The "Articles of the Church of Christ" was an 1829 revelation purportedly given by God to Oliver Cowdery

Oliver Cowdery

Oliver H. P. Cowdery was, with Joseph Smith, Jr., an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836, becoming one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon's golden plates, one of the first Latter Day Saint apostles, and the Second Elder of...

 in the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement

Latter Day Saint movement

The Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...

. The original Articles were never included in the Mormon

Mormon

The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...

 canon; however, the language of much of the Articles found its way into various sections of the Book of Commandments

Book of Commandments

The Book of Commandments is the earliest published volume said to contain the revelations of Joseph Smith Jr. Text published in the Book of Commandments is now considered scripture by Latter-day Saints as part of the larger Doctrine and Covenants....

and the Doctrine and Covenants

Doctrine and Covenants

The Doctrine and Covenants is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement...

, such as D&C 20. The Article begins, "A commandment from God unto Oliver how he should build up his church & the manner thereof—"

External Reference

• The text of the Articles can be found at http://www.saintswithouthalos.com/w/oc_arts.phtml