{"collection":"Sacred Texts: Mormons","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc121_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc121_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc121_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/dc121.htm","summary":"Section 121 of the Doctrine and Covenants is a canonical LDS scripture presented as a revelation received by Joseph Smith while imprisoned in Liberty Jail in 1839, structured as both a lament and a divine response. It opens with Smith's anguished petition to God \u2014 echoing the psalms of lament \u2014 pleading for relief from the persecution of the Saints and calling for divine judgment on their oppressors. God's response shifts from comfort (promising Smith's suffering will be brief and his enemies will be destroyed) to eschatological disclosure: a coming age when hidden knowledge about the cosmos, the nature of God (including the notably plural \"one God or many gods\"), celestial governance, and the structure of eternity will be fully revealed. The section's most doctrinally distinctive passage holds that priesthood authority is voided the moment it is exercised through coercion, pride, or dominion \u2014 a claim with significant implications for LDS theology of leadership. It closes with an ethic of priestly conduct: authority must be maintained only through persuasion, gentleness, patience, and love, and the leader who operates this way will receive the Holy Ghost as a constant companion and an \"everlasting dominion\" that flows without compulsion. The section is notable for its combination of raw personal anguish, prophetic cursing of enemies, cosmic theological speculation, and a surprisingly anti-authoritarian theory of spiritual power.","tags":[],"text":null,"title":"Doctrine and Convenants: 121. Prayer and prophecies written by Joseph Smith while a prisoner in the jail at Liberty, Missouri, March 20, 1839.","tradition":"Sacred Texts: Mormons","translated_text":null,"word_count":1401}