Scripture Study

The Know

The Doctrine and Covenants records various revelations given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, often in the voice of Jesus Christ Himself. In a very real way, then, Jesus Christ is the central figure of the Doctrine and Covenants, as He revealed “in plain terms who he is, what man needs to know about him, what he has done for man’s redemption, what he requires man to do himself, and future events coming upon the earth that will affect all mankind.”1

In these revelations, we find many descriptive names and titles of Jesus Christ.2 These names and titles (found in the table below) are revealed not only to authenticate the revelations as scripture revealed through a prophet but also to teach about some aspect of “Jesus’ Godhood, character, and redeeming mission, emphasizing that which is essential.”3

Table 1. Names and titles of Jesus Christ in the Doctrine and Covenants4

Among these names and titles, several important aspects of Jesus’s role shine through. Consider the following four:

Savior of the World

First and foremost, Jesus’s divine role as the Savior of the world is clearly manifest throughout the Doctrine and Covenants. Indeed, some of the names of Jesus reflecting His role as our Savior, such as Christ, “are used hundreds of times” throughout the Doctrine and Covenants.5 Names that reflect Jesus’s role as the Savior of the world include Advocate, Christ, Christ the Lamb, Deliverer from death, Jesus that was crucified, Lamb, Lamb of God, Light and the Redeemer, Redeemer, Redeemer of the world, Savior, and Savior of the world. Each of these names reflects the central aspect of Christ’s life and mission: “To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Many of the revelations even give specific and unique insights into Jesus’s role as our Savior. In one revelation, a portion of “the fulness of the record of John” declared that Jesus was “the Word, even the messenger of salvation” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:8, 18). One scholar, Matthew L. Bowen, has observed that there are significant connections between the name “messenger of salvation” and the designation that the Lord is “the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in,” and who will “suddenly come to his temple” in Malachi 3:1.6 This verse from Malachi is likewise quoted in other early revelations and translations done by Joseph Smith, impressing upon the early Saints’ minds the need to build a temple and the identity of the Lord as a messenger of the covenant.7 Temple covenants therefore play a large role in the salvation of humankind, as temple petitioners can approach the Lord and become more like Him.8

Son of God

Another central theme found throughout the Doctrine and Covenants is the affirmation that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus is variously referred to as the Only Begotten Son, the Only Begotten Son of God, the Son of God, the Son of the living God, and the Son of Man. In the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple, Joseph Smith likewise referred to Jesus as the “Son of thy bosom,” reflecting the tender relationship that Joseph Smith knew God and Jesus share (Doctrine and Covenants 109:4).

Occasionally, the Doctrine and Covenants will also refer to Jesus as “Son Ahman,” a unique title found only in Joseph Smith’s revelations. In addition to appearing in the revelations canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants, this name is also found in an 1832 document that contains a “sample of pure language given by Joseph the Seer,” which relates a few words from the pure language Adam spoke, as mentioned in the book of Moses (see Moses 6:5–6). This document identifies Ahman, or Awmen, as a name of God, meaning “the being which made all things in all its parts.” The name Son Ahman, or Son Awmen, is likewise identified to mean “God’s firstborn.”9 This revealed name also strengthens the identity of Jesus as the firstborn Son of God as taught in the New Testament.

Endless and Eternal

In a revelation to Martin Harris, Jesus Christ declared, “Endless is my name” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:10). Other names of Jesus that reflect His endless and eternal nature include Alpha and Omega, Alphus and Omegus, the beginning and end, and the first and the last. Jesus Christ, as an infinite, eternal, and endless being, was therefore uniquely qualified to perform the infinite and eternal sacrifice of the Atonement (Alma 34:14). As Elder Tad R. Callister explained, “The Atonement is ‘infinite’ because its source is ‘infinite’ . . . meaning a being who possessed all divine virtues in unlimited measure, and was therefore a God.”10

Creator

Jesus is also identified as the “creator of worlds” and our “Maker,” having aided the Father in the creative processes that brought about worlds without end. In some instances, the Doctrine and Covenants describes specialized acts of creation that accord well with ancient understandings and names of God. In Doctrine and Covenants 95:7, for instance, Jesus identifies Himself as “the Lord of Sabaoth, which is by interpretation, the creator of the first day, the beginning and the end.” This title, which is also found in the King James rendering of James 5:4, is derived from the Hebrew name-title Yhwh ṣĕbāʾôt meaning “Lord of Hosts,” another name for Jesus (see Doctrine and Covenants 1:33). However, as Matthew L. Bowen has observed, the identification of the Lord of Sabaoth or Hosts with “the creator of the first day” reflects ancient Israelite beliefs that God created or begat the heavenly hosts and angels on the first day of creation.11

This could naturally be understood as referring to “the premortal hosts of the human family” being organized and accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior in premortal councils, as described in the books of Moses and Abraham.12 Jesus Christ, as God’s chosen Savior, not only organized these hosts of the Father’s children in heaven on the “first day” but also continued to organize the human family through covenants.

Bowen notes this was especially manifest as the Lord’s “‘creating,’ or ‘begetting,’ Israel in the wilderness was, in a sense, a replication or reenactment of ‘the first day’ or ‘Day One.’”13 Furthermore, Jesus “worked out the infinite atonement,” thereby “finishing the heavenly ‘hosts,’ at least those who are true and faithful in all things, as ‘gods.’”14 Thus, this act of creation is ongoing and directly connected to Jesus’s role as our Savior, Redeemer, and Advocate with the Father.

The Why

While with His disciples the night before He was to be crucified, Jesus Christ prayed, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Jesus Christ has repeated that same injunction in the latter days, adding, “I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law” (see Doctrine and Covenants 132:24).

The call to know God and Jesus is an important one that must not be taken lightly. Perhaps for this reason, so many names for Them are found throughout scripture. In addition to the 112 names of Jesus used in the Doctrine and Covenants, Jesus is referred to by 101 different names in the Book of Mormon and yet more in the Bible.15 Of course, many repeat throughout each book of scripture, but they all reflect an essential characteristic or aspect of Jesus’s nature.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland summarized, “We can learn more about who Christ was, is, and will yet be by examining the names and titles given to Him than by any other method.”16 Elder James E. Talmage likewise observed, “The divinity of Jesus Christ is indicated by the specific names and titles authoritatively applied to Him. According to man’s judgment there may be but little importance attached to names; but in the nomenclature of the Gods every name is a title of power or station.”17 When His names are better understood, modern readers can better understand who Jesus is and better appreciate His endless love and mercy for the world.