Why Mormons Have A Confusing Relationship With The Bible
The Utah-Based LDS/Mormon Church (also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) has in their current scriptural canon a number of books, namely the King James Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.
By outward appearances, they put the Bible first.
In practice, however, most Mormons will not only defer all biblical interpretation to their extra-biblical texts, but view any discrepancies between the Bible and the other three (called the Triple Combination) as a biblical error.
This is obviously problematic.
Jesus taught us that a house divided unto itself cannot stand, but the LDS renewed insistance that they alone are Christ’s church, while simultaneously weakening the Bible to their membership makes them a house divided and keeps them divided from broader Christianity.
What many LDS fail to understand is that Joseph Smith (whom they claim as their founder) taught almost exclusively from the Bible, and almost never from the Book of Mormon. He spent years learning Hebrew, Greek, German, Latin, and some Aramaic to help him better discern the original intent of Biblical scripture.
This is why he stated, " We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated/interpreted correctly. We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."
The dismissal of the Bible by many in the modern LDS church is due to three main factors.
1) A misinterpretation of what Joseph just stated here as a dismissal of Biblical scripture as corrupted (instead of merely misinterpreted by other denominations), and therefore inferior to the Book of Mormon.
2) A misinterpretation of Joseph’s comment about the Book of Mormon being the most correct book of scripture (purest translation) and containing the fulness of the gospel, to mean that it is superior to the Bible, instead of what was clearly shown in his words/actions to those who knew him.
3) A misunderstanding about the word of revelation given from the Lord through Joseph that the church was under condemnation for failing to keep the New and Everlasting Covenant found in the Book of Mormon. The modern LDS church erroneously claims that this was failure to hold fast to the Book of Mormon as the superior true scripture.
In reality, the New and Everlasting covenant found within the Book of Mormon is the same New Covenant with Jesus found in the New Testament. It is coming unto the Lord humbly with broken heart and contrite spirit, casting off the self/natural man, turning away from your sin, dedicating your life to Jesus, to his will and teachings, and being baptized by water as a symbol of this commitment. The Lord fulfills his end of this covenant by baptizing you with fire and the Holy Ghost, and you are born again in Jesus. Your life is no longer your own.
These misunderstandings or misinterpretations by the modern LDS church have largely come about in the last forty years.
Former LDS church President Ezra Taft Benson taught the church clearly that they were still under condemnation from the Lord for neglecting the New and Everlasting covenant, but inaccurately explained this as a failure to seriously study from the Book of Mormon as the most correct book ever.
This led to a churchwide initiative to read the Book of Mormon every single year, both personally and with your family. Along with this came a greater missionary focus on the Book of Mormon for both ordinary LDS and full-time missionaries.
Presidents Hinckley and Monson reaffirmed this emphasis, and almost two generations of LDS parents tried to prioritize Book of Mormon reading over and over again at home, despite the 4-year Sunday School cycle rotating through the entire scriptural canon.
What this created in practice, however, was a false notion of infallibility in the Book of Mormon, and a discrediting of the Bible.
This meant that many young LDS grew up never really reading the Bible, and only hearing cherry-picked passages taught in a context to support the philosphies and interpretations of men, and never independently evaluating the book for its own merits and teachings as the primary resource of scripture.
This is why, ever since current LDS President Russell M Nelson switched the whole church to a unified 4-year core curriculum 4 years ago, many LDS have stopped reading the Book of Mormon over and over again each year and properly read the entire New Testament, or looked into church history themselves, for the first time ever.
Coincidentally, more people have also left the church in the past 4 years than in the previous 40.
For many both inside and outside the LDS church, the Great Awakening (aka Shift in Consciousness or Logos Rising) occurring right now is a reaffirmation of the truth and authenticity of the Bible as the Word of God.
How the Utah-based LDS church adjusts to this coming shift and re-embraces the Bible as the primary scriptural authority will determine whether or not it survives the coming tribulation.
