Sacred Texts: Mormons

Doctrine and Convenants: 57. Revelation through Joseph Smith, in Zion, Jackson County, Missouri, July 20, 1831.

Summary only - full text stays on its own separately-gated source. Read the full text at the source »

This is a canonized revelation from the Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Section 57), a collection of divine revelations received by Joseph Smith and foundational to Mormon scripture. The text presents Independence, Missouri as the designated "center place" of Zion — the promised land where the saints are to gather — and identifies a specific site west of the courthouse as the location for a future temple. The revelation issues concrete organizational directives: Sidney Gilbert is to establish a store and purchase surrounding land, Edward Partridge is to distribute inheritances among the saints, William W. Phelps is to serve as the church's printer, and Oliver Cowdery is to assist in editing and selecting published materials. A notably distinctive feature is the revelation's granular specificity — naming individuals, assigning commercial roles (merchant, printer, land agent), and even referencing a legal boundary between "Jew and Gentile" — treating land acquisition and economic infrastructure as sacred, commanded acts rather than merely practical ones. The overarching claim is that geographic gathering and physical settlement of a particular Missouri location is divinely mandated and eschatologically significant.

Doctrine and Convenants: 57. Revelation through Joseph Smith, in Zion, Jackson County, Missouri, July 20, 1831.

Related pages View as graph →