Comparing Ancient and Modern Scripture
This week I have been thinking about some differences between the Bible, the scriptures of the restoration and modern forms of scripture. I am not a Bible scholar by any stretch of the imagination, so I will only give a broad characterization based on what I know.
The Bible is the foundation of Western society. It is the source of Judeo-Christian ethics, morality, philosophy, and religion. It is a compilation of books that explains how God interacts with his children. The fact that it has survived mostly intact is remarkable. Most importantly to Christians, it reveals Jesus Christ and his redemptive mission. As Latter-day Saints, we believe it to be the word of God, as far as it has been translated correctly, but we do not accept the concept of inerrancy like many Protestants and Evangelicals.
Many of the books of the Bible have anonymous authorship but are attributed to certain individuals such as Moses, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The fact that there is a tremendous amount of consistency between the Gospels and the interconnection between the Old and New Testaments is astounding. This speaks to the tremendous efforts of the caretakers of the text over the centuries. However, we cannot overlook the fact that religious politics, dogmas, and creeds have colored the doctrines and practices over time. As additional texts have been discovered and more careful analysis has been conducted, it is clear that the statements made in the Book of Mormon about many plain and precious things being taken out of the Bible, are correct.
In contrast to the Bible, latter-day scripture is unique in that nearly all the authorship of the scriptures we have are explicitly stated in the books they wrote. For example, the Book of Nephi starts with the words, “I Nephi”. We have the original manuscript of the translation of the Book of Mormon and virtually all the original documents surrounding the revelations given and recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants. This leaves much less room for error or misinterpretation of these scriptures.
Unlike the doctrine of inerrancy of the Bible held by mainstream Christianity, Latter-day Saints accept that because of the imperfections of humans, there are mistakes in scripture. However, because there are many, many fewer iterations, copies, and translations of modern scriptures, their purity is more intact. We also accept that as new revelation is received, there may be changes made to existing texts. As I have mentioned in earlier messages, Joseph Smith modified some revelations over time as he continued to understand them more completely.
So where does that leave us in terms of studying and understanding scripture. First, because scripture is revelation, it is best understood by revelation. As I mentioned last week, logic, and reason play a considerable role in understanding revelation. Second, scripture as interpreted by living prophets should be considered as authoritative. Third, scholarly interpretations can be very insightful and thought-provoking but should not be the final word on the matter.
There is one more thing that is critical to interpreting the intent and meaning of scripture, namely; context. I cannot emphasize this enough. As an example, I do not think you can understand modern temple worship and ceremonies without the context of ancient temples. Isaiah is impossible to understand without knowing about the people of the time, the places they lived, and the culture of the Israelites and their enemies. Likewise, we cannot apply 21st century thinking and culture to the mid-19th century.
My hope today is that you will appreciate modern scripture, and use it to bring further clarity to its ancient counterpart.