The short answer is no. The Church of Jesus Christ does not accept the Pearl of Great Price, the Book of Abraham, or the Book of Moses, as scripture. Our canon is the Bible and the Book of Mormon — two prophesied records coming together as one in the hand of God (see Ezekiel 37).
But the short answer deserves a longer explanation, because this question touches something important: How do we know what is scripture and what is not? The Book of Abraham is a particularly significant case because, unlike most religious texts, its claims can be tested against physical evidence. When they are, the results are clear. And the Book of Moses, while less dramatic, raises its own questions about what IS God’s word and what is a man’s revision.
The Pearl of Great Price — which contains the Book of Abraham and the Book of Moses — raises a core question: Does this harmonize with the Bible and the Book of Mormon, or does it contradict them?
The Book of Abraham: A Testable Claim
In 1835, Joseph Smith purchased a collection of Egyptian papyri from a traveling exhibitor and declared that they contained the writings of the patriarch Abraham. He published his translation in 1842 as the Book of Abraham.
For over a century, this claim could not be independently verified. The papyri were believed to have been destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. But in 1967, several fragments of the original papyri were rediscovered at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. For the first time, professional Egyptologists could examine the source material Joseph claimed to have translated.
Their findings were unanimous: the extant papyri are not the writings of Abraham. They are common Egyptian funerary texts — specifically, portions of the Book of Breathings, dating to roughly 200 BC, centuries after Abraham lived. The content is a standard guide for the deceased in the afterlife, entirely unrelated to Abraham or his story. No existing papyri suggests anything otherwise.
Erroneous Doctrines in the Book of Abraham
The Book of Abraham is not just a curiosity — it is the source of several distinctive doctrines:
- Premortal existence — the idea that human spirits lived with God before being born on earth
- Kolob cosmology — a star or planet said to be nearest to God’s throne
- Plurality of gods — multiple gods involved in creation
- The “noble and great ones” — a premortal council of spirits chosen for leadership
None of these teachings appear in the Bible. None appear in the Book of Mormon. In The Church of Jesus Christ, scripture must build upon scripture (all resting upon the same foundational truths) and be harmonious and supportive. The doctrines listed above have no explicit scriptural foundation in the Bible or Book of Mormon. Not only do these controversial doctrines not align with previously established scriptures, they actually contradict one another. The Book of Abraham’s teaching of plural gods directly contradicts what God Himself declared through Isaiah: “Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me” (Isaiah 43:10). And again: “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me” (Isaiah 45:5). The Book of Mormon echoes this: God is “unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity” (Moroni 8:18) and “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Mormon 9:9).
The Book of Abraham teaches a plurality of gods creating together. The Bible and the Book of Mormon teach one God, eternal and unchanging. Both cannot be true and therefore we do not accept the Book of Abraham as scripture.
The Book of Moses: Revision, Not Revelation
The Book of Moses is different from the Book of Abraham. It is not a translation of an ancient document — it is a revision of the early chapters of Genesis, produced between 1830 and 1831 as part of a broader “inspired translation” of the Bible.
The Book of Moses contains spiritual themes. But it also introduces theological ideas that are inconsistent with the original Genesis text.
The question is simple: the Bible and the Book of Mormon already exist. They already tell the story of creation, the fall, and God’s purposes. If God intended the Book of Moses to clarify His word, why would it introduce new doctrines not found in either record He already established? The pattern of scripture is that God’s word confirms and harmonizes with itself — not that later additions reshape what came before. Furthermore, had these doctrines been so significant, they likely would have been written in the Book of Mormon, but they don’t exist in either book of scripture.
Proverbs offers a pointed warning: “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:5–6). The Book of Moses adds to the Genesis account in ways that go beyond clarification into new theological territory and we therefore reject its claim to be scripture.
Does Scripture Leave Room for These Books?
The Book of Mormon prophesied two records — the Bible (Judah’s record) and the Book of Mormon (Joseph’s record) — growing together as witnesses of Christ (Ezekiel 37). God established truth through the testimony of two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15). The Bible and the Book of Mormon fulfill that pattern.
Paul wrote that scripture is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Scripture furnishes everything needed. And Moroni’s invitation — the great test of the Restoration — is to ask God about the Book of Mormon specifically (Moroni 10:3–5).
A Necessary Honesty: What About Future Records?
This must be addressed directly, because intellectual honesty requires it. Scripture does prophesy of additional records yet to come forth. Christ’s own words and deeds could not be contained in all the books of the earth (John 21:25). Second Nephi 29 speaks of records from the lost tribes of Israel. The Book of Ether describes a sealed record that will come forth in God’s time and settle many questions (Ether 4:4–7). There is the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon itself, and possibly the brass plates. These are real prophecies, and they should be taken seriously.
But notice what all of these have in common: they are ancient records from ancient peoples. They are not 19th-century revelations that a prophet or seer can offer, that contradicts the Word of God. And here is the governing principle: whatever God brings forth in the future will not contradict what He has already given. It will harmonize with the Bible and the Book of Mormon, not introduce new doctrines that undermine them.
When the sealed records do come forth — and we believe they will — they will confirm the testimony of Jesus Christ as found in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. They will not introduce a different God, a different doctrine, or a different gospel. “I am the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Mormon 9:9).
Do We Lose Anything Without These Texts?
Consider what the Bible and the Book of Mormon already provide without the Pearl of Great Price:
- A complete account of creation, the fall, and God’s plan of redemption
- The good news, or gospel, of Jesus Christ that He came and was the anointed Messiah, lived a sinless life, died on the cross to atone for our sins, resurrected bringing to pass the resurrection for all mankind and will judge the world at the last day (see 3 Nephi 27:13-16)
- Christ’s doctrine defined plainly: faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 11:31–40)
- A clear and consistent teaching that there is one God, eternal and unchanging
- Everything needed for salvation, without gaps or missing pieces
The concepts that are unique to the Pearl of Great Price — plural gods, premortal rankings, Kolob, etc., — explicitly appear nowhere else in scripture. Nothing in the Bible or the Book of Mormon requires them, references them, or misses them. When a doctrine depends entirely on a single source that fails historical scrutiny, and that doctrine contradicts the rest of scripture, the honest conclusion is that it was never part of God’s word to begin with.
Conclusion
“We believe that the New Testament scriptures contain a true description of that Church or Kingdom as established by our Saviour at Jerusalem, and that no principle or doctrine The Church of Jesus Christ inconsistent therewith ought to be practiced or respected, or any principle or doctrine consistent therewith rejected.” Article 4: Faith & Doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ
The Church of Jesus Christ does not accept the Pearl of Great Price, the Book of Abraham, or the Book of Moses as scripture. We reject doctrines of premortal existence, Kolob, any other “noble and great ones” besides God Almighty, etc. We believe that scripture prophesied two records (Ezekiel 37) and offers personal revelation as the test of the Book of Mormon’s inspiration from heaven. More records will come forth as prophesied one day to The Church of Jesus Christ, but they will be ancient records that harmonize with existing scripture — not personal theologies accepted as modern revelation that contradict or add completely new concepts. Restoration means to bring something back to its original form, and that is the gospel, the doctrine, the authority and purity held in The Church of Jesus Christ. The Bible and the Book of Mormon form a complete witness. They stand on solid ground. That is our foundation: Jesus Christ and His words.
