The collection’s first foundations appeared in the 1830s. Printing of the Book of Commandments began in 1833 but was interrupted when the press was destroyed; the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants expanded and reorganized the material. Its contents continued to be edited and supplemented as the Church published additional revelations and declarations. The sections therefore belong to different occasions and settings rather than one composition event.
The 1835 edition also included the Lectures on Faith, which are not part of the current Doctrine and Covenants. Later editions changed the book’s arrangement and added material. Modern readers should distinguish the original date of a revelation, the date it entered a printed edition, and the text or arrangement used in the present Church edition.