Book of Mormon has administration plan
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The Book of Mormon serves readers in many ways, "but equally present on its pages one finds the foundational administrative principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ," said John W. Welch in his Church History Symposium presentation Feb. 26.
"Of course these principles are not spelled out in a single handbook of instructions any more than the doctrines of the Book of Mormon are set forth in a systematic theological treatise," he said. Instead these administrative principles are scattered among the expressed words, revelations and experiences of religious Nephite leaders and their people."
Brother Welch added that, with little difficulty, an alert reader interested in Church government "can assemble from the Book of Mormon beneficial administrative principles, practices and procedures that are exquisitely consummate with the mind and will of the Lord."
He said that in the paper he prepared for the symposium, he sought not only to identify those principles of Church administration "but to argue that the earliest readers and believers in the Book of Mormon followed the Book of Mormon as their administrative handbook, precisely and sometimes explicitly."
"It only makes sense that they would do this," Brother Welch said.
He asked, "How could those early Church leaders and members embrace the Book of Mormon as the revealed word of God without taking all of its teachings seriously?" He added, "Not only its doctrines and instructions for personal living, but many of its administrative guidelines came with the divine seal of approval and investiture that believers and non-believers would have to ignore at their peril."
Brother Welch remarked: "The administrative character and personality of the Church has grown immensely, I believe, from the genetic material found in the Book of Mormon." That material, he said, "can well be seen as the nucleus in the germination of the mustard seed that Joseph Smith said was the Book of Mormon, out of which would grow the entire organization of the Church, a tree that would provide shelter and organization for all the birds and creatures of the world."
Despite all that, however, Brother Welch said most people have paid little notice to the essential role of the Book of Mormon in writing the administrative history of the Church.
"It is my suggestion that people should no longer ignore the elephant in the room, namely the Book of Mormon, as a persistent and even dominant source of Latter-day Saint Church administrative genius," he said.
In connection with his symposium presentation, Brother Welch distributed to audience members a four-page handout containing numerous Book of Mormon references to administrative principles integral to Church administration. Here are several examples:
The doctrine of Christ (3 Nephi 11:31-40).
A quorum of twelve (3 Nephi 12:1; 19:12).
Consecration of priests and teachers (2 Nephi 5:26; Mosiah 23:16-18; 25:19)
Ordination by the laying on of hands (Alma 6;1; Moroni 2:2).
Covenant making, remembering and keeping (Mosiah 5:1-10; Mosiah 18:13; 3 Nephi 18).
Infant baptism is abhorrent (Moroni 8:20-21).
The words of the baptismal prayer (3 Nephi 11:26-27).
The words of the sacrament prayers (3 Nephi 18:7, 10-11; Moroni 4-5).
Patriarchal, father's blessings (2 Nephi 1-4; Alma 36-42).
Gifts of the Spirit, deny not the gifts (Moroni 10).
Family prayer (Alma 34:21; 3 Nephi 18:21)
Welfare and giving to the poor (Jacob 2;19; Mosiah 4; 18-27; Alma 1:27; 34:26-29; 35:9).
Purpose and conduct of church meetings and worship (Moroni 6).
— Scott Lloyd
