Lesson Flow: How the Pearl of Great Price came to be. Its an
exclusive club. You have to be a dispensation head to get in (Adam,
Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ, & Joseph Smith).
This is perhaps the best place in scripture to see dispensations,
apostasy, and restoration in action. Moses 1-8 came as Joseph
worked on the JST of Gen. 1-6. Today lets do some Moses 1. Slide 2
Slide 3 The Story of the Pearl of Great Price The Story of the
Pearl of Great Price Slide 4 Elder Franklin D. Richards The Pearl
of Great Price was originally published in England as a pamphlet by
Elder Franklin D. Richards (Apostle and President of the British
Mission) to make available to eager British saints a few
publications from Joseph Smith which were becoming hard to get.
These few publications were considered by the faithful to be gospel
pearls. The Origin of the Pearl of Great Price Slide 5 Timeline of
the Pearl of Great Price 1850. More than half of Church membership
is in England. The bulk of church materials is printed in
Liverpool, England. Slide 6 Worldwide: 57,278 Great Britain :
30,747 Utah Territory : 11,380 S.L. County : 6,157 LDS Membership
in 1850 Slide 7 Timeline of the Pearl of Great Price 1850. More
than half of Church membership is in England. The bulk of church
materials is printed in Liverpool, England. 1850. Newly ordained
Apostle Franklin D. Richards is called to preside over the British
mission. 1851. Elder Franklin D. Richards publishes what he called
a Pearl of Great Price, which included much of the current
material. Slide 8 Text Slide 9 Previously Published Parts of the
Book of MosesThe Book of AbrahamJST of Matthew 24 Slide 10 Part I.
Moses 6:43-Moses 7:69 Part II. Moses 1-5:16, 19-40; 8:13-30 Part
III. The Book of Abraham (1-5) Part IV. Joseph SmithMatthew Part V.
D&C 77 Part VI. D&C 87 Part VII. Joseph SmithHistory Part
VIII. Many snippets from the D&C on administering the Church.
Part IX. The Articles of Faith Part X. Oh Say, What is Truth (Hymn
#272) Slide 11 Elder Franklin D. Richards [I]t is presumed, that
true believers in the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
will appreciate this little collection of precious truths as a
Pearl of Great Price that will increase their ability to maintain
and to defend the holy faith by becoming possessors of it. Excerpt
From the Original Preface Slide 12 Timeline of the Pearl of Great
Price 1850. More than half of Church membership is in England. The
bulk of church materials is printed in Liverpool, England. 1850.
Newly ordained Apostle Franklin D. Richards is called to preside
over the British mission. 1851. Elder Franklin D. Richards
publishes what he call a Pearl of Great Price, including much of
the current material. 1878. The first American edition of the Pearl
of Great Price was printed in Salt Lake City, under the direction
of Elder Orson Pratt. In this edition he revamped the Book of Moses
material by placing the JST of Genesis 1-8 gotten from the 1867
edition of the RLDS churchs Bible. He also added D&C 132. Slide
13 Slide 14 Text Slide 15 Slide 16 How Did it Become Scripture?
1880. Solemn Assembly held in October (to sustain John Taylor as
president) the Pearl of Great Price was sustained as scripture and
added to the canon of the Church. 1890. Elder Franklin D. Richards
reads the Articles of Faith in October General Conference,
following which they were presented for a sustaining vote (to clear
up confusion on their status). 1902. U of U professor James E.
Talmage is appointed to revise the Pearl of Great Price. He divided
it into chapter and verse and added cross-references. It was again
sustained at October Conference. 1921. Elder Talmage revises it
again into two columns. Slide 17 1902 Edition Slide 18 Summary All
books of scripture are compilations of earlier sources. The Pearl
of Great Price is just the most recent of these compilations. Slide
19 Moses 1 Slide 20 One may also read in the Old Testament and the
books of Moses and Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. Such a
review of ancient scripture is even more enlightening after one is
familiar with the temple endowment. Those books underscore the
antiquity of temple work. Russell M. Nelson Quorum of the Twelve
(Ensign, May 2001, 32) Slide 21 Moses 1 Vs. 17 Vs. 26 Slide 22
Moses 1 The Dignity, Divinity, and Destiny of Man Slide 23 Slide 24
This is a paradox of man: compared to God, man is nothing; yet we
are everything to God. While against the backdrop of infinite
creation we may appear to be nothing, we have a spark of eternal
fire burning within our breast. We have the incomprehensible
promise of exaltationworlds without endwithin our grasp. And it is
Gods great desire to help us reach it. Dieter F. Uchtdorf First
Presidency (You Matter to Him, Ensign, Nov. 2011) Slide 25 Satans
deceptive attack is always ultimately upon our identity as children
of God. What are some of Satans modern attacks upon our identity?
Moses 1:13-18 How do we protect ourselves and our children against
Satans deception? (Moses 1:13-18) Slide 26 No idea has been more
destructive of happiness, no philosophy has produced more sorrow,
more heartbreak and mischief; no idea has done more to destroy the
family than the idea that we are not the offspring of God, only
advanced animals, compelled to yield to every carnal urge. Boyd K.
Packer Quorum of the Twelve (Ensign, May 1992, 66) Slide 27 Those
who believe that our bodies are nothing more than the result of
evolutionary chance will feel no accountability to God or anyone
else for what they do with or to their body. D. Todd Christofferson
Quorum of the Twelve (Ensign, Nov. 2010) Slide 28 Text Slide 29
Text Slide 30 Slide 31 Text Slide 32 Gods Work and Glory D&C
132 Slide 33 D&C 132:6 Slide 34 Text Slide 35 What was the
design of the Almighty in making man? It was to exalt him to be as
God. Joseph Smith (The Words of Joseph Smith, p. 247; 27 Aug. 1843)
Slide 36 What Kind of a Being is God? D&C 130:1, 22 Slide 37
The King Follett Discourse 7 April 1844 Slide 38 God is an exalted
man God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and
sits enthroned in yonder heavens! If you were to see him today, you
would see him like a man in formlike yourselves in all the person,
image, and very form as a man. Joseph Smith (History of the Church
6:305-6) Slide 39 he was once a man like usGod himself, the Father
of us all, dwelt on an earth It is the first principle of the
Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know
that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father
of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did.
Joseph Smith (History of the Church 6:305-6) Slide 40 It is
necessary we should understand the character of God and how he came
to be so. Joseph Smith (History of the Church 6:305-6) Slide 41 How
Did God Become God? Slide 42 The Father is a glorified, perfected,
resurrected, exalted man who worked out his salvation by obedience
to the same laws he has given to us so that we may do the same.
Bruce R. McConkie Quorum of the Twelve (A New Witness for the
Articles of Faith, p. 64) What laws has He given to us? Slide 43
D&C 131:1-4 Slide 44 those who are married by the power and
authority of the priesthood in this life, and continue [worthily]
will continue to increase and have children in the celestial glory
Except a man and his wife enter into an everlasting covenant and be
married for eternity, while in this probation, by the power and
authority of the Holy Priesthood, they will cease to increase when
they die; that is, they will not have any children after the
resurrection. But those who are married by the power and authority
of the priesthood in this life, and continue [worthily] will
continue to increase and have children in the celestial glory.
Joseph Smith (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.300) Slide
45 Heavenly Mother God was once a man like us who dwelt on an
earth. He obeyed all of the laws of salvation and exaltation,
including Celestial Marriage. He is the Father of our Spirits. He
has a Wife and They are having children (and will forever!). We are
invited to follow Their examples. Slide 46 heavenly parents All
human beingsmale and femaleare created in the image of God. Each is
a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such,
each has a divine nature and destiny. Slide 47 Father and Mother
All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and
Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity. (Joseph
F. Smith, John R. Winder, Anthon H. Lund, Messages of the First
Presidency, 4:203) Slide 48 You are made in the image of our
heavenly Mother God made man in His own image and certainly He made
woman in the image of His wife-partner. You [women] are daughters
of God. You are precious. You are made in the image of our heavenly
Mother. Spencer W. Kimball President (Teachings of SWK, p. 25)
Slide 49 Intelligence The mind or the intelligence which man
possesses is co-equal [co-eternal] with God himself. The
intelligence of spirits had not beginning, neither will it have an
end. Joseph Smith (H of C, 6:302-317) Slide 50 Intelligence Spirit
Body They gave our eternal intelligences spirit form God is our
father. He loves us. He and our Mother in Heaven value us beyond
any measure. They gave our eternal intelligences spirit form, just
as our earthly mothers and fathers have given us mortal bodies.
~President Spencer W. Kimball (My Beloved Sisters, p.25) Slide 51
Intelligence Spirit Body Spirit + Mortal Body Slide 52 Intelligence
Spirit Body Spirit + Mortal Body Spirit + Resurrected Body
Immortality Achieved Slide 53 Intelligence Exalted Marriage Godhood
Spirit Body Spirit + Mortal Body We become Heavenly Parents for
other intelligences. ETERNAL LIFE (Gods Life) Slide 54 This plan of
salvation is family centered. It leads to eternal life, and eternal
life is the name of the kind of life which God, our Father, lives.
This plan of salvation is designed to enable us to create eternal
family units of our own which are patterned after the family of our
Eternal Father. Joseph Fielding Smith President ("Sealing Power and
Salvation," BYU, 1971) Slide 55 They live in the family unit and
bear spirit children of their own Eternal life is the name of the
kind of life [God] lives. Those who so obtain become like him and
are as he is. They live in the family unit and bear spirit children
of their own; they have all power, all might, and all dominion.
They know all things. He ordained and established the plan of
salvation to enable them to advance and progress and become like
him. The plan of salvation is the same on all worlds and in all
ages. Bruce R. McConkie Quorum of the Twelve (The Millennial
Messiah, p. 37) Slide 56 End
