{"product_id":"2940151088442","title":"Not Leaving and Going On to Perfection","description":"A Review of Samuel M. Brown's First Principles and Ordinances: The Fourth Article of Faith in Light of the Temple, Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute, 2014. 167 pp., index.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn his most recent book, First Principles and Ordinances: The Fourth Article of Faith in Light of the Temple (hereafter First Principles), Samuel M. Brown observes that \"the Plan of Salvation [is] fundamentally about relationships.\" This recognition drove the prophet Joseph Smith and early Church members to \"forge communities [of saints] that could endure beyond the veil of death\" (151). Today, the importance of the temple and its ordinances to family relationships, eternal in their design, are clear to most Latter-day Saints. However, our collective view of the meaning of the principles and ordinances that precede the temple -- and lead us to it -- is somewhat murkier. Brown demonstrates that what Latter-day Saints sometimes perfunctorily regard merely as \"the first principles and ordinances of the gospel\" (Articles of Faith 1:4) are -- every bit as much as the temple itself is -- about relationships. In fact, one cannot fully contextualize the temple and its ordinances unless one understands this aspect of the first principles and ordinances of the gospel.","brand":"Interpreter Foundation","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47075864084720,"sku":"2940151088442","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940151088442_p0.jpg?v=1763758527","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940151088442","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}