 | This articleusestexts from within a religion or faith system without referring tosecondary sources that critically analyse them. Please helpimprove this article.(November 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Pearl of Great Price | |
|---|---|
 The Pearl of Great Price is one of the four books composing theStandard Works of theLDS Church. | |
| Information | |
| Religion | Latter Day Saint movement |
| Language | English |
| Period | 19th century |
| Chapters | |
 Wikisource | |
ThePearl of Great Price is part of the canonicalStandard Works ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and some otherLatter Day Saint denominations. It began as a pamphlet of documents published byFranklin D. Richards inLiverpool, England in 1851. It was later revised and canonized in 1880 by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The first paragraph of the Introductory Note in the LDS Church 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 byJoseph Smith and were published in the Church periodicals of his day."
The Pearl of Great Price contains documents that have had a large impact on the beliefs, teachings, and theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For example, it provided a basis in text for the practice of gathering, apassible God,premortal existence, and a text that was used to justify aban on Black Latter-day Saints participating in temple and priesthood rituals.[1]: 271–274
The name of the book is derived from theParable of the Pearl told by Jesus inMatthew 13.[2]
| Part ofa series on the |
| Pearl of Great Price |
|---|
 Facsimile 2 from theBook of Abraham |
The current version of the Pearl of Great Price contains five sections:
The Book of Moses begins with the "Visions of Moses", a prologue to the story ofthe creation and thefall of man (Moses chapter 1), and continues with material corresponding toSmith's revision (JST) of the first six chapters of theBook of Genesis (Moses chapters 2–5, 8), interrupted by two chapters of "extracts from the prophecy ofEnoch" (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 theCommunity of Christ as parts of itsDoctrine and Covenants andInspired Version of the Bible.
The Book of Abraham is an 1835 work produced byJoseph Smith[3] who said it was based on Egyptianpapyri purchased from a travelingmummy exhibition. According to Smith, the book was "a translation of some ancient records... purporting to be the writings ofAbraham, while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus".[4] The text that Smith produced describes a story of Abraham's early life, including a vision of thecosmos.
The Book of Abraham wascanonized in 1880 by the LDS Church as part of the Pearl of Great Price.[3] Thus, it forms a doctrinal foundation for the LDS Church andMormon fundamentalist denominations of theLatter Day Saint movement. It is not considered to be areligious text by theCommunity of Christ. Other sects in theLatter Day Saint movement 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 toMormonism, such as the concept of God organizing eternal, pre-existing elements to create the universe instead of creating itex nihilo.
The Book of Abraham papyri were thought lost in the 1871Great Chicago Fire. However, in 1966, several fragments of the papyri were found in the archives of theMetropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and in the LDS Church archives. They are now referred to as theJoseph Smith Papyri. 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 commonEgyptian funerary texts, dating to about the first century BC. As a result, the Book of Abraham has been the source of significant controversy, withcriticism from Egyptologists andMormon apologists defending its authenticity.[1]: 140–169
Joseph Smith–Matthew (abbreviated JS–M) is an excerpt fromJoseph Smith's "retranslation" of portions of theGospel of Matthew. It was originally published in 1831 inKirtland, Ohio, in an undatedbroadsheet as "Extract from the New Translation of the Bible".
Joseph Smith–Matthew includes Smith's retranslation of Matthew 23:39 and all ofMatthew chapter 24. The text deals mainly withJesus' prophecy of the coming destruction ofJerusalem and of similar calamities that will precede hisSecond Coming. Joseph Smith–Matthew contains significant changes and additions to the original biblical text.
Joseph Smith–History (abbreviated JS–H) is a set of excerpts 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 theFirst Vision and the visitation of theangel Moroni. In its current form, the narrative ends with Smith translating theBook of Mormon, shortly before the foundation of Smith'sChurch of Christ.
The original serial publication of the history in theTimes and Seasons,Millennial Star, andDeseret News (later published as the six-volumeHistory of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) was much more extensive, including events in 1828 and 1830–1844 that were not included in the Pearl of Great Price JS—H.[5]
The Articles of Faith are acreed composed by Joseph Smith as part ofan 1842 letter sent to"Long" John Wentworth, editor of theChicago Democrat, and first published in the Latter Day Saint newspaperTimes and Seasons. It is a concise listing of the thirteen fundamental doctrines of Mormonism. MostLatter Day Saint denominations view the articles as an authoritative statement of basic theology. For some sects, such as theRestoration Branches, they are known collectively as "An Epitome of Faith and Doctrine".
The Pearl of Great Price was first compiled byFranklin D. Richards inLiverpool, 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 parentheses):
The second edition of the Pearl of Great Price was prepared byOrson Pratt, with a committee finalizing preparations for publication consisting ofFranklin D. Richards,Albert Carrington,Brigham Young Jr., andGeorge Q. Cannon.[1]: 21 This edition added portions of the Joseph Smith Translation to the Book of Moses that Richards did not have access to in 1851, drawing on theReorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints publication of theInspired Version of the Holy Scriptures. The "Revelation on the Eternity of the Marriage Covenant, Including Plurality of Wives" (now Doctrine and Covenants section 132) was also added. This was the version of the Pearl of Great Price that was canonized by vote in 1880.[6]
The 1902 edition of the Pearl of Great Price was prepared byJames E. Talmage. This edition removed several revelations that were duplicated in the Doctrine and Covenants.[6] It is also the edition where the current versification and titles were introduced. These changes were accepted by vote in general conference in October 1902.[7]
James E. Talmage continued to work on making improvements to the Pearl of Great Price, adding an index and putting the text in the double-column format in a 1921 edition. In addition, some revisions of the text were made, such as the expansion of Joseph Smith—History 1:20 to include an addendum from the original manuscript that had been incorporated into the text in the 1902History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. New editions of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants were also prepared at that time and began to be printed together as the "triple combination."[8]
In 1976, two other documents,Vision of the Celestial Kingdom andVision of the Redemption of the Dead, were added to the Pearl of Great Price at the suggestion ofBruce R. McConkie,[9] and moved to the LDS Church edition of the Doctrine and Covenants (sections 137 and 138) in 1979.[10]
This edition of the Pearl of Great Price was published as part of the Triple Combination and received new or expanded chapter summaries, expanded footnotes cross-referencing all the Church’s standard works, and additional study aids at the end of the scripture text.[8]
Minor changes to introductions were made in the 2013 edition.[11]
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 astronautJohn Young aboardApollo 16.[12][13]
When working on the 1981 edition,Bruce R. McConkie suggested adding several documents to the Pearl of Great Price:
Ultimately, these suggestions were not accepted.[14]
Pearl of Great Price public domain audiobook atLibriVox (1920 edition)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
