Lectures on Faith

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The document "Lectures on Faith" is a set of seven lectures on the doctrine and theology of the Latter Day Saint movement. It was presented by Joseph Smith, Jr. to a group of elders in a course known as the "School of the Prophets" in the early winter of 1834-35 in Kirtland, Ohio.

Although authorship of the Lectures is uncertain, studies suggest that the actual wording was largely by Sidney Rigdon, with substantial involvement and approval by Joseph Smith, Jr. and possibly others. (See Dahl & Tate at 7–10, 16 n. 8.) Joseph Smith was substantially involved, both in their authorship in November 1834 and in their later preparation for publication in January 1835. (See History of the Church 2:169-170 and 2:180.)

The original title of each lecture was "Of Faith". It was not until 1876, in an edition of the Doctrine and Covenants edited by then Church Historian Orson Pratt of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, that the title was given as "Lectures on Faith".

Possibly the most famous quotation from the Lectures reads, "... A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things, never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; ..."

The Lectures were published in 1835 as the Doctrine portion of the volume entitled Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God (better known simply as the Doctrine and Covenants). The Lectures were selected for that volume by a committee appointed on September 24, 1834 by a general assembly of the church to arrange the doctrines and revelations of the church into a single volume. That committee of Presiding Elders, consisting of Joseph Smith, Jr., Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams, stated that the Lectures were included "in consequence of their embracing the important doctrine of salvation," and that the Lectures, together with the church-regulatory sections that followed, represent "our belief, and when we say this, humbly trust, the faith and principles of this society as a body. (See 1835 D&C, Preface.) Accordingly, the church body accepted the committee's compilation on August 17, 1835 as "the doctrine and covenents of their faith, by a unanimous vote." (History of the Church 2: 243-6).

Some Latter Day Saint denominations have subsequently removed the Lectures from the Doctrine and Covenants volume. They were removed from the Community of Christ version of the Doctrine and Covenants in 1897, although that denomination began publishing the Lectures in a separate volume in 1952. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints removed the Lectures from the Doctrine and Covenants in the 1921 edition, apparently without a vote by the church body, with an explanation that the Lectures "were never presented to nor accepted by the Church as being otherwise than theological lectures or lessons". (See Introduction , 1921 edition.) This is in contrast to the remaining pages of the original Doctrine and Covenants which are officially recognized by nearly all Latter Day Saint denominations as divine revelation given specifically to the church.

Mormon apologists give several reasons to explain why the Lectures were removed from the scriptural volumes of the church. According to Joseph Fielding Smith, at the time an Apostle-theologian in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the reasons were:

"(a) They were not received as revelations by the prophet Joseph Smith.

"(b) They are instructions relative to the general subject of faith. They are explanations of this principle but not doctrine.

"(c) They are not complete as to their teachings regarding the Godhead. More complete instructions on the point of doctrine are given in section 130 of the 1876 and all subsequent editions of the Doctrine and Covenants.

"(d) It was thought by Elder James E. Talmage, chairman, and other members of the committee who were responsible for their omission that to avoid confusion and contention on this vital point of belief, it would be better not to have them bound in the same volume as the commandments or revelations which make up the Doctrine and Covenants.’ " (as told to John William Fitzgerald, A Study of the Doctrine and Covenants, M.A. Thesis, Brigham Young University, page 344).

Other commentators have theorized that the Lectures represented official church doctrine in 1835, but that by 1897 or 1921 when the work was decanonized by the major Latter Day Saint denominations, the doctrine concerning the Godhead had changed, and the Lectures were no longer generally consistent accepted doctrines.

Despite the Lectures' removal from the volume of scripture, the Lectures remain an important doctrinal work in most Latter Day Saint denominations. One theologian in the LDS Church has praised the Lectures as follows:

"In my judgment, it is the most comprehensive, inspired utterance that now exists in the English language - that exists in one place defining, interpreting, expounding, announcing, and testifying what kind of being God is. It was written by the power of the Holy Ghost, by the spirit of inspiration. It is, in effect, eternal scripture; it is true." (Bruce R. McConkie, lecture at Brigham Young University).

References

1. Larry E. Dahl and Charles D. Tate, eds., The Lectures on Faith in Historical Perspective. (Provo, Utah, 1990).
2. Leland H. Gentry, "What of the Lectures on Faith?" 19 BYU Studies 5–19 (Fall 1978).
3. Wayne A. Larsen, Alvin C. Rencher, and Tim Layton, "Who Wrote the Book of Mormon? An Analysis of Wordprints." 20 BYU Studies 249 (Spring 1980), app. E ("Lectures on Faith")
4. Alan J. Phipps, "The Lectures on Faith: An Authorship Study." Master´s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1977.
5. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Steven C. Walker, and Allen D. Roberts., "The 'Lectures on Faith': A Case Study in Decanonization." 20 Dialogue 71-77 (Fall 1987).

External links

• Complete text from a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)-oriented site.
• Complete text from a Community of Christ-oriented site.