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− | *Millet, Robert L. "Plain and precious things, loss of and restoration of." In ''Book of Mormon Reference Companion'', ed. Dennis L. Largey, 636–42. Salt Lake City, Deseret Book Company, 2003. Here, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Millet Robert Millet] gives perhaps the best rundown of doctrines lost from the Bible and thus the Gospel and plain and precious truths restored by the Book of Mormon. Each of these become candidates for adding to the deficient body of doctrines in Joseph Smith's contemporary religious environment to become the "fulness of the Gospel". | + | *Millet, Robert L. "Plain and precious things, loss of and restoration of." In ''Book of Mormon Reference Companion'', ed. Dennis L. Largey, 636–42. Salt Lake City, Deseret Book Company, 2003. Here, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_L._Millet Robert Millet] gives perhaps the best rundown of doctrines lost from the Bible and thus the Gospel and plain and precious truths restored by the Book of Mormon. Each of these become candidates for adding to the deficient body of doctrines in Joseph Smith's contemporary religious environment to become the "fulness of the Gospel". Millet lists the following as doctrines lost from the Bible through either "(10 the removal of texts or portions of texts from biblical records, (2) the corruption of texts through translation and transmission, and (3) the corruption of the meaning of biblical texts through faulty interpretation": |
+ | ::1. The nature of God the Father—that he is an exalted Man of HOliness, a corporeal being. | ||
+ | ::2. The truth that God the Father and Jesus Christ are two seperate and distinct beings | ||
+ | ::3. Christ's eternal Gosple, the knowledge that Christian prophets have declared Christian doctrines and administered Christian ordinances since the days of Adam, and that the ancient prophets in the Old Testament were acquainted with the plan of salvation and of the redemptive role of Jesus Christ. | ||
+ | ::4. The infinite and eternal nature of Christ's atonement | ||
+ | ::5. The premortal existence of men and women | ||
+ | ::6. The knowledge that all men and women are literally children of God, spirit sons and daughters of the same Eternal Father. | ||
+ | ::7. The truth that men and women have within them the capacity, through the transforming powers of Jesus Christ and by the proper exercise of their moral agency, to become even as God is | ||
+ | ::8. The truth that God has a plan, a great plan of happiness, a system of salvation in place whereby his children may advance and progress in light and truth | ||
+ | ::9. The postmortal spirit world | ||
+ | ::10. The kingdoms of glory hereafter | ||
+ | ::11. The necessity of priesthood authority and saving ordinances | ||
+ | ::12. The importance of the Church of Jesus Christ. | ||
+ | |||
+ | :As candidates for doctrines that the Book of Mormon restores, Millet offers the following: | ||
+ | ::1. The gospel of Jesus Christ, including the doctrines of salvation, did not originate in the first century Christian church but rather were known from the beginning. | ||
+ | ::2. The Lord God would come to earth as Jesus of Nazareth, and he would be scourged and crucified of men | ||
+ | ::3. Jesus Christ, though separate and distinct from God the Father, will serve in the role of both Father and Son | ||
+ | ::4. The fall of Adam and Eve was as much a part of the foreordained plan of salvation as the atonement of Christ. The Book of Mormon also teaches that if there had been no fall, Adam and Eve would have remained in the Garden of Eden forever in their innocent, paradisiacal, childless, and non-progressing condition. | ||
+ | ::5. Unless fallen men and women put off the natural man and put on Christ, they remain without God in the world. At the same time, men and women are not depraved creatures and therefore have the capacity, because of the Atonement, to choose good or vil, captivity and death, or liberty and eternal life. | ||
+ | ::6. The suffering of the Lord Jesus during the hours of Atonement caused blood to come from every pore. | ||
+ | ::7. The people of Israel are scattered whenever they reject the truth Messiah and his gospel . They are gathered when they receive the Lord, his gospel, the "very points of doctrine," and come into his church. The Book of Mormon affirms that the gathering is first spiritual, to the Lord, and secondly temporal, to the lands of their inheritance. | ||
+ | ::8. The Lord has a plan for his chosen people, the house of Israel, and that patience, love, and tender regard for them are endless and eternal. Further, the restoration of the gospel in the last days is in reality a restoration of the Abrahamic covenant and a significant part of the realization of God's promise to Abraham. | ||
+ | ::9. All mortals lived before they came into mortality, and men are foreordained to receive the Holy Priesthood (2 Nephi 2:17-18; Alma 13) | ||
+ | ::10. One must have proper authority to officiate in the ordinances of the Church of Jesus Christ, and those ordinances are required for exaltation | ||
+ | ::11. Jesus Christ visited "other sheep" on the American continent and elsewhere after his resurrection from the dead. | ||
+ | ::12. God is indeed the same yesterday, today, and forever, and he reveals himself through prophets to all nations, if they seek him earnestly. | ||
*Welch, John W. "[https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/sermon-temple-and-sermon-mount-differences The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount: The Differences]." In ''Illuminating the Sermon at the Temple & the Sermon on the Mount'', 125–50. Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999. This book chapter lays out important differences in the Sermon at the Temple at Bountiful from the Savior's Sermon on the Mount in Jerusalem. These differences may be significant. | *Welch, John W. "[https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/sermon-temple-and-sermon-mount-differences The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount: The Differences]." In ''Illuminating the Sermon at the Temple & the Sermon on the Mount'', 125–50. Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999. This book chapter lays out important differences in the Sermon at the Temple at Bountiful from the Savior's Sermon on the Mount in Jerusalem. These differences may be significant. |
Summary: Below is a concordance of every mention in scripture to the "fulness of the Gospel". We advise the reader to explore each occurrence following the approach to scripture outlined in this article. Each listing contains either a brief summary or a direct quotation (or both) of what is in those verses.
Scriptures in the Book of Mormon:
All these scriptures suggest that the fullness of the Gospel will be revealed prior to taking it to the Jews or House of Israel. This preaching to the Jews will happen before the Second Coming.
If one wishes to read these in the order they were translated, one should remember that most evidence indicates that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery started with Mosiah, went all the way to Moroni, went all the way back to 1 Nephi, and then finished with Words of Mormon.
Scriptures in the Doctrine & Covenants (organized by date of receipt/delivery):
Basically all of these scriptures, with the exception of Doctrine & Covenants 76, describe the Book of Mormon as containing fulness of the everlasting gospel to be taken to others. D&C 76 describes either the vision of the three degrees of glory or Jesus Christ or both as the fulness of the everlasting gospel. Doctrine & Covenants 42:12 is a little ambiguous about whether the Bible contains the fulness of the everlasting Gospel.
Scriptures in the Pearl of Great Price:
Further Reading:
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