The Two Gospels

The Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It does not, however, contain every Nauvoo doctrine later opened through the Prophet Joseph Smith: Celestial Marriage, the Endowment, the Second Anointing, the Church of the Firstborn, the fulness of the Patriarchal Priesthood, Adam-God, or the full Doctrine of Exaltation. Critics treat that difference as a contradiction. Fred C. Collier’s answer is simpler and stronger: they are confusing two different Gospels.

In The Nauvoo Doctrine in Light of Book of Mormon Prophecy, Part 1: The Concept, the Gospel of the Son is distinguished from the Gospel of the Father. The first is the Doctrine of Salvation, administered through the Church of Jesus Christ. The second is the Doctrine of Exaltation, administered through the Church of the Firstborn.

The Gospel of the Son

The Gospel of the Son is the Gospel of Jesus Christ: faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, endurance in righteousness, resurrection, judgment, and salvation through the atoning blood of Christ. This is the Gospel the Book of Mormon was commissioned to preach to the Gentiles and to the remnant of Israel.

“The Doctrine of Exaltation is not to be found in the Book of Mormon, but the Doctrine of Salvation is vividly and consistently portrayed throughout its pages. Over and over again, throughout its many retellings, it consistantly witnesses that the salvation of man revolves around the life of Jesus Christ and his mission here on Earth.”1

That is why the Book of Mormon can truthfully contain the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ while still not containing the full Nauvoo temple doctrine. It contains the fulness of the Son’s Gospel — the Gospel that saves.

The Gospel of the Father

The Gospel of the Father is the Doctrine of Exaltation. It is not merely forgiveness from sin, nor peaceful citizenship in the Kingdom of God. It is the knowledge of God the Father, the Eternal Family Order, and the laws and ordinances by which men and women become heirs of the same glory, dominion, and family-government pattern enjoyed by the Father.

“The ‘Gospel of the Father’ is the Doctrine of Exaltation — it pertains to the knowledge of God the Father and those exalting principles which have to do with the Celestial Organization and Government of His Family.”2

The same discussion then contrasts it directly with salvation through Christ:

“In contrast, the doctrine of Salvation relates directly to the life and work of Jesus Christ — its proper name is, ‘the Gospel of Jesus Christ,’ and the fulness of it, is in actuality what is commonly referred to as ‘the First Principles of the Gospel.'”3

This distinction gives order to the higher doctrines restored through Joseph Smith. Adam-God, Heavenly Mother, Celestial Marriage, the Law of Adoption, the Holy Order, the Endowment, the Second Anointing, and the Priesthood Line are not detachable curiosities. They belong to the Gospel of the Father.

Two Churches, Two Orders

The two-Gospel distinction also explains the two-Church distinction. The Church of Jesus Christ administers the preparatory Gospel of the Son. The Church of the Firstborn administers the fulness of the Gospel of the Father. The first brings souls to Christ for salvation. The second brings the faithful into the Father’s Family Order for exaltation.

This is why the Articles of Faith of the Church of the Firstborn do not simply repeat the thirteen Articles of Faith printed in the Pearl of Great Price. They set out a fuller doctrinal order for the Father’s Church, including the Restoration teachings on Father Adam, Mother Eve, the Patriarchal/Matriarchal organization, Celestial Marriage, and the other articles that belong to the Church of the Firstborn.

Why the Book of Mormon Is Not Contradicted

The critical mistake is to demand that the Book of Mormon contain the temple doctrines of the Church of the Firstborn as though they were part of the ordinary first-principles Gospel of Christ. The Book of Mormon itself gives the reason the greater things were withheld.

After quoting 3 Nephi 26:6–12, The Nauvoo Doctrine in Light of Book of Mormon Prophecy, Part 1: The Concept summarizes the point plainly:

“The Book of Mormon itself affirms that Christ did teach the Temple Doctrine — not only this, it also gives the reason why it was not included in the Book of Mormon, stating that the Lord forbade it, that he might ‘try the Faith’ of his people.”4

The lesser part came first, to try faith. The greater things were to be manifested afterward. The Nauvoo doctrine (not only revealed in Nauvoo, but progressively across the Prophet Joseph Smith’s lifetime) is therefore not a contradiction of Book of Mormon prophecy; it is its fulfillment.

The Work of the Father

The Book of Mormon repeatedly speaks of the Work of the Father. That work includes the gathering and structuring of Israel as an Eternal Family, the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant, and the temple order of the Church of the Firstborn.

“These other principles do not belong to Christ’s Church — they were not given to Christ by the Father to establish as a part of his Gospel. Instead, they pertain to the Father’s Church and the Father’s Gospel — they pertain to the ‘Church of the Firstborn’ — they constitute what the Book of Mormon repeatedly refers to as ‘THE WORK OF THE FATHER.'”5

When Christ’s Church is established upon the principles of His Gospel, then the Father shows forth His own works in it. The Father’s works include the temple ordinances, Endowment, Second Anointing, sealing powers, family laws, and Patriarchal Order that culminate in the Church of the Firstborn.

The Kirtland and Nauvoo Sequence

The two-Gospel framework also gives order to Restoration history. The Church of Jesus Christ was organized in 1830 and completed its early ordinances at Kirtland. Then, on April 3, 1836, Moses, Elias, and Elijah restored keys connected with the gathering of Israel, the Gospel of Abraham, and the sealing of fathers and children. In Nauvoo, beginning May 4, 1842, Joseph Smith began administering the higher temple ordinances and setting forth the order pertaining to the Ancient of Days.

That sequence matters. The Gospel of the Son prepares. The Gospel of the Father exalts. The Church of Jesus Christ saves. The Church of the Firstborn orders the family of God in Eternal Life.

In One Sentence

The Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the Gospel of the Son; the Nauvoo doctrine reveals the fulness of the Gospel of the Father.

Notes

  1. Fred C. Collier, The Nauvoo Doctrine in Light of Book of Mormon Prophecy, Part 1: The Concept, Doctrine of the Priesthood, Vol. 3 No. 1 (November 1986), 18. ↩
  2. Collier, The Nauvoo Doctrine in Light of Book of Mormon Prophecy, Part 1: The Concept, Doctrine of the Priesthood, Vol. 3 No. 1, 20–21. ↩
  3. Collier, The Nauvoo Doctrine in Light of Book of Mormon Prophecy, Part 1: The Concept, Doctrine of the Priesthood, Vol. 3 No. 1, 21. ↩
  4. Collier, The Nauvoo Doctrine in Light of Book of Mormon Prophecy, Part 1: The Concept, Doctrine of the Priesthood, Vol. 3 No. 1, 49–50. ↩
  5. Collier, The Nauvoo Doctrine in Light of Book of Mormon Prophecy, Part 1: The Concept, Doctrine of the Priesthood, Vol. 3 No. 1, 34. ↩