Sacred Texts: Mormons

Doctrine and Convenants: 78. Revelation through Joseph Smith, Hiram, Ohio, March 1832.

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This is Section 78 of the Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of revelations considered scripture by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, recorded as divine instruction delivered through Joseph Smith in the early 1830s. The revelation commands church leaders — specifically Joseph Smith, Newel K. Whitney, and Sidney Rigdon — to organize a formal storehouse system for the poor, establishing both a practical welfare structure and a sacred covenant governing it. A central theological argument is that earthly equality is a prerequisite for heavenly equality: members cannot attain celestial blessings unless they practice economic parity in this life. The text invokes apocalyptic and hierarchical cosmology, referencing figures like Michael (Adam) as a prince and promising that faithful stewards will become "rulers over many kingdoms." Distinctive to this passage is its fusion of institutional church administration with eschatological promise, framing mundane economic organization as spiritually binding — those who break the covenant face "buffetings of Satan." It closes with reassurance that despite coming tribulations, the promised blessings of eternity await the obedient.

Doctrine and Convenants: 78. Revelation through Joseph Smith, Hiram, Ohio, March 1832.

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