Book of the Law of the Lord

The Book of the Law of the Lord was "translated from metallic plates" with the use of Urim and Thummim by James Strang in the late 1840s, and first published in 1851. It contains "the original Book of the Law as it was given to Moses". In addition to the Decalogue, which is different from Jewish, Catholic, Islamic and Protestant versions, the book contains extensive detail on how to govern a nation under a king.

The second edition (1856), which was about to be printed when Strang was assassinated, contains extensive notes on all the translated chapters, revealing that the author Strang was deeply educated in history and geography. For example, the differences in the various decalogues are analyzed in detail, and long exhortations which rationally explain the virtues and principles mentioned in the law are found in the book.

It is written clearly and is internally coherent given the premise that the book is what it says it is. Regardless of its origin, it is comprehensive enough to be such a book as King Josiah found in his 18th year, while cleaning the treasury room of the temple.

The 1856 edition was "expanded" from the original edition, and interpolated with further revelations by Strang. It is easy to see the difference in style between Strang's self-appointment to kingship and the original translation, which contained less expression of ego. Given the nature of mystical authorship, the original 1851 edition may very well be what it says it is, but the 1856 edition is clearly less coherent. For example, a passage in the 1851 edition regarding the king's duties: "He shall not multiply to himself wives; lest he forget the Law, and avenge not his people: and lest his heart turn from them to strange women" is contradicted by a long essay on the virtues of polygamy in the 1856 edition. Strang by this time had several wives.

An excerpt

1. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy might, and with all thy strength: thou shalt adore him, and serve him, and obey him: thou shalt have no other gods before thee: thou shalt not make unto thee any image or likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters of the earth, to bow thyself unto it, or to worship it: thou shalt not bow down thyself unto, nor adore anything that thine eye beholdeth, or thy imagination conceiveth of; but the Lord thy God only; for the Lord thy God is a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, from generation to generation, even upon all that hate him, and showing a multitude of mercies unto them that keep his commandments.

2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: thou shalt not usurp dominion as a ruler; for the name of the Lord thy God is great and glorious above all other names: he is above all, and is the only true God; the only just and upright King over all: he alone hath the right to rule; and in his name, only he to whom he granteth it: whosoever is not chosen of him, the same is a usurper, and unholy: the Lord will not hold him guiltless, for he taketh his name in vain.

3. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work; thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy womanservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates: for in six ages the Lord thy God made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh age: wherefore the Lord thy God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it: thou shalt keep it holy unto him, that thou forget not the Law, nor be found keeping the company of the vile, nor be despised by the righteous.

4. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: thou shalt not revile him, nor speak evil of him, nor curse him: thou shalt do no injustice unto him; and thou shalt maintain his right, against his enemy: thou shalt not exact rigorously of him, nor turn aside from relieving him: thou shalt deliver him from the snare and the pit, and shalt return his ox when he strayeth: thou shalt comfort him when he mourns, and nurture him when he sickens: thou shalt not abate the price of what thou buyest of him, for his necessity; nor shalt thou exact of him, because he leaneth upon thee: for in so doing thousands shall rise up and call thee blessed, and the Lord thy God shall strengthen thee in all the work of thy hand.

5. Honour thy father and thy mother: give heed to their commandments, obey their laws, and depart not from their precepts: reverence their age, and seek unto their house all the days of thy life: exalt not thyself against them, nor withhold to build up their house above thine own: honour and obey the King and the Judges, and the rulers, and all that are set in authority; for they are as fathers among the people: that they may be a fear unto evil doers; and the Priest also, who stands before the Lord, that he may instruct thee: and thy days shall be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

External links

• Book of the Law of the Lord, (strangite.org) (http://www.strangite.org/Law.htm)
• Book of the Law of the Lord, another site (http://members.aol.com/strang7222/01.htm)
• Book of the Law of the Lord, another site (http://www.vorsoft.com/faith/archive/law/)
• Book of the Law of the Lord, another site (http://home1.gte.net/dbroadhu/RESTOR/Lib/Strg1856.htm)
• Book of the Law of the Lord, another site (http://www.mormonbeliefs.com/book_of_the_law.htm)
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (http://www.strangite.org/Welcome.htm)
• The Second Book of the Chronicles, KJV (http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/kjv/ch2034.htm)