The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement.

The remaining portion of the book contains revelations on numerous topics, most of which were dictated by the movement's founder Joseph Smith, supplemented by materials periodically added by each denomination.

Controversy has existed between the two largest denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement over some sections added to the 1876 LDS edition, attributed to founder Smith.

This earlier book contained 65 early revelations to church leaders, notably Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.

On September 24, 1834, a committee was appointed by the general assembly of the church to organize a new volume containing the most significant revelations.

This committee of Presiding Elders, consisting of Smith, Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams, began to review and revise numerous revelations for inclusion in the new work.

At the end of the conference, the church "by a unanimous vote" agreed to accept the compilation as "the doctrine and covenants of their faith" and to make arrangements for its printing.

[4] In 1835, the book was printed and published under the title Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God.

A copy of the Doctrine and Covenants from NASA photographer M. Edward Thomas traveled to the moon and back in 1972 with astronaut John Young aboard Apollo 16.

Previous editions had been divided into verses with the early versifications generally following the paragraph structure of the original text.

[10] Due to the LDS Church's change in attitude to polygamy in 1890, these sections were not included in future English editions of the Doctrine and Covenants.

A general conference of the church in 1878 approved a resolution that declared that the revelations of the Prophet-President Joseph Smith III had equal standing to those previously included in the work.

Since that time, the church has continued to add sections to its edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, containing the revelations of succeeding Prophet-Presidents.

The most recent addition was formally authorized on April 14, 2010, after being presented to the church for informal consideration on January 17, 2010.

A proposal to decanonize section 116 and move it to historical records was debated at the 2023 World Conference, which voted to refer the issue to the First Presidency.

Section 116 had been received by Joseph Smith III in 1865, shortly after the conclusion of the American Civil War, and stipulates that men of all ethnic backgrounds should be ordained (contrast the LDS Church policy at the time forbidding Black ordination), but hedges this with caution against taking a "hasty" or indiscriminate attitude in ordination of men of the "Negro race", noting that many of the existing priesthood holders had failed to adequately fulfill their responsibilities.

[17] After consulting with Black priesthood members, the First Presidency decided to retain it, so as not to appear to be sanitising the church's history.

[17] The outcome of the process was a rewritten section preface, giving better historical context and stipulating the overarching interpretation "to ordain people of all ethnicities while emphasizing careful discernment of calling, commitment and timing (compare to 156:9d)", and a minor re-versification, making the closing sentence ("Be ye content, I the Lord have spoken it.")

[17] The ongoing additions to the Community of Christ edition provide a record of the leadership changes and doctrinal developments within the denomination.

A modern revelation that resulted in some "disaffection" and "led to intense conflict in scattered areas of the RLDS Church"[19]: 1211  is contained in the Community of Christ version's section 156, presented by Prophet–President Wallace B. Smith and added in 1984, which called for the ordination of women to the priesthood and set out the primary purpose of temples to be "the pursuit of peace".

One such example can be cited from section 161, presented as counsel to the church by W. Grant McMurray in 1996: "Become a people of the Temple—those who see violence but proclaim peace, who feel conflict yet extend the hand of reconciliation, who encounter broken spirits and find pathways for healing."

The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) accepts the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, including the Lectures on Faith, which it insists are as much inspired as the revelations themselves.