Doctrine and Covenants

Week 1: Introduction; reception, editing & publication of Joseph Smith’s revelations

Section 1

5 September 2024

Notes and slides will be posted after the class has been held.

• Joseph Smith’s Revelations: A Doctrine and Covenants Study Companion from the Joseph Smith Papers (The Church Historian’s Press). A compilation and historical study of the earliest versions of Joseph Smith’s revelations and other texts now found in the Doctrine and Covenants. Includes brief introductions to each section along with an annotated transcript and photos of the earliest versions. (Also available for Kindle.)

• Elder Steven E. Snow, “Treasuring the Doctrine and Covenants,” Ensign, January 2009, 50–53.

• James B. Allen, “Line Upon Line,” Ensign, July 1979, 32–39. Church history reveals how the Lord has continually added to his people’s knowledge and understanding.

• Melvin J. Petersen, “Preparing Early Revelations for Publication,” Ensign, February 1985, 14–20. Petersen explores how Joseph edited his early revelations into the form we have in our current Doctrine and Covenants.

• “Approaching Mormon Doctrine,” Newsroom of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4 May 2007.

• “Mystery Solved: Who Wrote the Lectures on Faith?,” LDS Perspectives Podcast #44 (12 July 2017). In this illuminating podcast, Noel Reynolds, BYU professor emeritus and a long-time Book of Mormon scholar, discusses who wrote the Lectures and what Joseph Smith thought about them. (You can listen to the interview or read the transcript.)

The Doctrine and Covenants contains revelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith that were “carefully selected” from all the revelations that he had received. At least forty-three uncanonized revelations and inspired statements made by Joseph and other Church leaders were written down during Joseph’s lifetime.

The following is a list of known revelations that were received during the Prophet’s lifetime but not published as scripture:

• Ca. June 1829: “Articles of the Church of Christ.” This was an early draft of what became D&C Section 20; it was written by Oliver Cowdery by commandment.

• Ca. early 1830: “23 Commandment AD 1830.” A revelation given to Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Hiram Page, Josiah Stowell, and Joseph Knight Sr. commanding them to go to Canada to secure a copyright there for the Book of Mormon.

• 15 May 1831: “53 Commandment, May 15th 1831.” A revelation given to Frederick G. Williams, Ezra Thayer, and Joseph Smith Sr. regarding the disposition of land in Kirtland, Ohio, that had been consecrated by Williams.

• 17 July 1831: A revelation to Joseph Smith and other brethren on the preaching of the gospel to the Lamanites who lived in Indian Territory west of Jackson County, Missouri. (A contemporary transcript of this revelation is not extant; the only known version was written from memory by William W. Phelps in a letter to Brigham Young, 12 August 1861. Because the transcript was prepared thirty years after the fact, its accuracy should be treated with skepticism.)

• 31 August 1831: A revelation to John Burk, Erastus Babbitt, and David Elliott, instructing them to travel from Kirtland, Ohio, to Zion, Jackson County, Missouri, in the fall of 1831.

• Ca. 2 November 1831: “Testimony, circa 2 November 1831.” A document signed by eighteen brethren who testified that the revelations that were to be published in the Book of Commandments were “given by inspiration of God & are profitable for all men & are verily true.” (A similar statement by the Twelve Apostles was published as part of the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants.)

• 27 February 1832: A revelation directing that Lincoln Haskins be ordained and supplied with copies of revelations with which to undertake a proselytizing mission.

• Ca. 4–20 March 1832: “A Sample of pure Language given by Joseph the Seer.” A list containing the names of God, the Son of God, angels, and man in a “pure language.”

• Ca. 8–24 March 1832: A revelation to Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith clarifying the duties and responsibilities of bishops in overseeing the consecration of property to the church.

• 20 March 1832: A revelation commanding Joseph Smith to suspend work on his revision of the Bible and take paper to Missouri for the printing of the Book of Commandments, given in response to two questions asked of the Lord by Joseph.

• 5 January 1833: A revelation to Frederick G. Williams, calling him as a counselor and scribe to Joseph Smith and instructing him to consecrate his farm.

• 27 February 1833: A song sung in an unknown language by David W. Patten and interpreted by the gift of tongues by Sidney Rigdon. (William W. Phelps turned this song into a hymn and published it in the May 1833 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star.)

• 28 April 1834: Further information about the reorganization of the United Firm, supplementing what had been revealed five days earlier (D&C Section 104).

• 5 December 1834: A revelation reprimanding the members of the Church for the informal, casual nature of interaction and discourse between Church leaders and Church members.

• 18 October 1835: A prophecy of Joseph Smith, received “by the Spirit of Revelation” in the Kirtland Temple, “that the distress, and sickness that has heretofore prevailed among” the Saints in Missouri would “be mitigated from this time forth.”

• 27 October 1835: The word of the Lord, received by Joseph Smith in answer to prayer, that Frederick G. Williams would arrive soon and successfully assist Mary Bailey Smith in giving birth to her first child.

• 1 November 1835: A revelation chastising Reynolds Cahoon for “his iniquities[,] his covetous and dishonest principles in himself and family” and for failing to “set his house in order.”

• 2 November 1835: A revelation to Frederick G. Williams, directing him to not go to New York to take care of Church business, but instead authorizing him to travel to preach the gospel to his relatives.

• 3 November 1835: A revelation directed to the members of the Quorum of the Twelve, reproving them for covetousness, inequality, lack of humility, and counseling them to repent and “prepare their hearts for the solem[n] assembly and for the great day which is to come.”

• 7 November 1835: A revelation to Missouri bishop Edward Partridge and his counselor Isaac Morley, commending them for their integrity and labors and commanding them to remain in Kirtland until the completion of the House of the Lord.

• 8 November 1835: A revelation rebuking William W. Phelps and John Whitmer for their iniquities.

• 14 November 1835: A revelation praising Warren Parrish “because of his desires to do the works of righteousness” and promising him great blessings for his efforts as a scribe for Joseph Smith.

• 16 November 1835: A revelation received at the request of Erastus Holmes, directing him to not be baptized in Kirtland and warning him “that there were three men that were seeking his destruction.”

• 12 January 1836: A record of visions received by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple, the first half of which was canonized in 1976 and is now D&C Section 137. The uncanonized portion contains a vision of the Twelve Apostles in foreign lands, fatigued and discouraged, with Jesus standing in their midst; Apostle William McLellin preaching and healing in the South; Brigham Young in the desert of the far southwest, preaching to “about a dozen men of colour” in their own language while protected by an angel; the Twelve in the celestial kingdom, the redemption of Zion, and “many things which the toung[e] of man, cannot discribe in full.”

• 4 September 1837: A revelation rebuking John Whitmer and William W. Phelps and commanding them to repent.

• November 1837: A prophecy of the Lord that “peace shall soon be taken from the earth,” for “behold saith the Lord, very fierce and very terrible war is near at hand, even at your doors.” (This prophecy was published in the November 1837 issue of Elders’ Journal as part of a message from Joseph Smith to “the Saints scattered abroad.” Cf. D&C Section 87.)

• 7 January 1838: A letter and revelation to Missouri bishop Edward Partridge, blessing him for his faithfulness and warning the Saints in Far West about “dissensions among them lest the enemy have power over them.” (A contemporary transcript of this letter is not extant; the only known version is in the handwriting of Edward Partridge Jr., in a book of family history given to the Church Historian’s Office in 1925.) 

• 12 January 1838 (A): Revealed answers to questions about the procedure for holding a disciplinary council to try the members of the First Presidency for transgression. (This revelation clarified the instructions in D&C 107:82–84.)

• 12 January 12 (B): A revelation directing that only the First Presidency is authorized to appoint and dedicate a stake of Zion.

• 12 January 1838 (C): A revelation commanding Joseph Smith and other members of the presidency of the Church to leave Kirtland, Ohio, and relocate their families to Caldwell County, Missouri.

• 17 April 1838: A revelation to Brigham Young, commanding him to leave Far West and return to his home on Mill Creek to care for his family.

• 8 July 1838 (B): A revelation directing that Frederick G. Williams and William W. Phelps should be ordained elders and travel, preach, and proselytize.

• 13 May 1839: A promise of the Lord to Oliver Granger that Oliver would be lifted up and have a “a great name on the earth and among my people, because of the integrity of his soul.” (See also D&C 117:12–15.)

• 20 March 1841: A revelation to several brethren, directing them to support the building of the Nauvoo House.

• 2 December 1841: A revelation to to Ebenezer and Angelina Robinson, directing them to provide shelter and care for Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde and her children while her husband, Apostle Orson Hyde, served a mission abroad.

• 22 December 1841 (A): A revelation appointing Amos Fuller to serve a mission.

• 22 December 1841 (B): A revelation instructing John Snider to serve a mission to the eastern states and collect donations for the construction of the Nauvoo Temple and the Nauvoo House.

• 28 January 1842: A revelation directing the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to assume editorial responsibility for the church newspaper Times and Seasons.

• 19 May 1842: A revelation warning Joseph Smith that Hiram Kimball had been “insinuating evil. & forming evil opinions against you with. others.”

• 27 July 1842: A revelation for Newel K. Whitney that provided instructions for him to use in performing the sealing of his daughter, Sarah Ann Whitney, to Joseph Smith that same day. (A contemporary transcript of this revelation is not extant; see the historical introduction on the Joseph Smith Papers website.)

• 25 November 1843: A revelation directing Apostle John E. Page to leave Boston and go to Washington, D.C., to preach the gospel there.

• 14 March 1844: A revelation to the Council of Fifty, giving the council the name “The Kingdom of God and his Laws.”

• 25 April 1844: A revelation to the Council of Fifty, declaring to its members, “Ye are my constitution, and I am your God, and ye are my spokesmen.”