Pearl of Great Price

The Pearl of Great Price is one of the four standard works, or scriptures, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). The other standard works are the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants.

Summary

The Pearl of Great Price is the shortest work of scripture in the Mormon canon and is comprised of five other works. These works are:

1. Selections from the Book of Moses

   This work includes eight chapters relating events from the Creation up to and including God declaring the coming Great Flood to Noah. These chapters are from Joseph Smith, Jr.'s translation of the Bible, which was begun in June 1830, and approximately correlate with the first six chapters of the book of Genesis.

2. The Book of Abraham

   This book is the translation of some Egyptian papyri that Joseph Smith, Jr., acquired in 1835. The papyri contained writings of the biblical prophet Abraham, which included additional historic information beyond that which is found in the Bible as well as teachings about the Creation. This book also contains reproductions of three drawings, called facsimiles, which were included with the original papyri. The Book of Abraham was originally published as a series of articles in the Mormon newspaper Times and Seasons beginning March 1, 1842, in Nauvoo, Illinois.

3. Joseph Smith - Matthew

   This is the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew as retranslated by Joseph Smith, Jr.

4. Joseph Smith - History

   This is Joseph Smith, Jr.'s own account of the events that transpired to bring to light the Book of Mormon. This includes his confusion as a youth with the myriad different churches, his First Vision of God and Jesus Christ, visits by the angel Moroni, and Joseph's receiving of the original Book of Mormon writings. This work was first written in 1838 and published as a series of articles in the Times and Seasons beginning March 15, 1842.

5. The Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

   These 13 articles were originally written in response to a request to Joseph Smith, Jr., for a brief history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were intended as a brief doctrinal summary. They were originally published March 1, 1842, in the Times and Seasons.