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The Pearl of Great Price Student Manual

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TPGPSMR THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE STUDENT MANUAL RELIGION 327 327 THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE STUDENT MANUAL RELIGION 327 Prepared by the Church Educational System Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Salt Lake City, Utah © 2000 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America English approval: 4/00 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction . 1 The Pearl of Great Price . 2 The Book of Moses . 3 Moses 1:1–11 God Revealed Himself to Moses . 4 Moses 1:12–23 Satan Commanded Moses to Worship Him . 5 Moses 1:24–42 Moses Learned More about the Work of God . 6 Moses 2:1–25 The Physical Creation of Heaven and Earth . 7 Moses 2:26–31 The Physical Creation of Man and Woman . 8 Moses 3:1–7 All Things Were First Created Spiritually . 8 Moses 3:8–17 God Placed Adam in the Garden of Eden . 10 Moses 3:18–25 Adam and Eve Were Husband and Wife . 10 Moses 4:1–6 How Lucifer Became the Devil . 11 Moses 4:7–19 The Fall of Adam and Eve . 12 Moses 4:20–32 The Consequences of the Fall . 13 Moses 5:1–15 Adam and Eve Were Taught the Gospel . 15 Moses 5:16–54 Cain Loved Satan More than God . 17 Moses 5:55–59 The Gospel Was Preached from the Beginning . 19 Moses 6:1–25 The Generations of Adam . 19 Moses 6:26–47 Enoch’s Call and Work . 20 Moses 6:48–56 Enoch Preached the Plan of Salvation . 20 Moses 6:57–68 Enoch Saw That Adam and Eve Were Baptized . 21 Moses 7:1–20 Enoch Led the People of God . 22 Moses 7:21–41 Enoch Saw What Would Happen in His Own Day . 22 Moses 7:42–57 Enoch Saw the Days of Noah and Jesus Christ . 23 Moses 7:58–69 Enoch Saw the Day When the Earth Would Rest . 24 Moses 8:1–30 The World Was Filled with Wickedness . 26 The Book of Abraham . 28 Abraham 1:1–4 Abraham Sought the Blessings of the Fathers . 29 Abraham 1:5–19 and Facsimile 1 Jehovah Saved Abraham . 30 Abraham 1:20–31 Pharaoh, King of Egypt . 32 iii Abraham 2:1–13 The Abrahamic Covenant . 33 Abraham 2:14–25 Abraham Continued His Journey . 34 Abraham 3:1–17 The Lord Showed Abraham the Stars . 36 Abraham 3:18–28 The Lord Taught Abraham about the Premortal Existence . 37 Facsimiles 2–3 Abraham Taught the Egyptians . 39 Abraham 4–5 Abraham’s Vision of the Creation of the Earth . 40 Joseph Smith—Matthew . 42 Joseph Smith— Matthew 1:1–21 Jesus Christ Prophesied about the Destruction of Jerusalem . 43 Joseph Smith— Matthew 1:22–37 Jesus Christ Prophesied about the End of the World . 46 Joseph Smith— Matthew 1:38–55 Jesus Christ Taught Us to Prepare for His Second Coming . 49 Joseph Smith—History . 52 Joseph Smith— History 1:1–10 An Unusual Excitement . 53 Joseph Smith— History 1:11–20 The First Vision . 55 Joseph Smith— History 1:21–26 The Beginning of the Persecution of Joseph Smith . 56 Joseph Smith— History 1:27–54 The Angel Moroni Appeared to Joseph Smith . 57 Joseph Smith— History 1:55–65 Joseph Smith Received the Gold Plates . 61 Joseph Smith— History 1:66–75 Joseph Smith Received the Priesthood of God . 63 The Articles of Faith . 66 Articles of Faith 1:1–4 God and His Plan of Salvation . 69 Articles of Faith 1:5–13 The Restored Church of Jesus Christ . 72 A Harmony of the Creation Accounts . 82 The Abrahamic Covenant . 93 iv INTRODUCTION The Pearl of Great Price is a book of scripture, and the Lord will bless you as you carefully read and ponder the sacred words found in this book. This student manual provides quotations and commentary to support and enhance your study of the Pearl of Great Price. Elder Milton R. Hunter, who was a member of the Seventy, said that the Pearl of Great Price is “a pearl indeed.” He then explained the uniqueness of its sacred writings: “They are compacted in approximately sixty pages, but every page is dynamic and powerful. It is a wonderful book. “The Pearl of Great Price . contains revelations on certain subjects superior to any other scriptures or writings on those subjects found in the world; for example, Abraham’s vision of pre-mortal life in which he learned of the eternal nature of things; of the grand council in heaven; and of the plan of salvation as presented there constitutes one of the greatest of God’s revelations to his holy prophets. And the knowledge obtained by Moses in his vision of Lucifer and the part he played at the grand council, added to Abraham’s vision, gives us the most complete understanding found in any literature regarding man’s pre-mortal life and God’s purposes for the good of man. “The Pearl of Great Price also helps to clarify some of the difficult passages in the other scriptures” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1955, 67). Elder Mark E. Petersen, who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, testified that the Pearl of Great Price “contains some of the greatest revelations of God to man” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1952, 107). If you seek the influence of the Holy Ghost as you study this choice book of scripture, you will gain greater understanding and appreciation for the Lord’s work with His children—from the premortal life, the great dispensations of the Old Testament, the teachings of the Savior, and into this, the dispensation of the fulness of times. As your knowledge and testimony increase, so will your love for the Lord and your commitment to His great latter-day work. 1 THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE Title Page. Why Is It Called the “Pearl of Great Price”? “A merchant man, seeking goodly pearls . , when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it” (Matthew 13:45–46). In 1851 there were over 32,000 members of the Church in England. Elder Franklin D. Richards, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who was presiding over the mission and the Church there, published a compilation of several revelations and texts of scripture by the Prophet Joseph Smith and called this collection the Pearl of Great Price. He said it would be “a source of much instruction and edification to many thousands of the Saints, who will by an acquaintance with its precious contents, be more abundantly qualified to set forth and defend the principles of our Holy Faith before all men” (Millennial Star, 15 July 1851, 217). On 10 October 1880, by action of the First Presidency and the general conference, the Pearl of Great Price became a standard work of the Church. “Several revisions have been made in the contents as the needs of the Church have required. In 1878 portions of the Book of Moses not contained in the first edition were added. In 1902 certain parts of the Pearl of Great Price that duplicated material also published in the Doctrine and Covenants were omitted. [In 1976] two items of revelation were added. In 1979 these two items were removed from the Pearl of Great Price and placed in the Doctrine and Covenants, where they now appear as sections 137 and 138” (Pearl of Great Price, introductory note). Its present contents include selections from the Book of Moses, the Book of Abraham (with three facsimiles), Joseph Smith—Matthew, Joseph Smith—History, and the Articles of Faith. 2 THE BOOK OF MOSES Contents: Title Page. An Extract from the Translation of the Bible • God reveals Himself to Moses Soon after the Church was organized on 6 April 1830, the Lord commanded the • Satan confronts Moses Prophet Joseph Smith to begin an inspired translation, or revision, of the King • The creation of this earth and all James Version of the Bible. Today this inspired revision, which the Prophet forms of life hereon worked on until the time of his death, is known as the Joseph Smith Translation. • Adam and Eve in the Garden The Prophet Joseph Smith restored to the Bible “many parts which are plain and of Eden most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord [which were] taken away” • The Fall begins mortality on (1 Nephi 13:26; see also 1 Nephi 13:39–40). Between June 1830 and February this earth 1831, the Prophet completed Genesis 1:1 through 6:13, which is now contained • Adam and Eve learn the plan of in the Pearl of Great Price as Moses 1–8. salvation • People choose between good The book of Moses may be divided into two major sections: Moses 1, which relates and evil experiences from Moses’ life that are not found in the book of Genesis, and Moses • Enoch’s ministry 2–8, which contains the inspired and restored account of events described in the Bible, including the Creation of the earth; the Fall of Adam and Eve; the story of • Enoch and his people are translated and taken up into Cain and Abel; the ministry, teachings, and visions of Enoch; and the story of Noah heaven up to the time the Lord decreed the destruction of all flesh by the Flood. At this • Methuselah and Noah point, one must return to Genesis 6:14 for a continuation of the scriptural record. In an introduction to Moses 1, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote: “The Lord, who well knew our infantile and delicate situation, vouchsafed for us a supply of strength, and granted us ‘line upon line of knowledge—here a little and there a little,’ of which the following was a precious morsel” (History of the Church, 1:98).
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