xxiFrequent Reference
Throughout this book, the phrase “fulness of the everlasting Gospel” is used
numerous times (sometimes with the word “fullness” misspelled), often redundantly. The
reference comes from Joseph Smith—History 1:34 and refers to the words of Christ found in
the Bible in Matthew, chapters 5, 6, and 7, which are repeated in the Book of Mormon in 3
Nephi, chapters 12, 13, and 14.
Those references are cited in the Introduction to the Book of Mormon, as well as 1
Nephi 10:14; 13:24; 15:13; 3 Nephi 16:10, 12; 20:28, 30; D&C, 20:9; 42:12; 76:14; 90:11; 109:65;
135:3 and Joseph Smith History 1:34. Those words are effectively summarized in Matthew
22:37–40: “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets.” (See also Luke 16:16; John 1:45; Acts 13:15; Romans 3:21; BOM, 3 Nephi 15:10;
D&C, 59:22.)
The sincere reader will not need these points to be continually repeated throughout
the text of this biography; therefore, reference for this phrase is only given a few times. On
occasion, the phrase will be written as “the fullness of the gospel,” or “the fullness of the
new covenant, the Lord’s everlasting gospel,” with all of these phrases referring to the same
thing. In sum, it all boils down to this: doing unto others as we would have others do unto
us. It is the underlying message of the life and mission of Joseph Smith, Jr.
In like manner, the scriptural passage set forth in Jacob 4:14 in the Book of Mormon is also
frequently quoted and referenced throughout this book:
But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words
of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could
not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came
by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away
his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they
cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God
hath done it, that they may stumble.This is because of its particular relevance and applicability to the LDS/Mormon people, and
their peculiar resemblance to the ancient Jews. Although this passage appears numerous
times within these pages, it was deemed expedient not to include it in the chapter endnotes
each and every time it is mentioned.