Mormon Direction

I have read the claims, I have heard the claims and I have read and researched the Bible and its history and having done the latter, where do these other Christians get the justification to make the claim that “only the Bible”, or “it must be based on the Bible” and so on. I have had other Christians almost demand to me that I am lost and misguided because I accepted “another gospel” (quoting Paul the Apostle from Galatians 1 and 2 Corinthians 11), but when the truth has been revealed by the Holy Ghost, I have come to understand the truth about the “Bible” and about the “gospel” showing me that these others are sorely mistaken and misguided and puffed up in their pride of their own beliefs.

The Bible the Bible, they claim they have the Bible, so let us take a hard look at the Bible and see if what they say is true.

The Bible did not exist, as it is called, during the Old and New Testament times. The word Bible or “Holy Bible” has been used to denote religious writings for either the Jews or the Christians. The Bible that I refer to here in this article is the Christian Bible.

During the time of the New Testament Christian Church, also referred to the Early Christian Church or the Ancient Church, there was no Bible. What the Ancient Church had were the Old Testament texts which was the same as the Jews, as Jesus Christ taught from them and the writings and teachings of the Apostles which they obtained through revelation of Jesus Christ. The Apostles had a difficult time dealing with false doctrines and false teachings that infiltrated into the Church Membership from Greek philosophies, Pagan influences, Gnostic groups and Jewish pressure. Paul’s epistles mentioned it many times in his writings to Church membership.

The Ancient Church was also sorely persecuted by people and the Roman government. Many Christians were killed because they worshipped Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Savior. The early Apostles suffered the same fate, being abuse, jailed and even martyred. Eventually there were no Apostles left. What was left of the Ancient Church were the Bishops, who were originally tasked to tend to the flocks in their respective areas or towns but even they required the authority of the Apostles to maintain their Bishopric powers. Once the Apostles were gone, the apostolic authority left also and the Bishops were left powerless, which means “without God’s authority”. Some of these Bishops continued to be faithful to the teachings of the Apostles, but some became corrupted because of either fear for their lives or they fell to the influences of Greek philosophies, Pagan or Gnostic infiltrations or aligned themselves with the Roman government. The Ancient Church of God was gone, the Apostles were gone, no more direction from God existed because of apostasy and the rest were left to fend for themselves because they had chosen apostate doctrines and beliefs called “the doctrines of men”.

In time, Roman emperors changed and came Constantine the Great, who unified the factional Christan Church under his authority making the Church into a state church (interesting that it took a pagan reared Emperor to unify a Christian church, showing that God was no longer overseeing his Church and confirmed that God was not helping them). Around this time, the early Catholic church was born where the Bishops reined or led the church. Canonization of the New Testament occurred with St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, in AD 367. There were other periods that are claimed to have canonized the scriptures, but the period of AD 367 is widely accepted.

Many years after, the Bible went through edits, reviews and changes. Essentially, the authors of the various books of the New Testament remained in question and are believed (but not confirmed) to be the works of the authors named for each book or epistle. This is because many of the manuscripts that were used to compile the New Testament were made long after the last apostle left the earth. These manuscripts are believed to reflect the teachings of the original authors (Apostles) as handed down from Christian to Christian, but it took thousands of manuscripts for scholars to accept anything as likely inspired. This was justified based on the consistencies found between the many thousands of manuscripts. Obviously these scholars were not working under God’s guidance because a frequency of any text is not solid proof it was inspired of God, it merely shows what was accepted as God’s word. Therefore, other texts that were not as accepted, but were inspired from God, was rejected as being of God because it was not frequent enough among the thousands of manuscripts. This does not confirm a complete gospel, it shows the limitation of the mind and hearts of men. Consistency between manuscripts is not a way to confirm if it was inspired, which fails the test set out by Paul the Apostle as to “comparing spiritual with spiritual”. This is not to say that these scholars missed the mark completely, but it does confirm that by human limitation, the Bible is not the complete word of God because there is far more. Is it any wonder that so many debates across factional Christians have occurred regarding the content of the scriptures as to what God meant or what was missing? Popular doctrine is not a way to confirm if something is of God. Popularity is why Calvinism took hold. The gospel as preached by the early Apostles never condoned worldly popularity.

Suffice to say, the Bible was not formed or complied by the Apostles of God, the ones chosen by Jesus Christ. The “Bible” was born well after the Apostles had gone and the writings used to compile the first Bible were not the original writings, but accounts made by believers and followers. There has been a clear dispute between many Christian factions as to what was acceptable canon for the Bible back then, as it was between the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Protestant traditions.

With all these harrowed and sometimes questionable beginnings of the Bible, the fact that comes out of this is that the Bible, even the first one, was not complied by the original Christian Church and was a summation between broken Christian factions, beginning with the hands of the early Catholic church. Many Christians claimed that the Bible is inerrant, infallible word of God, but in saying this, they have ignored the teachings of the early Apostles against a divided house and warnings about the coming Christian apostasy and remain blind to the wilds of man’s hand when God no longer had the say. As these other Christians claim infallibility, we find today, over 19 English Bible versions. Some say dozens and others say over fifty, I am sure it is many. A serious question arises in this, “Would God condone or even promote so many English versions of his word and do so by the hands of those who are not his chosen leaders and prophets?

Too many will blindly say that I deny the Bible as a result, but it is not the Bible that I deny, it is the fallacious claims about the Bible and its origins that I reject. The assumption by many Christians that God silently guided the hands of the translators and publishers of the many Bible versions is a pompous assumption. What permeates over these vain beliefs is the attitude of favour toward private interpretations, a warning that the Apostle Peter clearly gave. The idea of many English Bible versions is also completely contrary to the teachings of Paul the Apostle when he said that no man gave him the knowledge, neither taught him, that the gospel was from the revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul fought against unauthorized duplication of God’s word, but worldly Christians welcomed it. There is really something wrong in this.

When making a comparison between these Bible versions we have serious problems that disproves the claim that the Bible is inerrant and infallible. In some English Versions, even the King James which this Church uses, there are mistranslations that have led other Christians to false doctrines and beliefs. I give the example of the word “Hades”, where it does not exist in some English versions but exists in others. I went to biblegateway.com and made a comparison, searching for the word “Hades and this is what I found,

• New International Version (NIV) – Yes (5 passages)
• New American Standard Bible (NASB) – Yes (10 passages )
• The Message (TM) – Yes (2 passages)
• Amplified Bible (AB) – Yes (21 passages)
• New Living Translation (NLT) - No
• King James Version (KJV) - No
• English Standard Version (ESV) – Yes ( 9 passages)
• Contemporary English Version (CEV) – No
• New King James Version (NKJV) - Yes (9 passages)

The word “Hades” was replaced with “Hell” in some English Bible Versions. The original Greek text of the New Testament shows as “Hades” in Greek, which means “temporary abode” and did not mean a place of final judgement or final place as many Christians falsely believe when they read the word “Hell”.  In addition to these many versions, there are scriptures missing, added or altered to change the meaning of the passage. A simple example in the following table given below,

(Note: I reviewed these listings at Bible Gateway.com and revised the table as follows. See Footnote for the reference of where I extracted this table).

How can these variations prove that the Bible, as it stands in many English versions, is the inerrant word of God? Paul the Apostle said that when word is no longer the inspired word, it is “another gospel”. The true word of God is inerrant, but the hand of man, without revelation from God, is full of errors as the simple table above has shown. The original scriptures from God as taught by the Apostles are required for our salvation (2 Timothy 3:15). To remove, change or alter these scriptures without the authorization from God is to cause others to loose out of their salvation. That is how serious I view the corrupted Bible versions. Altering the inerrant word of God is making it the “word of man” and anything of man has no power unto salvation.

Where do these Bible authors and publishers get the right to alter scriptures as they have done? They have not gotten God’s authority to do so, only a true prophet of God has that authority and he does so under revelation. The words of Timothy the Apostle are very clear, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Timothy 3:16). Why would the authors of the various English Bible versions violate the word of God by removing or altering “inspired scripture”? This are the real culprits and violators.

The Bible (to mean many Bible versions), so long as God’s word is improperly translated, is not the word of God. Yes, this is a bold statement and to ensure I am understood, I will elaborate.

Any interpretation of the original texts and manuscripts, that is improper and unauthorized, makes any forthcoming Bible version as corrupted like the ones I have shown. There is no salvation in those corruptions and such only goes further to prove that the Bible is not complete. For if man today can corrupt the word of God with his ill advised intentions to create Bible Versions, so it has happened in ancient times before the first Bible was formed.

The corrupted word is not the word of God and has, will and can lead people into false beliefs and doctrines. The example of “Hades” above has shown this. Therefore, when I am told that things must be based on the Bible, that is a false claim because I have shown that we cannot in anyway, with any true conscience to ensure the truth, accept the idea that the “Bible”, in any general application or reference, is the actual word of God. If there was only “one English version” of the Bible, properly translated, then the claim “by the Bible” is justified. Yet this is not so, there are many English Versions. It cannot be God’s word when it is different, altered or omitted between English versions. Just as it is not God’s church when we see differences between Christian denominations. These are not of God, but of man. God does not create or promote differences or “divers doctrines” (Hebrews 13:9).

Other Christians who read this may accuse me of rejecting the Bible, claiming that I have denied and rejected the inerrant word of God. I say to these smite-like people – “Not True!”

Am I to ignore the historic truth surrounding the Bible? That it came after the last revelation to John the Revelator and the Book of Revelations, to many Christians, marked the last of revelations and prophets. Where they continue to claim that the Bible is the complete gospel and there is nothing needed thereafter, therefore to them, no more revelation and no more prophets. In addition, these other Christians want me to believe that God placed his inspired word into the hands of politically motivated Christians who favoured more the Roman emperor Constantine, than God himself, who by other divers doctrines, were never inspired because revelation ended with John the Revelator. Then they want me to accept the idea that God would allow his gospel to be administered and controlled by a divided and factional Christian house (many Christian denominations), knowing full well that at least one of these factions would withhold his written and inspired word from the people for many generations, only to mislead them and oppress them. From this, I am expected to accept that same Bible and its history, as it was formed, handled and edited in this historic framework and forum, and to believe that it was not corrupted and did not need a restoration?

Am I to be that gullible?

I stand for the “inspired word” of God, not the errant and foolish changes made by men, albeit their good intentions. I stand my spiritual ground for the true inspired word of God, the correct translation. Within the scriptures, the word Bible was never used by God, the word “gospel” and “Gospel of Jesus Christ” or “doctrines of Jesus Christ” are the words and phrases used. As I stand for the word of God, I stand for his will in this matter and his description only. Never as a truth seeker and heartfelt Christian will I accept any book made by men who knew nothing of revelation and think that corruption is acceptable to God or even inconsequential to the spiritual state of the Bible.

Paul the Apostle referred to the “gospel” as being given by the “revelation of Jesus Christ”. The other early Apostles did the same, they spoke of revelation, the Spirit (Holy Ghost), the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is what the New Testament is about. The Gospel, according to the New Testament, are scriptures held by, administered by and kept by God’s prophets/Apostles. One book, one translation per language, overseen, monitored by, edited or corrected (as to human errors) by God’s chosen men who do this work by revelation. The New Testament teachings do not promote versions of God’s gospel to satisfy self-interest groups or agendas or appease anyone. God is not a respecter of persons. God’s word and gospel did not promote unauthorized changes and shows very clearly that if God had a hand in the making of a written gospel, it would be when his Church is alive and well on the earth. Never would God arrange for his gospel to be placed in print and bound in the absence of his true Church. To give that most sacred work to all the “world” to care for his most important plan of salvation. It is foolish and blind to even justify such a thing.

What then is the answer to this serious concern about the Bible?

The answer is “The Gospel”. Unfortunately, because of the corrupt minds and hands of men, the name “Bible” has represented many corrupt doctrines and claims. If a person tells me that it must be based on the “gospel of Jesus Christ”, I praise this person and say to him/her, I wholly agree. If a person tells me that it must coincide with the revealed word of God, I will praise and agree. If a person tells me that it must be the inspired doctrine of Jesus Christ or by the revelation of Jesus Christ, yea, even confirmed by the Holy Ghost as true and of God, I will praise and walk with that person as a fellow Christian. In this, we can discuss and even in disagreement, understand each other. Then, we can look into the “Bible Version” and determine by spiritual discernment, if that Bible version holds the correct word of God, because we are only seeking the inspired word. To read and compare, according to Paul the Apostle, is to spiritually discern and to only compare spiritual with spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:13–14). In accordance to Timothy the Apostle (2 Tim. 2: 15), to rightly divide the word (setting forth without perversion), but for any person to tell me that it must be of the Bible, while holding an English Version that is questionable, is a person who knows nothing of the word of God neither the shady history that built it.

It is unfortunate that the world and corrupt Christians have ruined it for good people, tainted the word “Bible” and continue, blindly in fact, to justify corrupt versions of the Bible and try to claim it is the word of God. This is why Joseph Smith said, “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly;…” (AF 1:8).

Amen to the truth.

Footnotes:

1. Bible - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible
2. New Testament – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament#The_canonization_of_the_New_Testament
3. Timeline of Christianity – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Christianity
4. Hades in Christianity – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hades_in_Christianity
5. Version Comparison Table – http://av1611.com/kjbp/charts/various.html

Related Links

These links show that my concern is not specific to Mormon views. There is a serious battle happening in Christian communities about corrupted English Bible versions. The following links show the information and claims made by Bible only Christians. Therefore the Bible Version issue is under heavy scrutiny. This is what happens when God no longer leads his believers and men take it upon themselves to write God’s word. Gospel of Jesus Christ prophesied of this corruption and it has come true.

1. http://aboulet.com/category/misquoting-jesus/
2. http://www.heraldsofthemorn.org/KJVBibleverses_perversion.html
3. http://www.right-division.com  – (Go to “Which Bible is the Word of God?” and click the link contained therein for a PDF file)