by H. Dean Garrett

Commentaries on the Doctrine and Covenants follow the pattern of many biblical commentaries, supplying the historical context, that is, the time, circumstances, and situation of the revelations. In the most recent (1981) edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, headnotes for each section have been added or enlarged, with a brief synopsis of the historical setting. Additional notes and explanations are provided by the various separately published commentaries discussed here. Commentaries written by members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are given special consideration. Others are recommended as helps to the membership of the Church to provide historical insight to their study of the scriptures.

An early (1916) and still useful one-volume commentary was written by Hyrum M. Smith, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Janne M. Sjodahl. Doctrine and Covenants Commentary contains the text of the Doctrine and Covenants and gives historical background and commentary for each section. It is extensively footnoted with exegetical notes. The volume was later supplemented and expanded under the direction of Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, and Marion G. Romney of the Quorum of the Twelve.

The Message of the Doctrine and Covenants (1969, edited by G. Homer Durham) is a published version of a series of lectures delivered at the University of Southern California by John A. Widtsoe, also of the Quorum of the Twelve. The author's scientific background is apparent in his references to nineteenth- and twentieth-century scientific theory.

T. Edgar Lyon, former director of the institute of religion adjacent to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, published his Introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price in 1948. He treats the work as a "connected message" and emphasizes the functional aspects of many topics, including priesthood, missionary work, Zion, gathering, ordinances, Christian teachings, economics, Millennium, unique revelations, and literary value.

From 1947 through 1949 the Church published a series of manuals titled Church History and Modern Revelation, written by Joseph Fielding Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve. It was a study course for the Melchizedek Priesthood quorums of the Church. These volumes integrated each section of the Doctrine and Covenants with the life and times of the Prophet Joseph Smith. A more concise attempt at this approach was that of E. Cecil McGavin in a volume titled The Historical Background of the Doctrine and Covenants, published in 1949.

Sidney B. Sperry, longtime professor of Hebrew and ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, published A Doctrine and Covenants Compendium in 1960, which considered linguistic and doctrinal issues in detail.

A four-volume work titled The Latter-day Prophets and the Doctrine and Covenants (1963), by Roy W. Doxey, former dean of the College of Religious Instruction at Brigham Young University, includes statements of General Authorities on each section of the Doctrine and Covenants. It demonstrates applications of Doctrine and Covenants texts in homiletic settings.

A historical account is The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith by Lyndon W. Cook (1981), providing a compilation of background facts relevant to each section. Documented biographical profiles of the personalities mentioned in the text are included.

A commentary titled The Edwards Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants was written by F. Henry Edwards of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and published in 1946. This book provides a brief historical overview for each section and commentary on the major themes of the sections, as these relate and apply to the problems of that church.

A critical analysis of the earliest texts and publication of the Doctrine and Covenants is Robert J. Woodford's The Historical Development of the Doctrine and Covenants, a Ph.D. dissertation, Brigham Young University, 1974. Other studies are those by William E. Berrett, Teachings of the Doctrine and Covenants, 1961; Roy W. Doxey, Doctrine and Covenants Speaks, 2 vols., 1970; Richard O. Cowan, The Doctrine and Covenants, Our Modern Scripture, 1978; Daniel H. Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Doctrine and Covenants, 1978; Leaun G. Otten and C. Max Caldwell, Sacred Truths of the Doctrine and Covenants, 2 vols., 1982; and Robert L. Millet and Kent P. Jackson, eds., Studies in Scripture, the Doctrine and Covenants, 1985.

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Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol. 1, Doctrine and Covenants Commentaries

Copyright © 1992 by Macmillan Publishing Company