| Show TIIE BIBLE AND THE TRE BOOK OF MORMON tim tue christian union for jan 3rd ard has an article on the authority of the hebrew scriptures in which reference is made a number of times to the mormon bible I 1 an attempt is also made to draw a contrast between 4 mens nibles bibles and gods bible by the term I 1 mens bibles I 1 is signified the koran and the book of mormon and by gods bibie bible the volume containing the old and new testaments the writer Is in error about the 1151 mormon ormon bible Thel the lible bible used by the mormons cormons Mor mons or latter day saints is the same that is in general use in christendom the book of mormon is not mot put forward in place of the hebrew scriptures but in corroboration of the truths they contain the two records come from different localities and were written in different languages but they present the same divine source if the book of mormon is true the bible must be true but the book of mormon should not be called the I 1 mormon bible bibie 11 because the only W mormon bible existing is that which M the christ christian union calls gods bible the union article states that the man made bibles nibles are given in the very words which god Is supposed to have used gods bible was produced in a very avery different tway way it was over afteel fifteen zen xen centuries from the time when the arst first book was w written itten until the time when the last book wib wab wa written no one knows when or b dy y whom the books of the old testament were e first gathered together in a single volume no one knows by whom the church eg iea determined what ot the vartong books used in the centar century should make up the L new testament 0 our ar bible bibie w as not fractured it grew the author raf homme home of tile the other books bools arc nrc not known mth certain t ty no 0 o one pre pretends tends tenda to know who wrote Z kings gs I 1 or chronicles Chroni clen cien or job scholars are not certain who wrote portions options of the psalms realms or the book of ecclesiastes Eccles ecclesiastes lastes or the epistle to the hebrew B s there was no ml ra culous pr preservation er of the writings very few of us re read d them in the every ivery z ery words w of the original or think it necessary to do so A few scholars study them in the hebrew and the greek and we w e are content with our german french and english translations and justly so for while the value lalue of the men made bible depends upon the very words the value of gods bible depends upon up on the spirit and the truth in the men made ade bibles the supposed sacr bacr sacredness ednes s was in the thing ang ung the contents of meds chest the plates discovered by joe smith but in gods bible bibie the sacredness Is not in any thing now the book of mormon does not profess to be given in chevery th the very every words which god is supposed to have used it contains books written by different individuals inspired by the same spirit but who wrote according to their own language langua ethe the imperfections I 1 of which they a admitted T m bitted and dep deplored I 1 ored some som e of them wrote merely a record of the his tory of their times to the best of their t personal knowledge others wrote an account of the prophecies and cevela eions given through prophets by the lord but lit fit it was recorded in the words of men and in the preface to the book which is a compilation of these i records it Is declared I 1 and now if there are faults they are the mistakes of men wherefore condemn not the things of god that ye may be found at lher thet judgment seat of christ moroni one of the prophets j writes vr ites I 1 gand and I 1 said unto ze the lord the gentiles Gentile will swill mock at these things i because Jc cause of our weakness in writing for lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith but thou hast bast not made as mighty in writing wherefore when we me write we behold our weakness and stumble because of the placing of our words and I 1 fear est the gentiles shall mock at our words and when I 1 had said this the lord s rake fake unto me saying fools mock but t they shall mourn I 1 etc the son ol 01 of mormon writes condemn me not because of mine imperfection neither my father because ot his imperfection fec tion neither them who have written before him but rather give thanks unto god that he hath made manifest our imperfections that ye may learn leam to be more wise than we have been neither was the book of mormon all written at one time its writings cover a period of nearly a thousand years if the fact that the bible is made up of books written at different periods through several centuries is any proof that it is divine which we do not admit the same claim Is good forthe for tha the beok of anaw and we fall to see wherein is the advantage of doubt as to the compilation and authorship ot of many of the dooks books of the bible nor the peculiar virtue of translations uninspired and various it appears to us that if books were written by inspire on and preserved and translated by divine interposition and power they would have the advantage in comparison with a book of drius dubious authenticity and translation it is a mistake too to suppose that the value of the yook book book of mormon depends on mere words and not upon the spirit and the truth it is on these very things that the record of the ancient inhabitants of this land laud depends for internal in tokens of its divin devla ity it Is not merely because it was translated b by the gift and power ot of god that it Is y of f uch such great value but because of the truth it contains and the spirit that bears witness to them and we cannot for the life of us see wherein is the disadvantage of a miraculous ra translation compared with a translation confessedly men made and of doubtful accuracy if the christian unitt wr writer iter and his associates are arc content with the latter iatter we C I 1 will vill not complain but we see no reason to exalt exult doubt above certainty the sacredness of the book of mormon Is not thought to be simply in the thing the plates discovered by the prophet joseph but in the revelations and prophecies and declarations of doctrine therein contained so in this respect it stands in the same position as the bible we should like to know what the union writer means by the statement that the bible was not manufactured it grew weyhe states further on that the writers of the books of the bible wrote the words down in their own words and in their own way chebook The Book of mormon grew I 1 it if the bible grew and in the very same manner but it has this advantage that its writers and compiler are known and its translation is authentic inauthentic while accord according ln to the union writer many of the bible authors are unknown the authority for its compilation Is doubtful and its translations are arc various and contradict I 1 f 1 tory another point of difference the J union article endeavors to make is that themen men mea made mado bibles have prevented a spirit ot of inquiry they have stifled tree free thought they have forbidden men to think for or themselves they have made them worshipers of the letter they have carried death gods bible kas kag has hag incited men to think it has set them to investigating the questions who wrote the various books booke what sort of men were they what did they mean by what they wrote here is another grave ve mistake if the thet book 0 pa referred to as it Is undoubtedly that does not prevent but it creates a spirit ot of inqui inquiry it does not stifle hut t it promotes ro 0 free thought it does not ot fordfd fo but re u s men to think or T themselves sq esl esi it unas as wt not mad wade them thefil worshippers wor shippers of tle the the letter but seekers after the spirit and it has not carried rath yath but life eternal life and wast vm particular benefit arises pray from inquiries and disputes as to who wrote the various books and what sort of men they th eyvere were and how much better bette rare are contentions about what those men mean by what they wrote than certainty as to the meaning of writings designed for instruction in divine things the union writer evidently knows nothing about the book of mormon except that it is claimed to be an inspired s translation by joseph smith of c characters on metallic plates lie he does not understand tle tie the nature object and purport of the record and is not competent to make a comparison between it and the hebrew scriptures and he has no right to call the latter his bible as though the mormons cormons Mor mons repudiated repudiate a it we have much greater reason for calling it our bible for we have direct evidences through the book of mormon and otherwise of its authenticity and as a body of believers we endeavor to carry out its teachings more strictly e aly than any of the so called christian christia n sects which exalt the book in theory and reject most of it in practice we would like the union writer to show us the consistency of calling a book gods bible bibie which he says was written by men not as amanuenses writing at dictation but in their own words and in their own way some of whom are not known and whose works haye have been compiled by unknown persons I 1 and the several ana 0 1 translations ot w cao cag m merely werely y by mans learning while at the same time time it calls another book a mans bible which does not claim to be a bible which claims just as much as the other book to have been written by inspiration which was compiled by divine authority and translated by divine power but whoever found consistency sis tency in a sneering as salier of the book of mormon and where is one ol of its opponents who ever studied it carefully and in an impartial spirit |
