Mormonism and the nature of God/God is a Spirit/Lecture of Faith 5 teaches the Father is "a personage of spirit"/Further Reading

FAIR Answers Wiki Table of Contents <onlyinclude>

Further reading

Further reading

FairMormon Answers articles

• Godhead and the Trinity

Doctrine and Covenants

Jump to Subtopic:

• Textual changes in the Doctrine and Covenants
• Criticism of the Doctrine and Covenants
• Doctrine and Covenants and Book of Mormon geography
• The Doctrine and Covenants and polygamy
• Lectures on Faith

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Textual changes in the Doctrine and Covenants

Summary: Joseph Smith and others made revisions, additions, and deletions to his early revelations when preparing them for publication. Some claim that revelations from God are inerrant and should never be changed, and that this proves that Joseph Smith did not receive revelation.

Jump to Subtopic:

• Why and how revelations were modified in the Doctrine and Covenants
• Oliver Cowdery and the "rod of nature"

Why and how revelations were modified in the Doctrine and Covenants

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Who made the changes to the Doctrine and Covenants?
• Question: What changes were made to the Doctrine and Covenants?
• Question: What are the reasons for the changes to the Doctrine and Covenants?
• Question: How do Mormons understand prophetic revelation?
• Question: Were the changes to the revelations hidden from the Church members?
• Question: Have edits to the revelations been discussed in the present day?
• Brigham Young (1855): "I do not even believe that there is a single revelation, among the many God has given to the Church, that is perfect in its fulness"
• Question: Was the revelation comprising the current Doctrine and Covenants 27 altered to include mention of the priesthood restoration?
• Question: If the Doctrine and Covenants contained quotations from God, why would Joseph Smith later edit God's words?
• Question: Was the removal of the name "Michael" from the original vision of the Celestial Kingdom and attempt to hide a "slip up" by Joseph Smith?
• Ensign, "Great and Marvelous Are the Revelations of God"

Oliver Cowdery and the "rod of nature"

Summary: It is claimed that a revelation received by Joseph praised Oliver Cowdery's gift of using divining talents. It is claimed that the revelation was published in the Book of Commandments in its original form, then subsequently modified in the Doctrine and Covenants in order to hide the reference to the "rod of nature." Therefore, it is claimed that Joseph attempted to "cover up" Oliver Cowdery's work with a divining rod by changing a revelation. Critics also claim that Oliver would ask questions of his divining rod in faith and it would move in response.

Jump to Subtopic:

• Revelations in Context on history.lds.org: "Cowdery was among those who believed in and used a divining rod"
• Question: Was Oliver Cowdery a "treasure hunter and 'rodsman'?
• Question: What if the "rod of nature" was indeed a physical object such as a divining rod?
• Question: Did Joseph Smith attempt to "cover up" Oliver Cowdery's work with a divining rod by changing the wording of the revelation that became Doctrine and Covenants 8:6–8?
• Question: How was the wording of the "rod of nature" revelation that became Doctrine and Covenants 8:6–8 altered over time?
• Gospel Topics: "the Bible mentions other physical instruments used to access God’s power: the rod of Aaron, a brass serpent, holy anointing oils, the Ark of the Covenant, and even dirt from the ground mixed with saliva"
• Dallin H. Oaks (1987): "It should be recognized that such tools as the Urim and Thummim, the Liahona, seerstones, and other articles have been used appropriately in biblical, Book of Mormon, and modern times"

Criticism of the Doctrine and Covenants

Jump to Subtopic:

• Alleged contradictions in the Doctrine and Covenants
• Criticisms of the use of the New Testament in the Doctrine and Covenants

Alleged contradictions in the Doctrine and Covenants

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Why does Doctrine and Covenants 132 speak favorably about some Old Testament practitioners of plural marriage, while Jacob 2 is negative?
• Question: Does Doctrine and Covenants 84 say that one cannot see God without holding the priesthood?

The Use of the New Testament in the Doctrine and Covenants

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Who authored the Gospel of John?

Doctrine and Covenants and Book of Mormon geography

Summary: Proponents of certain Book of Mormon geographical theories attempt to find clues in the Doctrine and Covenants.

Jump to Subtopic:

• The Doctrine and Covenants and the Lamanites
• The Doctrine and Covenants and the locations in the Book of Mormon

The Doctrine and Covenants and the Lamanites

Summary: Since in the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord refers to American Indians in North America as "Lamanites" (e.g., DC 28:8-9,14, DC 30:6, DC 32:2, DC 54:8), does this cause problems for the Limited Geography Theory (LGT) or issues of Amerindian genetic data?

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Does the fact that the Doctrine and Covenants refers to North American Indians as "Lamanites" contradict the theory that the Book of Mormon events took place in Mesoamerica?

The Doctrine and Covenants and the locations in the Book of Mormon

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Was Zarahemla located near present-day Nauvoo?

The Doctrine and Covenants and polygamy

Jump to Subtopic:

• 1835 Doctrine and Covenants denies polygamy—D&C 101 (original)
• Scriptural references to plural marriage in the Doctrine and Covenants

1835 Doctrine and Covenants denies polygamy—D&C 101 (original)

Summary: The 1835 edition of the D&C contained a statement of marriage which denied the practice of polygamy. Since this was published during Joseph Smith's lifetime, why might the prophet have allowed it to be published if he was actually practicing polygamy at that time?

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Why did the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants include a statement of marriage that denied the practice of polygamy at a time when some were actually practicing it?
• Question: Was Oliver Cowdery aware that some in the Church were practicing polygamy in 1835 at the time he authored the "Article on Marriage"?
• Question: Was the practice of polygamy general knowledge among Latter-day Saints in 1835 when the "Article on Marriage" was published?

Scriptural references to plural marriage in the Doctrine and Covenants

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: Why does Doctrine and Covenants 132 speak favorably about some Old Testament practitioners of plural marriage, while Jacob 2 is negative?
• Question: Since Joseph Smith "married" the wives of 11 other men, why were those women not "destroyed" as specified in the Doctrine and Covenants since they continued to live with their "previous" husbands?
• Question: Under what circumstances was Doctrine and Covenants Section 132 committed to writing?

Lectures on Faith

Jump to Subtopic:

• Lecture of Faith 5 teaches the Father is "a personage of spirit"
• Removal of the Lectures on Faith from the Doctrine and Covenants
• Noel B. Reynolds, "The Authorship Debate concerning Lectures on Faith: Exhumation and Reburial"

Lecture of Faith 5 teaches the Father is "a personage of spirit"

Summary: Lectures on Faith, which used to be part of the Doctrine and Covenants, teach that God is a spirit. Joseph Smith's later teachings contradict this. More generally, critics argue that Joseph Smith taught an essentially "trinitarian" view of the Godhead until the mid 1830s, thus proving the Joseph was "making it up" as he went along.

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: What are the Lectures on Faith?
• Question: What does Lecture 5 of the Lectures on Faith say about the nature of God?
• Question: How would a statement that "God is a spirit" be interpreted in ancient Judasism?
• Question: Did Joseph began his prophetic career with a "trinitarian" idea of God?
• Question: What are modern Church leader's views on the Lectures on Faith?
• Question: Is the Father embodied or a spirit in the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants?

Removal of the Lectures on Faith from the Doctrine and Covenants

Summary: Critics argue that the Lectures on Faith were "quietly" removed from the Doctrine and Covenants without general church membership consent, that the Lectures on Faith are not available to the general Church membership through Church sources, and that they can only be obtained through non-LDS sources (despite their availability at Deseret Book).

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: What are the Lectures on Faith?
• Question: Who wrote the Lectures on Faith?
• Question: Why were the Lectures on Faith removed from the Doctrine and Covenants in 1921?
• Question: Were the Lectures on Faith revelations?
• Question: Are the Lectures on Faith not made available through Latter-day Saint sources?
• Noel B. Reynolds, "The Authorship Debate concerning Lectures on Faith: Exhumation and Reburial"

Lectures on Faith

Jump to Subtopic:

• Lecture of Faith 5 teaches the Father is "a personage of spirit"
• Removal of the Lectures on Faith from the Doctrine and Covenants
• Noel B. Reynolds, "The Authorship Debate concerning Lectures on Faith: Exhumation and Reburial"

Lecture of Faith 5 teaches the Father is "a personage of spirit"

Summary: Lectures on Faith, which used to be part of the Doctrine and Covenants, teach that God is a spirit. Joseph Smith's later teachings contradict this. More generally, critics argue that Joseph Smith taught an essentially "trinitarian" view of the Godhead until the mid 1830s, thus proving the Joseph was "making it up" as he went along.

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: What are the Lectures on Faith?
• Question: What does Lecture 5 of the Lectures on Faith say about the nature of God?
• Question: How would a statement that "God is a spirit" be interpreted in ancient Judasism?
• Question: Did Joseph began his prophetic career with a "trinitarian" idea of God?
• Question: What are modern Church leader's views on the Lectures on Faith?
• Question: Is the Father embodied or a spirit in the first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants?

Removal of the Lectures on Faith from the Doctrine and Covenants

Summary: Critics argue that the Lectures on Faith were "quietly" removed from the Doctrine and Covenants without general church membership consent, that the Lectures on Faith are not available to the general Church membership through Church sources, and that they can only be obtained through non-LDS sources (despite their availability at Deseret Book).

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: What are the Lectures on Faith?
• Question: Who wrote the Lectures on Faith?
• Question: Why were the Lectures on Faith removed from the Doctrine and Covenants in 1921?
• Question: Were the Lectures on Faith revelations?
• Question: Are the Lectures on Faith not made available through Latter-day Saint sources?
• Noel B. Reynolds, "The Authorship Debate concerning Lectures on Faith: Exhumation and Reburial"

External links

• Robert L. Millet, "Joseph Smith and Modern Mormonism: Orthodoxy, Neoorthodoxy, Tension, and Tradition," Brigham Young University Studies 29 no. 3 (Summer 1989), 49–68. PDF link
• David L. Paulsen, "The Doctrine of Divine Embodiment: Restoration, Judeo-Christian, and Philosophical Perspectives," Brigham Young University Studies 35 no. 4 (1995–96), 6–94. PDF link (Key source)

D&C articles with links

• Stephen R. Gibson, "Why Did Joseph Smith Make Changes In the Doctrine & Covenants?," in One-Minute Answers to Anti-Mormon Questions (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers, 2005) ISBN 0882907840. off-site
• Marlin K. Jensen, "The Joseph Smith Papers: The Manuscript Revelation Books," Ensign (July 2009), 46–51. off-site (Key source)
• Boyd K. Packer, "We Believe All That God Has Revealed," Ensign (May 1974), 93. off-site; also in Boyd K. Packer, "We Believe All That God Has Revealed," in Conference Report (April 1974), 137.
• Melvin J. Petersen, "Preparing Early Revelations for Publication," Ensign (February 1985), 14. off-site
• Melvin J. Petersen, A Study of the Nature of and the Significance of the Changes in the Revelations as Found in a Comparison of the Book of Commandments and Subsequent Editions of the Doctrine and Covenants, master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1955. off-site (Key source)
• Robert J. Woodford, "Doctrine and Covenants Editions," in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 1:425–427. off-site
• Robert J. Woodford, "How the Revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants Were Received and Compiled," Ensign (January 1985), 27. off-site (Key source)
• Robert J. Woodford, "The Story of the Doctrine and Covenants," Ensign (December 1984), 32. off-site

Lectures on Faith

• The Lectures on Faith off-site
• Larry E Dahl, "Lectures on Faith," in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 2:818–821. off-site
• Leland H. Gentry, "What of the Lectures on Faith?," Brigham Young University Studies 19 no. 1 (Fall 1978), 5–19. PDF link
• Noel B. Reynolds, "The Case for Sidney Rigdon as Author of the Lecture on Faith (8 June 2004) [based on version given at Mormon History Association meeting at Kirtland 2003]. PDF link
• Noel B. Reynolds, "The Authorship Debate concerning Lectures on Faith: Exhumation and Reburial," in The Disciple As Witness: Essays on Latter-Day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, edited by Richard Lloyd Anderson, Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2000), Chapter 14. direct off-site

Printed material

Doctrine & Covenants print works

• Donald Q. Cannon, "Latter-day Visions of the Savior" in Hearken, O Ye People: Discourses on the Doctrine and Covenants (Sandy, UT: Randall Book, 1984), 119–131.
• Robert J. Woodford, The Historical Development of the Doctrine and Covenants, Ph.D. dissertation (3 volumes), Brigham Young University, 1974. (CD-ROM version from BYU Studies.) (Hard copy available from UMI Dissertation Express; order number 8027231.) (Key source)

Lectures on Faith

• Larry Dahl and Charles Tate, The Lectures on Faith in Historical Perspective (Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1990).
  • Review of Dahl and Tate by Kevin Barney, By Common Consent, 4 November 2006 off-site
  • Noel J. Reynolds, "Review of Dahl and Tate, The Lectures on Faith in Historical Perspective," Brigham Young University Studies 32 no. 1—2 (1991), 285—94. off-site PDF link
• Wayne A. Larsen and Alvin C. Rencher, "Who Wrote the Book of Mormon? An Analysis of Wordprints," Brigham Young University Studies 20 (Spring 1980), 249, Appendix E ("Lectures on Faith". This was revised and reprinted in Book of Mormon Authorship: New Light on Ancient Origins, edited by Noel B. Reynolds, Religious Studies Monograph Series, vol. 7 (Salt Lake City and Provo: Bookcraft, 1982), 183-84.
• Elinore H. Partridge, "Characteristics of Joseph Smith's Style and Notes on the Authorship of the Lectures on Faith," Task Papers in LDS History, no. 14 (Salt Lake City: Submitted to History Division, Historical Department, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1976).
• Alan J. Phipps, "The Lectures on Faith: An Authorship Study" (Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1977).
• Richard S. Van Wagoner, Steven C. Walker, and Allen D. Roberts, "The ´Lectures on Faith´: A Case Study in Decanonization," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 20 no. 3 (Fall 1987), 71–77. off-site