{"collection":"Sacred Texts: Mormons","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc020_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc020_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc020_htm","license":"unknown_pending_legal_review","rights_basis":"sacred_texts_v1_preview_gate_primary_text_only; acquisition-method/ToS and compilation-copyright questions still open, not resolved by this gate","source":"sacred_texts_v1","source_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/mor/dc/dc020.htm","summary":"This is a canonical scripture of the Latter-day Saint (LDS) tradition \u2014 specifically Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of revelations accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as binding divine instruction. The section establishes the founding narrative and governing rules of the church as it was formally organized in April 1830, presenting Joseph Smith as a divinely called apostle who received angelic visitation and was empowered to translate the Book of Mormon, and framing that translation as proof that God continues to speak through prophets in modern times. The text then lays out a condensed statement of theology: an eternal, unchanging God; humanity's fall through transgression; redemption through Christ's atonement; and salvation conditional on faith, baptism, repentance, and endurance. Distinctive to LDS theology, the section affirms that salvation extends to all who believed in Christ before his mortal ministry, not only those after it, and explicitly warns that even the sanctified can fall from grace. The bulk of the section is practical ecclesiology: it defines the hierarchical offices of elder, priest, teacher, and deacon; prescribes their specific duties and authority limits; establishes procedures for ordination, baptism by immersion, child blessings, and the sacrament; and sets governance rules including conferences, licensing, and congregational voting on ordinations. Someone deciding whether to read it should expect dense procedural church law interspersed with doctrinal affirmations, written in King James\u2013style biblical prose.","tags":[],"text":null,"title":"Doctrine and Convenants: 20. Revelation through Joseph Smith, April 1830.","tradition":"Sacred Texts: Mormons","translated_text":null,"word_count":2486}