Intro to Doctrine and Covenants

This year I'm going to cover the Doctrine and Covenants. It's one of those books of scripture that a lot of people have never read from front to back. I fell in love with the Doctrine and Covenants while teaching it for ten years at BYU. I taught Book of Mormon for five years and then they asked me to switch to the D&C and I loved it because it not only contained such great doctrine, but because so much church history is intertwined with it. So with each section I'm going to give some historical background and then some comments like I've done before. I hope you'll read it with me. If you haven't really studied it before, I promise that you'll understand and view Joseph Smith differently by the time you're done. If you've ever had doubts about Joseph Smith, I can promise that most of those doubts will be erased, especially if you read earnestly and prayerfully. But more than that, your testimony of the Savior will increase.

Today, I'm just going to comment on the Introduction which explains the following things:

1. The D&C is a collection of divine revelations and inspired declarations. The difference is, divine revelation is a direct communication of the Lord to his prophet. Inspired declarations are usually explanations of doctrine given under the power and influence of the Holy Ghost. Both were given for the establishment of the church and how it was to be governed.
2. The D&C is not just for church members but is for all mankind.
3. While other scriptures are interpretations and translations of ancient documents, the D&C is direct revelation to a living prophet.
4. Much of the revelations are directed to Joseph Smith, many are given to others through the prophet.
5. The D&C restored true doctrine and teaches the importance of mankind having priesthood leaders who have the keys of authority enabling them to receive revelation and govern the church under the direction of God.
6. Many of the revelations came in answer to prayers because the church needed direction and guidance. Others came that related to the translations of the Book of Mormon and the Bible.
7. The doctrines of the gospel, the gradual unfolding of church structure and administration, and most important a strong witness and testimony of the Savior are given within the sections.