The famous evangelist, D. L. Moody, once said:
“The best way to show that a stick is crooked is not to argue about it, but to lay a straight stick along, side it.”
For Christians, the Bible is a “straight stick”. In the Mormon 8th Article of Faith it says, “the Bible is the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.”
By that, the Latter-day Saint means the Bible has been tampered with by man and many “plain and precious things” have been altered or removed from it. So, they don’t believe the Bible is a reliable measure of truth. (1 Nephi 13:26-28)
Then why do the LDS still use the Kings James Version of the Bible while believing that it has been compromised? After all, the Latter-day Saints do have another choice.
The Joseph Smith “New Translation” also known as the “Inspired Version of the Bible.”
In the “Preface To The First Edition of the JST” it says:
“As concerning the manner of translation and correction, it is evident, from the manuscripts and the testimony of those who were conversant with the facts, that it was done by direct revelation from God. It was begun in June,1830, and was finished July 3, 1833.”
So, if it was “finished” through “direct revelation” – why would the Latter-day Saints use a supposedly polluted and defiled version of the Bible over it?
I believe that God is more than capable of keeping His written word intact and has foreseen that there would be such criticism of His Word from others.
Let’s read from the Kings James Version
Psalm 12:6 and 7?
“The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.”
Now, let’s look at 1 Peter 1:24-25.
“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”
Those are promises from God that He has kept.
The fact that our current Bibles are reliable and accurate come from many other sources, such as archaeology, fulfilled prophecies, the Dead Sea scrolls, and other historical evidence. Some however, would rather believe in a “crooked stick” rather than research it for themselves.
One last point! Did you know that even the Book of Mormon itself contradicts the Mormon belief in an untrustworthy Bible?
In the “Introduction” to the 1981 printing of the Book of Mormon states:
“The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fullness of the everlasting gospel.”
In the 2013 printing it leaves out “as does the Bible” and says that only the Book of Mormon has the fulness of the everlasting gospel.
Why did they make that change in the Book of Mormon?
The Bible is a weapon that Satan has no defense for. Obviously, it is Satan who would like to cast a suspicious and unfavorable light upon it in order to keep people from the truth – the truth that could set them free.
The writer of Hebrews put it this way, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (don’t say chapter 4:12)
So, Like a two-edge sword, the Word of God IS a “straight stick”.
