There is a huge reason why the majority of Mormons have doubts about the Bible. This is because of their 8th article of faith. It reads, “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.” (Articles Of Faith) Notice how they say that the Bible is not translated correctly, but the Book of Mormon is. Interestingly, “almost 4,000 editing corrections have been made to the Book of Mormon since the first publication in 1830.” (Understanding the Process of Publishing the Book of Mormon) This religion also says the following, “and although errors do appear in various renderings from the original Hebrew and Greek, the bigger issue is that in the delivery of the ancient texts to the present day, “many plain and precious things [were] taken away” (1 Nephi 13:28). So, as the Bible texts were transmitted to us, certain teachings were lost. That’s one reason people have so many different interpretations of the Bible, as Joseph Smith experienced (see Joseph Smith—History 1:12). So one way modern revelation helps clarify and confirm the truths in the Bible is by restoring other truths that were lost. (What does the eighth article…)
As you can see by what Mormons and their article of faith says, they believe and teach that the Bible has many missing and important truths that we need for today. Therefore, Mormons lie to their members by saying that they have new teachings that were lost. How God has restored these plain and precious truths in their church only. What they don’t like is how Christianity for the last two thousand years has taught in the inerrancy of scripture. How we have exactly what God has preserved for us, not that we need anything more. Surely, “every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5,6) “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16,17) Don’t let people tell you that certain books shouldn’t be in the Bible just because they personally don’t like the book for different reasons. For example, Mormons hate the Song of Solomon, although it is helpful for intimacy in marriage. We can trust the Bible. Amen.
Let us pray:
Oh Lord, please help the Mormons trust the Bible and stop doubting its truths altogether. Their Book of Mormon may say that plain and precious truths were lost over time, but this is only to cause them to distrust the Bible. Surely, You have given us exactly what we need in the Biblical canon. I am not here, Lord, to judge what canon people use, if it is the 66 canon or the eastern orthodox canon that has 81 books. This actually makes me happy to know that You have preserved Your books of scripture for us today. There have been many book burnings, especially around 200B, when many Jewish scrolls were taken and burned. Your people were also greatly persecuted. I don’t doubt that the original scrolls were lost, but am so happy that we do have copies of scrolls that date around the same time periods. Surely, only You could preserve Your words in scripture so perfectly. I am not saying that other Books from the past may still be found, seeing how wonderful the findings of the dead sea scrolls have been. I love to hear these stories of people finding ancient Biblical scrolls that date thousands of years in the past. You are so good God to bring them to light. I love You, Jesus. Amen.