I got an email asking about contacting those involved in the Covenant of Christ text, because the writer wanted to pose questions to have the text defended. I responded with the below answer, which I also forwarded to those who worked on the project, as he requested. The answer to his question may be of general interest, so I am putting it up on this website below:
While I will pass it on, the accountability is confined to me.
During the years of work on moving words into modern meanings, I consulted on choices between variants, but the text remained essentially a restatement of the original with all the difficulties of reading the textual construct of the original.
When it was turned over to me, I trusted all of the predecessor work and went through the text originally believing it was only going to be a sort of commentary. But on the winter solstice I learned otherwise, and the revelation of that night has been put into the prayer I read at the conference.
That changed things. I worked through the text and made more changes to the content structurally, and condensed things that were redundant because it cleared up the text’s message to say it clearly once. I went through the entire text rearranging, condensing, and clarifying often by using fewer words.
Some of the text was particularly difficult and obtuse in meaning, so I highlighted the passage and moved on. As I proceeded I found one place where a sentence was repeated in two different versions. The ones who had it before me had not reached an agreement and one of them rendered the sentence one way and the other rendered it another way. I looked at the original sentence in the Book of Mormon and deleted both of the options and wrote it again plainly.
As I went through I also discovered late in Alma that there was a missing sentence. I found the original text in the Book of Mormon and recovered that missing sentence.
Please understand that I was “inspired” by another, higher intelligence than mine as I uncovered details, such as those I just mentioned and claim that the Lord guided my poor efforts.
After coming to the end I went back and looked at all the highlighted text materials and made the effort to figure out what the text was saying and then put it plainly in English we would understand today. As I did that I looked at the text before and after those places and found that it could be improved still further.
The first pass-through shortened the text by over 20 pages in the MS Word format I was using.
So I returned to the start and went through the text a second time from beginning to end. Then, after completing it I returned and did it again a third time. Then again a fourth time. Each time through the text was clarified and condensed, and sharpened in the statement the text was conveying.
By this time the text was shortened by over another 27 pages in the MS format I was using., reducing the text by over 47 pages total,
As I finished, there were still some things that I knew needed to be standardized but I did not want to keep the text from my predecessors and returned it to them with instructions about standardization and asked for their reactions/input. They completed their assignment and returned the text to me.
I then went through the text for what I believed would be a final pass through, and made still more changes and corrections as inspired to do, trusting this would be the end of the work. At that point I finalized and presented the prayer to the Lord to get the text approved by Him. Instead of approving I was again directed to go through the text another time from front to back. I did so and made the final changes to the text, again offered the prayer and received the Answer.
I made thousands of changes to the text in order to render it in the final form. I believe that all of the changes were attributable to the Lord and is specifically for the reason He stated to me on the Winter Solstice: “But this has a different purpose. This is to help a new generation to understand the content to help with the Lord’s return.” It has been a rework under Divine direction to accomplish that purpose. All of the restatements of the text are designed to sharpen the reader’s focus on those things most important for preparing a generation for the Lord’s return. Therefore I recognize that the text speaks a message now that was out of focus in the earlier text and therefore greatly sharpens the warning to us. The war chapters that seemed so random before are now aimed directly at us. We are now shown how selective and precise the destruction of the wicked has occurred in the people on this land who ripened in iniquity and failed to heed the God of this land.
The text is now ours. To either heed or reject. To parse into segments that ignore the direct and threatening warning sharpened in the restatement in modern English, or to give heed and realize the Lord will “in His wrath” do again what has happened before on this land.
This is a work that belongs to the Lord, because as He has stated: “There is as much Divine attention and assistance in getting this new version completed as before.”
I would never dare to make any change to anything the Lord has provided to us as scripture. It would take such gall and foolishness that I could not consider it. But, inasmuch as the Lord had condescended to speak with me, I will obey and do as He directs. And I will also confirm and testify the Lord has stated to me, and I have faithfully recorded His word that: “I labored alongside you in this work. My word is truth. My word is spirit. As you worked with the text I gave you my word and it is to be kept as it was given. My word carries with it the power of truth, and you are not called to alter it, but are to defend it. As you have considered comments from others you have feared man more than me. The corruption of scripture has been caused by men fearing others and failing to heed my word. You were told to update the language, and that included restating my doctrine, sacrament and baptismal prayers but you hesitated and needed to be commanded to do so. Let your work of updating the language now end with the words I have given you.
Publish it for the people to read. Then, have the voice of the people determine if they will accept it as my Covenant, as they will be judged by their voice on this matter.”
I will, therefore, defend it, just as I have been commanded to do. The accountability for the text rests with me. Although I will pass your email and this response along to the others who have worked on it, the overwhelming rewrite was my responsibility and was accomplished between December 10, 2023 and the Summer Solstice of 2024. Those were happenstance dates that I didn’t take any notice of until it was later pointed out to me by one of the others working on the project.
If there are questions or complaints I think I owe the responsibility to defend the text.