The Pearl of Great Price

The Pearl of Great Price (affiliate link) is one of the four standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a small collection of texts connected to Joseph Smith’s translation projects, historical writings, and statements of belief.

The collection was first published in 1851 by Franklin D. Richards, who was serving as president of the British Mission. It was originally created as a convenient collection of important Latter-day Saint writings that were not easily available to church members in Britain. The book later became part of the official LDS canon in 1880.

The present LDS Pearl of Great Price includes five main sections: the Book of Moses, the Book of Abraham, Joseph Smith, Matthew, Joseph Smith, History, and the Articles of Faith.

The Book of Moses comes from Joseph Smith’s revision of Genesis. The Book of Abraham is presented as writings of Abraham translated by Joseph Smith from Egyptian papyri. Joseph Smith, Matthew comes from Joseph Smith’s revision of Matthew 24. Joseph Smith, History contains Joseph Smith’s account of early events in the Restoration, including his First Vision narrative and the visits of Moroni. The Articles of Faith are a short statement of belief associated with Joseph Smith.

The Pearl of Great Price is mainly used in branches connected to the Utah LDS tradition. Mormon fundamentalist groups that preserve the LDS standard works tradition also commonly use it. Josephite and RLDS-derived branches usually do not include the Pearl of Great Price as part of their canon, though some related material appears in other forms, especially through Joseph Smith’s Bible revision.

Used by: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and many Mormon fundamentalist groups that preserve the LDS standard works tradition.

The Book of Moses is part of the Pearl of Great Price in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It comes from Joseph Smith’s revision of the opening chapters of Genesis.

The text expands the Genesis creation narrative and includes material about Moses, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Enoch, Noah, and the early generations of humanity. It contains several additions not found in the standard King James Version of Genesis, including an extended vision of Moses, a longer account of Enoch and Zion, and expanded teachings about creation, agency, sin, repentance, and the work of God.

In the LDS Church, the Book of Moses is canonized through the Pearl of Great Price. In many Mormon fundamentalist groups, it is also used as part of the inherited LDS standard works tradition.

In RLDS-derived and Josephite branches, the same general Genesis revision material is usually not treated as a separate “Book of Moses” in the Pearl of Great Price. Instead, related material appears within Joseph Smith’s revision of the Bible, often called the Inspired Version or Joseph Smith Translation.

Because of this, the Book of Moses has two main forms of use in the Latter Day Saint movement: as a named book inside the LDS Pearl of Great Price, and as related Genesis material within branches that use Joseph Smith’s revised Bible.

Used by: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many Mormon fundamentalist groups, and branches that use Joseph Smith’s Inspired Version material in related form.

The Book of Abraham is part of the Pearl of Great Price in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is presented in LDS scripture as writings of Abraham translated by Joseph Smith from Egyptian papyri.

The text was first published in 1842 in the church newspaper Times and Seasons in Nauvoo, Illinois. It was later included in the Pearl of Great Price, which became part of the LDS standard works in 1880.

The Book of Abraham contains a first-person narrative attributed to Abraham. It includes material about Abraham’s family, his departure from the religion of his fathers, his near-sacrifice by an Egyptian priest, his covenant with God, and his journey into Egypt. It also contains teachings about the creation, pre-mortal existence, intelligences, divine councils, and Abrahamic astronomy.

The LDS Book of Abraham includes three facsimiles with explanations attributed to Joseph Smith. These facsimiles came from Egyptian papyri acquired by Joseph Smith in 1835. The surviving papyri fragments have been studied and identified by Egyptologists as Egyptian funerary texts, not the text of Abraham. The LDS Church continues to include the Book of Abraham as scripture, while other branches of the Latter Day Saint movement generally do not canonize it.

The Book of Abraham is mainly used by branches connected to the Utah LDS tradition. Mormon fundamentalist groups that preserve the LDS standard works tradition also commonly use it through the Pearl of Great Price.

Used by: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and many Mormon fundamentalist groups that use the LDS Pearl of Great Price.

Joseph Smith, Matthew is part of the Pearl of Great Price in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It comes from Joseph Smith’s revision of Matthew 24, a chapter in the New Testament that contains Jesus’ teachings about the destruction of Jerusalem, false prophets, tribulation, and the coming of the Son of Man.

The text is connected to Joseph Smith’s larger Bible revision project, commonly called the Joseph Smith Translation or Inspired Version. In the LDS Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith, Matthew is presented as a separate canonized excerpt from that revision.

Joseph Smith, Matthew expands and revises portions of the King James text. It changes wording, clarifies sequence, and separates some material about the destruction of Jerusalem from material about the last days. Like the Book of Moses, it is one of the Joseph Smith Translation excerpts that became part of the LDS canon through the Pearl of Great Price.

In branches that use the Inspired Version, the same general material appears within Joseph Smith’s revised Bible rather than as a separate Pearl of Great Price text.

Used by: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many Mormon fundamentalist groups, and branches that use Joseph Smith Translation or Inspired Version material in related form.

Joseph Smith, History is part of the Pearl of Great Price in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It contains Joseph Smith’s account of early events in the Latter Day Saint movement.

The text is drawn from Joseph Smith’s larger history, which began being prepared in the late 1830s. It presents Smith’s account of his early religious questions, the First Vision, the appearance of Moroni, the discovery of the gold plates, the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon, and the beginning of angelic priesthood restoration claims.

In the LDS Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith, History gives the official LDS account of Joseph Smith’s early prophetic calling. It includes his description of praying in a grove, seeing the Father and the Son, being told not to join any existing church, and later receiving visits from the angel Moroni. Moroni is described as telling Smith about a record written on gold plates, deposited in a hill near his home.

The text also includes material about Smith’s yearly visits to the place where the plates were said to be buried, his eventual receipt of the plates, and the early process that led to the Book of Mormon. The account ends before the full institutional development of the church, so it mainly covers the origin story of Joseph Smith’s prophetic claims and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.

Joseph Smith, History became part of the LDS canon through the Pearl of Great Price. Mormon fundamentalist groups that use the LDS Pearl of Great Price also generally preserve it as scripture.

Used by: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and many Mormon fundamentalist groups that use the LDS Pearl of Great Price.

The Articles of Faith are part of the Pearl of Great Price in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are a short thirteen-point statement of belief associated with Joseph Smith.

The Articles of Faith developed out of a letter Joseph Smith wrote in 1842 to John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat. The letter, commonly called the Wentworth Letter, gave a brief history of the rise of the church and ended with a summary of Latter-day Saint beliefs. That summary later became known as the Articles of Faith.

The thirteen articles cover basic beliefs about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, human agency, the Atonement, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, spiritual gifts, scripture, continuing revelation, the gathering of Israel, religious freedom, law, and moral conduct. They were not written as a full theological system, but as a concise public summary of church belief.

The Articles of Faith were included in early editions of the Pearl of Great Price. When the Pearl of Great Price became part of the LDS standard works in 1880, the Articles of Faith became canonized LDS scripture.

Other Latter Day Saint branches have produced their own belief statements, summaries, or articles of faith. The canonized Articles of Faith, however, are specifically part of the LDS Pearl of Great Price.

Used by: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and many Mormon fundamentalist groups that use the LDS Pearl of Great Price.