Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual

Contents
Title Page
Introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual
Doctrine and Covenants Lessons
- The Restoration Proclamation
- Doctrine and Covenants 1
- Joseph Smith—History 1:1–26
- Doctrine and Covenants 2; Joseph Smith—History 1:27–65
- Doctrine and Covenants 3–5
- Doctrine and Covenants 6–9
- Doctrine and Covenants 10–11
- Doctrine and Covenants 12–17; Joseph Smith—History 1:66–75
- Doctrine and Covenants 18
- Doctrine and Covenants 19
- Doctrine and Covenants 20–22
- Doctrine and Covenants 23–26
- Doctrine and Covenants 27–28
- Doctrine and Covenants 29
- Doctrine and Covenants 30–36
- Doctrine and Covenants 37–40
- Doctrine and Covenants 41–44
- Doctrine and Covenants 45
- Doctrine and Covenants 46–48
- Doctrine and Covenants 49–50
- Doctrine and Covenants 51–57
- Doctrine and Covenants 58–59
- Doctrine and Covenants 60–63
- Doctrine and Covenants 64–66
- Doctrine and Covenants 67–70
- Doctrine and Covenants 71–75
- Doctrine and Covenants 76
- Doctrine and Covenants 77–80
- Doctrine and Covenants 81–83
- Doctrine and Covenants 84
- Doctrine and Covenants 85–87
- Doctrine and Covenants 88
- Doctrine and Covenants 89–92
- Doctrine and Covenants 93
- Doctrine and Covenants 94–97
- Doctrine and Covenants 98–101
- Doctrine and Covenants 102–105
- Doctrine and Covenants 106–108
- Doctrine and Covenants 109–110
- Doctrine and Covenants 111–114
- Doctrine and Covenants 115–120
- Doctrine and Covenants 121–123
- Doctrine and Covenants 124
- Doctrine and Covenants 125–128
- Doctrine and Covenants 129–132
- Doctrine and Covenants 133–134
- Doctrine and Covenants 135–136
- Doctrine and Covenants 137–138
- The Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 and 2
- The Family: A Proclamation to the World
- The Living Christ
Life Preparation Lessons
- Doctrinal Mastery: Finding Answers to My Questions
- Scripture Study Skills
- For the Strength of Youth: Making Choices
- Building Self-Reliance
- Physical and Emotional Health
- Preparing for Future Education and Employment
- Succeeding in School
- Missionary Preparation
- Temple Preparation
- Teachings of Church Leaders
Appendix

Lesson 70—Doctrinal Mastery Practice 4: Apply the Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge

“Lesson 70—Doctrinal Mastery Practice 4: Apply the Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)

“Doctrinal Mastery Practice 4,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual

Lesson 70: Doctrine and Covenants 51–57

Doctrinal Mastery Practice 4

Apply the Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge

Doctrinal mastery can help students build the foundation for their lives upon Jesus Christ and His gospel. This lesson will give students opportunities to practice mastering the passages and the doctrine these passages teach. Students will also learn and apply divine principles for acquiring spiritual knowledge.

Possible Learning Activities

Doctrinal mastery review: Apply

The following questions could be used to help students practice learning how to apply the teachings of the doctrinal mastery passages to real-life situations. If needed, you could create questions that relate to the doctrinal mastery passages your students have learned so far.

Invite students to select one question they would like to focus on.

If I’m a good person, does it matter what church I join?
How can I know if I am receiving personal revelation?
Why should I share the gospel with my friends and family?
Why should I participate in general conference?
How can I strengthen my connection to Jesus Christ?

Students could do the following activity in small groups or as a class.

One of the skills we can learn is how to apply scripture passages to real-life situations. For each question above, choose a doctrinal mastery passage that might help someone with their concern. For a list of the doctrinal mastery passages and key scripture phrases, look in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2023).

Be sure students understand that more than one doctrinal mastery passage is used to answer each question.

After students have had sufficient time to identify doctrinal mastery passages that apply to their chosen scenarios, discuss their findings by asking questions like the following:

Which doctrinal mastery passages do you feel apply to the scenario you focused on?
How could these doctrinal mastery passages help with that scenario?

Consider asking a few students to share the passage they selected and how they feel it might help someone with that question.

Plan to spend no more than 10–15 minutes on this activity to allow enough time for the doctrinal mastery practice application later in the lesson.

Additional ideas about how to help students apply doctrinal mastery passages can be found in materials under “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities” in the appendix.

Learn and apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge

For the rest of the lesson, focus on helping students apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to a real-life situation. Before creating the scenario below, it may be helpful to invite students to review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge. Suggested review activities are included in the appendix under “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities.” Descriptions of the principles are found in paragraphs 5–12 of the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document.

Create a scenario

To help students apply the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge, consider creating a scenario as a class about someone who has concerns about marriage or starting a family.

You could invite students to list beliefs they might have heard about marriage and family on the board. Invite students to choose an item from this list they feel is relevant to help create the scenario. Ask students to choose a name for the person in the scenario who has this concern and add details until it feels like a real-life, relevant situation they or someone they know might face.

The following is an example scenario:

Troy’s parents divorced when he was young. He has a good relationship with both of his parents, but it seems to him like his parents wish they never got married. He has also witnessed many disagreements and much stress. He wonders if marriage is worth it. He feels unsure if he ever wants to get married.

Discussion stations

One way for students to use the scenario to practice the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge is to identify challenges and brainstorm solutions. The following discussion prompts could be placed around the room. You could organize students into smaller groups to address the questions at each station.

After adequate time at a station, you might rotate the groups so every student practices applying the three principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge. Based on the scenario the class created, it might be helpful to adjust the provided discussion questions.

Station 1

The challenges: What perspectives might influence this person’s feelings about marriage and family? Why do you think it could be difficult to see an eternal perspective in this situation?
Possible ways to help: What would you want this person to understand about Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation? How could an eternal perspective address the challenges you identified?
Review paragraphs 8–10 in the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document, and identify additional statements of truth that could be helpful.

Station 2

The challenges: Where might this person have encountered these ideas? Why might these philosophies be persuasive?
Possible ways to help: Why would it be important to rely on divinely appointed sources when seeking information about marriage and family? Find one or two scriptures or prophetic statements that could help in this scenario.
Review paragraphs 11–12 in the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document, and identify additional statements of truth that could be helpful.

For station 2, consider providing students with a card or sticky note to write the scripture or prophetic quote they find and place it on the board. When the students have rotated through all three stations, you might ask a few students to share why the scripture or prophetic statement they selected could help the person in the scenario.

If students need help finding a scripture reference, you might list passages such as Genesis 1:28; 2:24; 1 Corinthians 11:11; Doctrine and Covenants 42:22–25; 49:15–17; 131:1–4 on the board.

Station 3

The challenges: What might make it difficult for this person to act in faith?
Possible ways to help: What would you invite this person to do to act in faith? How could these actions increase this person’s trust in Jesus Christ as they work through these challenges?
Review paragraphs 5–7 in the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document, and identify additional statements of truth that could be helpful.

What you have learned

The following questions could be used in a discussion or journal activity:

From what you learned today, what would you share with someone who had questions about Heavenly Father’s doctrine of marriage and family?
What have you learned about acquiring spiritual knowledge that could help someone address a gospel-related question?

You might remind students it is normal to have questions about the gospel. You could share your feelings about the power of using the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to address any personal questions or concerns.