The Doctrine and Covenants as we know it today was not received or published all at once.
The first step came just two months after the Church was organized. At the Church's first conference, held in Fayette, N.Y., on June 9, 1830, the "Articles and Covenants (what we now know as Sections 20 and 22) wereT read by Joseph Smith, Junior, and received by theT unanimous voice of the whole congregation. . . ."1Early Latter-day Saint missionaries frequently quoted from this document as they taught the restored gospel.
At first, the Prophet did not record his revelations immediately after receiving them. But the Lord instructed him in July 1830 to "continue calling upon God in my name, and writing the things which shall be given thee. . . ." (D&C 24:5.) Joseph Smith complied with this instruction.
As early as the summer of 1830, he was copying and arranging the revelations received up to that time. Thus within a few months of the Church's organization, the processes were well under way that would result the following year in the decision to publish the first book of modern revelations.
Book of Commandments, 1831
No year produced more Doctrine and Covenants revelations than did 1831. Some 37 sections, more than one-fourth of the total, were received during that one year alone.
These revelations had to be copied by hand for the use of the early saints, who yearned for them to be available more widely. Therefore an important conference, beginning Nov. 1, 1831, approved publishing the revelations for the first time in book form. The resulting volume was titled "Book of Commandments," but also commonly known as "Covenants and Commandments."
Arrangements were made for several thousand copies of the book to be printed on a press that was publishing a Latter-day Saint newspaper in Independence, Mo.
By the summer of 1833, the project of publishing the revelations was nearing completion. Five large "forms," or sheets, each containing 32 pages, hence a total of 160 pages in all, had been printed.
However, on July 20, an anti-Mormon mob broke into the log home of editor William W. Phelps and destroyed the press. Through the quick and courageous action of two young girls and other Church members who happened to be at the scene, a few hundred of the large unbound sheets were rescued. The saints cherished the copies of the revelations that they had saved, and bound them individually in various ways.
The revelations published in the Book of Commandments roughly parallel the first 64 sections of our present Doctrine and Covenants. We do not know, however, how many other revelations might have been included if the work had not been disrupted. It is likely that Section 68, containing items "in addition to the covenants and commandments," and Section 133, "The Appendix," would have been included.
Doctrine and Covenants, 1835
Additional significant revelations were received after the selection for the Book of Commandments had been made. Hence, not long after the destruction of the press in 1833, steps were being taken to publish an even larger compilation of latter-day revelations.
Oliver Cowdery and Sidney Rigdon were appointed to work together on April 19, 1834, "in arranging the Book of Covenants. . . ."2
On Sept. 24 of that year, a Church council expanded this committee to include the complete First Presidency. Their assignment was to "arrange the items of doctrine of Jesus Christ, for the government of his church. . . ."3
By the summer of 1835, the committee had completed its work, and a special solemn assembly convened on Aug. 17 to accept the new book of scripture.
The volume would bear a new title, "Doctrine and Covenants." This title reflected the two rather distinct parts of the book. The seven "Lectures on Faith" prepared for use in the School of the Prophets during the 1834-1835 season were placed in the first or Doctrine part of the book. Then, just over 100 revelations were placed in "Part second: Covenants and Commandments."4
The 1835 edition added 45 new revelations. Some of these may have been intended for inclusion in the Book of Commandments, while others had been received since the destruction of the press in Missouri. Other important changes were made in this "Covenants" section; revelations had been called "chapters" in the Book of Commandments, while now they were known as "sections." The arrangement in the Book of Commandments had been essentially chronological, but now four revelations of Church government and other key sections were placed first.
Doctrine and Covenants, 1844
A new publication added eight more sections. Although this edition was prepared under the direction of the Prophet, it did not appear until shortly after his martyrdom.
Major Expansion, 1876
The next significant new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants appeared in 1876. A total of 25 revelations given through Joseph Smith years earlier were now added to the scriptural canon. These additions illustrate how significant revelations may be incorporated as needed, even long after they were received.
One of Joseph Smith's revelations added in the 1876 edition was Section 87, the "Prophecy on War." This had earlier been published in the original edition of the Pearl of Great Price, printed in Britain in 1851. This precedent of transferring material from the Pearl of Great Price to the Doctrine and Covenants would be followed once again a century later.
The revelations were restored to essentially a chronological order, and the present shorter verse divisions were introduced. These features made the new book much easier to study and reference. Preparation of this volume was the assignment of Elder Orson Pratt.
An important addition to the Doctrine and Covenants was made just after the turn of the century. President Wilford Woodruff's official declaration, or "Manifesto," announcing the end of plural marriages, was incorporated in 1908.
The 1921 Edition
In 1920, a committee drawn from the Quorum of the Twelve was appointed to prepare a new edition of the Book of Mormon for publication. The following year their assignment was extended to include the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.
Elder James E. Talmage, one of the committee's members, played a particularly key role in much of the detail work. Major refinements included printing in easier-to-read double-column pages, and improved section headings. A major change was deleting the Lectures on Faith that had been published with the revelations since 1835. The introduction in the 1921 edition explained that this material was "never presented to nor accepted by the Church as being otherwise than theological lectures or lessons."5
Even though the portion of the volume labeled as "doctrine" in 1835 was gone, the full title "Doctrine and Covenants" continued.
The Present Edition, 1981
The 1981 edition added numbered sections to the Doctrine and Covenants.
Section 137 includes the Prophet Joseph Smith's 1836 vision of the celestial kingdom, in which he learned that even those who died without hearing the gospel might still have an opportunity to inherit that kingdom. Section 138 records President Joseph F. Smith's 1918 vision of how the Savior inaugurated gospel preaching in the spirit world.
These two sections had been added to the Pearl of Great Price in 1976, but were transferred to the Doctrine and Covenants with this new edition.
Another far-reaching addition was Official Declaration 2, announcing President Spencer W. Kimball's 1978 revelation extending the blessings of the priesthood to all races..
As was the case with Official Declaration 1 or Manifesto, Official Declaration 2 is not an actual record of the revelation itself, but rather it is an inspired announcement that the revelation had been received. This may explain why these two documents have the unique status as "Official Declarations" rather than appearing as numbered sections in the Doctrine and Covenants.
There is another significant, yet often overlooked, addition in connection with Official Declaration 1. A year after the Manifesto had been issued, President Wilford Woodruff described the revelation that had led to the suspending of plural marriages, and he assured the saints that the Lord would never allow the Prophet to lead the Church astray. Excerpts from President Woodruff's remarks are now found on pages 292-93 in the new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Expanded historical notes and more specific content summaries enhanced the section headings in the new edition. An easier-to follow cross-referencing system also made the new volume of scripture more useful as an aid to personal gospel study.
Publication of the 1981 edition of the "triple combination" came two years after the appearance of the Latter-day Saint edition of the King James Bible.
1. Donald Q. Cannon and Lyndon W. Cook, eds., Far West Record, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1983, p. 1.
2. History of the Church, 251.
3. Doctrine and Covenants, 1835, p. 255.
4. Doctrine and Covenants, 1835, pp. 5, 75.
5. Doctrine and Covenants, 1921, p. v.