Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day will through His prophets. We believe, use, and love the Bible, but there are other books in our scriptural canon that we use as well, including the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. Of the additional scriptures used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Pearl of Great Price is perhaps the least known. What is the Pearl of Great Price?

While the Doctrine and Covenants is composed largely of revelations received through Joseph Smith regarding the operation and doctrine of the Church beginning in 1830, the Pearl of Great Price is composed of other revelations received through Joseph Smith.

The name itself comes from the Bible. The Savior, speaking in parables, said: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” (Matt. 13:45-46.) The name “The Pearl of Great Price,” then, tells us that the knowledge had on its pages are more precious to us than worldly wealth.

It’s an interesting book of scripture, and very short. Two of the books within, Moses and Abraham, were received by Joseph Smith in the early years of the Church. They contain writings of these ancient prophets-the same as the Moses and Abraham in the Bible-that are not found in the current versions of the Bible.

The book of Moses talks about Moses’s calling as a prophet, the creation of the world, and the Lord’s dealings with Adam and Enoch in greater detail than is had in the Bible today. The book of Abraham also talks about the creation, the premortal life of man, and Abraham’s early history. Latter-day Saints often study these books as they study the first chapters of Genesis, as the two fit together chronologically. They contain truths that were previously lost from the Bible.

The book called Joseph Smith — Matthew is an enlargement of Matthew chapter 24 as revealed through Joseph Smith. It discusses preparation for the Second Coming and what the world will be like at that time. Joseph Smith — History is another book in this collection. In this book, he describes what we call “The First Vision,” where God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him when he prayed for guidance on which church he should join. He also talks about his visitation by the Angel Moroni a few years later, in which Moroni gave him instructions on finding and translating the gold plates into what would become the Book of Mormon.

The Pearl of Great Price also contains the Articles of Faith, which is a short summary of the beliefs of the Church as written by Joseph Smith. The Articles of Faith are handy to memorize; while they do not include everything important about the Church, they are a good summary of some of the things that are important to us.

The heavens are not closed, and we are truly blessed to have the word of God available to us today. Having the scriptures in our lives is indeed a great blessing.