What Mormons Think of the Bible

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[delacoert]

Official Mormon Statements about the Bible:

The Mormon church teaches that the Bible has been corrupted and does not contain the fullness of the gospel. This is reflected in one of their Articles of Faith which states: "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly" (Pearl of Great Price).

• Joseph Smith stated: "it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.10); "I believe the Bible as it read when it came from the pen of the original writers. Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 327).
• When: "the book [Bible] proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew...it contained the fullness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record" (1 Nephi 13:24), but afterwards "thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church...after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God. And after these plain and precious things were taken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles" (Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 13:26,28). See also Doctrines of Salvation, vol.3, p.190-191.
• "many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible...Wherefore because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written" (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 29:3,10).
• When his "revelation" about Adam being God was disputed, Brigham Young stated: "You believe Adam was made of the dust of this earth. This I do not believe...I have publicly declared that I do not believe that portion of the Bible as the Christian world do. I never did, and I never want to. What is the reason I do not? Because I have come to understanding, and banished from my mind all the baby stories my mother taught me when I was a child" (Journal of Discourses, vol.2, p.6).
• Orson Pratt's lack of confidence in the Bible is obvious: "...and who, in his right mind, could for one moment, suppose the Bible in its present form to be a perfect guide? No one can tell whether even one verse of either the Old or New Testament conveys the ideas of the original author" (Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 28).
• Apostle Bruce McConkie: "Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors, many plain and precious things were deleted, in consequence of which error and falsehood poured into the churches. One of the great heresies of modern Christendom is the unfounded assumption that the Bible contains all of the inspired teachings now extant among men" (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 82,83).
• McConkie continues: The Bible of the Old World has come to us from the manuscripts of antiquity - manuscripts which passed through the hands of uninspired men who changed many parts to suit their own doctrinal ideas. Deletions were common, and, as it now stands, many plain and precious portions and many covenants of the Lord have been lost. As a consequence, those who rely upon it [the Bible] alone stumble and are confused... (The Ensign, December 1985, p 55).
• Mormon Apostle Mark E. Petersen accused manuscript copyists of deliberately tampering with the Bible: "Many insertions were made, some of them slanted for selfish purposes, while at times deliberate falsifications and fabrications were perpetrated" (As Translated Correctly, p.4).

Comparisons made by Mormon Leaders between the Bible and Book of Mormon. In contrast to the Bible, Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is perfect because it was translated perfectly (miraculously) as reflected in the second half of the same Article of Faith: "...we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God [but without any qualifications as to translation accuracy]" (Pearl of Great Price).

• President Ezra Taft Benson stated: "Unlike the Bible, which passed through generations of copyists, translators, and corrupt religionists who tampered with the text, the Book of Mormon came from writer to reader in just one inspired step of translation" ("The Keystone of Our Religion", The Ensign, January 1992, page 5).
• Joseph Smith claimed: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was more correct than any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding its precepts, than by any other book" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.194).
• An official and widely read LDS publication reads: "Men can get nearer to the Lord, can have more of the spirit of conversion and conformity in their hearts...can gain a better understanding of the doctrines of salvation through the Book of Mormon than they can through the Bible...there will be more people saved in the kingdom of God - ten thousand times over - because of the Book of Mormon than there will be because of the Bible" (The Ensign, November 1984, p. 7).
• A letter from the First Presidency (Presidents Benson, Hinckley, and Monson) to all members of the Church states: "The most reliable way to measure the accuracy of any biblical passage is not by comparing different texts, but by comparison with the Book of Mormon and modern-day revelations". (Church News, June 20, 1992, page 3, letter dated May 22, 1992).

[delacoert]

This article is posted in response to comments made in another thread to the effect that "Mormans never denegrate the Bible.

[delacoert]

ping

[wendy1946]

The real question is, what do Mormons think of the Rosetta stone? You’re familiar with the story I assume?

[delacoert]

No, I’m not. I’m interested to find out though.

[svcw]

Not much.

[elcid1970]

As a dues-paying member of “The Great and Abominable Church” (Catholic if you haven’t guessed), I resemble that last remark.

OBTW, my Protestant brothers and sisters needn’t feel left out; the Mormon GA’s refer to all of you as the “lewd daughters” of TGAAC.

“A man has to believe in something. I believe I’ll have another drink.”

;^)

[ejonesie22]

It's great, as long as it's translated correctly individual scriptures can be manipulated to fit our needs...

[johnthebaptistmoore]

My last name is Moore, I’m a man (the last time I checked), and I have no problems with the Bible!

[ejonesie22]

Trust us, we feel the love ;-)

[MrPiper]

Just a comment.....

Joseph Smith claimed: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was more correct than any book on earth,

Prove it.

[TheDon]

And I stand by that statement! :-)

[SkyDancer]

Then why did JSjr incorporate known mistakes from the Bible into the BOM? Were the mistakes translated correctly from Reformed Egyptian into KJ English?

ping

[TheDon]

The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration (4th Edition)

"This thoroughly revised edition of Bruce M. Metzger's classic work is the most up-to-date manual available for the textual criticism of the New Testament. The Text of the New Testament, Fourth Edition, has been invigorated by the addition of Bart D. Ehrman--author of numerous best-selling books on the New Testament--as a coauthor. This revision brings the discussion of such important matters as the early Greek manuscripts and methods of textual criticism up to date, integrating recent research findings and approaches into the body of the text (as opposed to previous revisions, which compiled new material and notes into appendices). The authors also examine new areas of interest, including the use of computers in the collection and evaluation of manuscript evidence and the effects that social and ideological influences had upon the work of scribes. The standard text for courses in biblical studies and the history of Christianity since its first publication in 1964, The Text of the New Testament is poised to become a definitive resource for a whole new generation of students."

Although delacoert refuses to admit it, I think she is a believer in the traditions of the "infallability" and "inerrancy" of the Bible, and anyone who doesn't agree is disparaging the Bible. Several hundred years of modern textual criticism of the Greek New Testament have demonstrated thousands of variants in the various manuscripts. Apparently, mentioning those facts is disparaging the Bible in delacoert's eyes.

[yarddog]

I had a couple of Mormon missionaries stop by my house several years ago. They were pleasant and I enjoyed talking to them.

The one thing we disagreed on was the accuracy of the Bible. We all agreed that it was true as far as it was accurately translated. Where we disagreed was that I think most standard versions are very good translations while they do not.

I will say my Grandfather was a Southern Baptist preacher and a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louiville, KY. He graduated in the early 1900’s.

Granddady could read and translate both Greek and Latin. He once told me the King James version was a very good translation with no real inaccuracies. A few places where it could have been done better but not affecting the basic story.

Some of the newer ones such as Good News Bible are even better.

[Graybeard58]

Ignorant translators

Didn't know their "reformed Egyptian".

[GiovannaNicoletta]

Thanks for posting this.

It explains a lot.

[TheDon]

We all agreed that it was true as far as it was accurately translated.

Doh! There you go, disparaging the Bible! You heathen! :-)

[Jumper]

John Smith just rewrote the Bible with a smattering of Masonic Bible/Masonic teachings. Anyone who is or has ever been a Mason will recognize the Masonic ideals and even vergabe in reading their Bible.

[Blue Highway]

I bet GOP_Lady will still come in here and start campaigning for Romney. With all we now know about him she still would vote for that guy.

[Alex Murphy]

As a dues-paying member of “The Great and Abominable Church” (Catholic if you haven’t guessed), I resemble that last remark.

OBTW, my Protestant brothers and sisters needn’t feel left out; the Mormon GA’s refer to all of you as the “lewd daughters” of TGAAC.

Left out??? Your "Great and Abominable Church" didn't even rate a mention in Joseph's "first vision"....

And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off.” I then said to my mother, “I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true.” It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me?