In the Mormon church we view the Doctrine & Covenants as an example of modern scripture. It was a sign that God was still speaking to his people and giving them further light and truth. It was a vindication that the many changes of the church were in line with God’s will. The only problem with this is that the Doctrine and Covenants doesn’t contain anything that the church actually needs.
Rely on Scriptures
In thinking about this, the first thing that comes to mind is why wouldn’t we want more scriptures. Aren’t more of a good thing, still a good thing? Of course, we want more scriptures. 2 Nephi 27 discusses a time where a sealed portion of records will be revealed which will contain great knowledge. This will be a fantastic time for the people of God.
The main issue with the Doctrine and Covenants, is it is of course not the sealed records, and the early church was told not to publish it or even rely on it for doctrine of the church. Both of these things have been removed from the published versions of the revelations. However, the revelations themselves were supposed to be targeted guidance to specific individuals. The revelations were never intended to be studied almost 200 years later and thought of as guidance for the entire church.
In the earliest revelations that Joseph received, starting in June 1829, he was told that he was to teach out of the scriptures because they contained the fullness of Christ’s gospel. Many of these revelations were received even before the church was officially organized in 1830. One of these revelations is known today as D&C 18 which originally stated:
I give unto you a commandment, that you rely upon the things which are written; for in them are all things written, concerning my church, my gospel, and my rock.
Chapter XV, 1833 Book of Commandments (D&C 18)
A natural question would be what was written by June 1829 when the revelation was received? Joseph had actually just finished the Book of Mormon translation and was preparing to send it to the printer. The Bible had of course been written. However, virtually nothing else had been written by that time. A later revelation, received in February 1831 and known today as D&C 42, actually clarified this and left no ambiguity. The church was to teach the Bible and the Book of Mormon, which contained the fullness of the gospel. This was all the church needed. That revelation originally stated:
And again, the elders, priests, and teachers of this church, shall teach the scriptures which are in the bible, and the book of Mormon, in the which is the fulness of the gospel
Chapter XLIV, 1833 Book of Commandments (D&C 42)
This revelation leaves no room for doubt as to what the church was to be teaching. They were to be teaching the Bible and the Book of Mormon, which were the scriptures at the time. According to the revelation, the combination of the Bible and the Book of Mormon contained the fulness of the gospel. It is confusing how they could contain the fullness, yet we would still need more, like we think today.
It might be tempting to think that we could just not rely on the Doctrine and Covenants, as a church, but publish it anyways as a sign of modern prophetic abilities. This is understandable. However, a June 1829 revelation known today as D&C 19 actually stated that the revelations were not to be published. This was because God knew the revelations would be used against Joseph and the church. There also was no need to publish them since the church wasn’t supposed to rely on them anyways. The revelation originally stated:
I command you, that you preach nought but repentance; and show not these things, neither speak these things unto the world, for they can not bear meat, but milk they must receive: Wherefore, they must not know these things lest they perish.
Chapter XVI, 1833 Book of Commandments (D&C 19)
This revelation was directed to Martin Harris so an argument could be made that this direction was limited to just him. However, according to David Whitmer who was an influential early church member, he and a few others were staunchly opposed to publishing the revelations. The revelations were published in early 1833 and then in July 1833, just a few months later, a mob entered Independence, Missouri, destroyed the press and drove the members out of Jackson County. This was all avoidable if the revelations were not published as Joseph was originally told.
Book of Mormon
Many today might think that the church couldn’t just rely on the Bible and Book of Mormon because together they don’t contain all the nuanced points of the church. I understand this perspective and it is pretty natural coming from a very structured Mormon background. However, I believe this is fundamentally missing the point and the reason for our very existence. We are supposed to learn the laws of God and become Godlike so that we don’t need an extensive list of rules to follow. If we don’t understand the principles of God, then instead we need an ever-growing list of nuanced rules. This is exactly what some people want.
I will never forget a Bishopric meeting I was in where we were discussing a specific situation. I thought it was clear what Christ would do, so I expressed my opinions on it. The bishop however felt there was just enough ambiguity that he needed to consult the handbook for guidance. After this, he did what the handbook suggested and not what Christ did in the scriptures.
In thinking about the needs of a church, or a religious body overall, there are a lot of things to consider. This is of course why people tend to heavily rely on sections like D&C 20 and D&C 42 which spell out all sorts of specifics regarding how the church should operate. However, if we look at the Book of Mormon then we can see that it really does contain all that the church needed in order to function correctly.
For instance, Moroni 1 tells us how to baptize. Moroni 4 and 5 tell us how to perform the sacrament. Mosiah 27 tells us how the leaders should guide the people. Moroni 6 tells us how our meetings should be conducted. Mosiah 26 tells us how church discipline should be handled. Alma 42 tells us about the need for and importance of repentance. Moroni 3 tells us how to ordain leaders in the church. Lastly, the New Testament tells us about the life and ministry of Christ. I really don’t know what more we need to have a functioning body of believers.
If there was any question though, if the Bible and Book of Mormon contained all the church needed, then all we have to do is look at the Book of Mormon itself. Almost immediately after Christ appeared to the Nephites, he established the true points of his doctrine which is found in 3 Nephi 11. His doctrine consisted entirely of believing on him, repenting, and getting baptized in his name. This was his entire doctrine. Christ told the Nephites:
Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine. … Whoso believeth in me and is baptized, the same shall be saved. … Verily, verily I say unto you, that this is my doctrine. … Whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil.
3 Nephi 11:31-40
This doctrine was so important that Christ even mentioned it multiple times for emphasis. This simple doctrine was also reiterated earlier in the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 31. The Doctrine of Christ is really that simple and the Bible and Book of Mormon really did contain all the church needed. There was no need for anything more than what was already written in June 1829, like the revelation stated. This simple doctrine was sadly complicated because we instinctively love rules and procedures more than simplicity.
Conclusion
There seems to be no need for the Doctrine and Covenants in the church today. I am not suggesting that we ignore the revelations or don’t use them in any way. However, it does seem like we can drop the Doctrine and Covenants as a book of canonized scripture. This would of course solve the problem of some revelations being canonized that really shouldn’t be. These would be all the revelations that Brigham Young canonized without a vote of common consent. However, this would also remove all the revelations that really make no sense to be canonized at all. These would be the ones that are to specific individuals and are directed to them and their current situation.
However, removing the Doctrine and Covenants would also help restore the church back to its original simple foundation. In 1830 the church was scripturally based and was a very simple organization. It only consisted of Elders, Teachers, and Priests exactly like the Book of Mormon taught. Today the Mormon church has many doctrines, rules, procedures, and specific direction which can be found nowhere in the scriptures.
These seem to be the well-intentioned ideas of men mixed with scripture. These well-intentioned ideas compound over time and eventually become so self-reinforced that people mistake them for the truth of God. This is exactly what Christ fought against so many times during his mortal ministry. The ideas of men had become so intermingled with the truth of God, that it was almost impossible to distinguish between the two. Today, we are no different.
