Doctrine and Covenants

Week 26: Establishment of Nauvoo; baptism for the dead & the endowment

Sections 124–128

24 April 2025

Notes and slides will be posted after the class has been held.

• T. Edgar Lyon, “Doctrinal Development of the Church During the Nauvoo Sojourn, 1839–1846,” BYU Studies 15, no. 4 (Summer 1975): 435–46. Lyon gives a brief overview of the new doctrines and interpretations Joseph Smith introduced in Nauvoo concerning the Godhead, the priesthood, the temple, and salvation.

• Minutes of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, 17 March 1842. The Relief Society’s minutes record the counsel given by the Prophet Joseph Smith and by Society President Emma Smith on the date of its founding and the discussion over its name and goals.

• “What Do the Kinderhook Plates Reveal About Joseph Smith’s Gift of Translation?”, Book of Mormon Central, 31 July 2018. In May 1843, two non-Mormon men brought to Joseph Smith six bell-shaped metal plates with writing etched on them, claiming they had been unearthed in Kinderhook, Illinois, 60 miles (96 km) south of Nauvoo. The men wanted Joseph to translate the engravings. Since then, the so-called Kinderhook Plates have been a subject of controversy, with critics claiming that they prove Joseph Smith was a fraud. Read more about this fascinating issue and learn what Joseph really said about the plates in this KnoWhy from Book of Mormon Central.