Bible
11/05
“...the Bible, when it is understood, is one of the simplest books in the world, for, as far as it is translated correctly, it is nothing but truth, and in truth there is no mystery save to the ignorant.” (Brigham Young, JD, 14:136)
(BD 622-623; Introduction of the Book of Mormon)
(Introduction of the Bible; BD 624-625; Ensign, January 1982 - September 1982; Instructor, February 1968, inside cover)
1 – William Tyndale: “If God spares my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who driveth the plough shall know more of the scriptures than thou dost.” (Foxe, Acts and Monuments, [1563] pg. 514)
2 – William Tyndale’s last cry: “Lord, Open the King of England’s eyes.” [Died: October 6, 1536 – King James is born: June 19, 1566.] (Foxe, Acts and Monuments, 5:127)
3 – “The Bible is now printed in 310 languages. Most of us are not even aware that the world has that many languages. But that is not all. The New Testament is printed in an additional 695 languages. And at least one book of the Bible, usually one of the Gospels, has been translated and published in another 902 languages. With these 1,907 languages, 97 percent of the world’s population has at least one book of the Bible to read. Most of these translations have been done in the last thirty years.” (Joe Stringham, Ensign, “The Bible: Only 4,263 Languages to Go” January 1990, pg. 18)
4 – “The Church uses the King James Version of the Bible because it is the best version translated by the power of man.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, DS, 3: 191)
5 – “The Church continues to use the KJV due to:
1. Its general soundness in doctrine
2. Its relative accuracy in telling the life and mission of the Savior
3. Its beautiful expression
4. And its wide popularity.” (J. Reuben Clark, Why the King James Version, pg. ii)
6 – Award given for the new LDS King James Version of the Bible - (Church News, October 23, 1982, pg. 3)
(Jeremiah 8:8; JST Luke 11:52; 1 Nephi 13:19-41; Moses 1:41; AF #8; BD 717; BD 725-726)
7 – “The devil wages war against the scriptures. He hates them, perverts their plain meaning and destroys them when he can. He entices those who heed his temptings to delete and discard to change and corrupt, to alter and amend, thus taking away the key...” (Bruce R. McConkie, DNTC, 1:624-25)
8 – “From sundry revelations which have been received it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled.” (Joseph Smith, TPJS, pg. 9-10)
9 – “I believe the Bible as read when it came from the pen of the original writers. Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors.” (Joseph Smith, TPJS, pg. 327)
10 – “The JST is the crowning part of the doctrinal restoration.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Nyman and Millet, The Joseph Smith Translation, pg. 21)
11 – “It has been the thought of some, that the Prophet went through the Bible beginning with the first chapter of Genesis and continued through to the book of Revelation, but this was not the case. He went through the Bible topic by topic, and revising as the Spirit of the Lord indicated to him where changes and additions should be made. There are many parts of the Bible that the Prophet did not touch, because the Lord did not direct him to do so. Therefore, there are many places in the Scriptures where errors still are found. This work was never fully completed, but the Prophet did as much as the Lord commanded him... “ (Joseph Fielding Smith, Church History and Modern Revelation, 2:15)
12 – “When Nephi spoke of the ‘plain and precious parts’ of the scripture which were eliminated he spoke of the witness of Christ which is no longer in the Old Testament. The witness of Christ was the most important thing in that ancient record, and that is what was eliminated by enemies of Christ who sought to destroy all marks of identification which might have clearly identified him as the Savior of the world.” (Mark E. Petersen, CN, January 22, 1966, pg. 16)
NOTE - In the Old Testament, with 1184 pages, the word faith appears 2 times, the words repent, repented, and repentance appear only 5 times, baptism is not there, nor is holy ghost, endure to the end doesn’t appear and Satan, Devil, Lucifer, Son of Morning appear seven times. In contrast, the word faith appears over 200 times from 1 Nephi to Helaman and Ether (the books that contain the time period before Christ), with 437 pages, the repent, repented, repentance words appear 265 times, baptism 68 times, the Holy Ghost is mentioned over 35 times, endure to the end appears 7 times and Satan and his other names occur 57 times.
Other words include: church, gospel, charity, resurrection, Christ, idea of ‘a plan’
(Ezekiel 37:15-20; 2 Nephi 29:3-12; D&C 91:1-6)
13 – “First– ‘Do you believe the Bible?’
If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of the religious sects of the day that do.
Second– ‘Wherein do you differ from other sects?’
In that we believe the Bible, and all other sects profess to believe their interpretations of the Bible, and their creeds.
Nineteenth–‘Is not the canon of the Scriptures full?’
If it is, there is a great defect in the book, or else it would have said so.’“ (Joseph Smith, TPJS, pg. 119-121)
14 – “In all my teachings, I have taught the Gospel from the Old and New Testaments. I found therein every doctrine, and the proof of every doctrine, the Latter-day Saints believe in, as far as I know, therefore I do not refer to the Book of Mormon as often as I otherwise should. There may be some doctrines about which little is said in the Bible, but they are all couched therein, and I believe the doctrines because they are true, and I have taught them because they are calculated to save the children of men.” (Brigham Young, JD, 16:74)
15 – “The book of Revelation is one of the plainest books God ever caused to be written.” (Joseph Smith, TPJS, pg. 290)
16 – Exceptions to Bible Translations
“I am now going to take exceptions to the present translation of the Bible in relation to these matters [the books of Daniel and Revelation]. Our latitude and longitude can be determined in the original Hebrew with far greater accuracy than in the English version. There is a grand distinction between the actual meaning of the prophets and the present translation.” (Joseph Smith, TPJS, pg. 290)
17 – “Peter penned the most sublime language of any of the apostles.” (Joseph Smith, TPJS, pg. 301)
18 – “There are many things in the Bible which do not, as they now stand, accord with the revelations of the Holy Ghost to me.” (Joseph Smith, TPJS, pg. 310)
19 – “There is no salvation between the two lids of the Bible without a legal administrator.” (Joseph Smith, TPJS, pg. 327)
20 – “I have an old edition of the New Testament in the Latin, Hebrew, German and Greek languages. I have been reading the German, and find it to be the most [nearly] correct translation, and to correspond nearest to the revelations which God has given to me for the last fourteen years.” (Joseph Smith, TPJS, pg. 349)
21 – “No man can say that this book (laying his hand on the Bible) is true, is the word of the Lord, is the way, is the guide-board in the path, and a charter by which we may learn the will of God; and at the same time say, that the Book of Mormon is untrue; if he has had the privilege of reading it, or of hearing it read, and learning its doctrines. There is not that person on the face of the earth who has had the privilege of learning the Gospel of Jesus Christ from these two books that can say that one is true and the other is false. No Latter-day Saint, no man or woman, can say the Book of Mormon is true, and at the same time say that the Bible is untrue. If one be true, both are; and if one be false, both are false.” (Brigham Young, JD, 1:38)
22 – “We may well ask, Does God love us less than those led by the ancient prophets? Do we need his guidance and instruction less? Reason suggests that this cannot be. Does he not care? Has he lost his voice? Has he gone on a permanent vacation? Does he sleep? The unreasonableness of each of these proposals is self‑evident.” (James E. Faust, Ensign, May 1980, pg. 13)
23 – “A careful reading of each of these admonitions makes it clear that man is not to make changes in the revelations of the Lord: man is not to add to or take from the words of God. There is no indication or intimation that God could not, or would not, add to or take from; nor would any reasonable person with a belief in the divine powers of God consciously believe that God would be so restricted. Without question he would have the right and power to give additional revelation for the guidance of his children in any age and to add additional scripture.” (Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, May 1981, pg. 65)
NOTE - Even Joseph Smith could not get all the answers from the text of the Bible, hence his conclusion to ‘ask of God’. (Joseph Smith - History 1:12-13)
NOTE - Myths Concerning the Bible:
1- The Bible is a Single Book
2- The Bible Preceded Doctrine
3- True Religion is Bible Religion
4- Everything in the Bible is the Word of God
5- The Bible Canon is Closed
6- The Bible is Common Ground in Missionary Work
(Nehemiah 8-9; Job 23:12; Jeremiah 20:9; 1 Nephi 13:23)
[Matthew 4; Matthew 12:3, 5; Matthew 19:4; Matthew 21:16, 42; Matthew 22:31; Mark 2:25; Mark 12:10, 26; Luke 6:3; Luke 10:26)
24 – “He who reads it oftenest will like it best.” (Joseph Smith, TPJS, pg. 56)
25 – “Should the commandments be rewritten? No, they should be reread and become the guide and standard of our lives, if we want health and happiness and peace and self‑respect.” (Richard L. Evans, Ensign, December 1971, pg. 58)
26 – “It has done more, with greater numbers of people, to preserve Christian culture, uphold gospel ethics, and teach true doctrine than any other book ever written, many times over. Nations have been born and have died, continents have been conquered, and hemispheres settled because of biblical influence. There is no way to overstate the worth and blessing of the Bible for mankind.” (Bruce R. McConkie, New Witness for the Articles of Faith, pg. 393)
27 – FIRST PRESIDENCY'S ENDORSEMENT OF BIBLE
“We commend to all people everywhere the daily reading,
pondering and heeding of the divine truths of the Holy Bible. The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accepts the Holy Bible as essential to faith
and doctrine and that the Church is committed to Bible reading and scholarship
as demonstrated by the publishing of an enhanced edition of the King James
Version... When read reverently and prayerfully, the Holy
Bible becomes a priceless volume, converting the soul to righteousness.
Principal among its virtues is the declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, through whom eternal salvation may come to all. As we read the
scripture, we avail ourselves of the better part of this world’s
literature...go to the fountain of truth, searching the scriptures, reading
them in our homes, and teaching our families what the Lord has said through the
inspired and inspiring passages of the Holy Bible.” (Statement of the First
Presidency, pg. 3; (Daniel H.
28 – “I had spent literally thousands of hours marking and cross‑referencing (and loving every moment of it) in the only tangible earthly possessions I had ever considered of much value. I had on many occasions instructed my wife that if there were ever a fire in the home, she should first remove the children and then, if there were time, save my scriptures and not worry about anything else.” (Gene R. Cook, New Era, October 1982, pg. 9)
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