Latter-day Saints and the Bible
Latter-day Saints believe in an open canon, and what that means is that we believe additional Scriptures can come by divine revelation. Latter-day Saints accept the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price as sacred Scriptures: that we call the "Standard Works' '. The rest of Christian denominations however believed in a closed canon, and that means there can no other be Scripture other than the Bible. This belief of an Open Canon leads them to the conclusion that we have no regard nor care for the Bible, or that we do not believe in the Bible. So, how can we address these preconceived beliefs about Latter-day Saints and the Holy Bible?
We will first make ourselves clear that Latter-day Saints believe the Holy Bible to be the Word of God, given to us by inspiration. Without the Holy Bible, the church could not exist, same as with the Book of Mormon. In the statement of beliefs developed by the Prophet Joseph Smith, it states in article 8 of the Articles of Faith that "We believe in the Bible to be the Word of God, as far as it is translated correctly. We also believe in the Book of Mormon to be the Word of God." Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the twelve, on the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible said that: “We love and revere the Bible, . . . It is always identified first in our canon, our ‘standard works.’” (Liahona, May 2011). The following are statements of the Presidents of the Church on the Sacredness of the Holy Bible in the Church as Sacred Inspired Scripture (as contained in "Latter-day Prophets Speak about the Old Testament", Liahona, February 2002):
Joseph Smith (1805–44), First President of the Church:
“We have sufficient grounds to go on and prove from the Bible that the gospel has always been the same; the ordinances to fulfill its requirements, the same, and the officers to officiate, the same; and the signs and fruits resulting from the promises, the same: therefore, as Noah was a preacher of righteousness he must have been baptized and ordained to the priesthood by the laying on of the hands” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected by Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 264).
Brigham Young (1801–77), Second President of the Church:
“We consider the Bible … as a guide … pointing to a certain destination. This is a true doctrine, which we boldly advance. If you will follow the doctrines, and be guided by the precepts of that book, it will direct you where you may see as you are seen, where you may converse with Jesus Christ, have the visitation of angels, have dreams, visions, and revelations, and understand and know God for yourselves. Is it not a stay and a staff to you? Yes; it will prove to you that you are following in the footsteps of the ancients. You can see what they saw, understand what they enjoyed” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 120).
George Albert Smith (1870–1951), Eighth President of the Church:
“The Lord, when he placed our first parents on the earth, gave them instructions and from time to time he has sent his prophets to counsel their descendants. We have in the Old and the New Testament the teachings of the Lord, not of man, but the advice of our Heavenly Father intended to direct us along the pathway that will eventually terminate in the celestial kingdom. How wonderful it is to know that there is a pathway leading to a glorious kingdom” (in Conference Report, October 1937, 49).
Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972), Tenth President of the Church:
“The Holy Bible has had a greater influence on the world for good than any other book ever published. … The reason for the Bible’s great influence for good is because it is inspired, containing the word of the Lord delivered to his prophets who wrote and spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost since the world began. It has drawn the fire of adverse criticism for the self-same reason. Had it not been an inspired record less attention would have been paid to it by the opposing critics, who have drawn their inspiration from the author of evil, who in the very beginning swore in his wrath that he would endeavor to destroy the work of God” (Seek Ye Earnestly, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. [1972], 363).
Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985), Twelfth President of the Church:
“From infancy I had enjoyed the simplified and pictured Bible stories, but the original Bible seemed so interminable in length, so difficult of understanding that I had avoided it until a challenge came to me [as a teenager attending stake conference. The speaker] gave a discourse on the value of reading the Bible. In conclusion she asked for a showing of hands of all who had read it through. The hands that were raised out of the large congregation were so few and so timid! … I was shocked into an unalterable determination to read the great book. “As soon as I reached home after the meeting I began with the first verse of Genesis and continued faithfully every day with the reading. “What a satisfaction it was to me [a year later] to realize I had read the Bible through from beginning to end! And what exultation of spirit! … “I commend it to you” (“What I Read as a Boy,” Children’s Friend, November 1943, 508).
Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994), Thirteenth President of the Church:
“I love the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments. It is a source of great truth. It teaches us about the life and ministry of the Master. From its pages we learn of the hand of God in directing the affairs of His people from the very beginning of the earth’s history. It would be difficult to [over]estimate the impact the Bible has had on the history of the world. Its pages have blessed the lives of generations” (“The Gift of Modern Revelation,” Ensign, November 1986, 78).
Howard W. Hunter (1907–95), Fourteenth President of the Church:
“Reading and studying the scriptures make us conscious of the many conditional promises made by the Lord to encourage obedience and righteous living. Israelite history is filled with examples of covenants, which constitute one of the central themes of the Old Testament—the promises of God made in exchange for the commitments of the prophets and the people. … If we choose to react like Joshua, and Abraham, and Rebekah and Rachel, our response will be, simply, to go and do the thing that the Lord has commanded” (“Commitment to God,” Ensign, November 1982, 57–58).
Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008), Fifteenth President of the Church:
“The standard works are all indispensable to our understanding of the things of God. The Bible provides the foundation of our faith: The Old Testament gives the word of Jehovah through His ancient prophets; the New Testament sets forth, in beautiful language, the matchless life and sacrifice of the Savior of mankind” (“‘The Order and Will of God,’” Tambuli, August 1989, 2).
The Restoration of the church of Jesus Christ started because of young Joseph Smith's love of the Bible. Without the Bible being accessible to him, he will not have the desire to know the truth about God, the Savior and his church. It was James 1:5 in the New Testament that led him to the desire to go to pray in the Palmyra grove—where he received the Divine Vision of seeing God the Father and Jesus Christ (JSH 1:11-20). The Bible is one of the foundations of the Church together with other Scriptures and the divine revelations; however, we do not view the Bible as God's final revelation or the final authority for the truth of God. God is the final authority for all truth about Himself and His Son.
Some denominations hold to a belief that they call "Sola Scriptura '' (Latin, it means "Scripture Alone"). This belief claims that Scripture is inerrant, infallible, and is the final authority. However, this itself cannot be found in the pages of the Bible itself. God revealed Himself in many ways: primarily through divine revelation, His creation, visions, inspired Scripture; and most of all is through the person of Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:1-18; Heb. 1:1-3).
The New Testament Church had revelations through prophets and apostles, visions, Scripture, and sacred tradition as their basis; and these did not cease when Christ came and departed. It has always stayed (see. Acts 11:27-28; 13:1; 15:22, 32; 21:9-10; 1Cor. 12:22-28; Eph. 2:19-21; 4:11-14; Gal. 1:11; 2Tim. 3:16-17; Rev. 11:3-10). The New Testament church has no fixed canon as we do today, but did accept the Old Testament (particularly the Greek Septuagint) primarily as inspired Scripture; and as time goes, the letters of the Apostles have been treated and accepted as Sacred Scripture.
The New Testament church did not limit themselves to Scripture and did not regard it as the final authority; nor did the apostolic Fathers taught the inerrancy of Scripture and its sufficiency (for further discussion, see. Robert Boylan: Not By Scripture Alone [2017]). For example, Clement appeals to Apostolic Succession and Sacred Tradition as authoritative sources in the Church (1Clement 42:1-4; 44:1-3). Paul also said that the Church is the pillar and ground of truth (1Tim. 3:15), and not the Bible alone in itself.
Just because one has another view of the Bible—does not mean that they do not view it as inspired or give no importance to it. Interestingly, we have different canons in the Early Church before the canonization of the Bible as we have it today; and it accepts other books apart from our modern canon as inspired Scripture: e.g., Origen accepted the Epistle of Barabbas, the Shepherd of Hermas as Scripture; The Murotonian Fragment (c. 2nd Century), accepts the Apocalypse of Peter as Scripture; and Clement of Alexandria (c. 200 A.D) accepts a canon of 30 books in the New Testament that would include the the Epistle of Clement, the Epistle of Barabbas, and the Preaching of Peter (see. Daniel C. Peterson, Stephen D. Ricks, Comparing LDS Beliefs with First Century Christianity [Ensign, March 1988]).
Authors of the New Testament also have drawn from extra-biblical books e.g., the General Epistle of Jude quotes much from the Apocalyptical Book of Enoch. We have different variations of the Scriptural canon throughout Christian history as we see above. Roman Catholics accept a different set of books in their canon and have more books compared to Protestants, as well as in the Eastern Orthodox churches with an unsettled question on the biblical canon. The Reformer Martin Luther rejected several books of the Bible, e.g., the Epistle of St. James for it's inconsistency with his idea of Sola Fide. We believe in the Bible, but we do not accept it to be free from human error, nor is it sufficient for knowledge of the Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ.
One note also on the Bible and Articles of Faith no. 8 that we believe in the Bible to be the word of God ". . . as far as it is translated correctly" does not imply rejecting the Bible because of translation variations and errors. The King James Version is accepted by the Church as its official Bible translation, however it is acknowledged that it contains translation and textual problems.
Take for example the additional passages in its textual basis, the Textus Receptus and the Masoretic text: e.g., 1 John 5:7-8 as a later addition to the General Epistles—with no Greek manuscript support; and Deuteronomy 32:7-9 in the Masoretic text reading as "sons of Adam'' in the King James Version instead of "The Most High'' (El/Elyon); where the editing of the Masoretic text does not reflect the Near Eastern nature of the Old Testament with the God of Israel as the chief Deity among the Divine council (see. Jewish Study Bible [Oxford, 2014], 419.; Emmanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3rd ed. [Fortress Press, 2011]). Latter-day Saints and the church leaders also have used other translations of the Bible in their study and talks, such as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and the NIV and NKJV, etc. This will be later discussed in another article on these series on Latter-day Saints and the Bible.
We love the Bible. We read the Bible. We study the Bible. The Bible has a key role in our church, and is supported by other Scriptures that were given through the continuing revelation of God. We made ourselves clear on what we believe about the Bible. The Bible is the word of God, and it is Inspired Scripture.
