2 goes hand in hand with Manuscript Revelation Books, the first volume in this series. Manuscript Revelation Books presents the earliest surviving manuscripts of many of Joseph Smith's revelations, the ones used by Smith and his associates in preparing the published scriptures of their day. Volume 2 presents the printed revelations in the form that most early Latter-day Saints read and experienced them. Together the two volumes make the early revelations more accessible than ever before.

Genres: Religion, Lds, Mormonism

768 pages, Hardcover

First published March 18, 2011

About the author

Dean C. Jessee is a general editor of The Joseph Smith Papers. He earned an MA in LDS Church history from Brigham Young University. He worked for the Archives and the History Division of the Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1964 to 1981, followed by nineteen years of service at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History at Brigham Young University. His gathering and publishing of Joseph Smith’s papers led to the current Joseph Smith Papers. His publications include Personal Writings of Joseph Smith (1984, 2001 rev. ed.); Papers of Joseph Smith, vols. 1 and 2 (1989, 1991); Brigham Young’s Letters to His Sons (1974); and numerous articles regarding early LDS history. He is a past president of the Mormon History Association.

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introductory material and the charts at the back were great (the key to the fictitious names in some of the Kirtland revelations was particularly awesome), and there's something cool about reading early Church revelations straight out of the Book of Commandments or the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, but I really, really want some historical background specific to each revelation. The footnotes in this Volume and in Volume One keep teasing me with statements like, "For more information, please see the Documents Series, which will contain historical context for each revelation." The problem is that the JSP editors have not announced when the first volume in the Documents Series will be released. The only one listed on their website as "forthcoming" is Volume 2 of the Histories Series, which won't be released until later this year. That means I will have to wait at least that long before we get some serious JSP historical footnotes regarding these revelations.