When LDS say that Smith never finished the JST, that's just more disengenous apologetics. Why? Well, just think of it. Let's give them their premise & let them claim it was "unfinished." So the next question is, "Is the Doctrine & Covenants 'finished?'" (Has the Mormon god stopped the "revelation" process?) Is the Pearl of Great Price a "finished" product? (If so, why have they added bits & pieces here & there to it? Why was the First Vision added to it when even 7 years after Smith's dead, it was in the hands of very few Mormons--and NOT as a revelation!).
If a "final, finished" product is the standard for Mormon "Scriptures," then by all means, tell them then to just shut up on having an Amos 3:7 living "prophet." (They can just tell the Mormon god that the "book is closed" on further revelations...Which reminds me...if it was unfinished, can anyone explain why no LDS "prophet" since Smith can't do the grand task he accomplished...becoming the first (& only) person to ever "translate" English into English without it being a paraphrase!)
LDS say that Smith never finished the JST
On one hand: According to the D.H.C., Vol. I, pp. 324 and 368, and Times and Seasons, Vol. VI, p. 802, Joseph Smith completed a translation of the Bible. Those sources and Andrew Jensen's LDS Church Chronology show that the New Testament was finished February 2, 1833, and the Old Testament on July 2, 1833. In a revelation given on January 10, 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon are commanded to "continue the work of translation until it is finished" (D. & C. 73:4). Obviously this was not talking about the B. of M. which was published in 1830. Nor could it be talking about the Book of Abraham Papyrus which Joseph Smith saw for the first time on July 3, 1835 (D.H.C., Vol. II, p. 235). Furthermore, Joseph Smith was commanded by God in D. & C. 124:89 to "publish the new translation of my holy word unto the inhabitants of the earth" (see also D. & C. 94:10 and 104:58).
On the other hand: In spite of these commands in LDS scripture the LDS Church never published the Inspired Version of the Bible until 1979. According to LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie, the reason it was not published is that "...This inspired revision of the ancient scriptures was never completed by the Prophet" (M.D., p. 383).
Smith’s translation of the Bible...was never included in the Mormon Standard Works/canon. Why?
When Smith was killed, the manuscript went to his wife who never accepted Brigham Young as the successor to her husband. Her son Joseph III later became the Prophet of the Reorganized LDS Church and published the new translation for the Reorganized LDS Church for the first time in 1867. Thus, the JST has been included in the RLDS Standard Works for years.
Many LDS people have used the RLDS edition, but it has never been officially endorsed by the LDS Church because they did not trust the apostate Reorganized LDS Church.
In addition ...
The ninth printing of the 1944 edition entitles it the Inspired Version The Holy Scriptures. Below that title it says A New Corrected Edition. Page 3 of the Preface reads: As concerning the manner of translation and correction, it is evident, that from the manuscripts and the testimony of those who were conversant with the facts that it was done by direct revelation from God.
This raises several interesting questions. If the inspired translation was done by direct revelation and yet needed correction by revelation, will the revealed corrections need to be corrected by further revelation? Why couldn't God reveal it correctly the first time? And why is about 90% of it a copy of the King James Version if that translation is as bad as LDS leaders have claimed it is?
~”So the next question is, “Is the Doctrine & Covenants ‘finished?’””~
No. We believe in an open canon. God continues to speak. If He gives new light and knowledge that the membership of the Church finds sufficiently precious to include in our scriptures, it will be included. The last time this happened was 1918 (some would argue 1978).
Some think that the Proclamation to the World could appropriately be called “Section 139, pending.”
Unlike the bulk of Christendom, we believe that God still speaks to His people, as He has always done. It’s a pity most people don’t choose to listen.