The Change from "Ordinances" to "First Principles and Ordinances" in the Fourth Article of Faith

The fourth Article of Faith reads:

 

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

 

The Wentworth letter, as published in the Times and Seasons (1 March 1842), reads differently:

 

We believe that these ordinances are 1st, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; 2d, Repentance; 3d, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; 4th, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

 

As one can see, "ordinances" now reads "first principles and ordinances.” The change was first published in the 1902 edition of the Pearl of Great price.

 

Is this a significant change? As Lyndon W. Cook wrote:

 

Whether or not faith and repentance are ordinances or principles or both presents an interesting problem. It may be that they could be consid­ered both. For instance, Joseph Smith declared in the History of the Church that faith, repentance, baptism, and the laying on of hands were principles, (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1971), 6:57.) but in the Times and Seasons he indicated that all four of them were ordi­nances. (Times and Seasons 3 (1 March 1842) :709) The Oxford English Dictionary attests an 1842 usage of the word ordinance under which faith and repentance could appropriately be called ordinances, (Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “ordinance,” def. 5b) but apparently by 1893 such usage was ambiguous and the change was authorized and made. ("The Articles of Faith," BYU Studies, vol. 17, no. 2 [Winter 1977]:254-56, here, pp. 255-56)

 

In response to the Tanners’ criticisms of this change, Matthew Brown responded thusly:

 

Jerald and Sandra Tanner claim that in Joseph Smith’s fourth Article of Faith (written in March 1842) he said that “there were only four things required for salvation,” but “not long after” writing that statement he “added a new doctrine” requiring those who seek exaltation to go through a “secret ceremony and be married in a Mormon temple.” That is not an historically accurate statement. Anyone who has read section 124 of the Doctrine and Covenants knows that the Nauvoo Temple ordinances were made known to the Saints by 19 January 1841. The existence of these ordinances was announced in a public newspaper nine months before the Prophet sent his letter off to Mr. Wentworth in Chicago (See Times and Seasons, vol. 2, no. 15, 1 June 1841, 425–429. Information on eternal marriage was made public in the following periodicals: Millennial Star, vol. 5, no. 12, May 1845, 189–94; Millennial Star, vol. 6, no. 2, 1 July 1845, 23; Times and Seasons, vol. 6, no. 20, 1 January 1846, 1084). (Accusations Against the Articles of Faith)

 

Contra the Tanners and other critics, this is not a substantial change to the text nor a reflection of the purportedly ever changing nature of "Mormon" theology.