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The Eighth Article of Faith

© Rebecca Talley

"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." This is the Eighth Article of Faith of the LDS Church.

We believe in and support the Bible as being the word of God. We testify of its truthfulness and its prophecies. We believe that Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Daniel, to name a few, were mouthpieces of the Lord and that they spoke the truth. The doctrines of the LDS Church agree with and complement the teachings found throughout the Bible.

The Sunday School classes, as well as the Seminary and Institute classes, all devote one year to studying the Old Testament and the following year to studying the New Testament. This is repeated every four years. These classes encourage scholarship of the Bible and even suggest passages for memorization. A teenager who has successfully graduated from the seminary program should have a working knowledge of the Bible and be able to locate significant scriptures.

We also believe that through the passage of time and numerous translations, that some of the original content of the Bible has been lost. When the translation was commissioned by King James, after many previous translations through the centuries, some material was deleted and/or mistranslated. This is even evident today when one reads a translation of the Bible in a different language. Languages very commonly have specific idioms that cannot be translated exactly and the translator uses his best judgement in trying to convey the message. In addition to this, some passages, and even entire books, have been included or deleted at various times in history, as requested by religious or political leaders. For example, 1 Chronicles 29:29 names the books of Samuel the seer, Nathan the prophet, and Gad the seer, Jude quotes from the book of Enoch (see Jude 1), and some of today's bibles contain books that are now called "Apocrypha." There are also many bibles, including "New Age" and "Modern Language" translations, that differ in content and meaning from the King James Version.

We are grateful that we have these precious truths and teachings from the Lord and His servants. It is essential to our salvation to understand the meaning and intent of the word of God. We believe there should be no "private interpretations" of the scriptures and that the scriptures came not by man or will of man, "but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter 1:20-21)

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