Saying Goodbye
Saying goodbye to a friend and fellow-laborer.
The Man I Witnessed to was Killed
The Man I Witnessed to was Killed - “How many times do you really get to come across their path and share God’s plan of salvation before theyâve passed from this life and into eternity?”
Changing the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon has undergone manifold changes since it’s first printing in 1830. Some of these changes have been minor, and some have carried doctrinal impact. When the 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon was published it reflected nearly 100 noteworthy changes from the 1920 edition. Apparently more changes are on the way; one future change to the LDS edition of the Book of Mormon has made its debut in a recent edition of the book published by Doubleday.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports:
“The LDS Church has changed a single word in its introduction to the Book of Mormon, a change observers say has serious implications for commonly held LDS beliefs about the ancestry of American Indians.”
The change to the book’s Introduction is this:
1981 LDS Edition: “After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.”
2007 Doubleday Edition: “After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.”
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the LDS Church instructed Doubleday to make this change so it “would be in accordance with future editions the church is printing.”
Changing the designation of the Lamanites from “principle ancestors” of American Indians to “among the ancestors” of American Indians reflects an effort on the part of the LDS Church to deal with the impact DNA evidence has had in challenging the historical claims of the Book of Mormon.
LDS prophets and other Church leaders have consistently taught that American Indians are the literal descendants of a Hebrew character from the Book of Mormon (Lehi). However, DNA research finds no intimate genetic link between American Indians and Semite peoples. Instead, according to molecular biologist Simon Southerton, “DNA has revealed very clearly how closely related American Indians are to their Siberian ancestors. The Lamanites are invisible, not principal ancestors” (see DNA and the Book of Mormon Record for more information on this issue).
Before dismissing the revision of the Introduction to the Book of Mormon as being insignificant (after all, the Introduction is not “scripture”), consider this. The LDS Church, via its magazines, has made it clear that the Introduction text is more than just someone’s opinion. The current Introduction first appeared in the 1981 Triple Combination, heralded for its many added study aids. New Era informed Church members,
“In 1972 the First Presidency commissioned a project to help the Church in improving its scripture understanding. Under the careful watchcare of the Scriptures Publication Committee (Elder Thomas S. Monson, Elder Boyd K. Packer, and Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles), there have been published new editions of all of the standard works of the Church…In August 1981 the new edition of the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price (commonly referred to as the ‘triple combination’ or the ‘three-in-one’) was published.” (Edward J. Brandt, “New Helps for Searching the Scriptures,” New Era, August 1982, 47)
Two months later Ensign magazine said the new Triple Combination edition was “the product of years of research and inspired direction” (Edward J. Brandt, “Using the New LDS Editions of Scripture—As One Book,” Ensign, October 1982, 42).
Inspiration is a peculiar thing in Mormonism. The word is used in a way that implies divine influence; but the value of the fruit of that inspiration is often fleeting: True today, not necessarily so tomorrow.
At least one “inspired” source left no room for conjecture on the ancestry of the American Indians. Joseph Smith said,
“He [the angel Moroni] told me of a sacred record which was written on plates of gold, I saw in the vision the place where they were deposited, he said the Indians were the literal descendants of Abraham.” (An American Prophet’s Record, The Diaries and Journals of Joseph Smith, November 9, 1835, 51).
The current LDS leadership’s apparent shift in thinking regarding both the origins of the American Indian, and the Church’s long-standing interpretation of the Book of Mormon, illustrates (once again) the propensity of the Church to revise “inspired truth” to suit the times.
Related Resources
- DNA vs. the Book of Mormon (online video)
- DNA, Geography, and the Book of Mormon (online video)
Testimony of Casey Corbridge
The Testimony of Casey Corbridge
Where the Fulness of the Gospel Resides
Back in April (2007) LDS Apostle M. Russell Ballard talked in General Conference about “The Miracle of the Holy Bible.” He spoke highly of the Bible, expressing his love for “its teachings, its lessons, and its spirit.” In his Sunday morning talk he said,
“How grateful we should be for the Holy Bible. In it we learn not only of the life and teachings and doctrines of Christ, we learn of His Church and of His priesthood and of the organization which He established and named the Church of Jesus Christ in those former days…
“Without the Bible, we would not know of His Church then, nor would we have the fulness of His gospel now” (Ensign, May 2007, page 81).
Shortly after Mr. Ballard’s address, the morning Conference session drew to a close. When the afternoon session began, LDS Apostle L. Tom Perry took the stand and spoke on “The Message of the Restoration.” He said,
“Our message is unique. We declare to the world that the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth” (Ensign, May 2007, page 88).
Indeed, Mr. Perry identified the medium through which the fulness of the gospel was restored: The Book of Mormon.
“…the Lord brought forth the Book of Mormon, another testament of our Lord Jesus Christ. This ancient volume of holy scriptures is a sacred companion to the Bible, containing the fulness of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. It also provides convincing evidence to the world that Joseph Smith is truly a prophet of God” (Ensign, May 2007, page 86).
The question arises, then: Which of these men, both of whom Latter-day Saints sustain as prophets, seers and revelators, was correct in his teaching at the April General Conference?
Mr. Ballard taught that the Bible is necessary in order for the fulness of the gospel to be present on earth today. He could have meant that the Bible contains the fulness of the gospel (as the Introduction to the Book of Mormon affirms), or he could have meant that the Bible and the Book of Mormon together contain the fulness of the gospel. Either way, his teaching was not consistent with what Mr. Perry taught.
Mr. Perry taught that the Bible does not contain the fulness of the gospel. Though the world has long had access to the Bible, the fulness of the gospel was missing; it needed to be restored — which it was, through the Book of Mormon. Mr. Perry taught that the Book of Mormon, by itself, contains the fulness of the gospel (which is also consonant with the Introduction to the Book of Mormon).
Though the two LDS apostles didn’t agree with each other, Mr. Perry’s talk expressed the majority view found among leaders in the LDS Church. Consider a few pertinent statements from the past:
“Because of the New Testament, Joseph Smith was inspired to pray. And because he prayed, the gospel was restored in its fulness and we now have the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ” (Charles Didier [then general president of LDS Sunday School], Church News, 1/7/95, page 3).
“…the Book of Mormon remains secure, unchanged and unchangeable, …But with the Bible it was not and is not so…it was once in the sole and exclusive care and custody of an abominable organization, founded by the devil himself, likened prophetically unto a great whore, whose great aim and purpose was to destroy the souls of men in the name of religion. In these hands it ceased to be the book it once was…our present Bible contains only a fraction of the holy word that once was compiled with and included in it as the acceptable word of the Lord” (Bruce McConkie, The Joseph Smith Translation, The Restoration of Plain and Precious Things, pages 12, 13, 16).
“This Jewish Bible was deliberately altered by the great and abominable Gentile church, which took ‘many plain and most precious parts,’ and ‘many covenants,’ and much gospel out of the book (1 Nephi 13:27). The alterations were done early, for it was after the Bible was altered that it went ‘to all the nations of the Gentiles’ (1 Nephi 13:29). …To rescue the world from this spiritual blindness, the Lord [brought] forth the Book of Mormon and other books to ‘make known the plain and precious things that have been taken away’ from the Bible (1 Nephi 13:35-40)” (Church News, 11/8/2003, page 5, report on the BYU Sidney B. Sperry Symposium on the Scriptures).
It is clear that, according to Mormonism, the Bible is lacking the fulness of the gospel. Notwithstanding Mr. Ballard’s praise for this volume of scripture, for many LDS leaders the Bible takes second place to the Book of Mormon — if not third or fourth.
In this one thing I agree with Mr. Ballard: We should be grateful for the Holy Bible. For in truth, it is God’s Word to us,
Living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
Hatred for the Propserity Gospel
“I don’t know what you feel about the prosperity gospel—the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel—but I’ll tell you what I feel about it: hatred.” (>>)