Mormon Scripture – The Articles of Faith/Part 17

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“We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God,” declares the eighth LDS Article of Faith. The difference in the way those two books are accepted by Mormons is obvious. In explaining their view of scripture, LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie wrote:

By the standard works of the (LDS) Church is meant the following four volumes of scripture: the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. The Church uses the King James Version of the Bible, but acceptance of the Bible is coupled with a reservation that it is true only insofar as it is translated correctly. (Eighth Article of Faith) The other three, having been revealed in modern times in English, are accepted without qualification. Their perfection in any other language, however, is subject to a reservation as to how well the translation actually conveys the original thought” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 764).

Notice that Mormons use the King James Version of the Bible even though Joseph Smith wrote the Inspired Version which Mormons now call the Joseph Smith Translation or the JST Version. Although Smith claimed that his “translation” was inspired or “revealed” to him, Mormons claim that he intended to do some further “revising” on it, so it is not their official Bible. He lived 10 years after completing his “translation” and 14 other LDS Proph­ets since Smith have had the title of “Translator,” so why hasn’t one of them revised the revealed scripture if it needs it?

The eighth Article of Faith doesn’t even mention the Doctrine and Covenants or the Pearl of Great Price which Mormons also call scripture as McConkie said in the above quotation. Mormons have given millions of people a copy of their 13 Articles of Faith and told them it contains a list of their beliefs. But, when that statement fails to mention half of their books of “scripture,” people have a right to question how many other basic doctrines are not mentioned in their Articles of Faith. Just because Joseph Smith wrote them doesn’t mean they can’t be changed. Mormons have added and deleted many things in the scrip­tures that Smith wrote, so why can’t they correct their Articles of Faith to state what they believe now?

Joseph Smith first wrote the Articles of Faith in 1842 for John Wentworth, but he didn’t mention many things Mormons believed then. A copy of Smith’s letter to Wentworth with the Articles of Faith was printed in the Mormon publication called Times and Seasons on March 1, 1842. The same edition of the Times and Seasons also published Smith’s transla­tion of the Book of Abraham, which is the second book in the Pearl of Great Price. Smith claimed that “Moses,” the first book in the Pearl of Great Price, was revealed to him in February 1831. The first edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was published in 1835. Thus, all of these LDS scriptures were available in 1842 when Joseph Smith first wrote the Articles of Faith, yet he only mentioned the Bible and the Book of Mormon. In spite of that, McConkie declared that the Articles of Faith are scripture and are “evidence of the spirit of revelation that rested upon the Prophet” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 53).

Doctrinal statements are usually published by churches in order to briefly and clearly state the basic beliefs of that church so that people can understand them. But, the LDS Articles of Faith do not even mention many of their basic beliefs, and those doctrines that are mentioned are not defined so that those outside of Mormonism can really understand what they mean.

Examples of basic LDS doctrines not mentioned in the Articles of Faith include : Belief in a pre-mortal world where everyone was born and lived before being born on earth; temple rites; baptism for the dead; celestial marriage for eternity; eternal families; three heavens; no eternal hell; two priesthoods that are necessary for any service to be recognized by God, etc.

Since these doctrines are essential to Mormon salvation, they are very basic. The very first Article of Faith is an example of a doctrine that is stated but not defined so that people outside of Mormonism can understand it. It declares, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” Most people would not under­stand that Article to mean that Mormons believe that God the Father is a resurrected man with a tangible body of flesh and bones or that Jesus Christ is the firstborn Son of a Father and a Mother God in a pre-mortal spirit world, as we explained in our discussion of the first Article of Faith. Therefore, the Articles of Faith are misleading.

The eighth Article of Faith declares that “the Bible is the word of God as far as it is trans­lated correctly.” McConkie said in the quotation mentioned previously that “the Bible is accepted with a reservation that it is true only insofar as translated correctly.” But McConkie also said the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price were “revealed in English, (and) are accepted without qualification.”

He also said of these three LDS books of scripture, “Their perfection in any other lan­guage, however, is subject to a reservation as to how well the translation actually conveys the original thought.” But, Mormon missionaries to non-English speaking people quote the eighth Article of Faith to them and do not say that “the Book of Mormon is the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.” Some even say that all of their scriptures are translated by the gift and power of God into every language.

LDS Apostle James Talmage wrote about the Bible saying, “There will be, there can be, no absolutely reliable translation of these or other scriptures unless it be effected through the gift of translation, as one of the endowments of the Holy Ghost” (The Articles of Faith, p. 236). But, those who have translated LDS scriptures into other languages say that they translated those books the same way they translated other material. The LDS Church has also had to revise some of their translated scriptures but they still don’t qualify the transla­tion of their three books of scripture the way they do the Bible. Such actions show that there has been a deliberate attempt to discredit the Bible and to claim their scriptures are superior.

Next article we will discuss the Book of Mormon, which concludes the eighth Article of Faith. We have written about it before but we won’t deal with the same issues again. For any who would like to read more on this month’s subject from an LDS perspective, we suggest The Articles of Faith by James Talmage.