First, although Joseph Smith did not write the lectures as they appear in the version, his influence can be seen in images, examples, scriptural references, and phrasing. Second, Sidney Rigdon may well have prepared them for publication; however, the style throughout is not consistently his.
Lectures on Faith - Deseret Book
Third, the lectures in their published version represent a compilation or collaboration rather than the work of a single person Partridge It is instructive to review the evidence that links Joseph Smith and others to the writing of the Lectures. That committee reported to the priesthood councils of the Church nearly one year later, 17 August , recommending the publication of a book they had prepared HC 2: That book consisted of two parts. The first contained the Lectures on Faith; the second consisted of selected revelations and inspired declarations received since the beginning of this dispensation.
The two parts together made up what were called the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church. The result was the publication of the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, which came off the press about the middle of September A photographic reproduction of the title page of the edition of the Doctrine and Covenants is on the following page.
The heading to the first part of the book the Lectures reads like this:. The title page of the second part of the book, containing the revelations, is photographically reproduced below. The preface to the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants explains how the four committee members felt about the Lectures on Faith see the preface. Although the preface is dated February 17, , the book was not completed until August of that year. The title is appropriate, however, for the revelations themselves contain much doctrine. Historical Evidence Concerning Authorship.
The foregoing information demonstrates that preparing and printing the Lectures on Faith was an official, purposeful activity of the committee appointed to compile the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. The question as to who actually wrote the Lectures then, may be of little consequence. However, we mortals are a curious lot, and sometimes pursue answers simply to have them, not because they are of great moment.
One of the authorship studies of the Lectures on Faith was done by Alan J. Phelps, and Parley P. The data and tests appear, therefore, to assign the authorship of the Lectures on Faith mainly to Sidney Rigdon, with Lecture Five and perhaps some parts of the other lectures, except One and Seven, to Joseph Smith 66— Using the same data as Phipps, but applying a somewhat different word-print analysis, Wayne A.
Larsen and Alvin C. Both studies conclude that Sidney Rigdon was heavily involved, and that Joseph Smith was probably the author of Lecture 2. The differences suggest that Joseph Smith had less to do with Lectures 3, 4, and 6 than the Phipps study showed, and that William W. Pratt could have had at least some editorial influence on Lecture 5. If they were to focus primarily on the Lectures, perhaps they would adjust both the selection of data and perform additional tests and comparisons. What then can we conclude about authorship of the Lectures on Faith? It is clear that several of the brethren participated in writing them.
It is also clear that Joseph Smith and perhaps others prepared them for publication after they were written. It would therefore seem appropriate to attribute the ideas, principles, and doctrines in the Lectures on Faith to the Prophet Joseph. Trying to identify who delivered the Lectures on Faith is as difficult as trying to decide who wrote them.
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Contemporary historical records are scarce. Yet, official histories, books, and articles generally agree that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were the primary teachers, noting that others of the brethren may also have been involved see appendix B. Interestingly, however, there are seldom source citations for these conclusions, or the sources cited do not provide adequate historical data to clearly establish the point being made. It becomes at times a case of authors citing one another with no one having compelling documentary evidence.
Some information from two men who were at the scene in is available and of particular interest. The printing office was a by foot two-story building completed in November The lower story of the printing office was used for the School for the Elders HC 1: In the winter of —5. I attended the Theological School established in Kirtland, in which the lectures on faith, contained in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, originated.
A certain number were appointed to speak at each meeting. On one occasion I was called upon to speak on the principle of faith. Several brethren spoke before me and quoted every passage mentioned in the scriptures on the subject. I referred to an original circumstance which took place in my family. Afterwards the child told her mother that she had prayed to God that she might not whip her. Joseph wept like a child on hearing this simple narrative and its application Journal History [22 Dec ].
In addition to being instructed by their presiding officers, it appears that the elders taught one another in the school.
The School for the Elders began sometime between 25 November and 1 December The Lectures on Faith phase of the School for the Elders evidently ended sometime before 22 December because on that date the Elders were joined by a number of sisters and also children—some one hundred thirty people total—and they all attended a grammar school with Sidney Rigdon and William E. McLellin as teachers HC 2: Evidently the grammar school was also held in the printing office where the elders had met to study the Lectures on Faith. Kimball, nearly all the elders were in attendance.
In his February report to the school trustees, William E.
McLellin made no mention of the Lectures on Faith or other missionary training in connection with the grammar school. Since the Prophet was busy in January preparing the Lectures for publication, we could assume that by then they had already been delivered. If the elders as a group did continue to study the Lectures on Faith after 22 December, the School for the Elders and the Kirtland Grammar School would necessarily have been two separate entities meeting at different times, but there is no specific mention of any such arrangement in the historical sources.
In answer then to the questions of who delivered the Lectures to whom, when, where, and why, I would say they were delivered by the presiding officers of the Church and some of the elders themselves to a School for the Elders, in the printing office in Kirtland, during November and December , for the purpose of preparing the elders to be effective missionaries.
The first publication of any of the Lectures on Faith was that of Lectures 5 and 6 in the May edition of the Messenger and Advocate, the Church monthly paper published in Kirtland. They were introduced with the following comments:. The following are two short lectures which were delivered before a Theological class, in this place last winter. It may be well, for the information of the churches abroad, to say, that this book will contain the important revelations on doctrine and church government now extant, and will, we trust, give them a perfect understanding of the doctrine believed by this society.
Such a work has long been called for, and if we are prospered a few weeks, shall have this volume ready for distribution. A full detail of its contents will be given hereafter. In giving the following lectures we have thought best to insert the catechism, that the reader may fully understand the manner in which this science was taught. It was found, that by annexing a catechism to the lectures as they were presented, the class made greater progress than otherwise; and in consequence of the additional scriptural proofs, it was preserved in compiling Cowdery The next publication of any of the lectures was a broadside containing Lecture 1, probably published in June The first printing of all seven lectures was in September , when they were printed as part of the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Between and the Lectures were printed in almost all of the English language editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, and in many, but not all non-English editions. But first, let us review instances when the Lectures on Faith were published by themselves. Between and , Parley P. Pratt printed all seven lectures in the Millennial Star in England. Lecture 5 was printed in December with this note: The four lectures preceding it were given in the first volume of the Star.
Having often heard the desire expressed for the publication of the remaining lectures, it is our intention to give them forthwith. As promised, Lectures 6 and 7 were published in the next two issues of the Millennial Star. All the lectures were published in —46 by Sidney Rigdon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Lectures 5 and 6 both appeared in the February issue.
Rigdon did not include the catechisms at the end of each lecture except for Lecture 1. As he began publishing the Lectures, he explained: There are three other separate publications of the Lectures, all of them appearing in the 20th century, we need to mention.
Lundwall of Salt Lake City published the Lectures on Faith along with a number of other items about We get the date from John W. This edition was the first to incorporate references to the book of Moses, much of which corresponds with the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis. As an endnote to the discussion of publication history, it is interesting to learn of the changes that have appeared in the titles through the years. When a new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was prepared in , the Lectures on Faith were not included.
The argument is that the Lectures were removed to avoid these inconsistencies. Some have claimed that the removal of the Lectures from the Doctrine and Covenants constitutes decanonization of material once affirmed by the Church as scripture. Van Wagoner, Richard S. Walker, and Allen D. A Case Study in Decanonization. A Journal of Mormon Thought 20, no. New Testament Revision 2, p. Damage to the page resulted in lost characters in the preceding three words. Book of Mormon, ed. The work soon became widely popular in the United States with total sales eclipsing fifty thousand by the early s.
Bowman, Matthew, and Samuel Brown. Missing text supplied from the copy of the lecture in the edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. First Lecture on Faith, in Doctrine and Covenants, ed.
Appendix 1: First Theological Lecture on Faith, circa January–May 1835
Do you know of any Joseph Smith documents that we might not have heard about? The verso is blank and lined with tissue. The text is printed in three columns. The broadside has horizontal and vertical creases, indicating that it was folded at some point. Breaks occur along the center horizontal crease, resulting in slight textual loss.
Some horizontal staining is present at the top, middle, and bottom of the document. The broadside was likely not published before January , when JS and others began preparing the lectures for publication. By 26 May , the first six gatherings of the Doctrine and Covenants , which contained all seven lectures, had been printed, though the book itself was not available until September. The broadside and the Doctrine and Covenants apparently used the same typesetting, suggesting that the broadside was published by the end of May. The Church Historical Department obtained a photocopy of the broadside in and acquired the original in Such instruction prefaced an intense period of missionary work in , when numerous men, including those newly designated as or , were sent from Kirtland to preach in the eastern and.
The , which met in the on the lower story of the , was apparently functioning by December Although numerous scholars have tried to identify the author of the lectures presented in the school, contemporary records are largely silent as to who actually wrote or delivered them.
None of the publications of the lectures attributed authorship to any individual. However, it seems likely that had a large hand in composing the lectures. Even though likely had a large role in producing the lectures, JS was apparently involved as well. The broadside of the first lecture is reproduced here as an example of the lectures as a whole.
It may be that elders preaching in took the broadside with them as they traveled, perhaps leaving copies with church members or others who were interested. Would it not be that it was the assurance which we had of the ex istence of things which we had not seen, as yet? Are you not dependant on your faith, or belief, for the acquisition of all knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence?
Would you exert yourselves to obtain wisdom and intelligence, unless you did believe that you could obtain them? Would you have ever sown if you had not believed that you would reap? Would you have ever planted if you had not believed that you would gather? Would you have ever asked unless you had believed that you would receive? Would you have ever sought unless you had believed that you would have found? Or would you have ever knocked unless you had believed that it would have been opened unto you?
In a word, is there any thing that you would have done, either physical or mental, if you had not previ ously believed? Are not all your exertions, of every kind, dependant on your faith? Or may we not ask, what have you got, or what do you possess, which you have not obtained by reason of your faith? Your food, your raiment, your lodgings, are they not all by reason of your faith? Reflect, and ask yourselves, if these things are not so. Turn your thoughts on your own minds, and see if faith is not the moving cause of all action in yourselves; and if the moving cause in you, is it not in all other intelligent beings?
Thus says the author of the epistle to the Hebrews, Take this principle or attribate, for it is an attribute from the Deity and he would cease to ex ist.
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And that if the principle of power, it must be so in man as well as in the Deity? This is the testimony of all the sacred writers, and the lesson which they have been endeavoring to teach to man. He says, page , that it was the faith of Alma and Amulek which caus ed the walls of the prison to be wrent, as recorded on the th page; that it was the faith of Nephi and Le hi which caused a change to be wrought upon the hearts of the , when they were immersed with the Holy Spirit, and with fire, as seen on the st page, and that it was by faith that the mountain Ze rin was removed, when the brother of Jared spake in the name of the Lord.
See also th page. Without it, there is no power, and without power there could be no creation, nor existence! Because it is the foundation of all righteousness. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Little children, let no man deceive you: What arrangement should be followed in presenting the subject of faith?
First, Should be shown what faith is: Third, The effects which flow from it. It is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen: That is, it is the assurance we have of the existence of unseen things. And being the assu rance which we have of the existence of unseen things, must be the principle of action in all intelligent beings. By faith we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God. How do you prove that faith is the principle of action in all intelligent beings?
First, By duly considering the operations of my own mind; and secondly, by the direct declaration of scripture. By faith Noah, being warned of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out not knowing whither he went.
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange coun try, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. By faith Moses forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: Is not faith the principle of action in spiritual things as well as in temporal? He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved. Therefore, it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed: