Scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints recognizes a canon comprised of the Holy Bible (in the English language most members of The Church use the King James Version), the Book of Mormon (LDS.org and Mormon.org), the Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants. I will give a brief description of each below but for more information, use the links provided.

The Holy Bible:
Like most Christian religions, the Church recognizes and believes the Bible to be the word of God as given to prophets and apostles who lived in and around Jerusalem. The Old Testament contains the words of prophets before Jesus was born. Jesus is often referred to as Jehovah in the Old Testament. The New Testament contains the words of prophets and apostles after Jesus was born. It contains information about Jesus Christ's birth, life, teachings, death, and resurrection. It also contains the travels and teachings of his apostles after His death and resurrection.

If I remember correctly, I believe The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints adopted the King James Version for the English language as the official Bible the Church uses because King James had the Old and New Testaments translated to English directly from the original languages and there have been no additional translations since.

The Book of Mormon (information from LDS.org and from Mormon.org):
The Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ. The book starts around the beginning of King Zedekiah's reign in Jerusalem. Prophets were being cast out and occasionally killed during this time. One of these prophets was a man named Lehi. Following a command from God, he gathered his family, another family, and scriptures referred to as The Plates of Brass, which contained the teachings found in the beginning parts of the Bible. They were guided and came to the American Continent. The Book of Mormon contains the teachings and stories of the people who lived here. There is an account of Jesus Christ visiting the people after His resurrection in Jerusalem. The book continues for around another 400 years. It provides evidence of the truthfulness of the teachings in the Bible and clarifies some of the teachings. It acts as a witness that God cares for us no matter where we live and provides additional testimony of Jesus Christ and His teachings.

The Book of Mormon was hidden and sealed by the final prophet to write in it. Many years later, the plates on which the book was original written were given to Joseph Smith to translate. He was able to translate them through the gift and power given him by God.

Doctrine and Covenants:
This is a collection of revelations and covenants given to Joseph Smith and other prophets before, during, and shortly after he helped restore The Church of Jesus Christ, which is officially called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to distinguish it from the church during Jesus Christ's time and because we are in the latter days.

Pearl of Great Price:
Additional scriptures translated by Joseph Smith. It contains teachings from Abraham, Moses and other prophets. Added to it are a translation of certain parts of Matthew, a brief history about Joseph Smith, and Articles of Faith. The articles of faith are the teachings of the gospel outlined in 13 declarations of what we believe.

I hope this helps clarify as I talk about other things here on the blog.

Welcome to My Thoughts

Do you ever have those thoughts that just roll around in your head so much you think your head might just fall off because they bounce around so hard and so often? This has been happening to me more and more lately, so I needed a way for those thoughts to become formed and organized. Writing and sharing on this blog is my way to connect the dots, find out what dots are still missing, and needs to be filled in.

I decided to start this blog to keep my thoughts separated from my adventures. As you read, hopefully you'll understand more about me, about why I think and act the way I do, and why I started this blog.

I believe that tolerance is achieved by true understanding. Intolerance comes from a desire to be right or show someone else they are wrong. We have a desire to be right but shouldn't we also have a desire to be accepting and loving of others no matter how different we seem.

I hope that as I share my thoughts, you will feel inclined to share your thoughts with me either through emails, comments, texts, or phone calls. I love hearing what other people think just so that I can understand and have more empathy towards them.  Please share comments and questions but leave derogatory notes and insults out of this. My intent is not offense but hopefully an explanation that may lead to understanding.

NOTE: I have decided to occasionally post about things I believe in. I will try to remember to include references to books, scriptures and such for way I believe such things but will probably forgot much of the time. Also, there may be things I express that are my personal beliefs that may or may not have scholarly or spiritual backing.