Section 2
Overview
Section 2 of the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants (known as D&C 20 in modern LDS editions) functions as the foundational constitution for the early Latter Day Saint movement. Dictated shortly after the church's formal organization in April 1830, it synthesizes the movement's core theological claims and establishes its ecclesiastical structure. The text begins by asserting its divine authority, claiming Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were called by God, ministered to by angels, and ordained as apostles. It positions the Book of Mormon as the 'fulness of the gospel' and a proof of modern revelation. Theologically, the text presents a relatively orthodox view of the Godhead, creation, the fall, and the atonement of Jesus Christ, which contrasts with the later, more radical theological developments of the Nauvoo period. However, its soteriology diverges significantly from evangelical Protestantism by explicitly conditioning justification and sanctification upon human effort—specifically, loving and serving God with 'all their mights, minds, and strength,' and enduring to the end. The second half of the document is highly administrative, detailing the specific duties of priesthood offices (apostles, elders, priests, teachers, deacons), the requirements for baptism, the exact wording for baptismal and sacramental prayers, and protocols for church discipline and membership tracking. For the believer, this text establishes a highly structured, performance-oriented religious life where spiritual standing is maintained through obedience, participation in priesthood-administered ordinances, and continuous moral exertion.
Key Figures
- Jesus Christ: Identified as Lord and Savior, the only begotten Son who was crucified, died, rose again, and ascended to the Father to offer salvation to those who believe, are baptized, and endure.
- Joseph Smith Jr.: Identified as the 'first elder' and an apostle, called of God, ministered to by an angel, and given power to translate the Book of Mormon.
- Oliver Cowdery: Identified as the 'second elder' and an apostle, ordained under Joseph Smith's hand.
- Holy Angel: A heavenly messenger whose countenance was 'as lightning' who ministered to Joseph Smith and gave him commandments.
- John the Revelator: Referenced to validate that new revelations do not violate the biblical prohibition against adding to his specific book of prophecy.
Doctrines Analyzed
Key theological claims identified in this text:
Conditional Justification and Sanctification
Assertion
Justification and sanctification are granted through grace only to those who love and serve God with all their might, mind, and strength, and believers can fall from grace.
Evidence from Text
justification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is just and true: and we know, also, that sanctification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is just and true, to all those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength; but there is a possibility that man may fall from grace and depart from the living God.
Evangelical Comparison
In evangelical theology, justification is a one-time, forensic declaration by God where the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the believer solely through faith (Sola Fide), apart from any human works or merit (Romans 3:28, Ephesians 2:8-9). Sanctification is the subsequent, progressive work of the Holy Spirit. This text conflates the two and places a severe condition on both: they are only true for those who 'love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength.' This transforms grace from an unmerited favor into a reward for maximum human exertion, fundamentally altering the biblical gospel. Furthermore, the explicit warning that one may 'fall from grace' denies the evangelical doctrine of the eternal security of the believer (John 10:28).
Restored Priesthood Hierarchy
Assertion
A specific, hierarchical priesthood (apostles, elders, priests, teachers, deacons) is required to validly administer church ordinances like baptism and the sacrament.
Evidence from Text
An apostle is an elder, and it is his calling to baptize, and to ordain other elders, priests, teachers, and deacons, and to administer bread and wine... neither teachers nor deacons have authority to baptize, administer the sacrament, or lay on hands
Evangelical Comparison
The text establishes a rigid, multi-tiered ecclesiastical hierarchy that holds exclusive rights to perform saving ordinances. Without this specific priesthood authority, baptisms and communion are considered invalid. This directly contradicts the evangelical Protestant pillar of the Universal Priesthood of All Believers. According to 1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 1:6, all Christians are made priests unto God. While evangelical churches have pastors and elders for order and teaching, these leaders do not possess exclusive, mediating sacramental authority. The LDS framework presented here reintroduces an Old Testament-style barrier between the believer and God's grace, mediated by human institutional authority.
Open Canon and Modern Revelation
Assertion
The canon of scripture is open, and God continues to give new commandments and scripture through modern prophets and angelic visitations.
Evidence from Text
according to the revelations of John, neither adding to, nor diminishing from the prophecy of his book, the holy scriptures, or the revelations of God which shall come hereafter by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost
Evangelical Comparison
This text explicitly reinterprets the biblical warning in Revelation 22:18-19 against adding to God's word. It claims this warning only applies to the specific book of Revelation, thereby leaving the door open for 'revelations of God which shall come hereafter.' By elevating the Book of Mormon and the ongoing dictations of Joseph Smith to the level of 'holy scriptures,' the text denies Sola Scriptura. Evangelicals maintain that the apostolic era ended, the canon is closed, and the Bible is entirely sufficient for all matters of faith and practice (Jude 3, 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The introduction of new scripture fundamentally shifts the ultimate authority from the Bible to the modern prophetic office.
Comparative Analysis
Theological Gap (Summary)
The text fundamentally alters the doctrine of justification by making it conditional upon exhaustive human effort, and it replaces the universal priesthood of believers with a strict, hierarchical priesthood necessary for salvation.
Theological Gap (Explained)
The most critical theological gap lies in soteriology and ecclesiology. Evangelicals hold to Sola Fide—that justification is a forensic declaration by God where Christ's righteousness is imputed to the believer through faith alone (Romans 4:4-5, Ephesians 2:8-9). This text explicitly conditions justification and sanctification on the believer's ability to 'love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength,' effectively merging justification with progressive sanctification and making grace contingent upon works. Furthermore, the text establishes a rigid ecclesiastical hierarchy (apostles, elders, priests, teachers, deacons) that holds exclusive authority to administer saving ordinances. This directly contradicts the biblical doctrine of the universal priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9) and the sufficiency of Christ as the sole mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).
For All Ages
Imagine you owe a billion dollars, and a rich king pays it all for you. In traditional Christianity, the king says, 'The debt is paid, you are free, just trust me.' But in this text, the king says, 'I paid the debt, but you only get the freedom if you work as hard as you possibly can for the rest of your life, and if you mess up, you might lose it.' Also, traditional Christianity says anyone can talk to the king directly. This text says you have to go through special managers (priests and elders) to get to the king.
Friction Points
Sola Fide
Conditions justification on loving and serving God with all might, mind, and strength.
Sola Scriptura
Adds the Book of Mormon and ongoing modern revelation as binding scripture.
Universal Priesthood
Requires specific ordained priesthood holders to validate baptism and communion.
Semantic Warnings
Terms that have different meanings between traditions:
"Grace"
In This Text
Divine enabling power that justifies and sanctifies only those who exert maximum human effort ('all their mights, minds, and strength').
In Evangelicalism
Unmerited favor and a free gift from God that cannot be earned by human effort (Romans 11:6).
"Apostle / Elder / Priest"
In This Text
Specific hierarchical offices in a restored church structure required to administer valid ordinances.
In Evangelicalism
Apostles were eyewitnesses to the resurrected Christ; elders/pastors are local church leaders; all believers are priests.
Soteriology (Salvation)
Salvation Defined: Receiving a crown of eternal life and being saved in the kingdom of God.
How Attained: By believing, repenting, being baptized by proper authority, and enduring in faith to the end, coupled with loving and serving God with all might, mind, and strength.
Basis of Assurance: Highly conditional. Assurance is based on continuous obedience, maintaining worthiness, and not falling from grace.
Comparison to Sola Fide: The text explicitly denies Sola Fide. While it mentions 'justification through the grace of our Lord,' it immediately qualifies this by restricting it to 'those who love and serve God with all their mights, minds, and strength.' This is a works-righteousness model that contradicts Romans 3:28 and Ephesians 2:8-9.
Mandates & Requirements
Explicit Commands
- Repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ
- Worship the Father in his name
- Endure in faith on his name to the end
- The church must take heed and pray always lest they fall into temptations
- Humble themselves before God and desire to be baptized
- Come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits
- Witness before the church that they have truly repented
- Take upon them the name of Jesus Christ with a determination to serve him to the end
- Manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit
- Elders must baptize, ordain, administer bread and wine, confirm, teach, expound, exhort, watch over the church, and take the lead of meetings
- Elders must conduct meetings as led by the Holy Ghost
- Priests must preach, teach, expound, exhort, baptize, administer sacrament, visit houses, exhort to pray vocally and in secret, and attend family duties
- Teachers must watch over the church, strengthen them, and see there is no iniquity, hardness, lying, backbiting, or evil speaking
- Teachers must see the church meets often and members do their duty
- Deacons must assist the teachers in all their duties
- Elders must meet in conference once in three months
- Members must manifest by godly walk and conversation they are worthy of the sacrament
- Members having children must bring them to the elders for a blessing
- The church must meet together often to partake of bread and wine
- Transgressing members must be dealt with as scriptures direct
- Churches must send teachers or priests to conferences with lists of names of new or expelled members
- Members moving to a new area must take a letter certifying their good standing
Implicit Obligations
- Submit entirely to the hierarchical authority of the priesthood
- Maintain strict moral worthiness to participate in church life and ordinances
- Accept Joseph Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon as divine and historically accurate
Ritual Requirements
- Baptism by immersion by one holding specific priesthood authority, using exact prescribed wording
- Confirmation by the laying on of hands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost
- Ordination to priesthood offices by the laying on of hands
- Administration of the sacrament (bread and wine) using exact prescribed prayers while kneeling
- Blessing of children by the laying on of hands by the elders
Evangelism Toolkit
Practical tools for engagement and dialogue:
Discovery Questions
Open-ended questions to promote reflection:
- The text says justification is for those who love and serve God with *all* their might, mind, and strength. Have you ever had a day where you didn't serve God with 100% of your strength? How does that affect your standing with God?
- If the Book of Mormon contains the 'fulness of the gospel' as verse 2 says, why are essential LDS ordinances like eternal marriage and temple endowments not found in it?
- How do you find peace knowing there is a 'possibility that man may fall from grace' if he doesn't endure perfectly?
Redemptive Analogies
Bridges from this text to the Gospel:
The Sacrament Prayers
The deep desire to remember Christ's sacrifice and witness a willingness to follow Him is a beautiful sentiment. This can be bridged to the evangelical understanding of communion as a celebration of a *finished* work, rather than a weekly renewal of a conditional covenant.
Spiritual Weight
Burdens this text places on adherents:
The requirement to love and serve God with 'all their mights, minds, and strength' to attain justification places an impossible burden on the believer. It creates a treadmill of works where one can never be truly certain they have done enough to earn God's grace.
The explicit warning that 'man may fall from grace' combined with the strict requirements for worthiness strips the believer of the assurance of salvation, leading to chronic spiritual anxiety.
Because salvation and ordinances are locked behind specific priesthood offices, the believer is entirely dependent on the institutional church and its leaders for their spiritual standing, fostering a fear of excommunication or discipline.