Sacred Texts: Mormons

Mormon Doctrine & Covenants 28. Revelation through Joseph Smith to Oliver Cowdery, Fayette, New York, September 1830.

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This is a Latter-day Saint (Mormon) canonical revelation, presented as divine speech addressed directly to Oliver Cowdery in September 1830, recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants tradition. Its central content establishes a strict hierarchy of prophetic authority: Joseph Smith alone holds the right to receive binding commandments and revelations for the church, positioned explicitly as a Moses figure, while Cowdery is cast in the subordinate Aaron role — authorized to teach and speak by the Spirit but forbidden to issue written commandments. The text also addresses a specific ecclesiastical crisis involving Hiram Page, who had been using a seer stone to produce unauthorized revelations, which are here declared Satanic deception and invalidated. A notable early doctrinal detail is the first mention of "Zion," announced as a future city to be built near the Lamanites (identified with Native Americans) but whose precise location remains unrevealed. The revelation closes by commissioning Cowdery on a mission to the Lamanites. Someone deciding whether to read this would find it most valuable as a primary source on early Mormon ecclesiology, the consolidation of prophetic authority in Smith, and the suppression of rival revelation claims in the church's founding year.

Mormon Doctrine & Covenants 28. Revelation through Joseph Smith to Oliver Cowdery, Fayette, New York, September 1830.

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