Posted on 02/23/2010 9:54:36 AM PST by greyfoxx39
The truth is that the Church reveres the Bible as a sacred volume of scripture. Latter-day Saints cherish its teachings and engage in a lifelong study of its divine wisdom. Moreover, during worship and instruction services the Bible and its teachings are pondered and discussed. To increase biblical understanding, the Church provides extensive resources and tools: lesson manuals, cross-reference materials, Bible maps, a Bible dictionary, and articles in various magazines. Thus, the Bible is much more than simply a collection of antiquated writings and revelations that have only scant relevance to the modern world. On the contrary, it stands in the center of the Latter-day Saints’ spiritual lives.
In a recent sermon, Church apostle Elder M. Russell Ballard characterized the Bible as the “bedrock of all Christianity” and one of the “pillars” of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Furthermore, he described the Bible as a miracle: “It is a miracle that the Bible’s 4,000 years of sacred and secular history were recorded and preserved by the prophets, apostles, and inspired churchmen. … It is a miracle that the Bible literally contains within its pages the converting, healing Spirit of Christ, which has turned men’s hearts for centuries, leading them to pray, to choose right paths, and to search to find their Savior.” It instills real, tangible power in the lives of Latter-day Saints and offers practical solutions and spiritual guidance that inspire them to overcome challenges and trials.
There is a broad range of approaches within the vast mosaic of biblical interpretation. For example, biblical inerrancy maintains that the Bible is without error and contradiction; biblical infallibility holds that the Bible is free from errors regarding faith and practice but not necessarily science or history; biblical literalism requires a literal interpretation of events and teachings in the Bible and generally discounts allegory and metaphor; and the “Bible as literature” educational approach extols the literary qualities of the Bible but disregards its miraculous elements.
The Church does not strictly subscribe to any of these interpretive approaches. Rather, in the words of Joseph Smith, it regards the Bible to be the word of God, “as far as it is translated correctly” (8th Article of Faith). Accordingly, Church members believe that during the centuries-long process in which fallible human beings compiled, translated and transcribed the Bible, various errors entered the text. However, this does not override the overwhelming predominance of truth within the Bible. As Elder Ballard noted, “Without the Bible, we would not know of His Church then, nor would we have the fullness of His gospel now.” Part of that fullness is the Bible’s seminal instruction that God reveals Himself to those who seek Him. The Bible is a living invitation to know personally the sacred revelatory experience that fills its pages.
The scriptures, or “standard works,” of the Latter-day Saints comprise the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. According to Elder Ballard, these scriptures constitute a “great, indivisible whole” of God’s revealed word that help humankind understand the past, present and future. The great gospel plan contained in these works does not apply to one generation or one people alone but to all of God’s children throughout all time. Thus, in the words of Elder Ballard, “those who think that one part is more important or more true than the other parts are missing some of the beauty and completeness of the canon of ancient scripture.”
During previous periods of time when God organized His church, He added new revelations to pre-existing scripture, forming a connection between believers of the present and believers of the past. For example, the Old Testament book of Isaiah gives shape and meaning to the Gospel of Matthew. The two revelations need not be viewed as rivals competing with each other: the existence of one does not negate the relevance or legitimacy of the other. This ongoing revelation of scripture gives uniformity and continuity to an unfolding gospel narrative and unites people under one standard of doctrine.
Of all the standard works, the Bible remains the best source for an intimate understanding of the character and personality of Jesus Christ during His mortal mission. While the Old Testament offers a prophetic foretelling of that mission, the New Testament provides an unmatched account of the events, experiences, teachings and personal interactions of Christ. The Book of Mormon strengthens and reinforces His teachings through additional witnesses and provides moving accounts of the personal experiences many individuals had with Him. According to Elder Ballard, “The Book of Mormon does not dilute nor diminish nor de-emphasize the Bible. On the contrary, it expands, extends, and exalts it.”
Yes
The village of Red Clay is just a few miles from my house...
Those damn Changies! They displaced the Mohawks!
White Pride huh?
ttt
I like you. LOL
See post 25.
So inspite of the all the errors referenced by Godzilla, you believe there are no errors? Ok.....
Better turn in your NIV bibles, pry the fish off the back of your cars, take off those Christian T-shirts, and remove the KLOVE preset from your radio.
Now report to your nearest stake house at once. Bring copies of your most recent pay statements as well as five years of your tax returns.
Bring your womenfolk, but keep them quiet and make sure they wear skirts that are at least mid-calf length.
It is your right to interpret my response any way you wish, even if it’s incorrect.
LOL
That is a result of your insistence on being cryptic and an unwillingness to engage in conversation. :-) You are free to correct the record anytime you wish!
Just because you do not like my response does not mean I did not give one.
Your response is just fine with me. If you disagree with my assessment of your responses, then you are free to correct me, ignore me, or continue to taunt me! :-)
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An Indian walks into a cafe with a shotgun in one hand pulling a male buffalo with the other.
He says to the waiter, "Want coffee." The waiter says, "Sure thing. Coming right up." He gets the Indian a tall mug of coffee. The Indian drinks the coffee down in one gulp, turns and blasts the buffalo with the shotgun, causing parts of the animal to splatter everywhere, and then just walks out the door. The next morning the Indian returns. He has his shotgun in one hand, pulling another male buffalo with the other. He walks up to the counter and says to the waiter, "Want coffee." The waiter says "Whoa! We're still cleaning up your mess from yesterday. What was all that about, anyway?" The Indian smiles and proudly says, "Training for position in United States Congress: Come in, drink coffee, shoot the bull,
Leave mess for others to clean up,
Disappear for rest of day." |
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“You are free to correct the record anytime you wish!”
So are you.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2457570/posts?page=38#38
And the book of abraham question that was posited to you as well.
Nice, thanks.
Your use of 'if you will' belies your desire to sow doubt rather than clarify the discussion. You, if you're a Mormon, already know that your church claimed the Bible was missing tracts of 'precious text' and your founding fraud, Joesph SMith didn't come up with anything significant in his joseph smith translation fo the King James Bible, unless you conside the hundreds of words added at the end of Genesis which smith fabrciated to produce a prophecy of his advent int he latter days. Or maybe you don't know! In such a case, you would do well to look into the fraud of your founder.
There has been extensive DNA studied conducted on Amerindians thorough out the western hemisphere. Much summarized here
That is why the bom lands keep getting smaller and smaller while apologists try to weasel-word the clear teaching and understanding of smith and the founders of mormonism.
The fold of whom Jesus spoke were the Jews to whom He was speaking. The other fold were the gentiles to whom Jesus sent Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, etc. Your effort to fabricate confusion is duly noted ... in the Lord’s councils. Beware your heretical efforts, FRiend.
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