Yesterday evening I finished rereading the Doctrine and Covenants.  A thing that impresses me every time I read the book is the fact that neither Joseph Smith nor any other man could have been capable of writing it.  The concepts, the wording, and the language are too lofty for any mortal man to have written.

In the last several days I’ve become aware of superlatives.  The scriptures are full of them.  They make me grateful to be a part of this gospel.  A superlative is an extreme or unsurpassed level.  It is the utmost degree.

The Explanatory Introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants contains the one that got my thinking started along these lines.  It says that “…this book (is) of great value to the human family and of more worth than the riches of the whole earth.”

I agree.  There are doctrines found therein that are calculated to exalt mankind.  They are often doctrines that are found nowhere else in the scriptures.  The three degrees of glory are explained therein.  The concept of eternal marriage, sealings, the necessity of marriage, eternal families, the destiny of the earth, and the importance of the Church in the overall scheme of things are doctrines that come through loud and clear.

Another superlative leaps out at the reader near the end of the book.  It says there that “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of man in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.”  (D&C 135:3).

A person needs to be careful when using superlatives, because they’re usually not really the ultimate or utmost degree.  But this startling statement about Joseph Smith is true.  Father Adam occupies a preeminent position over Joseph, but even he didn’t accomplish as much in his 930 years as Joseph did in his 38-1/2.

The Doctrine and Covenants makes me aware of the nearness of our Savior, and of His intimacy with us.  His is the “only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men.”  (Another superlative, Moses 6:52; also

2 Ne. 25:20 and Acts 4:12).  Mohammed can’t save us, nor can Joseph Smith, nor the president of the United States, nor Adam, nor any other prophet real or imagined.  There is none other name.  How grateful we must be for Jesus.

He says, “…I am the Lord thy God.  I am more intelligent than they all.”  (A superlative from Abraham 3:19).  Does that mean that He is more intelligent than any other single person, or that He is more intelligent than all the rest of us put together?  I think both interpretations are true.

I’m grateful for the Book of Mormon, “the most correct of any book on earth.”  (A superlative from a statement by Joseph Smith recorded in the Introduction to the Book of Mormon).  Having finished reading the Doctrine and Covenants I get to begin my 44^th reading of the Book of Mormon today.  I love reading it because I “get nearer to God” when reading it, just as Joseph said that I would.

I’m grateful for the scriptures, for the Restoration, for Joseph Smith, and for my membership in “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth.”  (Another superlative, D&C 1:30).  I’m grateful for my priesthood.  The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood contains another remarkable, amazing superlative.  “And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; and he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.  And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood.”  (D&C 84: 37-39).

I’m supremely happy, yet even my level of joy doesn’t reach what Alma experienced since my level of pain hasn’t reached his, either.  He said “that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains.  Yea, and again I say unto you…that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.”  (Another superlative, Alma 36: 20, 21).

—1 July 2012.