Precepts

Joseph Smith claimed 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.” So what exactly does the Book of Mormon teach?

I began by compiling a list of topics, but quickly realized that attempting to make anywhere near a comprehensive list would be impossible. Every chapter contains a rich source of material for spiritual learning and edification. I decided to begin by taking one chapter at a time, selecting at least a verse or two from each and giving a very brief perspective on what it is saying. In this way, this is a celebration of the richness of the Book of Mormon and its perfect harmony with all of the doctrine and teaching of the restored church of Jesus Christ. My chapter-by-chapter compilation of the precepts of the book is contained in this 68 page document entitled “Precepts of the Book of Mormon: a chapter-by-chapter compilation”.

After extracting around 270 precepts, or relatively short passages teaching eternal truths, from the 239 chapters, I went back through and added #hashtags after each passage for the recurring themes. Here is an alphabetical list of those themes:

#accountability, #agency, #all-gods-children, #apostles, #ask, #atonement, #baptism, #blessings, #bloodshed, #book-of-mormon-purpose, #broken-heart, #change-of-heart, #charity, #chasten, #chastening, #church, #commandment, #contention, #contrite-spirit, #covenants, #deliverance, #diligence, #doctrine-of-christ, #endure-to-end, #eye-single, #faith, #fear-god, #follow-the-savior, #forgiveness, #freedom, #glory, #god-head, #gratitude, #healing, #holy-ghost, #holy-spirit, #hope, #house-of-israel, #humility, #integrity, #isaiah, #jesus-christ, #joy, #judgement, #kindness, #kings, #knowledge, #light-and-trut, #light-of-christ, #love, #love-of-god, #love-one-another, #love-thy-neighbor, #mercy, #miracles, #missionaries, #missionary-work, #mysteries-of-god, #name-of-christ, #obedience, #open-hearts, #opposition, #parents, #patience, #plan-of-salvation, #ponder, #poor, #power, #praise, #praise-of-world, #prayer, #precepts, #pride, #priestcraft, #priesthood, #priesthood-authority, #priests, #prophesy, #prophets, #redemption, #redemption-of-dead, #rejoice, #remember, #repentance, #revelation, #revenge, #riches, #righteousness, #sacrament, #salvation, #savior, #scriptures, #sealing-power, #search, #service, #spirit-of-prophesy, #steadfast, #still-small-voice, #straight-and-narrow,, #support-from-god, #temptation, #testimony, #traditions, #truth, #unchanging-god, #unity, #wisdom, #wisdom-of-world, #word-of-god, #zion

These are all contained in the essence of what present-day members of the LDS church teach and learn in regular meetings. People may name other things when they think about Mormons, but the above principles form the true essence of what we believe, or the fullness of the gospel.

I then organized these tags into theme categories. In alphabetical order they are:

Atonement of Jesus Christ
#atonement, #savior

Blessings from God
#blessings, #deliverance, #support-from-god, #redemption

Broken heart and contrite spirit
#broken-heart, #contrite-spirit, #change-of-heart

Church of Christ
#church, #unity, #contention, #love-one-another, #zion

Chastening
#chastening, #chasten

Covenants
#covenants, #house-of-israel

Doctrine of Christ
#faith, #repentance, #baptism, #doctrine-of-christ, #straight-and-narrow

Eternal life and salvation
#salvation

Faith, hope, and charity
#faith, #hope, #charity, #love, #love-of-god

Forgiveness
#forgiveness

God's Mercy
#mercy

Governments and leaders
#freedom, #kings, #priestcraft, #priests

Happiness and joy
#joy, #rejoice

Holy Ghost
#holy-ghost, #holy-spirit, #still-small-voice

Parents
#parents

Miracles
#miracles, #healing, #power

Missionary work
#missionaries, #missionary-work

Name of Christ
#name-of-christ

Obedience
#commandments, #obedience

Plan of salvation
#agency, #opposition, #plan-of-salvation, #temptation, #judgement

Prayer
#prayer

Prophesy and Revelation
#revelation, #spirit-of-prophesy, #prophets, #prophesy, #isaiah

Priesthood and authority
#priesthood, #priesthood-authority, #sealing-power, #apostles

Purpose of the Book of Mormon
#book-of-mormon-purpose

Remember God
#remember, #sacrament

Revenge (the gospel opposes revenge)
#bloodshed, #revenge

Scriptures
#word-of-god, #scriptures

Serving others
#service, #poor

Testimony
#ask, #precepts, #testimony, #truth, #knowledge, #ponder, #light-and-truth, #mysteries-of-god, #open-hearts, #search

Those without the law
#accountability, #traditions, #all-gods-children, #light-of-christ, #redemption-of-dead

Unchanging God
#unchanging-god

Ways to be
#gratitude, #diligence, #endure-to-end, #eye-single, #fear-god, #follow-the-savior, #kindness, #humility, #integrity, #love-thy-neighbor, #wisdom, #praise, #righteousness, #patience, #steadfast

Worldly pride (the gospel opposes worldly pride)
#riches, #praise-of-world, #glory-of-world, #wisdom-of-world, #pride