Sections Included in LDS edition

The 138 sections and two official declarations in LDS Church's Doctrine and Covenants break down as follows:

• Sections 1–134, 137: From the presidency of Joseph Smith (1828–44)
• Sections 135–136: During the administration of the Quorum of the Twelve (1844–47)
• Official Declaration 1: From the presidency of Wilford Woodruff (1889–98)
• Section 138: From the presidency of Joseph F. Smith (1901–18)
• Official Declaration 2: From the presidency of Spencer W. Kimball (1973–85)

The following sections consist of letters, reports, statements, and other similar documents: 102, 123, 127–131, 134, 135, and Official Declarations 1 and 2.

1844 Edition

In 1844, the church added eight sections not included in the 1835 edition. In the current edition, these added sections are numbered 103, 105, 112, 119, 124, 127, 128, and 135.

1876 Edition

In 1876, a new LDS Church edition renumbered most of the sections in a roughly chronological order instead of the earlier topical order, and included 26 sections not included in previous editions, now numbered as sections 2, 13, 77, 85, 87, 108–111, 113–118, 120–123, 125, 126, 129–132, and 136. Previous editions had been divided into verses with the early versifications generally following the paragraph structure of the original text. It was with the 1876 edition that the currently used versification was first employed.

In 1876, section 101 from the 1835 edition (and subsequent printings) was removed. Section 101 was a "Statement on Marriage" as adopted by an 1835 conference of the church,^[7][8] and contained the following text:

Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife, and one woman but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.^[9]

This section was removed because it had been superseded by section 132 of the modern LDS edition, recorded in 1843, which contains a revelation received by Joseph Smith on eternal marriage and plural marriage, the origin of the principles of which the LDS Church traces to as early as 1831.

During the 1880s, five foreign editions contained two revelations to John Taylor that were received in 1882 and 1883; these revelations "set in order" the priesthood, gave more clarification about the roles of priesthood offices—especially the seventy—and required "men who ... preside over my priesthood" to live plural marriage in order to qualify to hold their church positions.^[10] Due to the LDS Church's change in attitude to polygamy in 1890, these sections were not included in future English editions of the Doctrine and Covenants.^[11]

1921 Edition

In 1921, the LDS Church removed the "Lectures on Faith" portion of the book, with an explanation that the lectures "were never presented to nor accepted by the Church as being otherwise than theological lectures or lessons".^[12] The lectures contain theology concerning the Godhead and emphasize the importance of faith and works.

Latter-day Revelation

In 1930, a small volume edited by apostle James E. Talmage titled Latter-day Revelation: Selections from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants was published, which was a highly edited selective version of the Doctrine and Covenants printed in paragraph format rather than verses. Talmage wrote that the book's purpose was "to make the strictly doctrinal parts of the Doctrine and Covenants of easy access and reduce its bulk" by including only "the sections comprising scriptures of general and enduring value".^[13] Ninety-five of the sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were completely omitted—most notably section 132 on plural and celestial marriage—along with parts of 21 others.^[13] Twenty complete sections were retained along with parts of 21 others.^[14] Fundamentalist Mormons were offended, particularly at the exclusion of section 132, and accused the church of "changing the scriptures."^[14] As a result, church president Heber J. Grant ordered the withdrawal of the book from sale with the remaining copies shredded in order to "avoid further conflict with the fundamentalists".^[14]

1981 Edition

Sections 137 and 138 were added to the LDS Church's 1981 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, which is the edition currently in use by the church. These were accounts of two visions, one from Joseph Smith in 1837 and the other from his nephew, Joseph F. Smith, in 1918. The revelations were earlier accepted as scripture when added to the Pearl of Great Price in April 1976.^[15] No new revelatory sections have been added since 1981.

The LDS Church's 1981 edition contains two "Official Declarations" at the book's conclusion. The 1890 Official Declaration 1 ended the church-authorized practice of plural marriage, and the 1978 Official Declaration 2 announces the opening of priesthood ordination to all worthy male members without regard to race or color. The two Official Declarations are not revelations, but they serve as the formal announcements that a revelation was received. In neither case is the revelation included in the Doctrine and Covenants. The text of Official Declaration 1 has been included in every LDS Church printing of the Doctrine and Covenants since 1908.

Until 1981, editions of the book used code names for certain people and places in those sections that dealt with the United Order. The 1981 LDS edition replaced these with the real names, relegating the code names to footnotes. The Community of Christ edition still uses the code names.

Sections added to the Community of Christ edition

The 167 sections of the Community of Christ's Doctrine and Covenants break down as follows:

• Sections 1–113 (includes 108A): From the presidency of Joseph Smith (1828–44)
• Sections 114–131: From the presidency of Joseph Smith III (1860–1914)
• Sections 132–138: From the presidency of Frederick M. Smith (1914–46)
• Sections 139–144: From the presidency of Israel A. Smith (1946–58)
• Sections 145–152 (includes 149A): From the presidency of W. Wallace Smith (1958–78)
• Sections 153–160: From the presidency of Wallace B. Smith (1978–96)
• Sections 161–162: From the presidency of W. Grant McMurray (1996–2004)
• Sections 163–165: From the presidency of Stephen M. Veazey (2005–)

The following sections are not revelations, but letters, reports, statements, and other similar documents: 99, 108A, 109–113, and 123.

Based on the above, the number of revelations (accounting for sections that are not revelations) presented by each Community of Christ president, are as follows:

• Joseph Smith: 107
• Joseph Smith III: 17
• Frederick M. Smith: 7
• Israel A. Smith: 6
• W. Wallace Smith: 9
• Wallace B. Smith: 8
• W. Grant McMurray: 2
• Stephen M. Veazey: 3

Portions removed from the Community of Christ edition

The Community of Christ removed the "Lectures on Faith" in 1897. The 1970 World Conference concluded that several sections that had been added between the 1835 and 1844 editions—mainly dealing with the subjects of temple worship and baptism for the dead—had been published without proper approval of a church conference. As a result, the World Conference removed sections 107, 109, 110, 113, and 123 to a historical appendix, which also includes documents that were never published as sections. Of these, only section 107 was a revelation. The World Conference of 1990 subsequently removed the entire appendix from the Doctrine and Covenants. Section 108A contained the minutes of a business meeting, which, because of its historical nature, was moved to the Introduction in the 1970s. After 1990, the Introduction was updated, and what was section 108A was removed entirely.

Doctrinal developments in the Community of Christ edition

The ongoing additions to the Community of Christ edition provide a record of the leadership changes and doctrinal developments within the denomination. When W. Grant McMurray became Prophet-President, he declared that instruction specific to leadership changes would no longer be included, so that the focus of the work could be more doctrinal in nature, and less administrative. The record of these leadership changes are still maintained in the form of published "letters of counsel." Prophet-President Stephen M. Veazey has conformed to this pattern. Although these letters are not formally published in the Doctrine and Covenants, they are still deemed to be inspired, and are dealt with in the same manner that revelations are (that is, they must be deliberated and approved by the voting members of a World Conference).

A modern revelation that resulted in some "disaffection" and "led to intense conflict in scattered areas of the RLDS Church"^[16]: 1211 is contained in the Community of Christ version's section 156, presented by Prophet–President Wallace B. Smith and added in 1984, which called for the ordination of women to the priesthood and set out the primary purpose of temples to be "the pursuit of peace".^[17] A resulting schism over the legitimacy of these change led to the formation of the Restoration Branches movement, the Restoration Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

While some of the prose in the new revelations seems designed to guide the denomination on matters of church governance and doctrine, others are seen as inspirational. One such example can be cited from section 161, presented as counsel to the church by W. Grant McMurray in 1996: "Become a people of the Temple—those who see violence but proclaim peace, who feel conflict yet extend the hand of reconciliation, who encounter broken spirits and find pathways for healing."