Q&A with Alonzo L. Gaskill and Richard G. Moore, compilers of The Revised and Expanded Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith: Compared with the Earliest Known Manuscripts February 13 2025

We recently spoke with Alonzo L. Gaskill and Richard G. Moore, compilers of The Revised and Expanded Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith: Compared with the Earliest Known Manuscripts, about their new book.

Greg Kofford Books: What inspired you to create this revised edition of The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith?

Richard Moore: The project was Alonzo’s idea. He came to me after his student researchers were having a difficult time finding some of the original or earliest sources. I initially came on board as a researcher. Later, as we became aware of how large this project was becoming, he invited me to be a co-compiler. I was excited to be part of this. As strange as it might sound to most people, I actually enjoy research.

Alonzo Gaskill: I’ve loved TPJS and have memorized so many of the quotes attributed to the Prophet Joseph. However, with the Joseph Smith Papers Project, that volume largely found itself “on the outs” and not trusted as it once was. I wanted the Prophet’s teachings to still be accessible—but as correctly as possible. Hence the ten-year project to create a new version of this once very popular text.

GKB: How did the collaboration between you and the Joseph Smith Papers Project influence the book?

Alonzo: I initially assumed that they would take on this project, but when I discussed this with affiliates of the JSP—and discovered that they would not be doing this—I jumped on the decade long project. We chatted with various affiliates during the project, but the book is not affiliated with the JSP and doesn’t solely rely on their work.

Rich: The Joseph Smith Papers were invaluable—an awesome work. I originally thought that I would be using the Joseph Smith Papers almost exclusively, but I soon discovered that there were many other sources that were not available in the JSP. There were the journal entries or diaries of others, newspapers, letters, and documents in the Church History Library not found in the JSP.

GKB: What challenges did you face while comparing the original manuscripts to earlier editions?

Rich: The painstaking process of comparing our document with the originals. Hours and hours of me reading the text (including every punctuation and capital letter) while Alonzo followed along with what we had in our manuscript. It was not just a cut and paste thing.

Alonzo: We had to read and reread, making sure we had gotten things correct. We had a few occasions—though not many—where our reading of an original document did not agree with other interpreters (including those at the JSP). So, we methodically went through these books and documents, reading and rereading, trying very hard to get things “right.” That was challenging, time consuming, and painful—though necessary.

GKB: Why was it important to retain the original pagination from the 1938 edition?

Alonzo: Because that’s the same pagination used in all subsequent versions, we wanted to stick with that so that users of the volume could quickly locate any quote they were trying to look up.

Rich: I was surprised to discover that the same pagination from the 1938 first edition of TPJS was used throughout its publication history. That was actually a bonus for us. We didn’t have to note different editions.

GKB: How does this new edition address previous historical inaccuracies or misconceptions?

Alonzo: We’ve corrected those, identifying quotes “attributed” to Joseph that turned out to be the words of another person, and we’ve provided the original words that, in some cases, Joseph Fielding Smith expanded into a quote (drawing on only a few words). So, our version of TPJS makes clear what was actually recorded of Joseph’s teachings and what (in the original TPJS) is not actually Joseph, but instead the words of someone else.

Rich: We discovered that some of the statements found in TPJS were edited and expanded by early Church historians after they arrived in Utah. Perhaps they were there when Joseph Smith spoke and remembered some of what he said—even though the handwritten notes from that occasion were sparse. Or maybe they felt like they knew Joseph well enough to expand the notes into sentences they believed he would have said. Truth is, there are no recordings of Joseph speaking, only notes taken by scribes and other observers. In many cases, we do not know exactly what he said. We tried to find the earliest or original sources and put them in unedited.

GKB: What criteria did you use to select the content included in the revised edition?

Rich: Earliest and most valid sources we could find.

Alonzo: We sought to use the earliest sources. Often there were early (but not the earliest) sources that had been fleshed out after the Prophet’s martyrdom. However, we tried to use the earliest source, so that additions or changes were not included in the volume.

GKB: Can you explain the significance of Joseph Smith's sermons being reconstructed from notes rather than verbatim records?

Alonzo: Joseph was largely an extemporaneous speaker, so “verbatim” texts of his sermons don’t exist. Likewise, Joseph often authorized others to write and publish things under his name. Thus, it became important to explain the source and nature of the various quotes that have been attributed to Joseph for well over 100 years. In his early sermons, there was often only one notetaker. In his later sermons (like during the Nauvoo era) you would usually have several people taking notes—which made those discourses easier to flesh out.

Rich: I recently read where someone claimed they had the actual, verbatim words of the King Follett Discourse. The published sermon we have came from four different sources. There is no exact version. In fact, a person can read the King Follett Discourse in about 15 or 20 minutes. Yet, Joseph is reported to have spoken for more than two hours. The people who made an amalgamated version did a great job, but we simply have to recognize that it is incomplete and probably not necessarily Joseph’s exact words.

GKB: How do you hope this edition will impact the study of Latter-day Saint history and doctrine?

Alonzo: The JSP project was of incalculable value to historians, authorities, speakers, teachers, and members. However, the volumes are expensive and not readily accessible in hardcopy. Additionally, as valuable as the website is, it can be very challenging to find specific quotes on the site. (Indeed, sometimes the transcripts posted on the website are not 100% accurate, which poses its own challenges.) Thus, we have made available in a single volume the “best of” Joseph’s teachings—many of which (though not all) are in the JSP volumes. So, this will help those who want to quote him accurately but who do not have ready access to all of the volumes.

Rich: There has been some criticism that we were simply redoing what the Joseph Smith Papers project was doing, only on a much smaller scale. There is no possible way we could match what the JSP people have done, nor were we trying to do that. Our goal was simply to focus on the book Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith because it was such an important volume for many years. So many of us are very familiar with the statements from that book. We wanted to have it continue to be useful for those people who grew up with it, and add to it where they could find the original sources, whether in JSP, Wilford Woodruff’s Journals, Times and Seasons, Church History Library, etc. We were trying to make things easier to find for the average person.

GKB: What new insights did you gain while compiling this edition that surprised you the most?

Alonzo: Largely just that many quotes traditionally attributed to Joseph Smith were either summarizations of what he taught (by Joseph Fielding Smith, or others) or were statements of other people, but changed to appear to be the words of the Prophet himself.

Rich: I gained a greater appreciation for the efforts of Joseph Fielding Smith who in the 1930s, without the use of modern technology, compiled TPJS. I also became aware of the fact that, in many cases, we do not have the exact wording of the Prophet Joseph, and in some cases, we are not sure that these are his words at all. Case in point, for a time he was the editor of the Times and Seasons. There were editorials in the Times and Seasons that were included in TPJS. Joseph was the editor. These were editorials. But did he write them? Maybe he did. Perhaps the editorials were written by others and approved by Joseph. We just don’t know for sure. I’ve come to the point when I am quoting the Prophet from a source that I am unsure of, I will simply use the phrase “a statement attributed to Joseph Smith.”

GKB: How does the book balance historical accuracy with maintaining its devotional and instructional purpose?

Alonzo: The fact that we have just gone back to the earliest sources assures that “historical accuracy.” The reality that we have left the structure of the original TPJS has enabled us to retain the “devotional and instructional” value of the words.

Rich: I remember a religion professor when I was a university student saying that Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith was the fifth standard work. I recall being disappointed when it was taken out of print and it was suggested that people writing books and articles not cite it anymore. After going through it for the past ten years, I do understand the hesitancy of quoting it when we now have better sources. However, the teachings of Joseph Smith, as accurate as we can get them, have not lost their importance and value to me.

The Revised and Expanded Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith: Compared with the Earliest Known Manuscripts is available in both paperback and as a PDF ebook.