{"collection":"Sacred Texts: Mormons","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc3_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc3_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_mor_dc_dc3_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/dc3.htm","summary":"This is a canonized Mormon revelation (now Doctrine & Covenants Section 3), purportedly given to Joseph Smith in July 1828 following a significant crisis: he had allowed Martin Harris to take the first 116 translated pages of the Book of Mormon manuscript, which were subsequently lost. The revelation's central argument is that God's purposes are immutable and cannot be thwarted by human failure, contrasting divine constancy with human weakness and pride. It directly rebukes Smith for fearing men over God, for transgressing his commandments, and for allowing sacred translated material to fall into the hands of someone described as wicked and faithless. Distinctively, it frames the loss not as a permanent defeat but as a correctable transgression, warning Smith he will lose his prophetic gift entirely unless he repents, while reassuring him he remains chosen. The text closes by articulating the theological purpose of the Book of Mormon plates: to bring knowledge of a Savior to indigenous American peoples (Lamanites and related groups in the Nephite tradition), paralleling the Jewish testimony of Christ. It is notable for its direct second-person address to Smith, its blending of rebuke with conditional restoration, and its early articulation of the Book of Mormon's missionary purpose toward Native American descendants.","tags":[],"text":null,"title":"Mormon Doctrine & Covenants 3. Revelation to Joseph Smith, Harmony, Pennsylvania, July 1828.","tradition":"Sacred Texts: Mormons","translated_text":null,"word_count":653}