Individual Identity

D&C 78: Introduction

The introduction to Doctrine and Covenants 78 states, “It was not always desirable that the identity of the individuals whom the Lord addressed in the revelations should be known by the world; hence, in the publication of this and some subsequent revelations the brethren were referred to by other than their own names.”

Elder Orson Pratt said,

The names that were incorporated when [the Doctrine and Covenants] was printed, did not exist there when the manuscript revelations were given, for I saw them myself. Some of them I copied. And when the Lord was about to have the Book of Covenants given to the world it was through wisdom, in consequence of the persecutions of our enemies in Kirtland and some of the regions around, that some of the names should be changed.[1]

These “code” names and titles appeared in sections 78, 82, 92, 96, 103, 104, and 105. “When the necessity had passed for keeping the names of the individuals unknown, their real names were thereafter given in brackets” (D&C 78: Introduction). The following is an alphabetical listing of the names and titles used to identify individuals and places in early editions of the Doctrine and Covenants:

“Since there exists no vital need today to continue the code names, the real names only are now used therein, as given in the original manuscripts” (D&C 78: Introduction). In the 1981 Doctrine and Covenants, the unusual names and titles were eliminated.