Latter-day Saint history is replete with historical questions, some of which pertain to what are termed the Lectures on Faith. What are the Lectures on Faith? How did they originate? Why were they taken out of the Doctrine and Covenants? Who wrote and delivered them? It is the purpose of this paper to examine these questions and to supply some plausible answers.
The Lectures on Faith are a series of seven theological presentations made to the School of the Elders held in Kirtland, Ohio, during the winter of 1834–35. For more than eighty years these lectures were printed with the Revelation of God to Joseph Smith inn every English edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. Although never held to be on a par with the Revelation themselves, the lectures were widely used as doctrinal aids by members and missionaries during this period.
