Main Page: LDS Scriptures
Other LDS "Scriptures" (Non-Canon)
"I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture. Let me have the privilege of correcting a sermon, and it is as good Scripture as they deserve. The people have the oracles of God continually. In the days of Joseph, revelation was given and written, and the people were driven from city to city and place to place, until we were led into these mountains. Let this [discourse] go to the people with 'Thus saith the Lord,' and if they do not obey it, you will see the chastening hand of the Lord upon them." - Brigham Young, second President of the Church
"And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lords, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation." - Doctrine and Covenants 68:4
"And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lords, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation." - Doctrine and Covenants 68:4
These are all sources with some degree of authoritativeness in the LDS Church, even though they aren't considered canon. The difference is usually moot, but these are easier to downplay or disavow if necessary.
Patriarchal Blessings
Patriarchal blessings are touted as personalized scripture for each person who receives one. They were first given in the 1830s by Joseph Smith Sr. for $1 apiece (about $30 in today's money). The fee became optional in 1902 and was abolished in 1943. For generations, the Smith family passed down the hereditary church office of Presiding Patriarch. It was never formally abolished, but the last one, Hyrum Smith's great-great-grandson Eldred G. Smith, received emeritus status in October 1979 and never got a successor. Rumor has it this was because the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had disagreements with him and didn't like that his position almost equalled theirs in authority. Nowadays each stake of the church has an old man ordained as a patriarch. A member simply has to feel ready for their patriarchal blessing and receive approval from the stake president.
The first purpose of a patriarchal blessing is to declare the person's lineage from the twelve tribes of Israel, which in turn hints at their spiritual gifts and responsibilities. The church teaches that if they have no such lineage, they're adopted into one. The lineage has little or no actual genetic basis in any case, and siblings are sometimes given different ones. The overwhelming majority of members are given the tribe of Ephraim. Patriarchal blessings also give advice and make usually-vague promises of what the future may hold for the person if they stay faithful to the LDS Church. Each blessing is recorded, transcribed (usually by the patriarch's wife), and given to the person, with an extra copy stored in Salt Lake City in case that one is lost. On occasion the transcription contains additions or alterations from the patriarch. Saints are counseled to read their patriarchal blessings often but not to share more than a few occasional details beyond their immediate family. This is supposedly because of their sacred and personal nature, but may actually be so that people don't realize how generic their "personalized" blessings actually are, or notice the similarities between blessings given by the same patriarch.
Patriarchal blessings often include promises about serving a mission for the church, getting married, and/or having children. If these or other promises fail to come true - as they often do - Saints fall back on the failsafe that they'll be fulfilled in the next life, worry that it's their fault for not being righteous enough, or both. Since the 1830s, patriarchs have promised many people that they would live to see the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Most of those people are now dead. The LDS Church consequently instructed patriarchs in 2000 and again in 2016 to "not make references to world calamities or the timing of the Second Coming." I got my patriarchal blessing in November 2008 at age fifteen. It contained good advice that would have made my life better if I'd paid more attention to it. I no longer believe it all came from God, but the patriarch, whom I had never met before, did accurately predict that I should teach for a living and that I have a capacity to communicate my spiritual experiences and interactions with society through writing.
The first purpose of a patriarchal blessing is to declare the person's lineage from the twelve tribes of Israel, which in turn hints at their spiritual gifts and responsibilities. The church teaches that if they have no such lineage, they're adopted into one. The lineage has little or no actual genetic basis in any case, and siblings are sometimes given different ones. The overwhelming majority of members are given the tribe of Ephraim. Patriarchal blessings also give advice and make usually-vague promises of what the future may hold for the person if they stay faithful to the LDS Church. Each blessing is recorded, transcribed (usually by the patriarch's wife), and given to the person, with an extra copy stored in Salt Lake City in case that one is lost. On occasion the transcription contains additions or alterations from the patriarch. Saints are counseled to read their patriarchal blessings often but not to share more than a few occasional details beyond their immediate family. This is supposedly because of their sacred and personal nature, but may actually be so that people don't realize how generic their "personalized" blessings actually are, or notice the similarities between blessings given by the same patriarch.
Patriarchal blessings often include promises about serving a mission for the church, getting married, and/or having children. If these or other promises fail to come true - as they often do - Saints fall back on the failsafe that they'll be fulfilled in the next life, worry that it's their fault for not being righteous enough, or both. Since the 1830s, patriarchs have promised many people that they would live to see the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Most of those people are now dead. The LDS Church consequently instructed patriarchs in 2000 and again in 2016 to "not make references to world calamities or the timing of the Second Coming." I got my patriarchal blessing in November 2008 at age fifteen. It contained good advice that would have made my life better if I'd paid more attention to it. I no longer believe it all came from God, but the patriarch, whom I had never met before, did accurately predict that I should teach for a living and that I have a capacity to communicate my spiritual experiences and interactions with society through writing.
General Conference Talks
Twice a year, in April and in October, the LDS Church holds a two-day conference which is broadcast to members around the world in several languages. They are spoken to by the prophet, apostles, and other church leaders called General Authorities, who have spent several months preparing their talks. The talks are then edited for any necessary clarification and printed in the next issues of church magazines. Saints are counseled to study them in conjunction with the standard works, which they often quote from, and they often form the foundation of talks by lay members in church meetings. Not everything they say is binding on the church, however. According to the LDS Newsroom: "A single statement made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole Church. With divine inspiration, the First Presidency (the prophet and his two counselors) and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the second-highest governing body of the Church) counsel together to establish doctrine that is consistently proclaimed in official Church publications." General Conference talks before 1971 aren't even on the church's website, possibly because it wants to distance itself from some of the things that were said in the pre-correlation era.
General Conference is of course not the only setting where prophets and apostles supposedly speak for God. At stake conferences and such, however, their words are only intended for their current audience, not the world. They aren't even supposed to be recorded (though they often are). In 1954, in the midst of controversy over a young-earth creationist book published by Joseph Fielding Smith, President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. was assigned to give a talk called "When are the Writings and Sermons of Church Leaders Entitled to the Claim of Scripture?" In essence, he concluded that we can determine when leaders are speaking under the influence of the Holy Ghost because we will be likewise influenced while listening. This makes sense in light of the claim in Moroni 10:5 that "by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." However, church leaders also teach that if a member's personal revelation ever contradicts them, it's wrong, so that creates quite a Catch-22.
General Conference is of course not the only setting where prophets and apostles supposedly speak for God. At stake conferences and such, however, their words are only intended for their current audience, not the world. They aren't even supposed to be recorded (though they often are). In 1954, in the midst of controversy over a young-earth creationist book published by Joseph Fielding Smith, President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. was assigned to give a talk called "When are the Writings and Sermons of Church Leaders Entitled to the Claim of Scripture?" In essence, he concluded that we can determine when leaders are speaking under the influence of the Holy Ghost because we will be likewise influenced while listening. This makes sense in light of the claim in Moroni 10:5 that "by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." However, church leaders also teach that if a member's personal revelation ever contradicts them, it's wrong, so that creates quite a Catch-22.
Church Magazines
I was told in Primary once that church publications count as scripture. This is true in a sense, though they're not on par with the standard works or even General Conference, and most of their articles are written by lay members who do not speak for the Church. One infamous and embarrassing error took place in November 1945 when an article in the Church magazine Improvement Era said things like, "[Satan] wins a great victory when he can get members of the Church to speak against their leaders and to 'do their own thinking'... When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done." President George Albert Smith denounced this attitude in a private letter to a concerned non-member and from then on church publications have been more carefully monitored. The current major church magazines are:
The Friend: Monthly magazine for Primary children (ages five to eleven), published since 1902 and called The Children's Friend until 1971.
For the Strength of Youth: Monthly magazine for youth aged twelve to eighteen. It was preceded by the Juvenile Instructor, which began as a private publication in 1866 but was owned by the church from 1901-1929. It was renamed simply The Instructor in 1930, renamed the New Era until 1971, and given its current name in 2021.
Liahona: Monthly magazine for adults. Previously, it was the all-ages magazine for the Church's international membership, translating material from the English children, youth, and adult magazines into fifty-one languages anywhere from one to twelve times a year. In 2021, it replaced the adult magazine Ensign (pronounced EN-zine, not en-SIN), which was formerly the Improvement Era, which began in 1897 and was renamed in, you guessed it, 1971.
The Friend: Monthly magazine for Primary children (ages five to eleven), published since 1902 and called The Children's Friend until 1971.
For the Strength of Youth: Monthly magazine for youth aged twelve to eighteen. It was preceded by the Juvenile Instructor, which began as a private publication in 1866 but was owned by the church from 1901-1929. It was renamed simply The Instructor in 1930, renamed the New Era until 1971, and given its current name in 2021.
Liahona: Monthly magazine for adults. Previously, it was the all-ages magazine for the Church's international membership, translating material from the English children, youth, and adult magazines into fifty-one languages anywhere from one to twelve times a year. In 2021, it replaced the adult magazine Ensign (pronounced EN-zine, not en-SIN), which was formerly the Improvement Era, which began in 1897 and was renamed in, you guessed it, 1971.
Constitution of the United States
The Doctrine and Covenants teaches that the Constitution of the United States of America was inspired by God. Section 101:80 relates, "And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood." Section 98:5-7 says "And that law of the land which is constitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me. Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you in befriending that law which is the constitutional law of the land; and as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil." Notice that it says "belongs to all mankind"; indeed, the Constitution has been a blessing to many nations. The United States was the first democratic republic in the modern world and provided inspiration that today results in increased freedom for billions of people. Of course, this hasn't helped the church shake the perception that it's an American church.
The Family: A Proclamation to the World
This document was unveiled in 1995 to bolster the LDS Church's participation in legal battles against same-sex marriage in the United States. It outlines the theological importance of heterosexual nuclear families and complementarian gender roles, though it's far more vague and flexible on the latter point than church leaders' openly misogynistic teachings in the decades just prior. Its structure and content, up to and including its "prophetic" warning of societal collapse, were clearly inspired by similar documents produced by conservative evangelical groups - the "Family Manifesto" (Family Forum, 1988), the "Danvers Statement" (Center for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, 1988), and the book Contract with the American Family (Christian Coalition, May 1995). In the October 2010 General Conference, apostle Boyd K. Packer said that it "qualifies according to the definition as a revelation," but this claim was edited out of the printed version of his talk. In any case, orthodox members basically put the Family Proclamation on par with the standard works, and many hang copies of it in their homes.
Lost Scriptures
There are many scriptural books mentioned in the Bible, and a few in the Book of Mormon, that were as valuable or even more so than the books we have today. These include the book of the wars of the Lord, the book of Jasher, the book of the acts of Solomon, the book of Samuel the seer, the book of Gad the seer, the book of Nathan the prophet, the prophesy of Ahijah, the visions of Iddo the seer, the book of Shemaiah, the book of Jehu, the sayings of the seers, an earlier epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, perhaps an earlier epistle to the Ephesians, an epistle to the Church at Laodicea, additional prophesies of Enoch, and (referenced in the Book of Mormon) the writings of Zenock, Zenos, and Neum.
Forthcoming Scriptures
It doesn't get talked about an awful lot, but sometime before the Second Coming there are supposed to be more scriptures brought to light and added to the standard works. These will supposedly include, but might not be limited to, the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon that Joseph Smith didn't translate. (Someone named Christopher Nemelka claims to already be translating it and to have also produced the "Book of Lehi" from the missing 116 pages as evidence. LDS apologists, obviously holding it to a higher standard than they do the Book of Mormon, have dismissed it as a crude forgery.) They will also apparently include some of the lost scriptures we already know of. General Authorities have spoken on this a few times over the years.
"This sealed portion of the record which came into the hands of Joseph Smith but was not translated by him so far as we are aware, the abridgment made by Mormon, the record of Ether, and the other sacred records which were deposited in the Hill Cumorah, still lie in their repository, awaiting the time when the Lord shall see fit to bring them forth, that they may be published to the world. Whether they have been removed from the spot where Mormon deposited them we cannot tell, but this we know, that they are safe under the guardianship of the Lord, and that they will be brought forth at the proper time as the Lord has declared they should be, for the benefit and blessing of the people of the world, for his word never fails." - Anthony W. Ivins, 1928
"John the Revelator saw in the hands of the Great God a book sealed with seven seals... This same knowledge is contained in the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. For aught we know the two sealed books are one and the same. Of this much we are quite certain: When, during the Millennium, the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon is translated, it will give an account of life in the premortal existence; of the creation of all things; of the Fall and the Atonement and the Second Coming; of temple ordinances, in their fullness; of the ministry and mission of translated beings; of life in the spirit world, in both paradise and hell; of the kingdoms of glory to be inhabited by resurrected beings; and many such like things.
"As of now, the world is not ready to receive these truths. For one thing, these added doctrines will completely destroy the whole theory of organic evolution as it is now almost universally taught in the halls of academia. For another, they will set forth an entirely different concept and time frame of the creation, both of this earth and all forms of life and of the sidereal heavens themselves, than is postulated in all the theories of men. And sadly, there are those who, if forced to make a choice at this time, would select Darwin over Deity." - Bruce R. McConkie, BYU speech, 1984
"Many more scriptural writings will yet come to us, including those of Enoch (see D&C 107:57), all of the writings of the Apostle John (see Ether 4:16), the records of the lost tribes of Israel (see 2 Nephi 29:13), and the approximately two-thirds of the Book of Mormon plates that were sealed: 'And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth' (2 Nephi 27:11). Today we carry convenient quadruple combinations of the scriptures, but one day, since more scriptures are coming, we may need to pull little red wagons brimful with books." - Neal A. Maxwell, 1989
"This sealed portion of the record which came into the hands of Joseph Smith but was not translated by him so far as we are aware, the abridgment made by Mormon, the record of Ether, and the other sacred records which were deposited in the Hill Cumorah, still lie in their repository, awaiting the time when the Lord shall see fit to bring them forth, that they may be published to the world. Whether they have been removed from the spot where Mormon deposited them we cannot tell, but this we know, that they are safe under the guardianship of the Lord, and that they will be brought forth at the proper time as the Lord has declared they should be, for the benefit and blessing of the people of the world, for his word never fails." - Anthony W. Ivins, 1928
"John the Revelator saw in the hands of the Great God a book sealed with seven seals... This same knowledge is contained in the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon. For aught we know the two sealed books are one and the same. Of this much we are quite certain: When, during the Millennium, the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon is translated, it will give an account of life in the premortal existence; of the creation of all things; of the Fall and the Atonement and the Second Coming; of temple ordinances, in their fullness; of the ministry and mission of translated beings; of life in the spirit world, in both paradise and hell; of the kingdoms of glory to be inhabited by resurrected beings; and many such like things.
"As of now, the world is not ready to receive these truths. For one thing, these added doctrines will completely destroy the whole theory of organic evolution as it is now almost universally taught in the halls of academia. For another, they will set forth an entirely different concept and time frame of the creation, both of this earth and all forms of life and of the sidereal heavens themselves, than is postulated in all the theories of men. And sadly, there are those who, if forced to make a choice at this time, would select Darwin over Deity." - Bruce R. McConkie, BYU speech, 1984
"Many more scriptural writings will yet come to us, including those of Enoch (see D&C 107:57), all of the writings of the Apostle John (see Ether 4:16), the records of the lost tribes of Israel (see 2 Nephi 29:13), and the approximately two-thirds of the Book of Mormon plates that were sealed: 'And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth' (2 Nephi 27:11). Today we carry convenient quadruple combinations of the scriptures, but one day, since more scriptures are coming, we may need to pull little red wagons brimful with books." - Neal A. Maxwell, 1989
