Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants: A Guided Tour Through Modern Revelations

by Steven C. Harper

Have you struggled with understanding the Doctrine and Covenants? As a collection of separate and diverse texts, it can be rather daunting to study. After all, it is the only one of the standard works that does not tell its own story.

Making Sense of the Doctrine and Covenants addresses this challenge in a creative new way. Rather than giving a verse-by-verse commentary, author Steven C. Harper takes readers on a guided tour through the revelations. Drawing on the earliest manuscripts of those revelations, he provides historically grounded insights into why each revelation was given, what it means, and why it matters.

Chapters on every section of the Doctrine and Covenants begin by delving into the historical record to recreate the question or problem each revelation was given to resolve and end by showing readers the outcomes for individuals and the Church.

Families and scholars alike will relish the depth and accessibility of Making Sense of the Doctrine and Covenants. It is an invaluable addition to any gospel library and a fascinating resource for anyone who wishes to become more closely acquainted with this marvelous book of scripture.

Genres: Religion, Lds, History, Nonfiction, Church, Church History, Lds Non Fiction

624 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2008

Reviews

[Blair Hodges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harper's "Making Sense of the Doctrine and Covenants" is one of the finest approaches to the historical aspects of the Doctrine and Covenants. Each chapter of Harper's one-volume exploration approaches a single revelation in three parts: First he relates a brief background to each revelation, including names, dates, and circumstances. Second, he summarizes the contents of the revelation. Third, he discusses outcomes of the revelations including what became of the people and projects described therein.

The book is a great resource to help flesh out the sometimes enigmatic revelations of the D&C. Harper's footnotes will lead the interested reader to many other good sources for further information. He also corrects occasional mistakes (such as incorrect dates) that have been perpetuated in the current LDS edition of the D&C.

There are some instances where Harper interprets verses theologically in ways with which I disagree. History is his strong suit and he confronts difficult issues like polyandry, blacks and the priesthood with cautious candor. I strongly recommend this book.

[Terrol Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outstanding resource for study of the Doctrine and Covenants. Unmatched, I believe, in terms of presenting historical context of each revelation. Steven Harper is a terrific young historian--clear-eyed, honest, and devout.

[Heather WG · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been referencing this book all year as I’ve taught Sunday School. It’s highly accessible and provides just enough history and background material to give context to sections in the Doctrine and Covenants (without information overload).

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a college class from Steve Harper on the Doctrine and Covenants, and he is one of the people that has most influenced my faith. He is the perfect blend of powerful faith and pragmatic understanding of historical truths, especially on controversial topics. This book is a must-have companion to the Doctrine and Covenants, which can feel like an bunch of unconnected revelations with no clear storyline. I have learned so much through Harper's perspective.

[Peter Andrus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m giving this book 5 stars because it is excellently researched, and very thorough. I was tempted to drop it a star because it helped me understand that the doctrine and Covenants is not my favorite book of scripture. Not even close. The lack of any coherent, narrative, and the way it jumps around in time, and the many many many sections that are just a few scriptures long, and feel very repetitive, really drags it down quite a bit.
I could see 20 or 30 sections being removed with no problem … In fact, I think it would really improve the quality. That’s just me though.
There are a lot of beautiful scriptures in this work, and I’m glad that I read this. I didn’t realize it was 600+ pages going in, so it was a big surprise how slowly the percentage ticked away on my Kindle. 😂

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent reference book to enhance study of the doctrine and covenants. I love how it is organized by c
Section and outlines the origin and context, content, and outcomes. Amazing insights; I learned a lot.

[Tonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have needed it more if I wasn't using other resources (podcast, Revelations in Context). As it was, it duplicated a lot of information. I did like the format and it was well done.

[Camille Tesch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent commentary of the Doctrine and Covenants. It goes through the D&C section by section and covers the historical background, contents, and outcomes of each section.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a well-written and indispensable resource to enrich and supplement your study of the book of Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With a few exceptions, each revelation has its own chapter and each chapter is divided into three sections:

1) Origin. This section explains the origin and historical context of the revelation. This includes what is known about the person who the revelation is addressed to, what questions they are asking, what situation and circumstances they are in at the time they receive the revelation, etc. It often goes into considerably more detail than what is contained in the section headings within the text. This information makes it much easier to understand many of the revelations contained in the Doctrine and Covenants.

2) Content. This is basically a high-level condensed summary of what the revelation says, usually with considerably more detail than the chapter headings contained at the start of each section. It is also really helpful because whenever a revelation refers to or is related to the content of a previous revelation the author draws attention to that so you can more easily see/understand how various revelations are connected to one another. These summaries are also really helpful as far as giving a clear condensed summary of the doctrine being revealed or the commandments the Lord is giving. This really helped me better understand some doctrinal concepts much more clearly than I did before.

3) Outcomes. This section explained what happened or what changed as a result of the revelation. For example, when revelations are addressed to an individual it will explain whether that individual obeyed the revelation or not, and what the consequence was. When a revelation promises certain blessings for doing a certain thing and the person does that thing it will show what historical evidence there is of the fulfillment of the Lord's promised blessings for their obedience. It also illustrates in some instances the consequences of certain commandments being neglected or disobeyed. For revelations in which new doctrine is revealed it will explain how the revelation of that doctrine affected Joseph Smith, the trajectory of the Church, etc.

This book is truly excellent. It is really helpful from both a church history and a doctrinal learning standpoint. I understand the Doctrine & Covenants far better after reading this book than I did before. It especially helped me better understand the doctrine of agency, consecration, the temple, and exaltation. It also really helped me better understand both how God deals with his children and accomplishes his work while also respecting their agency.

FYI, this book is NOT a verse-by-verse doctrinal commentary of the Doctrine & Covenants. If you are looking for that I recommend the church's institute manual and the book Revelations of the Restoration: A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants and Other Modern Revelations by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Craig Ostler.

Also FYI, there is a little bit of overlap between the church history information in this book and the Church's Revelations in Context book edited by Matthew McBride and James Goldberg, but I think both are worth reading.

All in all, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to my friends and to anyone else who wants to study and understand the Doctrine and Covenants better. Reading it helped increase my knowledge, testimony of, and faith in Jesus Christ. It strengthened my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel in these latter days.

[A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent commentary and contextualization of the Doctrine and Covenants. It addresses each section in terms of origin, content, and outcome, and discusses each section with honest, accurate, and well-researched historical context. This book was an immense resource for our Gospel Doctrine class and in my personal study. Highly recommend. Steven Harper knows his history (as he should, given his background), and delivers it in thoughtful, inspiring, and meaningful ways.

Only complaint is that the section on OD2 is quite dated and perpetuates some deeply problematic and racist ideas. This book is from 2008 and would strongly benefit from revising this section according to the 2013 Gospel Topics Essays and other recent LDS scholarship on Mormonism and race. I do NOT recommend the commentary on that section. Readers would be better served by studying Darron T. Smith's BLACK AND MORMON, Paul W. Reeve's RELIGION OF A DIFFERENT COLOR, and James Jones's podcast BEYOND THE BLOCK.

That said, it was otherwise very accurate, insightful, and inspiring.

[Wesley Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great companion for studying the Doctrine and Covenants. It helps you context by explaining what happens before an after each revelation. It's usually only 3-4 pages per section, but with 138 sections, that adds up to a lot of material, creating a much more connected storyline than an unguided run-through. The stories are short, so I would suggest "Revelations in Context" if you'd like longer stories about several sections at once.

I should also say that this is definitely meant for believing members. Steven Harper always takes the position that Joseph Smith is correct and the revelations are the pure word of God. I'd like to read something that is a little more detailed in its analysis of the text, such as how it may have been revised as it came through scribes. I think I may have to look into the Joseph Smith Papers for that.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always struggled to enjoy/fully understand pieces of the Doctrine & Covenants. I have greatly appreciated this book, which helped me understand so much better what was going on, simply by providing the basics of historical background, context, and outcomes. It was marvelously enlightening. Reading the segment on Official Dec 2 was my absolute favorite. It was the best written piece I have ever seen on the matter - 100% accurate and comprehensive. At long last, I can point confidently to a piece that I feel completely aligns with everything we know as well as a correct summary of how members of the church behaved beforehand. This is definitely the best supplement I have ever had for the D&C, and I intend to refer to it any time I have a question reading excerpts from the D&C in the future.

[Dlora · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of all the Doctrine and Covenants commentaries. For each section of the book of scripture, Harper gives us first the historical background of the section, then masterfully summarizes the contents, and finally presents the outcome or consequences of the revelation. I find Steven Harper to be insightful and well-grounded in the material. And this layout is much easier to read and gives a better overview than the verse-by-verse commentaries out there. I just wish Harper could do the same for the other standard works. I’d read them all! But that isn’t realistic since his specialty is church history and doctrine.

[Hollie Andrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great companion book for studying the Doctrine and Covenants. I enjoyed learning more of the background and history-as well as the outcomes. Early chapters in the book seemed to get bogged down in the content section. Sometimes it felt like the content sections were too much a restatement of the actual scripture. Or they were much, much longer than the actual revelation. Later chapters in the book seemed to have a better balance in the content section. I recommend this to all who are wanting to understand the D&C, the early saints, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints better.

[VeeDawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: As a collection of separate and diverse texts, The Doctrine and Covenants can be rather daunting to study. After all, it is the only one of the standard works that does not tell its own story.
Rather than giving a verse-by-verse commentary, author Steven C. Harper takes readers on a guided tour through the revelations. Drawing on the earliest manuscripts of those revelations, he provides historically grounded insights into why each revelation was given, what it means, and why it matters.

I learned so much as I studied this! Wonderful book!

[Lisa Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taking the revelations in the Doctrine & Covenants, Steven C. Harper takes the reader through each section, using historical context, the content, and the consequences of each revelation. Drawing on his studies of the earliest manuscripts of those revelations, he provides historically grounded insights into why each revelation was given, what it means, and why it matters. Such a wonderful study help to help the reader make their study of the Doct. & Cov so much more meaningful and understandable. Fantastic.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book all the way through twice now, and it's so helpful in providing context for each section of the Doctrine and Covenants. For each section, it provides background info, a summary of the revelation, and the resulting outcomes of them. It was especially helpful to me, since I don't know a lot about church history. The miscellaneous revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants used to feel random and vague, but now each section has a lot more meaning. I definitely recommend this book!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent companion to your study of the Doctrine & Covenants. For each section the author provides context, content, and outcomes. The author is a respected scholar of the scriptures and LDS Church history, and I learned a lot from reading each section of the scripture and then the related chapter in this book. Highly recommended.

[Marla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was my constant companion all year as I studied the Doctrine & Covenants. It gives one chapter per section and gives Background, Content and Outcomes for each section. It’s scholarly, but doesn’t read like a scholarly work. I probably loved that most of all. Heavily footnoted for great reference. I learned so much. Highly recommend!

[Kimberly Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this along with the Doctrine & Covenants Come Follow Me lessons each week and really appreciated learning more about the history surrounding each section of the Doctrine & Covenants. I also liked how Harper shared his thoughts about how agency tied into certain sections throughout the book. I would definitely recommend this book!

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

bhodges has a good review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have really quite enjoyed this book as I've used it throughout the year. There is a good summary of backstory for each piece that provides context, and interpretation of impact (without being overbearing.)

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't discover this book until I was at section 58 of the Doctrine and Covenants. I was reading a different study guide that I didn't love, and fortunately I came across this one. This was a perfect companion to the Doctrine and Covenants. I gained a lot of new insight. I highly recommend this book if you want a deeper study experience and better understanding of the Doctrine and Covenants.

[Devon May · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great way to get quick insights from and back story around the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants. I've used this in teaching and it is a great way to kick start into doctrine with a solid foundation in the history surrounding each section.

[Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made all the difference for me in this year's study of the Doctrine and Covenants. I loved his format for each section- background, content, and outcomes. I can't recommend this book enough if you want a companion study buddy with the Doctrine and Covenants.

[Michael Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

exceptional insight

So impressed with the level of research and thoughtfulness that has been put into this! Highly recommend whether you’re studying the doctrine and covenants or whether you just want to know more about the history of the church. Thank you brother Harper!

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's face it, I'm never going to finish this. What I read was good though!

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent enhancement to my scripture study this year! I learned so much from reading this along side reading the Doctrine and Covenants.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good reference material for reading along with Doctrine and Covenants.

[Tim Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect companion for the years studying the D&C. Great background information to help understand what's going on in each section.

[Kylene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't read all of this. Used as more of a reference book while studying the Doctrine & Covenants this year.