{"collection":"Sacred Texts: Mormons","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc072_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc072_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc072_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/dc072.htm","summary":"Section 72 of the Doctrine and Covenants is a canonized revelation from the Latter-day Saint scriptural tradition, recorded as divine instruction delivered to assembled church leaders. Its central concern is ecclesiastical administration: specifically, the appointment of a bishop (named as Newel K. Whitney) to oversee a regional portion of the early church and the financial and spiritual accountability structures that office requires. The text establishes a system of stewardship in which elders must render formal accounts of their labors and resources to their local bishop, who in turn reports to the central bishop in Zion, creating a hierarchical chain of accountability. A distinctive feature is the certification requirement: members and elders traveling to Zion must carry written credentials from their local bishop or three elders, without which they will not be received \u2014 a notably bureaucratic mechanism for a revelatory text. The passage also links spiritual labor (preaching, ministry) to material debt, treating gospel work as a form of currency that can offset financial obligations within the church's communal economy. It concludes by framing all these rules as a universal template for church branches wherever they are established.","tags":[],"text":null,"title":"Doctrine and Convenants: 72. Revelation through Joseph Smith, Kirtland, Ohio, December 4, 1831.","tradition":"Sacred Texts: Mormons","translated_text":null,"word_count":812}