Although Latter-day Saints frequently use the term “gospel” to refer generally to all truths to be learned through the restored Church, this is not the real meaning of the term. Many critics point to Joseph Smith’s declaration that the Book of Mormon contains the “fulness of the gospel,” 8 and note that some principal Mormon doctrines, such as eternal marriage, baptism for the dead, etc., are not even mentioned in the book. He wrote, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” 7 6 4) Joseph Smith did not suggest that the there were no errors in the text of the Book of Mormon, only that there were no errors in its doctrinal teachings. 3) Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni, the three principal scribes who preserved the Nephite record, acknowledged that there could be errors in the record. 4 2) The translation process for the Book of Mormon seems to have involved some individual effort, 5 which would mean that the final product had to pass through fallible human hands. The fallacy lies in several areas: 1) No translation from one language to another can carry across the full meaning of the original, so there can be no such thing as a perfect translation. To this, they add that Joseph is said to have translated the Nephite record “by the gift and power of God,” 3 meaning, they surmise, that the book cannot be without errors if it is an authentic ancient record. What irks some of our critics is that the same Article of Faith goes on to say that “we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God,” but without the qualification “as far as it is translated correctly.” These critics point to Joseph Smith’s own words to say that if the Book of Mormon is “the most correct of any book on earth,” it should contain no errors. Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors.” 1 When the prophet Joseph wrote in the eighth Article of Faith that “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly,” he was using the term “translate” in its earlier English sense of “transmit” or “transfer.” 2 Many of these new scholars acknowledge that Bible translations and manuscripts are not error-free and maintain that only the texts as originally recorded by the biblical authors were completely authoritative and free of mistakes.Īnother irony is that this is precisely what Joseph Smith taught when he declared, “I believe the Bible as it read when it came from the pen of the original writers. This is generally acknowledged by Bible scholars, many of whom are Protestants whose more fundamentalist co-religionists reject them as “liberals.” In recent years, a new breed of Evangelical scholar has been emerging, many of them spurred on by the Evangelical Theological Society. Over the past two centuries, with the discovery of an increasing number of ancient biblical texts, it has become clear that the process of canonization and of transmission of sacred writ has not been without its problems. Latter-day Saints accept the Bible and tradition, but only insofar as it squares with modern revelation, which we see as the standard by which God’s word to earlier generations is to be judged. Some Protestant denominations accept it as inerrant and the sole source of divine truth, while other Christian churches, such as the Roman Catholics, acknowledge apostolic tradition as the means by which the Bible is to be interpreted. I believe that one of the reasons for this situation is the view of scripture held by such Christians, which impels some of them to find fault with the Latter-day Saint view of scripture.Īll Christians, whether from the east or west, orthodox or Protestant, accept the Bible as the primary source of religious truth. This is not to say that all those who fall into this portion of the Christian spectrum are critics, only that most of our critics come from their ranks. I believe that they employ these methods because of their a priori assumptions–often false–about our religion and their misguided views of the Bible and of Christian history.Īnother irony is that Fundamentalist Christians, with whom we share many values and beliefs, are the source of our most vehement critics. I find it ironic that with such a wide range of approaches from which to choose, most critics select falsehoods and exaggerations. Criticisms of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, its scriptures and teachings come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from outright lies to exaggerations from misunderstandings to logical fallacies, and occasionally touch on real issues or areas for which we do not have sufficient information.
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