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D&C 20–22
New from BMC
Watch videos from Gospel scholars and teachers to learn more about these sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. Book of Mormon Central produces weekly videos from Tyler Griffin, Taylor Halverson, John Hilton III, Anthony Sweat, Casey Griffiths, Stephanie Dibb Sorensen and Marianna Richardson. Read commentaries and other resources from KnoWhys, Steven C. Harper, Casey Griffiths, and Susan Easton Black.
Overview
Doctrine and Covenants 20
Doctrine and Covenants 21
Doctrine and Covenants 22
Daily Reading Plan
Structure your personal scripture study by following a 15-minute, day-by-day plan. Each day's assignment includes the required scripture passages from the Come, Follow Me curriculum, as well as suggestions for additional resources to bring context and understanding to your study. For the best experience, use our Reading Plan in the free ScripturePlus app! You can track your progress and have access to the best resources.
Monday
- Commentary: Section 20 Context, Steven C. Harper
- Scripture: D&C 20:1–16
- KnoWhy 72: Was the Book of Mormon Used as the First Church Administrative Handbook?
Tuesday
- Scripture: D&C 20:17–31
- Commentary: Casey Paul Griffiths, Doctrine and Covenants Minute, Doctrine and Covenants 20:17–28.
- Commentary: Casey Paul Griffiths, Doctrine and Covenants Minute, Doctrine and Covenants 20:29–36.
- Video: We Can All Find God - Taylor Halverson (D&C 20)
Wednesday
- Scripture: D&C 20:32–45
- Commentary: Casey Paul Griffiths, Doctrine and Covenants Minute, Doctrine and Covenants 20:37.
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Quote: Anyone who claims superiority under the Father’s plan because of characteristics like race, sex, nationality, language, or economic circumstances is morally wrong and does not understand the Lord’s true purpose for all of our Father’s children.
Unfortunately, in our day in almost every segment of society, we see self-importance and arrogance flaunted while humility and accountability to God are denigrated. Much of society has lost its moorings and does not understand why we are on this earth. True humility, which is essential to achieve the Lord’s purpose for us, is seldom evident.
Quentin L. Cook, "The Eternal Everyday," October 2017 General Conference. - Video: Follow the Prophet - John Hilton III (D&C 21)
Thursday
- Scripture: D&C 20:46–60
- Commentary: Casey Paul Griffiths, Doctrine and Covenants Minute, Doctrine and Covenants 20:38–60.
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Quote: Just think of what would take place in our priesthood quorums if the relationships between the holders of the two priesthoods were inspired by the pattern established by Jesus and John the Baptist. My young brethren of the Aaronic Priesthood, like John’s, your role is to “prepare the way” for the great work of the Melchizedek Priesthood. You are doing this in many different ways. You administer the ordinances of baptism and of the sacrament. You help prepare a people for the Lord by preaching the gospel, by “[visiting] the house of each member,” and by “[watching] over the church.” You provide assistance to the poor and needy by collecting fast offerings, and you participate in taking care of Church meetinghouses and other temporal resources. Your role is important, needful, and sacred.
Gérald Caussé, “Prepare the Way,” April 2017 General Conference.
Friday
- Scripture: D&C 20:61–74
- Commentary: Casey Paul Griffiths, Doctrine and Covenants Minute, Doctrine and Covenants 20:68–70.
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Quote: Your call began when you were placed into mortality, in a place and time chosen for you by a God who knows you perfectly and loves you as His daughter. In the spirit world, He knew you and taught you and placed you where you would have the opportunity, rare in the history of the world, to be invited into a baptismal font. There, you would hear these words spoken by a called servant of Jesus Christ: “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
When you came out of the water, you had accepted another call to serve. As a new covenant daughter of God, you made a promise and received an assignment in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which you were then confirmed a member. You covenanted with God to take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ, to keep His commandments, and to serve Him.
For each one who makes these covenants, the service that the Lord calls him or her to do will be suited perfectly to that person. The covenant daughters and sons of God, however, all share one important and joyful call. It is to serve others for Him.
Henry B. Eyring, “Covenant Women in Partnership with God,” October 2019 General Conference. - Video: The Articles and Covenants - Casey Griffiths (D&C 20-22)
Saturday
- Scripture: D&C 20:75–84
- Commentary: Casey Paul Griffiths, Doctrine and Covenants Minute, Doctrine and Covenants 20:80–84.
- Commentary: Section 21 Context, Steven C. Harper
- Scripture: D&C 21:1–3
- Commentary: Casey Paul Griffiths, Doctrine and Covenants Minute, Doctrine and Covenants 21:1–3.
Sunday
- Scripture: D&C 21:4–12
- Commentary: Section 22 Context, Steven C. Harper
- Scripture: D&C 22:1–4
- Commentary: Casey Paul Griffiths, Doctrine and Covenants Minute, Doctrine and Covenants 22:1–4
Bibliography
Doctrine and Covenants 20
Steven C. Harper, “Section 20,” Doctrine and Covenants Contexts (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2021), 39–41.
Jeffrey G. Cannon, “Build Up My Church,” Revelations in Context: The Stories Behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2016.
“The Rise of The Church of Christ,” Saints, Volume 1: The Standard of Truth (Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2018), 1:84–86.
John W. Welch, “The Book of Mormon as the Keystone of Church Administration,” Religious Educator 12, no. 2 (2011): 83–117.
Elder John K. Carmack, “Fayette: The Place the Church was Organized” in Sperry Symposium Classics: The Doctrine and Covenants, ed. Craig K. Manscill (Provo and Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, and Deseret Book 2004), 48–55.
Robert J. Woodford, “The Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ and the Book of Mormon,” in Sperry Symposium Classics: The Doctrine and Covenants, ed. Craig K. Manscill (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004), 103–116.
“Common Consent,” Church History Topics.
“Founding Meeting of the Church of Christ,” Church History Topics.
“Religious Beliefs in Joseph Smith’s Day,” Church History Topics.
Book of Mormon Central. “Was the Book of Mormon Used as the First Church Administrative Handbook? (3 Nephi 27:21–22).” KnoWhy 72 (April 6, 2016).
Book of Mormon Central. “Why Did Joseph and Oliver Seek Authority to Baptize? (3 Nephi 11:24–25).” KnoWhy 279.
Book of Mormon Central, “What Did the Book of Mormon Teach Early Church Leaders about the Order and Offices of the Priesthood? (Alma 13:8),” KnoWhy 330 (June 23, 2017).
Book of Mormon Central, “What Does the Book of Mormon Teach about the Priesthood? (Mosiah 23:17),” KnoWhy 289 (March 20, 2017).
D&C 20:1
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Must Christ’s True Church Be Called after His Name? (3 Nephi 27:8),” KnoWhy 482 (November 6, 2018).
Sharon Anderson, “Clear as the Sun—Fair as the Moon,” in Praising the Prophet: Joseph Smith and the Restoration in History and Verse (Orem, UT: Time-Lines Etc., 2005), 31–35.
D&C 20:8–12
Book of Mormon Central. “Where Does the Book of Mormon Declare the First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel? (3 Nephi 27:20).” KnoWhy 276 (February 17, 2017).
D&C 20:10
Book of Mormon Central, “What Does Mormon Teach Us about Ministering as Angels? (Moroni 7:29),” KnoWhy 425 (April 17, 2018).
D&C 20:17–18
Sharon Anderson, “In the Beginning,” in Glory of the Son (Orem, UT: Time-Lines Etc., 2019), 4.
Sharon Anderson, “Image of God,” in Glory of the Son (Orem, UT: Time-Lines Etc., 2019), 5.
D&C 20:19–20
Book of Mormon Central. “How Can One Overcome the Natural Man? (Mosiah 3:19),” KnoWhy 311 (May 10, 2017).
Book of Mormon Central. “What Makes Mankind an Enemy to God? (Mosiah 3:19).” KnoWhy 505 (March 7, 2019).
D&C 20:27–28
Book of Mormon Central, “How Are the Book of Mormon’s Teachings About the Godhead Unique? (3 Nephi 11:27),” KnoWhy 266 (January 25, 2017).
Book of Mormon Central, “How is Christ Both the Father and the Son? (Mosiah 15:2),” KnoWhy 92 (May 4, 2016).
D&C 20:33
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Does Jesus Say that “Ye Must Watch and Pray Always”? (3 Nephi 18:15),” KnoWhy 344 (July 26, 2018).
D&C 20:37
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Did Jesus Tell All People to Sacrifice a Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit? (3 Nephi 9:19-20),” KnoWhy 198 (September 29, 2016).
Book of Mormon Central, “At Baptism, What Do We Covenant to Do? (Mosiah 18:10),” KnoWhy 97 (May 11, 2016).
D&C 20:47
Book of Mormon Central, “What Does the Book of Mormon Teach about Families? (Mosiah 25:12),” KnoWhy 382 (November 16, 2017).
D&C 20:67
Book of Mormon Central, “Is there Precedent for General Conference in the Book of Mormon? (3 Nephi 11:1),” KnoWhy 199 (September 30, 2016).
D&C 20:71
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Did Moroni Include Mormon’s Condemnation of Infant Baptism? (Moroni 8:12),” KnoWhy 253 (December 15, 2016).
D&C 20:72–74
Book of Mormon Central. “Why Did the Lord Quote the Book of Mormon When Reestablishing the Church? (3 Nephi 11:24).” KnoWhy 282 (March 3, 2017).
D&C 20:75–79
Book of Mormon Central, “Where did Moroni Get the Sacramental Prayers from? (Moroni 4:1),” KnoWhy 250 (December 12, 2016).
Doctrine and Covenants 21
Steven C. Harper, “Section 21,” Doctrine and Covenants Contexts (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2021), 42–43.
Jeffrey G. Cannon, “Build Up My Church,” Revelations in Context: The Stories Behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2016.
Craig James Ostler and Lloyd D. Newell, “’Here Is Wisdom; Yea, To Be a Seer, a Revelator, . . . and a Prophet,’” in Foundations of the Restoration: Fulfillment of Covenant Promises, eds. Craig James Ostler, Michael Hubbard MacKay, and Barbara Morgan Gardner (Provo, UT: BYU Religious Studies Center, 2016).
“Common Consent,” Church History Topics.
“Founding Meeting of the Church of Christ,” Church History Topics.
Duane Boyce, “D&C 21, George Albert Smith, and Hugh B. Brown: A Fresh Look at Three Incidents in Church History,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 32 (2019): 229–252.
Susan Easton Black, “Oliver Cowdery,” Restoration Voices Volume 1: People of the Doctrine and Covenants (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2021).
Susan Easton Black, “Peter Whitmer Sr.,” Restoration Voices Volume 1: People of the Doctrine and Covenants (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2021).
D&C 21:1
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Do We Need Prophets? (3 Nephi 5:1),” KnoWhy 364 (September 14, 2017).
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Is It Important to Keep Records? (1 Nephi 9:5),” KnoWhy 354 (July 28, 2017).
Sharon Anderson, “Prophet, Seer, and Revelator,” in Glory of the Son (Orem, UT: Time-Lines Etc., 2019), 67.
D&C 21:3
Book of Mormon Central, “How Does the Book of Mormon Help Date the First Christmas? (3 Nephi 1:13),” KnoWhy 255 (December 21, 2016).
D&C 21:22
Sharon Anderson, “Royal Gorge,” in Glory of the Son (Orem, UT: Time-Lines Etc., 2019), 71.
Doctrine and Covenants 22
Steven C. Harper, “Section 22,” Doctrine and Covenants Contexts (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2021), 44–45.
Jeffrey G. Cannon, “Build Up My Church,” Revelations in Context: The Stories Behind the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants. Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2016.
D&C 22:2
Book of Mormon Central, “Is the Path to Eternal Life “Strait” or “Straight"? (1 Nephi 8:20),” KnoWhy 456 (August 7, 2018).
