A Brief History and Explanation of the Articles of Faith

In the early days of the restored church during its intense missionary efforts, there was a need for a statement to use in presenting the Church's beliefs to the world. At first, missionaries had to write their own statement of faith, just as they had to prepare their own tracts. Statements by Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Young, Orson Pratt, and Orson Hyde were among the important summaries of the beliefs of the Latter-Day Saints. Some of these had an important influence on Joseph Smith's final version of the Articles of Faith. But with many writers and church leaders stressing different aspects of the Gospel, confusion over the fundamental teachings of the church could easily have resulted. Hence the need for an official statement of the church's beliefs.

At the invitation of John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat, Joseph Smith compiled a sketch of the history and faith of the Latter-Day Saints which was then sent in letter form. The Wentworth Letter, signed by Joseph Smith, closed by stating thirteen points of faith which have come to be known as the Articles of Faith. Except for certain minor changes, particularly in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and tenth articles, we still use these statements today as they originally appeared on March 1, 1842, in the Times and Seasons.

Although the Prophet's Articles of Faith were widely acknowledged, the spirit of personal pamphleteering also remained strong and active within the church for several decades, manifesting itself in many ways. Often these statements were embellished. Even a fourteenth article was added to read, "We believe in the literal resurrection of the body, and that the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are expired."

Several years had to elapse before the Joseph Smith's Articles of Faith finally became solidified in the minds and experiences of the church membership. In 1880 the membership voted at general conference to accept and use only the Articles of Faith as prepared and distributed by Joseph Smith. Understanding and further appreciation of these Articles grew with the publication of The Articles of Faith by James E. Talmage in 1890. Finally, in general conference on October 6, 1890 the Articles were formally adopted by the Latter-Day Saints as an authorized summary of its principal doctrines. However, they are not to be regarded as a complete listing of church beliefs because the Church accepts the principle of continuous revelation as an essential feature of its belief, as stated in Article 9.

The prophet's Articles of Faith are brief and stated with unusual clarity and economy of words. This is particularly noticeable when compared with those written by Orson Pratt or Orson Hyde. Despite their brevity, Joseph Smith's statements are also remarkably complete, his language being selected with great precision. He also covers more main points of the Gospel than most of the other authors combined and makes no effort to justify these principles which firmly stand on their own merit. Each epitomizes a fundamental point of doctrine and is directed toward actively influencing the lives of the Saints.

The remarkable correlation between the Articles of Faith and the writings of Paul is consistent with the type of divine commission each had received. Joseph Smith was called to restore the gospel, to teach and emphasize each eternal principle of the gospel as it had been taught and emphasized in the early Apostolic Church. The Apostle Paul had also been called to teach the Gospel, particularly to the Gentiles. In light of the similar experiences of the appearances to both by Jesus Christ and their similar responsibilities, it is not surprising that their fundamental beliefs and values should be almost identical. Appropriately, Paul's name appears in the last Article of Faith almost as a signature of co-authorship.

References:

Talmage, James E. The Articles of Faith, 1890.
Welch, John W. and Whittaker, David J. "'We Believe . . .' Development of the Articles of Faith." Ensign, Sept. 1979, pp. 51-55.
Welch, John W. "Co-Authors of the Articles of Faith?" Instructor, Nov. 1969, pp. 422-425.