Consecration: Covenant and Economic Practice

The Law of Consecration and Stewardship raises the question of what belongs to God, and how His people should care for one another. A comparison of early revelation and current LDS teachings helps to distinguish the enduring covenant, as defined by the Lord, from the current arrangements used to administer it.

The Early Property-and-Stewardship Pattern

Joseph Smith’s revelation of February 9, 1831 directs the Saints to remember the poor and consecrate their property for them. Doctrine and Covenants 42:30–39 describes this administration as occurring through the bishop, who manages such stewardship as well as the provision for those in need. The Joseph Smith Papers project supplies early manuscript witnesses and additional historical context for this revelation.1

A later revelation on tithing, now Doctrine and Covenants 119, calls for surplus property and then a tenth of interest annually. It should not be collapsed into the earlier revelation as though the two texts described identical arrangements.2

The Covenant as Described Today

The current LDS General Handbook describes consecration as being among the endowment’s covenants in terms of dedicating one’s time, talents, and blessings to building up Jesus Christ’s Church. This retains an explicit consecration obligation.3

It does not, however, describe the covenant in the same property-transfer and individualized stewardship terms found in section 42, which were designed expressly by the Lord to eliminate poverty amongst all the Saints.4

The Point of Divergence

The institutional description and economic forms have changed. It would be inaccurate to say that present LDS teachings contain no consecration covenant, or that modern members do not care for the poor. A narrower question would be to ask whether such dedication as provided in the present form satisfies the earlier revealed law, or whether that law calls for a fuller communitarian economic practice. This is a theological evaluation that can only be determined by careful study and prayer, not a fact established simply by comparing terminologies.5

Orson Pratt addressed the relationship between these laws on March 9, 1873. He described tithing as a lower law than the Order of Enoch and full consecration, and urged obedience to the lesser requirements as preparation for the greater. Upon observing the Saints’ failure to fulfill even the requirements already given, including tithing and surplus property, he poignantly asked, “Are we under condemnation or are we not? Judge ye for yourselves.” This should not be understood as a claim that individuals who faithfully pay tithing are condemned; what it represents is an Apostle’s earnest plea for reflection and repentance.6

Careful study begins with the whole revelation in question—including its concern for the poor, and its stated capacity to provide for the righteous needs and wants of all, through the means of consecration, stewardship, and accountability. Its aim is to create a people more equitable and just in their treatment of one another, not a contest over who can claim the most devotion before God.

Sources

  1. Doctrine and Covenants 42:30–39; Revelation, February 9, 1831, Joseph Smith Papers. ↩
  2. Doctrine and Covenants 119:1–4 (July 8, 1838). ↩
  3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, §27.2, endowment covenant of consecration. ↩
  4. Doctrine and Covenants 42:30–39; 78:3–7; 104:14–18. ↩
  5. James 1:5–6; Moroni 10:4–5; Doctrine and Covenants 9:8–9; 46:7–8; 50:17–24. These passages call for asking God, spiritual discernment, and rejection of deception. ↩
  6. Orson Pratt, discourse, March 9, 1873, in Journal of Discourses 15:354–366, especially p. 359. ↩

Read the related studies in Faithfulness to the Restored Gospel: Continuity, Change, and Apostasy.