The Recursive Structure of D&C 4

D&C Section 4, the great missionary mission statement memorized by all missionaries, teaches us not only about the qualifications for the work, but also something about the process of revelation itself. This short essay will focus on the latter point.

We must begin with the history behind this revelation. Joseph Smith had moved to Harmony, Pennsylvania from New York in December of 1827. He had been in possession of the golden plates obtained in New York for just a few weeks. They were received September 22, 1827. Although work on the Book of Mormon moved slowly, by June 1828 116 manuscript pages of the Book had been produced with Martin Harris serving as scribe. Then, Harris took those pages, the only copy, back to Palmyra, New York and promptly lost them.

By July, Joseph Smith headed for New York to his parent’s home with the intention of getting his manuscript returned. When it became clear the lost pages could not be recovered, Joseph went into a kind of depression and could not be comforted. He promptly returned to Harmony, and Joseph’s parents were left with the impression that work on the Book of Mormon would never be completed. However, work did resume back in Harmony later in September of 1828.

In February 1829 Joseph Sr. and Lucy Smith left Manchester, New York and visited Joseph Jr. and Emma in Harmony. It was there that Father Joseph and Mother Lucy learned that work on the sacred plates would continue. Under those joyful circumstances Father Joseph asked his son to inquire of the Lord on his behalf how he should contribute to this effort. D&C Section 4 resulted from that request.

It must have been Emma who recorded the revelation, but that is only an educated guess. The circumstances of the visit suggest that the Section was dictated as a whole in a single session. (D&C revelations do NOT always occur within single sessions of dictation; see, e.g., the italicized portions of Sec. 30, 88, & 130 as just a few examples). While it is possible that the dictation took place immediately, it is also possible that Joseph prayed and meditated before giving the revelation. Even if the latter were the case, the time frame would have been short, a few hours at most.

As shown in "Comparisons" below, Section 4 consists of a sophisticated interweaving of Biblical ideas and phrases forming a new message on the attributes of godliness necessary to serve as a missionary for the latter-day work to come forth. The revelation is brilliant in conception and flows with ease from verse to verse, showing no evidence of being a flight of randomly spliced Bible phrases. To the contrary, the verses cling together with both purpose and direction.

To label these verses as revelation is not to imply that Joseph was a mere empty vessel being filled with God’s word. His home-taught Bible education would serve him well as he completed the Book of Mormon in the next three or four more months, and as he continued to dictate revelation after masterful revelation over the next 15 years of his life. As Section 4 states, to serve God requires effort (v. 2), desire (v. 3), more effort (v. 4), faith (v. 5), knowledge plus virtue (v. 6), and finally even more effort enabled by God (v. 7).

*****Comparisons*****

COMPARE:

D&C 4:1
1 NOW behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.

WITH:

Isaiah 29:14
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people… .

COMPARE:

D&C 4:2
2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.

WITH:

Deuteronomy 10:12
12 … to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

Corinthians 1:8
8 … that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

COMPARE:

D&C 4:3-4
3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;
4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;

WITH:

John 4:35-36
35 … Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal… .

COMPARE:

D&C 4:5
5 And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.

WITH:

1 Corinthians 13:13
13 … faith, hope, charity…

Matthew 6:22
22 … thine eye be single…full of light.

COMPARE:

D&C 4:6
6 Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.

WITH:

2 Peter 1:5-7
5 … add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

COMPARE:

D&C 4:7
7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

WITH:

Matthew 7:7
7 ¶ Ask, and it shall be given you;…knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

*****The Process*****

We must remember that Prophets have every right (and often every need) to make amendments in written revelations as necessary. Joseph Smith’s revelations were dictated and were not recorded by professional stenographers. Further, revelation is a dynamic process. Much like any other composition, Joseph’s revelations required slight revision, reordering of ideas, changes in grammar, etc. This lesson is illustrated by D&C 4.

In 1833 the Church in Independence, Missouri published an incomplete volume of revelations known as the Book of Commandments. The complete D&C was published later in the fall of 1835. Section 4 of the D&C was taken from Chapter 3 of the Book of Commandments. The Book of Commandments version has nearly identical wording to that of the D&C version. The most notable differences are changes in versification, punctuation, and slight wording changes in what became verse 6 of the D&C.

To illustrate, verse two of the Book of Commandments, Chapter 3 read:

2 Remember temperance, patience, humility, diligence, &c., ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you: Amen.

Note in the verse above the insertion “&c.” meaning et cetera. This suggests that the scribe may not have kept up with the dictation. Further, the ordering of the wording may have been recorded wrong. Whatever the reason, Joseph Smith appears to have altered the wording to make it conform a little better with the word order in 2 Peter 1:5-7. As such, we now have from the 1835 version:

6 Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.

Followed by:

7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

Once again we are reminded that being an authorized prophet requires faith and hard work.

D&C 4 is not just about missionary work; it is about the very process of revelation itself. Section 4 is recursive. Folding upon itself, it is its own best example of the very principles it teaches. With faith, effort, desire, and knowledge, God is revealed little by little.

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Copyright 2009 S.Faux (Email: foxgoku54 [at] gmail [d0t] c0m; URL: http://mormoninsights.blogspot.com). Readers may distribute this post for noncommercial purposes provided such distributing is of the entire post, including author's copyright and contact information. All other rights reserved.




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