all things that pertain to life and godliness are the effects of faith and nothing else
it is faith, and faith only, which is the moving cause of all action
God framed the worlds by faith
Faith, then, is the first great governing principle which has power, dominion, and authority over all things
the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things
where doubt and uncertainty is, there faith is not, nor can it be
doubt and faith do not exist in the same person at the same time
it is by faith that the Deity works
We understand that when a man works by faith he works by mental exertion instead of physical force
Faith, then, works by words; and with these its mightiest works have been, and will be performed
the whole visible creation, as it now exists, is the effect of faith
God desires the salvation of man
When men begin to live by faith they begin to draw near to God
As all the visible creation is an effect of faith, so is salvation, also
And as faith is the moving cause of all action in temporal concerns, so it is in spiritual
it begins with faith, and continues by faith; and every blessing which is obtained, in relation to it, is the effect of faith
there is a great difference between believing in God and knowing him: knowledge implies more than faith
men, as soon as they lose their faith, run into strifes, contentions, darkness and difficulties
for when faith comes, it brings its train of attendants with it
For where faith is, there will the knowledge of God be also, with all things which pertain thereto
It was by faith that the worlds were framed – God spake, chaos heard, and worlds came into order, by reason of the faith there was in HIM
For without the idea of the existence of the attributes which belong to God, the minds of men could not have power to exercise faith on him so as to lay hold upon eternal life.
An actual knowledge to any person that the course of life which he pursues is according to the will of God, is essentially necessary to enable him to have that confidence in God, without which no person can obtain eternal life.
Such was and always will be the situation of the saints of God, that unless they have an actual knowledge that the course that they are pursuing is according to the will of God, they will grow weary in their minds and faint
So, then, faith is truly the first principle in the science of THEOLOGY, and when understood, leads the mind back to the beginning and carries it forward to the end; or in other words, from eternity to eternity.
all the blessings of eternity are the effects of faith
without faith it is impossible for men to be saved
to be assimilated into their likeness is to be saved; and to be unlike them is to be destroyed: and on this hinge turns the door of salvation
all the heavenly beings work by this principle; and it is because they are able so to do that they are saved: for nothing but this could save them
women could, by their faith, receive the dead children to life again
in a word, there was nothing impossible with them who had faith
all things that pertain to life and godliness are the effects of faith and nothing else
the knowledge which tends to life disappears with faith, but returns when faith returns
when faith comes, it brings its train of attendants with it—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, gifts, wisdom, knowledge, miracles, healings, tongues, interpretation of tongues, etc
salvation is the effect of faith
salvation is of faith, that it might be by grace to the end
the glory which the Father and the Son have, is because they are just and holy beings
[the plan of salvation] begins with faith, and continues by faith; and every blessing which is obtained, in relation to it, is the effect of faith, whether it pertains to this life or that which is to come.
the whole history of the scheme of life and salvation, it is a matter of faith
in a word, there was nothing impossible with them who had faith
The knowledge which tends to life disappears with faith, but returns when faith returns
it is faith, and faith only, which is the moving cause of all action, in them
faith is not only the principle of action, but of power, also, in all intelligent beings, whether in heaven, or on earth
Without [faith], there is no power, and without power there could be no creation, nor existence!
To the
Members
Preface
Faith
Defined
Lecture First
The Object
of Faith
Lecture Second
The Character
of God
Lecture Third
The Attributes
of God
Lecture Fourth
The
Godhead
Lecture Fifth
The Law
of Sacrifice
Lecture Sixth
The Effects
of Faith
Lecture Seventh

An Introduction to the Lectures on Faith

"When Joseph Smith returned from Missouri to Ohio in August 1834, focus again turned to publishing the revelations. In September the Kirtland high council appointed a committee consisting of Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams to publish a work "arrange[d from] the items of the doctrine of Jesus Christ." This committee was assigned to draw "from the bible, book of mormon, and the revelations which have been given to the church up to this date." While a single volume containing excerpts from the Bible, Book of Mormon, and revelation texts was the original intention, the concept was later modified. As the bipartite title "Doctrine and Covenants" suggests, the new book was made up of two parts.

The first part, on "the doctrine of the church," comprised a series of seven doctrinal lectures on the subject of faith, first prepared as a course of instruction for the School of the Elders held in the second Kirtland printing office in the winter of 1834-1835. Lecture one was contemporaneously published as a broadside and lectures five and six were published in the May 1835 issue of the Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, but there is no known manuscript copy of any of the lectures. Although no Joseph Smith-era published version states who authored the lectures, they were traditionally attributed to Joseph Smith. Modern scholars, however, largely agree that Rigdon authored most or all of the lectures.

The second part of the Doctrine and Covenants contained the "covenants and commandments of the Lord," or revelations. Inasmuch as the revelations made up the majority of the volume and the volume's title indicated that the texts therein were "carefully selected from the revelations of God," it is curious that the revelations were placed in the second part of the book. The sequence of the book's two parts may have resulted from the order in which materials were ready to be typeset. Regardless, the revelations were considered to be of paramount importance, and the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants was the most important collection of revelations published to that point."

- Historical Introduction to the 1835 Edition of the Doctrine & Covenants via the Joseph Smith Papers Project

About This Online Edition

The 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants is the source text for this online edition of the Lectures on Faith. Though integrity to the original text is an overall priority, a small number of minor edits/updates have been made to this edition:

  • Titles have been given to each lecture to highlight the general subject matter.
  • Questions at the end of each lecture have been numbered to make them easier to reference.
  • A very small handful of spelling corrections.
  • Modernized Book of Mormon references to the current chapter and verse. Originally, there were page numbers that referenced the 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon.
  • Scripture references show the full book name and are no longer abbreviated.
  • For convenience, you can link to specific lectures, verses, or questions directly. You can simply right-click on a verse or question to copy the link or you can structure your links like these examples:
    Link to Lecture: http://lecturesonfaith.com/5
    Link to Verse: http://lecturesonfaith.com/5/#3
    Link to Question: http://lecturesonfaith.com/5/#q14

Any additional updates to this project may be reviewed in the changelog.

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