Sacred Texts: Mormons

Doctrine and Convenants: 46. Revelation through Joseph Smith to the Church, Kirtland, Ohio, March 8, 1831.

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This is Section 46 of the *Doctrine and Covenants*, a canonical scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, presented in the genre of divine revelation delivered in first-person voice to the early church (circa 1831). The section addresses two practical concerns: first, the rules governing who may attend church meetings, establishing that public meetings must be open to all, sacrament meetings open to sincere seekers outside the church, and only unrepentant transgressors barred from partaking of the sacrament. Second, and more extensively, it catalogues the spiritual gifts distributed by the Holy Ghost among church members — including faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, speaking in tongues, discernment of spirits, wisdom, and knowledge — emphasizing that no individual receives all gifts, but together the membership is fully endowed. A distinctive claim is the institutional safeguard built into the gift of discernment: bishops and appointed overseers are specifically given the ability to identify false spiritual gifts, protecting the community from deception by "evil spirits or doctrines of devils." The passage closes with an exhortation to seek gifts not for personal gratification but for communal benefit, and to conduct all spiritual acts through prayer, thanksgiving, and the name of Christ. Readers interested in early American religious history, LDS theology, or the Pauline tradition of spiritual gifts (echoing 1 Corinthians 12) will find this a compact, doctrinally dense primary text.

Doctrine and Convenants: 46. Revelation through Joseph Smith to the Church, Kirtland, Ohio, March 8, 1831.

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