Publisher's Synopsis
A Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel
Franklin D. Richards,
One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Elder james A. Little
We consider the Bible, Book of Mormon, Book of Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price and sayings of Joseph, the Seer, our guides in faith and doctrine. The first four have been adopted as such by a vote of the Saints in General Conference. Reference to other writings are only for illustration of the subject.
We have sought to furnish the best available material for the use of the Elders. It is for them to seek for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to enable them to use it with discretion.
On most of the subjects treated, only a portion of the passages that refer to them have been cited, but we have endeavored to use the best. We designed to make the Compendium sufficiently elaborate to give it a wide range of usefulness, and, at the same time, not make it so large as to be burdensome to the Elders who travel and preach the Gospel. Practically, we have aimed to get up a book that would contain a great amount of information for its bulk.
The arguments on each subject are so plain and direct, that, we trust, they may be made available by the most inexperienced Elders. At the same time, the references and citations are considered sufficient for the more advanced student to acquire a thorough knowledge of the subjects treated on.