What would modern revelation look like?

[toc]If a man truly had the gift and power to receive regular revelation from God as applied to the modern day, how do you imagine that a record of such revelation would look? I propose the following description:

• It would use modern language.
• It would directly and specifically address modern issues.
• It would continually be updated to reflect new revelation.
• It would stand on its own as a product of direct revelation from those who have authority.
• It would be internally and externally consistent with previous scripture, which was also revealed from God.
• It would be widely available to both members of the church and the world.

If you take a look at the revelations as recorded in the Doctrines and Covenants, you could see that it could be considered to be approaching this description. If you were a member of the church during the time of Joseph Smith then, other than the fact that revelations are written in the style of King James english rather than 19th century American English, the D&C would come very close to meeting that criteria.

Since shortly after the death of Joseph Smith, however, the D&C has not been updated to reflect continuing revelation at the same rate that Joseph brought forward. There are some potential explanations for this.

Some might say that modern Mormon church leaders don’t really receive revelations of the impact and significance that Joseph did. Mormon church leaders and members continue to claim that they are the recipient of continued revelation and prophecy – but just where are these products of the Prophet, Seer and Revelators of the church recorded?

The answer may surprise you.

The Book

There is a book that meets almost all the above criteria that is modern, current and published with the full supervision and endorsement of the heads of the church – addressing current, pertinent issues with the full weight of prophetic authority.  “Do you mean The Book of Mormon or the Doctrine and Covenants?” you may ask.

No.

Those well known scriptures offer the foundation of the gospel – a sort of birds eye view. When you get down to the nitty gritty, however, the standard works don’t come close to providing the necessary detail and specifics that a modern worldwide church requires. For example, where in the Book of Mormon or Doctrine and Covenants does it provide instruction on what to do if a woman with children divorces a man after temple marriage and desires to be sealed to another man? This is not a rare event, and it deals with a saving ordinance that is very important to the sister and her children. You will not find specifics about it in the D&C or Book of Mormon. What if a single woman desires children and wants to know if artificial insemination meets with God’s approval? That technology was not even conceived of in the time of Joseph Smith. Such a procedure would not involve sexual intercourse but the act of procreation would be committed. Does this violate the law of chastity? Would such an act require repentance? Again, the standard works of the church are silent on this issue. Only modern prophetic revelation could authoritatively answer these questions.

There is a book published by the church and given worldwide distribution which directly addresses these issues in a straightforward manner. Unlike traditional scriptures which are written in the prose and vernacular of a bygone era to which we struggle to relate – this book is written in the clear and concise language of our upbringing. Unlike scriptures, which use parable and allegory from a pre-industrial society which obfuscate and evade concrete understanding, this book spurns all metaphor and tells you directly how things are in final, unambiguous terms. Unlike with traditional scripture, you don’t have to strain logic and imagination to apply ancient moral edicts to modern issues such as artificial insemination, therapeutic hypnosis and euthanasia – this book unabashedly addresses such issues head on.

Like traditional scripture, this book can boldly pronounce truth backed solely by the self proclaimed legitimacy of it’s authorship and without requiring preceding reference to some other holy writ.

Sacred and Secret

What is this sacred and holy text? You don’t need to know – or at least you shouldn’t know. What I mean is that if the Church really wanted you to know, then it would publish the book and make it freely available to anyone who would ask. It certainly wouldn’t attempt to sue people who tried to make the essential truths therein more widely available. Nor would it fight against websites which make the book available to the world. If the church wanted people to know these truths, then it would put it on it’s own website and such leakers and whistleblowers would have nothing to disclose.

If you haven’t figured it out by now the book, which is apparently both sacred and secret, is none other than the Church Handbook of Instructions (abbreviated CHI).  It is the manual which the local leaders use to administer the church. This book arguably has more direct effect and impact in the lives of the  members of the church than any other scripture, and yet its access and even knowledge of its existence and content are limited among members.

Restricted Access

The Handbook is currently divided into 2 volumes. Volume 2 is made available to the auxiliary leaders of the church. Before 2010 this meant that the general lay membership of the church was restricted from this manual, but in 2010 the church finally made it available on their official website.

Volume 1 of the Handbook of Instructions, however, is a manual used only by specific leaders. Its distribution is designated in the introduction of the manual. Take a look at the distribution guidelines in the figure presented here. You will notice that all of the people who are entrusted with this sacred tome of modern revelation have one thing in common. They each have a penis – I mean, the priesthood… at any rate. You see, any man or boy in the church has the potential of one day arriving into this exclusive circle of privileged members.  There is not one single (or married) girl or woman in the church who will ever qualify to be in possession of this holy text.

Gotta have a “Y”

Because salvation in Mormonism is inextricably tied to the priesthood leadership of the church, the men who possess this handbook have essential knowledge for individual salvation that is not generally available to the lay membership. As it stands, any access a woman has to this book is at the permission of a man.

A helpful reader also pointed out that prior to 1978, no black men were given access to the handbooks. Though, if you recall it wasn’t until 2005 that a black man was called to be a Stake President.

Revisions

There is one important benefit of the secrecy and control that the CHI enjoys. It is the one official church publication for which there is no taboo against revision. You see, if the manual is only seen by a small percentage of people, then when key instructions such as a prohibition on contraception are changed, the leaders aren’t faced with questions from people who wonder if it was God that changed His mind or the leaders who were just making things up. Keeping the manual under restricted access allows these changes to go without much fanfare or notice.

Leaks in the dike

Looks like the Tanners are at it again…

The CHI has been leaked to the public in the past, and each instance has been met with an overbearing legal response by the church. Utah Lighthouse Ministry was sued by the church in late 1999 after they posted 17 pages from a 1998 version of the CHI on the Internet. In 2008 the whistleblower website Wikileaks published the 1999 CHI in full and was pursued legally by the Church resulting in it being taken down from a linked hosting site. Wikileaks continued to host other versions of the CHI. Then, shortly after the 2010 CHI was released, there was an unauthorized leak of it onto the internet.

Perhaps it was in response to the attention that these legal battles brought to the existence and content of the manuals, that the church started making Volume 2 publicly available and hosted on the official website. Volume 1 which deals with church discipline and more controversial aspects remains a sacred/secret privilege given to select men in the hierarchy.

The levee breaks

Oh snap!

Then, a few months ago on reddit a scanned copy of every handbook that has ever been published by the church was leaked onto the internet by an individual going by the name of “Ronan Dagus” who claimed to be a disillusioned employee from inside the church. His or her identity was never confirmed and the leak was initially encrypted and thought to be a hoax. After some creative sleuthing by intrepid redditors, the clues left by the leaker allowed them to crack the file and they discovered an unprecedented payload of scanned PDF files of the numerous manuals. The manuals were then widely distributed and hosted at various sites to attempt to maximize availability.

Conclusion

It is in the pages of this handbook that the more full extent of the Gospel is held. It is true that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are not subject to change in the hallowed pages of this administrative manual, but issues of increasing importance such as how a bishop should counsel a person who experiences same sex attraction or whether a person can choose contraception are codified therein and have shown variations throughout the years.

With the recent leak of all prior published manuals, we are entering a new era of openness around an important aspect of Church History. In the future I will be tracing certain issues through the handbooks to see how the instructions in them have changed over time in the church. For now, I am providing links to them so that you can see them for yourself.

Enjoy.

P.S.

Hear President Monson describe the utility of the Handbook at this page for leadership training in a video entitled “Follow the Handbook”

“There’s safety in the handbooks”

“The new handbooks will be a treasure to you, they’ll be a blessing to you and to those you serve as you read them, understand them and follow them.”

This is the same language used to encourage people to read and rely on the scriptures.

The Handbooks

[table]

Book Number,Year,Read on Archive.org
1,1899,Read
2,1900,Read
3,1901,Read
4,1902,Read
5,1903,Read
6,1904,Read
7,1905,Read
8,1906,Read
9,1908,Read
10,1909,Read
11,1910,Read
12,1913,Read
13,1921,Read
13 Second Edition,1923,Read
14,1928,Read
15,1934,Read
16,1940,Read
17,1944,Read
18,1960,Read
19,1963,Read
20,1968,Read
21 with 3 Supplements,1976,Read
22,1983,Read
22 Supplement,1985,Read
23,1985,Read
24,1989,Read
24 Supplement,1991,Read
25,1998,Read
26,2006,Read
26:1 Update,2006,Read
27:1A,2010,Read
27:2A,2010,Read
[/table]

 P.S.

The handbooks in their raw PDF form can be Downloaded here:

• Here is a link with the individual files hosted from Amazon.
• Here is a link with a single 500mb archive hosted at Mega.

P.P.S

Check out this post to help locate and showcase unique gems from Mormonisms cultural past which are found within the handbooks!