Mormon's Continued

The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible and his false claim to prophethood

If Joseph Smith were really a prophet of God, his supposedly divinely inspired translations of ancient documents would be accurate. His "divinely inspired" translation of the Bible, however, is not accurate at all. His changes have no connection to the actual Greek and Hebrew scriptures of the Bible whatsoever. Therefore, Joseph Smith was clearly not a prophet of God

A Prophetic Translator?

It is extremely important to Mormon doctrine that Joseph Smith had a supernatural, God-given ability to translate ancient languages into English. The claim that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon from ancient, golden plates is the central "proof" that he was a prophet of God. If the Book of Mormon is not a real translation of a real ancient document given by God, all of Mormonism is a fraud. There are, of course, many reasons we know that the Book of Mormon is false and is not actually a translation of an ancient text and that the American continent was never inhabited by an ancient Hebrew people to have written such a text.

Looking at the Book of Mormon itself, however, is not the only way to address this question. We can examine Joseph Smith and his alleged gift to translate by the power of God. The book of Mormon is not the only book that Joseph Smith claims to have translated. Joseph Smith claimed to translate an ancient Egyptian text into the "Book of Abraham," a claim that has been proven absolutely false by examination of the Egyptian document in question. He also claimed to produce a new and better translation of the Bible itself through this power, and an examination of this "translation" is most revealing.

One simple example of this is in John 1:1.

John 1:1 KJV 1900

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Whether one is reading the KJV, the NASB, the NIV, or any other reputable English translation, they will find this verse translated exactly the same, word for word. There are, of course, groups like the Jehovah's Witnesses that have made the amateurish translation mistake of rendering the last clause "the word was a god,"1 but even these rare exceptions prove the rule: we know exactly what the Greek words are in this text and what they mean.2 Joseph Smith, however, claimed that he was divinely inspired in translating this verse:

"In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the Word. And the Word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God"3

Even before looking at the Greek, the idea that all other translators simply missed all those extra words in the verse is a huge stretch. Joseph Smith is claiming that translators not only translated words incorrectly but simply overlooked entirely or otherwise failed to translate half the words in the verse, including entire phrases. A quick glance at the Greek makes it clear that Smith is wrong. The word "uios" or "son" is not there. It's nowhere to be found. Neither is the word "evangelion" or "gospel," or any action verb at all, much less one that could be translated "preached." Joseph Smith did not claim to be uncovering a hidden meaning in the text or to be restoring lost words in the text; he claimed to be translating. Translating is taking a text that is in one language and rendering it into another language. Even the Book of Mormon explains prophetic translation that way in Mosiah 8. Joseph Smith was claiming that his translation was a more accurate rendering of the Bible into English. It is plainly not. The Greek simply doesn't mean at all what Joseph Smith said it meant.

What's more, the Gospel of John is one of the most anciently attested books in the New Testament. We have very early manuscripts of John, and also very early Christian writings quoting this verse in John. The idea that this verse ever said anything other than what we have in our Bibles today flies against such insurmountable evidence that it is simply beyond all reason. It should also be noted that Joseph Smith contradicts his own reading later in the chapter. While he says in John 1:1 that the "Word" is actually the gospel preached by the Son and not the Son Himself, he goes on to say in 1:14-15:

"And the same Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, This is he of whom I spake, He who commeth after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. For in the beginning was the Word, even the Son, who is made flesh, and sent unto us by the will of the Father"4

Even Joseph Smith's own changes and additions here speak of the Word as personally being Jesus, the Son, rather than being the gospel. Thus, even Joseph Smith testifies that Joseph Smith got this one completely wrong.

Matthew 6:13 and Luke 11:14

In the famous model prayer that Jesus offers in Matthew 6, one of the things He teaches us to pray is:

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil," (Matthew 6:13a)

The gospel of Luke records a similar phrase in the Lord's prayer:

"And lead us not into temptation," (Luke 11:4)

Again, we have very early manuscripts that testify to these readings, as well as early Christian writers who quoted this prayer. The Didache, one of the earliest Christian documents outside the Bible, records this prayer in chapter 8 and includes the phrase "leads us not into temptation." The meaning of the Greek here is again quite clear, and all the manuscripts and witnesses agree.

Joseph Smith, however, changed the wording in Matthew and Luke, respectively, to read:

"Suffer us not to be led into temptation, but deliver us from evil,"5

"Let us not be led into temptation,"6

These are changes we might expect if this is the work of a mere man who was uncomfortable with the original wording of the prayer. As a translation, though, it is plainly wrong. The Greek says, "lead us not into temptation," whether we are comfortable with that wording or not.

This otherwise minor example of a translation issue in the Joseph Smith version is actually very significant for a reason easy to overlook. Ironically enough, even the Book of Mormon offers a version of the Lord's prayer and includes the phrase:

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," (3 Nephi 13:12)

So if Joseph Smith claims that the Bible is not translated correctly when it says, "lead us not into temptation," then he must also be admitting that the Book of Mormon was not translated correctly either. But if the Book of Mormon is not translated correctly, then Joseph Smith is not a prophet. If, however, Joseph Smith was wrong and the prayer really should read "lead us not into temptation," then that means he was wrong and was altering God's word in his supposed divine translation of the Bible. If this is the case, again his prophetic gift of translation is false, and he is not a prophet. Either way, this simple reading shows that Joseph Smith was not a prophet of God and could not translate ancient texts by the power of God.

Conclusion

These are only a couple of very many possible examples from Joseph Smith's imaginative but completely failed attempt to translate the Bible supernaturally. Since the claims of Joseph Smith to be a prophet are directly tied to his claims to possess this gift, this gives us more than enough reason to reject Joseph Smith's prophetic claims

Mormonism and the Corruption of the Bible

The eighth article of faith in Mormonism states, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly." Also, Mormons frequently claim that many “plain and precious truths” have been removed from the Bible. What these "plain and precious truths" exactly are we are not told.

The Reliability of the Bible

There are a number of responses to this bold Mormon claim. First of all, there is substantial historical evidence which demonstrates the reliability of both the Old Testament and New Testament texts. The Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate that for over one thousand years the Old Testament was preserved with a remarkable degree of accuracy.2 We have over 10,000 Old Testament manuscripts.

Regarding the New Testament, the degree of precision is remarkable. We have over 25,000 New Testament manuscripts. The earliest New Testament manuscripts come from within 30 years after the last book was written.3 Even if we lost all of the New Testament manuscripts, which number over 25,000, we still would not be left without a testimony.

We would then turn to the writings of the Church Fathers. The early Church Fathers cite the New Testament over 36,000 times in the first few centuries after the writing of the New Testament. We could reconstruct the entire New Testament, minus about 11 verses, from their writings alone.

Errors in the Copying Process

It must be admitted that there are errors in the transmission or copying of the Bible from over two thousand years, but these errors do not affect any major doctrine such as there being only one true God in all existence, salvation by faith, Jesus is God in the flesh, etc. Most of these errors are just minor spelling variations, punctuation, or obvious slips of the pen that are known and can be corrected by comparing the large number of manuscripts available. There is a whole discipline of textual criticism that seeks to obtain the most accurate reading of various Biblical texts.

The Translation Process

Many Mormons have the idea that the Bible was translated from Greek, then to Latin, then to English, or another language. They assume that we have to translate the Bible three or four times before we get our English version. This is just blatantly inaccurate. We can translate the Bible directly from Hebrew to English, Aramaic to English, or Greek to English. There is no need to translate it a couple of times, through a couple of languages, in order to get the English translation

Plain and Precious Truths

Another important question to consider is the nature of “plain and precious truths” that were supposedly removed during the transmission of the Bible. It is easy to make the claim the Bible was intentionally corrupted and major doctrines were removed. However, for the Mormon, what evidence is there that any “plain and precious truths” were removed? Where in any of the ancient manuscript copies of the Bible do we find the notion (1) that Jesus was the spirit brother of Satan, (2) God the Father was once a man who attained godhood, (3) God the Father was once possibly unholy and a sinner, (4) God the Father had a Father before Him, (5) humans are preexistent intelligences who can become gods of their own planet just like God the Father, (6) God the Father is just the God of this world, and there are other true gods for other people elsewhere to worship, (7) an ordained Aaronic or Melchizedek priesthood authority, etc.

There is virtually no textual evidence in any manuscript that supports the notion of any of these major doctrines of the Mormon Church. So for the Mormon to claim that these “plain and precious truths,” whatever they are, were removed from the Bible, he bears the burden of proof

Verses to Know When Witnessing to Mormons

Introduction

Use the King James Version: Since Mormons respect and use the King James Version of the Bible, I recommend that you use this version when witnessing to Mormons. You do not want Mormons to get distracted by the various Bible translations.

Know the Gist: It is not always necessary to have memorized the entire verse word for word. Generally, it is okay if you can accurately summarize the verse or give the basic gist of what the passage says. However, I strongly recommend that you at least memorize a few key verses.

Know the Location: It is extremely helpful if you know the exact chapter and verse where a particular Scripture is located. Sometimes it is sufficient to just know the chapter, but it is helpful if you can also know the verse.

God

One God Only:

Isaiah 43:10: "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."

Isaiah 44:6, 8: "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. 8Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any."

If there were only two Bible verses that you had to know when witnessing to Mormons, I would recommend that you know Isaiah 43:10 and 44:6, 8.

Book of Mormon

Surprisingly to some, the Book of Mormon likewise teaches that there is only one God in all of existence.

Alma 11:26-29: "26 And Zeezrom said unto him: Thou sayest there is a true and living God? 27 And Amulek said: Yea, there is a true and living God. 28 Now Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God? 29 And he answered, No."

Eternality of God:

Psalm 90:2: "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Moroni 8:18: "For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity."

God Never Sinned:

Revelation 4:8: "And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."

Also compare Moroni 8:18 above which affirms that God is unchangeable. Since God is holy now, and is unchangeable, he could not have ever been a sinner.

Jehovah is Elohim:

Deuteronomy 4:35: "Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD [Jehovah] he is God [Elohim]; there is none else beside him." 1 Kings 18:39: "And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD [Jehovah], he is the God [Elohim]; the LORD [Jehovah], he is the God [Elohim]."

Jesus

Jesus always was God (John 1:1-3; Col. 1:16-17). Since the Bible teaches that Jesus is God (John 10:30; 20:28; Heb. 1:8) and God is eternal (Psalm 90:2), then Jesus must have always been God.

John 1:1-3: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."

Colossians 1:16-17: "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."

It is important to note that Jesus created all things including Satan. In Mormonism, Jesus is the spirit brother of Satan who was begotten through literal sexual relations between heavenly Father and possibly a heavenly Mother. Therefore, in Mormonism, Jesus did not create Satan. Jesus' spirit body is the result of some sort of union between heavenly Father and one of the heavenly Mothers. Jesus' physical body is the result of some sort of physical union between Heavenly Father and Mary.

Testimony

Verses Dealing with Feelings in the Discovery of Truth: Jer. 17:9; Prov. 28:26; Acts 17

Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Proverbs 28:26: "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered." Acts 17:11: "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." It is important to note that Paul never told the Bereans to determine whether Jesus was the Messiah based on their own personal prayer experience. They were praised since they searched the scripture daily whether the things Paul taught were true. It is Scripture that is the authority of determining truth, not our own sinful emotional feelings.

1 Thessalonians 5:21: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." 1 John 4:1: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."

1 John 5:9-13: "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."