SIGNIFICANCE FOR LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Whether the Nicene Creed of the
fourth century AD or the Westminster Confession of the seventeenth, Latter-day
Saints are characteristically suspicious of the classical Christian creeds
that, in their view, impose restrictive theological boundaries that stifle the
unfolding process of revelation and restoration. In a discourse delivered on 15
October 1843, Joseph Smith, drawing from the language of Job 38:11, voiced his
frustration with creeds that “set up stakes and say ‘hitherto shalt thou come,
and no further.’” But the Articles of Faith can arguably be viewed as a set of
de facto creeds for the Latter-day Saints. (The very word creed comes
from the Latin credo, meaning “I believe.”) This apparent paradox
highlights the tension inherent between the efforts of Latter-day Saints
beginning with Joseph Smith to codify and systematize their theology on the one
hand and the progressive nature of revelation in the Church of Jesus Christ on
the other.
The solution to this paradox
would be, it seems, to view the Articles of Faith not as strict demarcations of
religious identity to which the faithful must strictly adhere but rather as an
executive summary of just some of the fundamental doctrines underpinning the
Restoration. This, indeed, is how Joseph Smith treated them in the context of
his letter to John Wentworth and is how Latter-day Saints have typically
approached them. That the Articles of Faith were likely not intended to
function in the same way as the classical Christian creeds can further be seen
in what they leave out. Absent from these articles is any mention of the
premortal life, the three degrees of glory, posthumous salvation for the dead,
eternal marriage, the doctrine of exaltation, and humanity’s potential to
become like God. Surely these and other points of Latter-day Saint doctrine not
mentioned in the articles are not unimportant. But they were also not included
in the Articles of Faith precisely because the Prophet did not intend the
articles to be exhaustive, authoritative mandates of everything those wishing
to call themselves Latter-day Saints must unhesitatingly believe. The Articles of
Faith thus represent the ground floor of Latter-day Saint theology, not the
ceiling.
Since their canonization in 1880,
the Articles of Faith have served as an important springboard for Latter-day
Saint theological exposition. In 1899 James E. Talmage, before his call to the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1911, published an influential treatise that
used the articles as his reference point in systematizing the core doctrines of
the Church. This volume—titled, appropriately, The Articles of Faith—proved
so influential that it has been translated into multiple languages and remains
in print after over a century. Appearing the same year as his death in 1985,
the book A New Witness for the Articles of Faith by Elder Bruce R.
McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles sought, like Talmage’s work, to illuminate
and explore the theological richness of the Restoration by using the Articles
of Faith as its conceptual framework.
While providing authors with
abundant material for deep theological explication, the Articles of Faith have
also proven to be useful pedagogical tools for instructing children, youth, and
new converts in the foundational tenets of the Church. On any given Sunday in
any given Church building around the world, members can be seen committing the
articles to memory in Sunday School and quorum meetings, singing them in
Primary, and reciting them in talks and lessons. Missionaries, too, are
encouraged to use the articles in proselytizing efforts as a quick, accessible
way to clarify the basic principles of the gospel. In this way they are
following in the footsteps of Joseph Smith, who in 1842 used a valuable
missionary opportunity to formulate these statements of faith that are cherished
by Saints across the globe nearly two centuries later. (The Pearl of Great
Price: A Study Edition for Latter-day Saints, ed. Stephen O. Smoot [rev
ed.; Lehi, Utah: Scripture Central; Orem, Utah: The Interpreter Foundation,
2025], 137-38)
