Sacred Texts: Mormons

Mormon Doctrine & Covenants 63. Revelation through Joseph Smith, Kirtland, Ohio, August 1831.

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This is Section 63 of the Doctrine and Covenants, a canonized scripture of the Latter-day Saint (Mormon) tradition, recorded as a direct revelation spoken by Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith in August 1831. The revelation addresses moral failures within the early Church — specifically adultery, lust, and the seeking of miraculous signs as a basis for faith — warning that such behaviors forfeit the Spirit and risk damnation, while affirming that signs legitimately follow faith rather than precede it. A substantial portion delivers practical directives for the gathering of Saints to the "land of Zion" (Missouri), including instructions to purchase land rather than take it by force, to transfer money to Zion, and to assign specific named individuals (Titus Billings, Newel K. Whitney, Sidney Rigdon) to particular roles — grounding prophetic utterance in concrete organizational logistics. The text also makes eschatological claims: wars and desolation are decreed as imminent, the wicked will destroy one another, and the Second Coming will bring a bodily resurrection in which the righteous "shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye." A notably distinctive moment is the direct rebuke of Sidney Rigdon by name for pride and for producing unacceptable written work, illustrating how this revelatory genre was used to adjudicate internal leadership disputes. Throughout, the voice is that of a sovereign, jealous deity whose authority over life, death, and institutional structure is absolute and non-negotiable.

Mormon Doctrine & Covenants 63. Revelation through Joseph Smith, Kirtland, Ohio, August 1831.

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