ABSTRACT
A preeminent aspect of Mormon restorationism, and lying at the heart of Joseph Smith's self-understanding of his prophetic mission, was therefore a restoration and expansion of scriptures in the modern age. Smith also had the essential insight that "no text is a scripture in itself and as such. People – a given community – make a text into scripture, or keep it scripture." New revelation from God would often complement previous revelations and scripture, but it might also supersede it and thus require the older words to be brought into line with God's most recent word. Scriptures are rarely produced through fully rationalistic processes, and they speak to aspects of the human experience that cannot be apprehended solely through logic and empiricism. The Pearl of Great Price is Mormonism's curry, with richness and depth belying its seeming simplicity. It packs a lot of layered flavors and sensations into a concentrated form.
