These communications are considered to be authoritative, whether touching on doctrine, theology, Church administration and practice, or matters of individual responsibility. The First Presidency maintains the exclusive prerogative to interpret scripture and doctrine for the Church at large.

The current volume should therefore be of considerable interest to LDS Church members and scholars seeking official views on doctrinal questions and contemporary issues. For readers' convenience, the quotations are arranged alphabetically by topic and in reverse chronological order to present the most recent statements first.

While this compilation contains definitive positions of the LDS First Presidency, it is not itself a publication of the LDS Church. The statements quoted within are referenced so readers can consult the original documents or publications.

Gary James Bergera is director of the Smith-Pettit Foundation (Salt Lake City), which supports scholarly Mormon studies. His previous works include The Autobiography of B. H. Roberts (editor), Brigham Young University: A House of Faith (co-author), and companion volumes of Joseph Smith's Quorum of the Anointed, 1842-1845, and The Nauvoo Endowment Companies, 1845-1846 (co-editor), jointly named the Mormon History Association's Best Documentary Book for 2005.

Dale C. LeCheminant is a former instructor in the LDS Church Institute program in southern California and Salt Lake City, where he retired. He has published in the Journal of Mormon History and elsewhere and contributed to such works as John A. Widtsoe's recently re-issued Rational Theology: As Taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His doctoral dissertation was on the topic of "rational apologetics." He and his wife, Wanda, are the parents of five children.