The Articles of Faith first appeared in the Church newspaper Times and Seasons on March 1, 1842. They were part of a larger letter written by Joseph Smith at the request of John Wentworth, the editor of the Chicago Democrat, who had requested a brief summary of the history and doctrines of the Church. Wentworth’s request came at the urging of his friend George Barstow, a Boston lawyer who was working on a history of New Hampshire. Neither Wentworth nor Barstow used the material provided by Joseph Smith in their publications. The original letter is lost, but the version that appeared in Times and Seasons became one of the most important early recollections of Church history and teachings. When later Church historian B.H. Roberts included the letter in the History of the Church, he labeled it the “Wentworth Letter,” which is the title most members of the Church use.¹

The Articles of Faith appear at the end of the history that the Prophet wrote, and they summarize the beliefs of the Church. During his writing process, Joseph Smith likely drew from several earlier outlines of Latter-day Saint beliefs written by other Church officials. In 1834, Oliver Cowdery prepared a short outline of Church teachings and printed them in the Church newspaper Messenger and Advocate.² Two years later, Brigham Young’s brother Joseph created a written statement containing the “creed, doctrines, sentiments, or religious notions” of the Church for a Boston editor.³ In 1840, Parley P. Pratt condensed parts of his 1839 History of the Late Persecution into a pamphlet summarizing Church beliefs. He republished this as “An Address to the Citizens of Washington.” Shortly after, Parley’s brother and fellow apostle Orson Pratt published An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is likely that Joseph Smith utilized all of these sources when he compiled the Articles of Faith.⁴

Later in 1851, the Articles of Faith appeared in a collection of writings published under the direction of Franklin D. Richards, the president of the British Mission. This collection also included selections from the Book of Moses, the Book of Abraham, extracts from Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible, the revelations now in the Doctrine and Covenants as sections 77 and 87, excerpts from Joseph Smith’s history, and several other items. The collection was given the lengthy title The Pearl of Great Price, Being a Choice Selection from the Revelations, Translations, and Narrations of Joseph Smith, First Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The publication became popular among British Saints, and when many of them emigrated to the Western United States, they brought along their copies.⁵

In 1877, Orson Pratt recommended the creation of a second edition of the Pearl of Great Price. Acting under the direction of President John Taylor, Pratt revised the work. He was the first to give the articles a title: “Articles of Our Faith.” Two years later at the October 1888 general conference, the Pearl of Great Price was officially canonized, becoming one of the standard works of the Church. In 1888, the articles’ title was simplified to “Articles of Faith.” In the 1902 edition of the Pearl of Great Price, their final title appeared as “The Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”⁶

While the Articles of Faith are an invaluable resource, especially for those new to the faith, they are not a formal creed. They are also not a complete summary of the beliefs of the Latter-day Saints. Many important concepts, such as temple work, the three degrees of glory, and the importance of marriage, are not mentioned in the Articles of Faith. The Articles of Faith were intended as a missionary tool, and as such, they remain a valuable introduction to Latter-day Saint teachings and doctrine. Joseph Smith never referred to the Articles of Faith in his teachings to the Saints, most likely because he assumed they already knew the basic doctrines contained therein. Yet the Articles of Faith remain an important starting point for those who wish to understand Latter-day Saint beliefs. An essay published by the Church on its doctrine in 2007 stated that the doctrine of the Church “resides in the four ‘standard works’ of scripture (the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price), official declarations and proclamations, and the Articles of Faith.”⁷

See Historical Introduction, “Church History,” 1 March 1842, JSP.

1. Historical Introduction, “Church History,” 1 March 1842, JSP.

2. Oliver Cowdery, “Address,” Messenger and Advocate, October 1834, 2.

3. Joseph Young, “The Leading Principles of Religious Faith of the Church of the Latter Day Saints, Vulgarly Called Mormons,” in John Hayward, The Religious Creeds and Statistics of Every Christian Denomination in the United States, 1836, 139–40.

4. Terryl Givens (with Brian Hauglid), The Pearl of Great Price: Mormonism’s Most Controversial Scripture, 2019, 246–48.

5. Casey Paul Griffiths, Susan Easton Black, and Mary Jane Woodger, What You Don’t Know About the 100 Most Important Events in Church History, 2016.

6. Richard D. Draper, S. Kent Brown, Michael D. Rhodes, The Pearl of Great Price: A Verse by Verse Commentary, 2005, 389.

7. “Approaching Mormon Doctrine,” newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, May 4, 2007.