tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005490685220949062.post7873295664403484441..comments2023-10-18T10:32:30.713-05:00Comments on American Testament: The Book of Mormon: Mormon Mythbuster: Mormons do not believe in nor do they read the Bible!AmericanTestament.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04127465919258708936noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8005490685220949062.post-90138640589932469662008-12-06T07:56:00.000-06:002008-12-06T07:56:00.000-06:00Yes, Mormons do read the Bible and believe it [wit...Yes, Mormons do read the Bible and believe it [with qualification] as you rightly point out. That is not the problem. The problem is one of interpretation. Mormons are notorious for interpreting passages of the Bible out of context. Apparently what happens, and this is just an educated guess, is that the Mormon authorities tell Mormons what they are supposed to believe, and then Mormon laity jams the Bible into that mold.<BR/><BR/>It cannot be overstated that the Bible alone, of all the standard works, is only the word of God with qualification. Namely, "so far as it is translated correctly." The 8th article of faith, which purportedly comes directly from the lips of God, says this. However, apparently what God, speaking more clearly through the latter-day prophets, really meant here, was primarily "insofar as it was transcribed correctly." Translation and transcription are two totally different things.<BR/><BR/>There are legitimate concerns of translational accuracy. However, people who are fluent in both languages (whether the text in question is that of the Bible or not) are able to produce a reasonably accurate, though not absolutely perfect, translation. In the case of the Bible, in particular, competent scholars have made sufficiently reliable translations.<BR/><BR/>What of transcription? Errors have crept in unawares to the Bible as it was copied numerous times exactly as we would expect. This was not a nefarious plot by the early "apostate" church. Read "Misquoting Jesus" if you don't want to believe me. What is more, through the science of textual criticism, the original text of the Bible has been more or less reconstructed. The idea Smith apparently had in mind, on the other hand, was that the Bible was torn to shreds with hopeless intentional mutilations so that we may only know what the originals taught after he told us. I appreciate that textual criticism was not around back then (at least to the extent of development it is now at) but the Mormon of today cannot hide behind the same red herring.<BR/><BR/>In summary, the Bible as we have it today, in English, has been translated and transcribed correctly.<BR/><BR/>Next, it is a demonstrable fact that the KJV is one of the least accurate English versions available today. If it has been revealed otherwise to the modern day prophets then that is yet another example of their false prophethood and lack of authority. Even this post of yours seems to contradict your claim. While the JST was never voted on to become an official standard work or scripture, Joseph did work, purportedly, under divine ispiration. He did not cocmplete that work, but he did make some corrections under direct inspiration. Wouldn't those corrections make the Bible closer to the original text though the JST was never officially canonised? It seems to me the answer may only be a resounding yes, on your view.<BR/><BR/>I break out in a rash whenever I hear someone speak of the martyrdom of Smith but I'll leave that for another post. I am pleased to see, dear Rob, that you are offering your own comments here (as opposed to merely listing countless links to FAIR, FARMS, etc). In my estimation, your thoughts in the above post don't hold up to scrutiny, but, at least you are making a genuine effort. And for this you are to be commended.evangelicalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15601612681687950025noreply@blogger.com