Episode 118: The Doctrine and Covenants as Living Scripture (Casey Griffiths)

Y Religion

BYU Religious Education

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4.8 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 15 December 2024

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When BYU professor Casey Paul Griffiths teaches a scripture class, he often concludes the semester by saying, “The end.” But when he finishes a course on the Doctrine and Covenants, he says, “To be continued . . .” This reflects the ongoing nature of revelation in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a living church led by the Savior through his prophets. In this episode, Dr. Griffiths discusses the recently released four-volume work, Scripture Central Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants, and draws on insights from the Joseph Smith Papers project, launched in 2005. The project ushered in a “golden age” of Church history, making a wealth of historical documents readily available and creating a need for updated commentary on the revelations given to the early Saints. The Doctrine and Covenants stands as a testament to God’s ongoing work, revealing his tender guidance and care for individuals and the Church collectively. Griffiths emphasizes how the Lord communicates with his children, stating, “What happened anciently in the Old Testament still continues today. . . . The day of miracles is not past.” It reminds us that ours is an open canon—living scripture still being written, with each of us invited to play a part.

Publications:

The Scripture Central Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants (Cedar Fort, 2024)
Restorations: Scholars in Dialogue from Community of Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Religious Studies Center, 2022)
Truth Seeker: The Life of Joseph F. Merrill, Scientist, Educator, and Apostle (Religious Studies Center, 2021)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/bro.griffiths

Click here to learn more about Casey Griffiths

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, our religion friends. John Hilton here. Imagine this. You're sitting in a quiet room
0:06.0	writing in your journal when Jesus Christ enters. He looks into your eyes and begins to speak
0:12.5	directly to you. What would you do? Would you hang on to every word? Would you write down what
0:18.9	he said? How would his voice change your life?
0:23.7	In a sense, this experience is available to us every time we open the Doctrine and Covenants.
0:29.3	This book isn't just a collection of historical revelations. It's the Savior himself speaking.
0:36.1	The Doctrine in Covenants is fundamentally the words of Jesus Christ.
0:40.2	A friend of mine who's a member of the Bickertonite Church gave me a red-letter edition of the
0:43.7	book of Mormon.
0:44.2	They make red letter editions.
0:45.7	And I loved flipping through it and seeing the words of Christ in red.
0:48.9	When you get to third Nephine, then there's just page after page of red text because
0:52.7	the Savior is speaking. But it caused me to say, we need to make a red letter edition of the Doctrine Covenants.
0:57.5	And if we did, boy, just about every section, with a few exceptions, section 2 and section 101 and a couple others would be red letter.
1:06.4	Almost every section in the Doctrine Covenant starts with a phrase like, listen to the voice of your Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ.
1:12.2	And then he tenderly speaks to people.
1:14.8	As we prepare to start studying the Doctrine and Covenants next year, it's the perfect
1:18.9	time to consider what a gift we have in this book of Scripture.
1:23.7	In today's episode, we'll explore how hearing Christ's words through the doctrine and
1:28.5	covenants can deepen your faith, strengthen your testimony, and guide your life.
1:34.4	I'm your host, Professor John Hilton, and this is Why Religion.
1:42.0	Each year, religion professors at Brigham Young University produce hundreds of publications on subjects related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
	...

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