Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources: The Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 and 2, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources (2020)
The Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 and 2, Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources
The Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 and 2
The Salt Lake Tabernacle, ca. 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, was the primary gathering space for semiannual general conference for 132 years. In October 1890, President Wilford Woodruff’s Manifesto was read during general conference here, discontinuing the practice of plural marriage.
Photograph by Samuel Horrocks, c. 1890–1910, Church History Library, PH 8796.)
Texts
Historical background and the earliest manuscript of each revelation, as published in The Joseph Smith Papers and other sources
Articles of Faith
In 1842, Boston lawyer George Barstow asked his friend John Wentworth, owner and editor of the weekly Chicago Democrat, to write to Joseph Smith requesting a summary of the doctrines and history of the Latter-day Saints. More …
Official Declaration 1
President Woodruff’s Manifesto. Proceedings at the Semi-Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Monday, Forenoon, October 6, 1890. More …
Revelation on Priesthood Accepted, Church Officers Sustained, General Conference, 30 September 1978
In early June of [1978], the First Presidency announced that a revelation had been received by President Spencer W. Kimball extending priesthood and temple blessings to all worthy male members of the Church. More …
Every Faithful, Worthy Man in the Church May Now Receive the Priesthood, Ensign, July 1978
The First Presidency announced, on June 9, a historic letter addressed to general and local officers of the Church throughout the world. More …
People
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Lorenzo Snow
Historical Background
Revelations in Context
Essays on the background of each revelation.
The Messenger and the Manifesto
One crisp fall morning, Monday the sixth of October 1890, seven thousand Latter-day Saints sat in silence on the long wooden benches in the large oval tabernacle on Temple Square. The event was the semiannual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. More …
Witnessing the Faithfulness
The Bible tells the story of a people who knew trouble and grief. In the Old Testament, the children of Israel were dragged away from their homes as captives and enslaved in distant lands. Later, the Israelites’ homeland was occupied by foreign powers that ruled with a heavy hand. More …
Church History Topics
Essays on subjects related to the revelations.
Antipolygamy Legislation
At a special conference in August 1852, Church leaders for the first time acknowledged publicly that many Latter-day Saints in Utah Territory practiced plural marriage. More …
Growth of Missionary Work
Missionary work in the late 1800s was difficult as hostility mounted against the Latter-day Saint practice of plural marriage. More …
Manifesto
In 1890 President Wilford Woodruff issued the Manifesto, which led to the end of plural marriage in the Church. More …
Plural Marriage in Utah
After the Saints moved to Utah, Church leaders publicly acknowledged the practice of plural marriage. More …
Political Neutrality
Since the 1830s, Latter-day Saints have regularly participated in government and held public office. More …
Priesthood and Temple Restriction
In theology and practice, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints embraces the universal human family. More …
Chronology
Timeline placing each revelation in the context of key events in the Church’s first century
Restored ordinances bless the lives of all of God’s children. Working in batik, a traditional art form in Sierra Leone, artist Emile Wilson shows local members officiating in the priesthood.
Emile Wilson, Confirmation in Sierra Leone, 1992, batik, Church History Museum.