Doctrine and Covenants

{{scriptures}}
'''''Doctrine and Covenants''''' is one of the several books of [[Mormon]] [[scripture]].  Others include the [[King James Bible]], the ''[[Book of Mormon]]'', and the ''[[Pearl of Great Price]]''.  

==History and contents==
One signal advantage of having living prophets is that you get to update your sacred texts. ''Doctrine and Covenants'' is a revision of the 1833 ''Book of Commandments'', a text containing new revelations from [[Joseph Smith]], Oliver Cowdery, and other early Mormon leaders.  Most copies of this book were destroyed during one of the outbreaks of vigilantism that the early Mormon movement attracted, this time in Missouri. 

''Doctrine and Covenants'' was the revised result that appeared in 1835.  The first part of the original text is a set of "Lectures on Faith", touching points of Mormon [[theology]].  These were dropped from the Church of Latter Day Saints edition of the text in 1921.  

The "Covenants" section is more significant. It is a text giving 103 revelations, which "contain items or principles for the regulation of the church, as taken from the revelations which have been given since its organization, as well as from former ones."<ref>''Doctrine and Covenants'', preface.</ref>  Most of the Covenants are from the hand of Joseph Smith; other authors include Cowdery, John Whitmer, and Sidney Rigdon.  Several of the texts claim to have been revealed to their named authors by [[angel]]s.  

Later editions of the ''Doctrine and Covenants'' as published by the [[Church of Latter Day Saints]] include further revelations from Mormon leaders.  The most recent addition was made in 1978.  This revelation established that [[African-American]]s and other Black people would no longer be debarred from the Mormon [[priest]]hood by virtue of their [[race]].<ref>[https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/od/2 Doctrine and Covenants, Official Declaration 2]</ref>

Subsequent revisions of the ''Doctrine and Covenants'' have revised the teachings of the earliest editions.  In particular, the original section 101 said:
{{cquote|Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife, and one woman but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.<ref>[https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/doctrine-and-covenants-1835/259 Doctrine and Covenants], 1835 edition, ss. 101.4</ref>}}
This was dropped by Smith in 1843, after Joseph Smith [[PIDOOMA|received the revelation]] that authorized [[polygamy]] for men.  The superseding section 132 teaches, not only that polygamy is authorized; it is in fact mandatory to achieve [[deity|deification]] in the Mormon afterlife.<ref>[https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132 Doctrine and Covenants], 132.19-20</ref>  The civil celebration of polygamous marriages was abandoned by the Church of Latter Day Saints in 1890, by virtue of a revelation that appears in the text as "Official Declaration 1".<ref>[https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/od/1 Doctrine and Covenants], Official Declaration 1</ref>

Section 87, written in 1832, predicted the [[American Civil War]], which was not a particularly impressive feat of [[prophecy]] given the political tensions of the times. {{cquote|Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; And the time will come that war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place. For behold, the Southern States shall be divided against the Northern States, and the Southern States will call on other nations, even the nation of Great Britain, as it is called, and they shall also call upon other nations, in order to defend themselves against other nations; and then war shall be poured out upon all nations.<ref>[https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/87.title?lang=eng ''Doctrine and Covenants''] 87</ref>}}

Smith's original text, like in the ''Book of Mormon'', is written in his highfalutin' pastiche of early modern [[English]] as an attempt to sound biblical.  More recent additions to the scripture are in more conventional formal prose.

While ''Doctrine and Covenants'' is Mormon scripture, unlike the ''Book of Mormon'', [[evangelism|evangelists]] for the church do not carry around copies to hand out to potential converts.  It represents a later development of Mormon theology, and many of the aspects of the faith that make Mormonism weirdly distinctive from other Christian denominations, including polygamous marriage and personal deification, are too obviously on display in its pages.  In fairness, the LDS church makes the current official text available online.

==Other versions==
Other divisions of the Latter Day Saint movement, such as the Community of Christ, also consider ''Doctrines and Covenants'' to be Scripture.  But like the Church of Latter-Day Saints, for these religions the text, while Scripture, is a living document, and updates are issued with some frequency by the Community of Christ.<ref>See, e.g. [https://web.archive.org/web/20161024235833/http://www.cofchrist.org/doctrine-and-covenants-section-165 ''Doctrine and Covenants''] 165 (Community of Christ edition)</ref>

==See also==
*[[Word of Wisdom]]

==External links==
*[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament?lang=eng ''Doctrine and Covenants'']  Official Church of Latter Day Saints edition
*[http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/doctrine-and-covenants-1835 ''Doctrine and Covenants''], 1835 version.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20131203143323/http://www.saintswithouthalos.org/s/_d_c.phtml ''Doctrine and Covenants''], variorum edition from an anti-Mormon website (archive)

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[category:Mormonism]]

Categories: Mormonism