http://www.physics.byu.edu/faculty/rees/325
Note: Questionnaire, Reading Reports

Required Materials
Scriptures – Bring to class daily
Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual
Church History in the Fullness of Times http://www.ldsces.org

Reading
Check the Schedule: http://www.physics.byu.edu/faculty/rees/325
Read the listed Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants and the corresponding material from the Student Manual.

“Lectures”
• I’ll want to present a few ideas each day.
• I’ll tell you what’s important to remember for tests.
• We’ll regularly have classroom discussions.
• I’ll expect everyone to participate.

Class Participation
I will take participation points off for
• absences – I’ll give you two unexcused absences
• frequent tardiness
• disruptive behavior
• lack of participation

Midterm Tests
Two midterms in the testing center with
• multiple-choice and matching questions
• short answer questions
• short essay questions
Reviews and a sample exams are available online.

Final Exam
• Comprehensive with an emphasis on the last material.
• Similar in style to the midterms
• In the classroom on Wed. Dec. 17, 8 am – 10 am.

Written Assignments
Details online at: http://www.physics.byu.edu/faculty/rees/325/writing.pdf

Topic due:
Class discussion:
Paper due:
Length:
Topic:
Images:
Context Paper
Sept. 11
Sept. 18
Sept. 23
2 ½ to 3 pages written text.
Some aspect of US history or culture 1830 –1844.
Optional.

Context Paper
Should be applicable to the 1830-1844 period. Some possible ideas include:
Style: Women’s clothing, men’s hairstyles
Humanities: Popular music, hymns, American novels, folk art
Politics: Whigs, Democrats, Jacksonian democracy, Martin van Buren
Economics: The Panic of 1837; bartering, credit, and hard cash
Everyday life: food, homes, family life, holiday observances, firearms
Religion: seekers, Shakers, desists, Campbellites
Social systems: communitarianism
Science and engineering: medicine, Henry and induction, transportation
History: westward expansion, slavery, states’ rights and threats of secession

Topical Guide
Three topics:
•
Something you don’t know much about.
• Something that seems specially interesting to you.
• Something that is fundamentally important to you or that you are passionate about.

Topics due:
Begin writing:
Paper due:
Length:
Topical Guide
Sept. 4
Now!
Dec. 11 (the last day of class)
At least 6 pages.

Topical Guide – Sample Entry
D&C 98:10 honest men and wise men should be sought.
In seeking redress for grievances, the Lord directed Joseph
Smith to seek and uphold honest and wise men in political offices.

Insights Paper
Choose one of the Topical Guide topics.
Something new you learned or came to believe.
Use any sources that contributed to your insights.
Make it into a regular paper with good organization and development.

Short Chronology
Section 2 – 1823 to Section 76 – February 1832
Section 77 – March 1832 to Section 136 – 1847
Sections 1 and 133 – November 1831
Section 134 – 1835, Section 137 – 1836, Section 138 – 1918

When were the sections received
?
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0 before
1829 before
1829
1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1843 after
1843

What kinds of revelations characterize
Sections 1—76?

And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of
Mormon … D&C 84:57
I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book. – Joseph Smith History of
the Church, 4:461.

One Example:
What do we know about the nature of the
Godhead?

Challenge:
Find scriptures in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and
Covenants that demonstrate that:
God the Father and Jesus Christ are separate beings.
God the Father and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and blood.

D&C 84:57
And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of
Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them , not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written—

In 1839, what was the single most distinguishing feature of the church?

In our interview with the President, he interrogated us wherein we differed in our religion from the other religions of the day. Brother Joseph said we differed in mode of baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. We considered that all other considerations were contained in the gift of the Holy Ghost. History of the Church 4:42 (Journal of
Elias Higbee)

In my judgment there is no book on earth yet come to man as important as the book known as the Doctrine and Covenants, with all due respect to the Book of Mormon, and the Bible, and the Pearl of Great Price, which we say are our standards in doctrine. The book of Doctrine and Covenants to us stands in a peculiar position above them all. -- Joseph Fielding Smith,
Doctrines of Salvation, 3:198 .