Bethany Hailstone/Mormon Insights Article #3 /page 1

Title A New Look at an Old Text: Viewing the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants Online
Kicker
Flip through an original copy of an 1835 version of the Doctrine and Covenants online and find
amazing history in its pages.
Highlights of the source article
Looking for a new way to study the Doctrine and Covenants? The Joseph Smith Papers Project
has made available a free online version of the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants.
[http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/doctrine-and-covenants-1835?
p=1&highlight=1835%20doctrine%20and%20covenants#!/paperSummary/doctrine-andcovenants-1835] Now anyone can go to the website and digitally flip through the actual pages of
the 1835 printing.
The project also provides a thorough history of the printing and origins of the 1835 version of the
Doctrine and Covenants, which helps visitors to the site learn about how early leaders compiled
and published this book of scripture and even how it came to be known as the Doctrine and
Covenants.
After the printing press in Independence, Missouri, was destroyed by a mob in 1833
[https://www.lds.org/liahona/1990/03/caroline-and-mary-elizabeth-rollins?
lang=eng&query=caroline+rollins], efforts to publish the Book of Commandments
[http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Book_of_Commandments] seemed futile. Soon, however, a new
press was dedicated in Kirtland, Ohio, and by 1835 the Saints were able to print a new book that
combined Church doctrine and modern revelations. This book would be known from then on as
the Doctrine and Covenants. [https://www.lds.org/topics/doctrine-and-covenants?
lang=eng&query=doctrine+and+covenants]
Since then, several updates, revisions, and edits have been made, the most recent being in 2013
[https://www.lds.org/scriptures/adjustments]. Some of the additions include additional modern
revelations [https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/od?lang=eng] from later prophets of the
Church.
Today, we not only have access to scriptures online [https://www.lds.org/scriptures?lang=eng],
but we can also view the original printed version of Doctrine and Covenants online. A typed
transcript of the text is visible alongside the virtual book to help guide readers through the
material. Use this fresh view of a historical book to learn more about the Doctrine and Covenants
and its history.
View the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants [http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/doctrineand-covenants-1835] and read its history.
Source: The Joseph Smith Papers [http://josephsmithpapers.org/]
Bethany Hailstone, Mormon Insights

Bethany Hailstone/Mormon Insights Article #3 /page 2

Find more insights

Read an article by Robert J. Woodford about the Doctrine and Covenants and its history.
[https://www.lds.org/ensign/1984/12/the-story-of-the-doctrine-and-covenants?lang=eng].
Read the context and backstories about sections in the Doctrine and Covenants.
[https://history.lds.org/section/revelations?lang=eng]
Watch President Ezra Taft Benson speak about modern revelation and scripture.
[https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1986/10/the-gift-of-modern-revelation?
lang=eng&query=doctrine+and+covenants]
Watch a series of stories from the Doctrine and Covenants on the Mormon channel.
[http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/doctrine-and-covenants-stories]
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