To begin, the canon of the Restoration Branches is the same as the original Church as founded in 1830 and as reorganized in 1860. The foundation for the canon comes first from the Inspired Version Holy Scriptures, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants up to section 144. Prior to the death of Joseph Smith Jr. in 1844 he was asked by a man by the name of John Wentworth of Chicago, Illinois, as to what are the beliefs of your Church. Wentworth owned the “Chicago Democrat” newspaper. Joseph provided what is known as the “Epitome of Faith”. The Epitome of Faith as it was written in the Times and Seasons is as follows:

 

• We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
• We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
• We believe that through the atonement of Jesus Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.
• We believe that these ordinances are, first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
• We believe that a man must be called of God by “prophecy, and by laying on of hands” by those who are in authority to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
• We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church; viz., apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.
• We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, etc.
• We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly;
• We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
• We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
• We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes, that Zion will be built upon this continent, that Christ will reign personally upon the earth, and that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiac glory.
• We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
• We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
• We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul, “we believe all things, we hope all things,” we have endured many things, and hope to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. Respectfully, Joseph Smith Jr.,   (Times and Seasons, Vol. III, pg. 710)

 

All doctrine of the Restoration Branches can be found in the 3 standard books of Scripture. The Inspired Version of the Holy Scriptures has been corrected by the power of revelation and inspiration. Joseph Smith Jr. was told in revelation to do the work of correcting the King James Bible because much had been lost through the centuries due to copying and the intentional omitting of passages. The Lord told Sidney Rigdon through Revelation in 1830:

 

“Thou shalt write for him and the scriptures shall be given even as they are in mine own bosom, to the salvation of mine own elect.” (RLDS D&C 34:5,  LDS D&C 35:20)

 

This would indicate that the Scriptures would be of great benefit to the saints. In February of 1831 as found in RLDS D&C 42: 15a

 

Thou shalt ask, and my Scriptures shall be given as I have appointed, and they shall be preserved in safety; and it is expedient that thou shouldst hold thy peace concerning them, and not teach them until thou hast received them in full. 15b And I give unto you a commandment, that then ye shall teach them unto all men; for they shall be taught unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.16a Thou shalt take the things which thou hast received, which have been given unto thee in my Scriptures for a law, to be my law, to govern my church;  (LDS D&C 42:15-16)

 

From the Book of Mormon we find that explanation was given as to the reason that there was a need for the correction of the existing Bible. 1 Nephi 3:168

 

For behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; 169 And also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away; 170 And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord; that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men:  (LDS 1 Nephi 13:26-27)

 

The Inspired Version of the Bible was completed by Joseph but never published in his lifetime. It was preserved after his death by his widow, Emma Smith until the original Church was reorganized in 1860 with Joseph Smith III as its prophet and president; as he was designated to be Joseph Smith Jr’s successor on at least 4 occasions. In 1867 the Inspired Version was printed for the first time after being protected and preserved by Emma for many years. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tried to get the manuscript from Emma but she would not turn it over to them. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has never claimed or used the Inspired Version, however they now have a King James Version of the Bible that has many footnotes referencing scriptures taken from the Inspired Version. They call the Inspired Version the ”Joseph Smith Translation”. In the Inspired Version there is much clarification of doctrinal differences between the two churches. One such is the doctrine of Plurality of Gods. As an example, Revelation 1:6 of the Inspired Version reads:

 

“And unto him who loved us, be glory; who washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, his Father.”

 

The King James Bible reads this: “…hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.”  The KJV implies there is a father of God. In the Inspired Version there is a comma after “God.”  The word “and” is left out, and it speaks of “God, his Father,” which is quite different.

 

Another example of differences in doctrine taught between the Original 1830 Church, 1860 Reorganization, and Restoration Branches as compared to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would be the use of the Pearl of Great Price. They consider the Pearl of Great Price to be one of the standard books of Scripture while the Original 1830 Church, 1860 Reorganization, and Restoration Branches do not recognize it as a book of standard scripture. The Pearl of Great Price was not published until the year 1851, seven years after Joseph was martyred. Included in this book is the Book of Moses which can be found in Genesis of the Inspired Version. The testimony of Joseph Smith Jr. relating to his first vision and how the Church was organized is found in the RLDS Church History. The Pearl of Great Price also includes Matthew 24 from the Inspired Version of the Bible. It also includes the Articles of Faith (Epitome of Faith) which was first written in a letter by Joseph Smith Jr. to John Wentworth of the Chicago Tribune and also appeared in the Times and Seasons newspaper. The Pearl of Great Price also includes the Book of Abraham which is supposed to be the written record by the prophet Abraham. Joseph Smith made his best translation of some papyrus scrolls of which this interpretation appeared in the Times and Seasons paper. This was never presented to the Church by Joseph Smith as being scripture, and that is the most important reason why we do not treat it as such. The RLDS Church/Restoration Branches have found a number of doctrinal problems in this document that cannot be reconciled with the 3 Books of Standard Scripture. Therefore, we view the text in the same vein as other apocryphal texts.

 

Another area of major difference would be in the area of divine revelation. Both churches believe that God still speaks today, that God still reveals His divine will to his Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has added documents attributed to Joseph Smith to their Doctrine & Covenants, however, the RLDS Church/Restoration Branches do not believe that they originated with Joseph Smith Jr. One such document is the LDS Section 132 which deals with the doctrine of plural marriage. The RLDS/Restoration Branches do not support this doctrine as something that Joseph Smith Jr. taught. There are a number of other differences in the canon of scripture between the two churches. There have been volumes written of these differences. One such work would be Fundamental Differences by Russell Ralston.

 

We accept the same revelations which were accepted by the church before the martyrdom of Joseph Smith Jr., as well as the revelations given through his faithful lineal successors canonized in the Doctrine & Covenants. Though not seen in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the practice of accepting the Book of Mormon while rejecting the words of God’s servants in the Doctrine & Covenants is a practice we do not condone. The Lord warned the Nephites against such partial acceptance of his words:

3 Nephi 13:46-47 And wo be unto him that will not hearken unto the words of Jesus, and also to them whom he hath chosen and sent among them, For whoso receiveth not the words of Jesus, and the words of those whom he hath sent, receiveth not him; and therefore he will not receive them at the last day; (LDS 3 Nephi 28:34)