Section 6 | ScriptureCentral

Title

Section 6 Book Title

Doctrine and Covenants Contexts

Publication Type

Book Chapter

Chapter

6 Year of Publication

2021

Authors

Harper, Steven C. (Primary)

Pagination

12-13

Publisher

Book of Mormon Central

City

Springville, UT

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April 1829, Harmony, Pennsylvania

Early in 1829, Joseph’s father-in-law was about to evict him. Joseph “cried unto the Lord that he would provide for me to accomplish the work whereunto he had commanded me.”[1] This prayer was answered on a Sabbath evening when Joseph's younger brother Samuel arrived with a twenty-two-year-old school teacher named Oliver Cowdery.

Oliver had learned about the marvelous work from Joseph’s family. He had prayed to know the truth of the matter, and the Lord showed him the Book of Mormon plates in a vision and told him of the translation Joseph had begun.[2] Oliver probably brought with him some money for Joseph to use to make a payment to his father-in-law.

On the second day after his arrival, Oliver began scribing as Joseph translated the Book of Mormon. Oliver had a normal inclination to fear and doubt things that had been revealed to him before. He wanted to know if he could believe what he was seeing and experiencing. The Lord responded with the reassuring revelation in section 6.

Speaking to Oliver through Joseph, the Lord assured Oliver that his gifts were indeed divine, as well as the revelation he received before. This had the effect of convincing Oliver once and for all that Joseph, however unrefined or lacking in literacy, was the Lord’s chosen seer, for out of Joseph’s mouth came the words of Jesus Christ, telling Oliver things Jesus knew but Joseph didn’t. Oliver wrote to David Whitmer, saying that Joseph had “told him secrets of his life that he knew could not be known to any person but himself, in any way other than by revelation from the Almighty.”[3]

Section 6 foreshadows sections 7 and 8 by telling Oliver about records that have been kept hidden due to wickedness and that Oliver can have the gift to translate if he desires it. The revelation foreshadows martyrdom, but it is encouraging and empowering to Oliver. It also bears a beautiful autobiographical witness of Christ, perhaps even in a visual way for Joseph and Oliver, the two young seers. The Lord invited them to “look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet” (D&C 6:36–37). Like Peter, beholding the risen Christ gave Joseph and Oliver apostolic courage.

What we have in section 6, then, is a document of the Lord's lovingly employed omniscience. He is not the arbitrary sovereign Oliver's ancestors imagined him to be.[4] He uses his limitless power to address the needs of those who desire and ask. He proved to Oliver that Joseph Smith, whatever his “faults” (v. 19), is the Lord's chosen seer. The revelation not only says those things, but by its delivery through Joseph and its secrets known only to the Lord and Oliver, it illustrates them.

[1] “History, circa Summer 1832,” p. [6], The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 22, 2020.

[2] “History, circa Summer 1832,” p. [6], The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 22, 2020. “History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834],” p. 15, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 22, 2020.

[3] James H. Hart, “About the Book of Mormon,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), April 9, 1884, 190; see also “Report of Elders Orson Pratt and Joseph F. Smith,” Deseret News, November 27, 1878, 674.

[4] In his famous 1741 sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Jonathan Edwards described “the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation.” John E. Smith, Harry S. Stout, and Kenneth P. Minkema, editors, A Jonathan Edwards Reader (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995), 90.

Table of Contents

Book

Doctrine and Covenants Contexts

Harper, Steven C.

136 Chapters

Section 1

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 1-2

Section 2

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 3-4

Section 3

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 5-7

Section 4

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 8-9

Section 5

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 10-11

Section 6

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 12-13

Section 7

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 14-15

Section 8

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 16-17

Section 9

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 18-19

Section 10

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 20-22

Section 11

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 23-24

Section 12

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 23-24

Section 13

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 25-27

Section 14-16

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 28-29

Section 17

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 31-33

Section 18

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 34-35

Section 19

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 36-38

Section 20

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 39-41

Section 21

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 42-43

Section 22

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 44-45

Section 23

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 46-47

Section 24

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 48-49

Section 25

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 50-53

Section 26

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 54-55

Section 27

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 56-57

Section 28

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 58-59

Section 29

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 60-62

Section 30

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 63-64

Section 31

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 65-66

Section 32

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 67-68

Section 33

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 69-71

Section 34

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 72-73

Section 35

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 74-75

Section 36

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 76-77

Section 37

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 78-79

Section 38

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 80-82

Section 39-40

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 83-85

Section 41

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 86-88

Section 42

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 89-93

Section 43

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 94-96

Section 44

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 97-98

Section 45

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 99-101

Section 46

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 102-103

Section 47

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 104-105

Section 48

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 106-107

Section 49

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 108-112

Section 50

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 113-115

Section 51

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 116-119

Section 52

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 120-121

Section 53

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 122

Section 54

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 123-124

Section 55

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 125-126

Section 56

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 127-128

Section 57

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 129-130

Section 58

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 131-134

Section 59

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 135-137

Section 60

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 138-139

Section 61

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 140-142

Section 62

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 143-144

Section 63

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 145-146

Section 64

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 147-148

Section 65

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 149-151

Section 66

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 152-154

Section 67

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 155-158

Section 68

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 159-160

Section 69

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 161-163

Section 70

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 164-167

Section 71, 73

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 168-171

Section 72

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 173-174

Section 74

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 175-176

Section 75

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 177-179

Section 76

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 180-184

Section 77

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 185-186

Section 78

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 187-188

Section 79

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 189-190

Section 80

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 191-194

Section 81

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 195-196

Section 82

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 197-199

Section 83

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 200-201

Section 84

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 202-204

Section 85

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 205-206

Section 86

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 207-208

Section 87

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 209-212

Section 88

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 213-217

Section 89

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 218-222

Section 90

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 223-225

Section 91

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 226-227

Section 92

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 228-229

Section 93

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 230-233

Section 94

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 234-235

Section 95

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 236-238

Section 96

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 239-240

Section 97

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 241-243

Section 98

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 244-247

Section 99

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 248-249

Section 100

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 250-252

Section 101

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 253-255

Section 102

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 256-258

Section 103

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 259-261

Section 104

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 262-265

Section 105

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 266-269

Section 106

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 270-271

Section 107

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 272-275

Section 108

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 276-277

Section 109

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 278-281

Section 110

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 282-285

Section 111

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 286-288

Section 112

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 289-291

Section 113

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 292-294

Section 114

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 295-296

Section 115

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 297-299

Section 116

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 300-301

Section 117

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 302-306

Section 118

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 307-310

Section 119

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 310-312

Section 120

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 313-314

Section 121

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 315-318

Section 122

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 319-322

Section 123

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 323-324

Section 124

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 325-328

Section 125

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 329-330

Section 126

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 331-332

Section 127

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 333-335

Section 128

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 336-340

Section 129

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 341-344

Section 130

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 345-347

Section 131

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 348-351

Section 132

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 352-356

Section 133

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 357-359

Section 134

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 360-361

Section 135

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 362-364

Section 136

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 365-368

Section 137

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 369-372

Section 138

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 373-376

Official Declaration 1

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 371-381

Official Declaration 2

Harper, Steven C. | pp. 382-387

Bibliographic Citation

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