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Why are there Different Versions of the
Articles of Faith?
From FAIR, the Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research
There were many versions of
“articles of faith” prepared by various early Latter-day
Saints to support their missionary efforts. Most of them had essential
items in common (belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the
Holy Ghost, the necessity of faith, repentance, baptism, and the
gift of the Holy Ghost, and so on) but there were various differences
among them.
The First Attempts to Summarize
Basic LDS Beliefs
As early as June 1829, even before
the Church was organized, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were working
on a document called the “Articles and Covenants.” This
was first accepted by a Church conference vote and later became
Doctrine and Covenants 20. However, this was not a comprehensive
list of all LDS basic beliefs
Another list appeared in the LDS
Messenger and Advocate. This, written by Oliver Cowdery contained,
eight principles that all appeared in Section 20. Joseph Young,
Parley P. Pratt and Orson Pratt also wrote on the same topic. Orson
Hyde published a History of the Church in German, which also
included essays on the basic principles of the Church.
The Wentworth Letter, published in
1842, was not the last of similar publications that listed these
beliefs, plus various other principles. One by Charles MacKay included
a 14th article about the literal resurrection. Most of these other
lists were usually composed by missionaries.
The full FAIR wiki article, including
all scriptural and academic references, may be accessed at http://en.fairmormon.org/Differing_versions_of_the_Articles_of_Faith.
If you have any topic or question
you would like to see addressed pleased contact Carolyn Wright at
http://www.fairlds.org/contact.php.
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