Episode 47: D&C 41-44

Shiloh and Ben talk about the growing pains of the early Church. Imagine while you’re reading the D&C through this time that the revelations you’re reading are all that these men knew about what this new church is, how it is organized, what its purposes are, and what its goals are. We often forget to contextualize these early church leaders in their proper space of experience. We have the vantage point of knowing when, where, and how their story unfolded, but as they were living these moments they lived having hope for a future that was completely undefined. The “restoration” was completely undefined, and even Joseph was consistently learning, step-by-step, what that meant. Once the Saints were in Ohio by the first of 1831, there appeared moments where new regulations needed to be set. In Section 42, we can gain some understanding of what pressures Joseph was up against against as commandments to not kill, steal, lie, or commit adultery were repeated twice. In all of their doings, they were all learning to see God in a new and wondrous way from what they had ever known, and we continually see how “restoration” and “repentance” are so closely related and often synonymous with each other.