Dr. Einar C. Erickson
Ancient Document Mormon Scholar
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Adam imparted revelation to his son Seth and showed him his original greatness before the transgression and his going out of paradise. He recommended his son Seth never fail in justice. Seth welcomed the teachings of his father with a pure heart. It was given to him to inscribe this wisdom in a book and to teach it. And thanks to him for the first time in this world there was seen a book written in the name of the Most High. A righteous God-given book.

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5: BISHOPS AND PRESIDING BISHOPS:
SOMMER, p. 62, points out that the word in the documents "inspectors" is translated as bishop and he says: "In the other hand it appears that in addition to the inspectors of each camp an "inspector of all camps" is to be recognized "the bishop of bishops" as it were (Dam. A XIIV. 9-10): "As for the inspector established over all the camps, he shall be between 30 and 50 years old, competent in the organization of men and in all sorts of languages according to their (various) families." Here he is concluding the documents speak about bishops and presiding bishops as well.

BLACK, p. 116-117, has this to say about bishops: "The function of the "Censor of the Camps" presents an interesting analogy with the early Christian Bishop, but any suggestion of the direct derivation of the one from the other is ruled out, if only by the fact that (bishop written in Greek) is a Christian coinage for the office, with its origin almost certainly to be traced to the use of the word in trade guilds and societies of the Hellenistic world. Nothing in the function of these lay bishops, however corresponds to the nature of the office of the Christian Bishop, and the Essene "bishop" and Qumran mebaqqer does provide a much closer analogy." BLACK, then make an assertion that states what the ancient bishops were like, and close attention to that description matches that of a Mormon Bishop. "He has the role both of judicial authority (the priests are obliged to consult him, (CD xv.7) and he is also a teacher and a "father in God" to the members of the sect (xvi.1-12). He has also the duties of examining novices" (xvii.6-8), p. 117. The Mormon bishop is quite different from that of the general Bishops of current Christianity, but the Mormon Bishop is clearly like the ancient bishop as BLACK describes him.

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