In the LDS Church,
The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands alongside the
Bible, the
Book of Mormon, and the
Pearl of Great Price as scripture. Together the LDS Church's scriptures are referred to as the "
standard works". The LDS Church's version of the Doctrine and Covenants is described by the church as "containing revelations given to Joseph Smith, the Prophet, with some additions by his successors in the Presidency of the Church."
Sections Included in LDS edition The 138 sections and two official declarations in LDS Church's Doctrine and Covenants break down as follows: • Sections 1–134, 137: From the presidency of
Joseph Smith (1828–44) • Sections 135–136: During the administration of the
Quorum of the Twelve (1844–47) •
Official Declaration 1: From the presidency of
Wilford Woodruff (1889–98) • Section 138: From the presidency of
Joseph F. Smith (1901–18) •
Official Declaration 2: From the presidency of
Spencer W. Kimball (1973–85) The following sections consist of letters, reports, statements, and other similar documents: 102, 123, 127–131, 134, 135, and Official Declarations 1 and 2.
1844 Edition In 1844, the church added eight sections not included in the 1835 edition. In the current edition, these added sections are numbered 103, 105, 112, 119, 124, 127, 128, and 135.
1876 Edition In 1876, a new LDS Church edition renumbered most of the sections in a roughly chronological order instead of the earlier topical order, and included 26 sections not included in previous editions, now numbered as sections 2, 13, 77, 85, 87, 108–111, 113–118, 120–123, 125, 126, 129–132, and 136. Previous editions had been divided into verses with the early versifications generally following the paragraph structure of the original text. It was with the 1876 edition that the currently used versification was first employed. In 1876, section 101 from the 1835 edition (and subsequent printings) was removed. Section 101 was a "Statement on Marriage" as adopted by an 1835 conference of the church, and contained the following text: This section was removed because it had been superseded by section 132 of the modern LDS edition, recorded in 1843, which contains a revelation received by Joseph Smith on
eternal marriage and
plural marriage, the origin of the principles of which the LDS Church traces to as early as 1831. During the 1880s, five foreign editions contained two revelations to
John Taylor that were received in 1882 and 1883; these revelations "set in order" the priesthood, gave more clarification about the roles of priesthood offices—especially the
seventy—and required "men who ... preside over my
priesthood" to live
plural marriage in order to qualify to hold their church positions. Due to the LDS Church's change in attitude to polygamy in 1890, these sections were not included in future English editions of the Doctrine and Covenants.
1921 Edition In 1921, the LDS Church removed the "
Lectures on Faith" portion of the book, with an explanation that the lectures "were never presented to nor accepted by the Church as being otherwise than theological lectures or lessons". The lectures contain theology concerning the
Godhead and emphasize the importance of faith and works.
Latter-day Revelation In 1930, a small volume edited by
apostle James E. Talmage titled
Latter-day Revelation: Selections from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants was published, which was a highly edited selective version of the Doctrine and Covenants printed in paragraph format rather than verses. Talmage wrote that the book's purpose was "to make the strictly doctrinal parts of the Doctrine and Covenants of easy access and reduce its bulk" by including only "the sections comprising scriptures of general and enduring value". Ninety-five of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were completely omitted—most notably section 132 on
plural and
celestial marriage—along with parts of 21 others. As a result,
church president Heber J. Grant ordered the withdrawal of the book from sale with the remaining copies shredded in order to "avoid further conflict with the fundamentalists". No new revelatory sections have been added since 1981. The LDS Church's 1981 edition contains two "Official Declarations" at the book's conclusion. The 1890
Official Declaration 1 ended the church-authorized practice of plural marriage, and the 1978
Official Declaration 2 announces the opening of
priesthood ordination to all worthy male members without regard to race or color. The two Official Declarations are not revelations, but they serve as the formal announcements that a revelation was received. In neither case is the revelation included in the Doctrine and Covenants. The text of Official Declaration 1 has been included in every LDS Church printing of the Doctrine and Covenants since 1908. Until 1981, editions of the book used
code names for certain people and places in those sections that dealt with the
United Order. The 1981 LDS edition replaced these with the real names, relegating the code names to footnotes. The Community of Christ edition still uses the code names.
2013 Edition and 2025 adjustments A new edition was released in 2013, which is the edition currently in use by the church. Changes included adjustments and corrections to the book's introduction and seventy-eight section introductions. The changes reflect the modern scholarship that came from
The Joseph Smith Papers. In 2025, additional adjustments were made to the headings of twenty-five sections. These changes likewise came because of additional scholarship from the
Joseph Smith Papers project. ==Community of Christ editions==