Chapter 9
The Preservation of God’s Word
(Read the Eighth Article of Faith)
The Lord spoke to Adam, the first man, and taught him the Gospel. Adam, in turn, taught the Gospel to his posterity. Thus, a knowledge of the Gospel became current among all men. Similarly, the Lord has spoken, whenever necessary, to other men, who have taught to their fellows that which has been divinely revealed to them.
That is the divine method. The Lord imparts knowledge to men, usually called prophets, who thenceforth are under obligation to transmit the substance of their revelations, as far as possible, to all the world. Then, to every man is given the companionship of the Holy Spirit, by which the truth of the prophetic teaching is revealed. The prophet and his followers are both taught by revelation; both may be equally certain of the truth of the message.
The revealed word of God may be spread among all people from generation to generation by word of mouth, by oral tradition. This was the earliest method and in some respects the best. No teaching is quite so powerful as that which comes from the mouth of a great teacher. However, as the years receded, it became increasingly difficult for successive teachers to make from memory accurate renderings of the words of the prophets. Moreover, the human voice does not reach far, yet the divine message is for all men. Therefore, a second method became of prime importance, that of committing the words of the prophet to writing, and of making many copies for wide circulation. To the arts of writing and printing, mankind owes the more accurate preservation and wider distribution of the revealed Word of God.
The Bible and the Book of Mormon are collections of writings in which the truth of existence and the divine formula for correct living are taught and taught again. The message of these scriptures is conveyed in various forms. Sometimes the writer quotes the words of God; at other times he comments on the divine message in poetry, story, allegory, exposition or simple admonition; and as often he shows the effect of conformity to the divine will as illustrated in the history of nations—in the Bible, especially of the Israelitish nation, and in the Book of Mormon of the branches of that nation which settled in America.
One dominating doctrine runs through the books of the Bible and the Book of Mormon: There is one God, the Father of mankind, who reveals as may be necessary the laws by obedience to which men may alone win happiness in life. Whether in direct statement, in figure of speech, or in historical narrative, this doctrine is the concern of the writers of the scriptures. Indeed, the Bible and the Book of Mormon contain the most complete exposition existing of God’s law for human conduct and destiny. It is this message for the moral guidance of humanity, coming from the Lord, that makes the Bible the “Book of Books” and the Book of Mormon a witness for the Bible.
The Lord does His work in man’s behalf through earthly instruments. All human writings, therefore, however exalted by the power of inspiration, are in the language of the writer. Were it not so, perhaps the readers could not understand. This has been made very clear as concerning the revelations to the Prophet Joseph: “These commandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding.” Moroni, the Book of Mormon prophet, expressed this condition in a beautiful statement; “Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words: and I fear lest the gentiles shall mock at our words.” In such a spirit of humility have the scriptures been written.
The message of the scriptures is divine; the words in which it is clothed are human. Failure to make this distinction has led to much misunderstanding. Intelligent readers will separate the message of the scripture from its form of presentation, even as is done today, whether listening to a speaker or reading a modern book. It is in this sense that the Latter-day Saints look upon the Bible and the Book of Mormon as “the Word of God.”
Especially is it necessary in reading the scriptures to place oneself in the position of the people, thousands of years ago, for whom the writings were made. The customs, habits, and possessions of the people of that day are of necessity reflected in the expositions of the revelations of the Lord to His children on earth. Events and acts that seem foreign to us of this day, of necessity appear in the scriptures. In a terse question, Brigham Young made this clear: “Do you read the scriptures, my brethren and sisters, as though you were writing them, a thousand, two thousand, or five thousand years ago? Do you read them as though you stood in the place of the men who wrote them?” If that were done, much carping criticism of the scriptures would vanish.
Likewise, honest translators, working with present manuscripts, often find it difficult to render with full accuracy, in living tongues, the meanings expressed in languages long dead. Also, despite the best intentions, the translations are likely to reflect the point of view of the translator. While the Church uses primarily and officially King James’ translation, it welcomes every effort of scholarship to improve present translations.
Before the day of printing, each copy of the scriptures, as contained in the Bible, was copied by hand. Naturally, errors crept in. Words, sentences, or whole paragraphs might be left out. Misunderstandings led to false renderings. Countless such cases have been found. Then, some scribe might change the very text to conform to his preconceived ideas. Such variations from the oldest known texts have also been found. Since the original manuscripts of the Old and New Testaments have long since been lost, it is impossible, except through revelation, to restore the scriptures to their original purity.
Nevertheless, the hand of the Lord has always been over these divine records. Neither writer nor copyist has been able to distort or erase the essential message of the Bible. Throughout the ages, amidst the vicissitudes of time, in the face of apparent inaccuracies and contradictions, showing human imperfections, the Holy Scriptures stand unclouded as a witness for God, His nature and relationship to man, the true way to human happiness, and the eternal and glorious destiny of mankind. The scriptures have never been wholly at the mercy of mankind. He who reads them today may know, as the prophets who received them, of the eternal truths of existence.
In this sense, one must read the statement that “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.” The message of the Bible is accepted; its mutilations by careless men are rejected.
In the first year of the restored Church, the Prophet Joseph Smith set about, under divine command and direction, to correct errors that had crept into the Biblical text. He may be said to be one of the early “higher critics,” but one who worked with faith in the divine message of the Bible. Some parts of this work are found in the Pearl of Great Price; others are not yet published by the authority of the Church. However, every change and correction made by the Prophet illuminates the content of the Bible, and shows how carefully single texts should be weighed against its one great message. In fact, Latter-day Saints are less concerned with the texts than with the whole message of any book of the Bible.
The Book of Mormon differs from present versions of the Bible in that it was translated by “the gift and power of God.” The translation is correct. The errors of copying found in the Bible are practically absent in the Book of Mormon, for, as far as known, the only copying is the condensation by an ancient prophet of material on certain plates, into the text of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith, the Prophet, records in his journal: “I told the brother 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.” With this we can safely agree.
The Bible and the Book of Mormon are their own witnesses for the truth of their message. No other literature in the world abounds in such lofty teachings. None has such power to lift the soul of man from the sordid things of life. None speaks with such convincing power of God and his dealings with man. None gives such courage to walk the path of truth. None so clearly points out the true and safe walk of life. These books contain the most precious truths of humanity; without them, the earth would be poor indeed.
All should read the scriptures regularly daily. Better than gold or fame or power are the vision and growth that come to him who feeds upon the life-giving, immortal thoughts spread over the pages of the Holy Scriptures.
QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
1. What do you hold to be the real message of the Old Testament?
2. Why in your opinion was Joseph Smith called to translate the Book of Mormon before the Church was organized?
3. What is the special value of the Pearl of Great Price?
4. Name your six favorite revelations from the Doctrine and Covenants.
5. What gospel principles, if any, are missing from the New Testament?
6. What is the relative value to living men of the scriptures and the living oracles of the Priesthood?