_THE SCRIPTURES_
_The Bible_--In the Bible are the words of life and salvation.
13:214.
We are believers in the Bible, and to our unshaken faith in its
precepts, doctrine, and prophecy, may be attributed "the strangeness of
our course," and the unwarrantable conduct of many towards this people.
1:237.
But I want to know if we agree with the teachings of the Bible, in our
belief and practice. The Latter-day Saints believe in doing just what
the Lord has told them to do in this book. 1:239.
We believe the New Testament, and consequently, to be consistent, we
must believe in new revelation, visions, angels, in all the gifts of
the Holy Ghost, and all the promises contained in these books, and
believe it about as it reads. 1:242.
We have a holy reverence for and a belief in the Bible. 14:113.
The Bible is true. It may not all have been translated aright, and
many precious things may have been rejected in the compilation and
translation of the Bible; but we understand, from the writings of one
of the Apostles, that if all the sayings and doings of the Savior
had been written, the world could not contain them. I will say that
the world could not understand them. They do not understand what we
have on record, nor the character of the Savior, as delineated in the
Scriptures; and yet it is one of the simplest things in the world, and
the Bible, when it is understood, is one of the simplest books in the
world, for, as far {192} as it is translated correctly, it is nothing
but truth, and in truth there is no mystery save to the ignorant. The
revelations of the Lord to his creatures are adapted to the lowest
capacity, and they bring life and salvation to all who are willing to
receive them. 14:135.
Take the Bible just as it reads; and if it be translated incorrectly
and there is a scholar on the earth who professes to be a Christian,
and he can translate it any better than King James's translators did
it, he is under obligation to do so. If I understood Greek and Hebrew
as some may profess to do, and I knew the Bible was not correctly
translated, I should feel myself bound by the law of justice to the
inhabitants of the earth to translate that which is incorrect and
give it just as it was spoken anciently. Is that proper? Yes, I would
be under obligation to do it. But I think it is translated just as
correctly as the scholars could get it, although it is not correct in
a great many instances. But it is no matter about that. Read it and
observe it and it will not hurt any person in the world. 14:226.
By reading the Bible we find that the Gospel is contained not only
in the New Testament, but also in the Old. Moses and the Prophets
saw and predicted the apostasy of the Church. They saw that the Lord
would strive with the children of men from time to time, that he would
deliver to them the truth and the Priesthood; they also saw that
through the wickedness of the people they would change his ordinances,
break the covenants, and transgress his laws, until the Priesthood
would be taken from the earth, and its inhabitants be left in apostasy
and darkness. 16:74.
I have heard ministers of the Gospel declare that they believed every
word in the Bible was the word of God. I have said to them, "You
believe more than I do." I believe {193} the words of God are there; I
believe the words of the Devil are there; I believe that the words of
men and the words of angels are there; and that is not all,--I believe
that the words of a dumb brute are there. I recollect one of the
prophets riding, and prophesying against Israel, and the animal he rode
rebuked his madness. 14:280.
I believe the words of the Bible are just what they are; but aside
from that I believe the doctrines concerning salvation contained in
that book are true, and that their observance will elevate any people,
nation or family that dwells on the face of the earth. The doctrines
contained in the Bible will lift to a superior condition all who
observe them; they will impart to them knowledge, wisdom, charity, fill
them with compassion and cause them to feel after the wants of those
who are in distress, or in painful or degraded circumstances. They who
observe the precepts contained in the Scriptures will be just and true
and virtuous and peaceable at home and abroad. Follow out the doctrines
of the Bible, and men will make splendid husbands, women excellent
wives, and children will be obedient; they will make families happy and
the nations wealthy and happy and lifted up above the things of this
life. 13:175.
We take this book, the Bible, which I expect to see voted out of the
so-called Christian world very soon, they are coming to it as fast
as possible, I say we take this book for our guide, for our rule of
action; we take it as the foundation of our faith. It points the way
to salvation like a fingerboard pointing to a city, or a map which
designates the locality of mountains, rivers, or the latitude and
longitude of any place on the surface of the earth that we desire to
find, and we have no better sense than to believe {194} it; hence, I
say that the Latter-day Saints have the most natural faith and belief
of any people on the face of the earth. 13:236.
We as Latter-day Saints have confessed before Heaven, before the
heavenly hosts, and before the inhabitants of the earth, that we really
believe the Scriptures as they are given to us, according to the best
understanding and knowledge that we have of the translation, and the
spirit and meaning of the Old and New Testaments. 12:227.
Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints with
it, and see if it will stand the test. 17:46.
This Book, which is the Old and New Testament, preaches but one sermon
from Genesis to Revelation. 6:284.
The doctrine that we preach is the doctrine of the Bible, it is the
doctrine the Lord has revealed for the salvation of the children of
God, and when men, who have once obeyed it, deny it, they deny it with
their eyes wide open, and knowing that they deny the truth and set at
naught the counsels of the Almighty. 14:200.
I ask you, brother B, how I must believe the Bible, and how shall you
and every other follower of the Lord Jesus Christ believe it? "Brother
Mormon, how do you believe it?" I believe it just as it is. I do not
believe in putting any man's interpretation upon it, whatever, unless
it should be directed by the Lord himself in some way. I do not believe
we need interpreters and expounders of the Scriptures, to wrest them
from their literal, plain, simple meaning. 1:237.
There is one idea entertained by the "Mormons" which is somewhat of a
stumbling-block to the people, and apostates handle it to suit their
purpose. It is, that we consider {195} the Bible merely as a guide
or fingerboard, pointing to a certain destination. This is a true
doctrine, which we boldly advance. If you will follow the doctrines,
and be guided by the precepts of that book, it will direct you where
you may see as you are seen, where you may converse with Jesus Christ,
have the visitation of angels, have dreams, visions, and revelations,
and understand and know God for yourselves. Is it not a stay and a
staff to you? Yes; it will prove to you that you are following in the
footsteps of the ancients. You can see what they saw, understand what
they enjoyed. 1:243.
_The Standard Church Works._ With us the Bible is the first book,
the Book of Mormon comes next, then the revelations in the book of
Doctrine and Covenants, then the teachings of the living oracles,
yet you will find, in the end, that the living oracles of God have
to take all things of heaven and earth, above and beneath, and bring
them together and devote them to God, and sanctify and purify them and
prepare them to enter into the Kingdom of heaven. 9:297.
There is no clash in the principles revealed in the Bible, the Book of
Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants; and there would be no clash
between any of the doctrines taught by Joseph the Prophet and by the
brethren now, if all would live in a way to be governed by the Spirit
of the Lord. All do not live so as to have the Spirit of the Lord with
them all the time, and the result is that some get out of the way.
5:329.
We have learned much from the Bible. We have also learned much from
the Book of Mormon and the book of Doctrine and Covenants; but all the
salvation you can obtain by means of those books alone is comparatively
of little {196} value. They contain a history of what other men have
done, show the path they walked in, and the way in which they obtained
the words of eternal life for themselves; but all the Scriptures from
the days of Adam until now cannot, alone, save one individual. Were
they all committed to memory so perfectly that they could be recited
with the greatest ease, that alone would not save one of the smallest
of God's creatures, nor bring any person nearer the gate of the
celestial kingdom. In visiting a foreign nation, an understanding of
its language, geography, manners, customs, and laws is very agreeable
and: beneficial. So the reading of the Bible gives comfort and
happiness to the traveler to eternity, and points out to him in part
the character and attributes of the Being whom to know is life eternal.
We have not yet attained to that knowledge, and the mere reading of the
Scriptures can never put us in possession of it. 7:332.
It is your privilege and duty to live so, as to be able to understand
the things of God. There are the Old and New Testaments, the Book of
Mormon, and the book of Doctrine and Covenants, which Joseph has given
us, and they are of great worth to a person wandering in darkness.
They are like a lighthouse in the ocean, or a finger-post which points
out the road we should travel. Where do they point? To the Fountain of
light. 8:129.
What do the infidel world say about the Bible? They say that the
Bible is nothing better than last year's almanac; it is nothing but a
fable of priestcraft, and it is good for nothing. The Book of Mormon,
however, declares that the Bible is true, and it proves it; and the
two prove each other true. The Old and New Testaments are the stick of
Judah. You recollect that the tribe of Judah tarried in {197} Jerusalem
and the Lord blessed Judah, and the result was the writings of the Old
and New Testaments. But where is the stick of Joseph? Can you tell
where it is? Yes. It was the children of Joseph who came across the
waters to this continent, and this land was filled with people, and
the Book of Mormon or the stick of Joseph contains their writings, and
they are in the hands of Ephraim. Where are the Ephraimites? They are
mixed through all the nations of the earth. God is calling upon them to
gather out, and he is uniting them, and they are giving the Gospel to
all the world. Is there any harm or any false doctrine in that? A great
many say there is. If there is, it is all in the Bible. 13:174.
The Christian world profess to believe the Old and New Testaments; the
Jews say they believe the Old Testament. We believe both, and that
is not all, we believe in the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and
Covenants given by the Lord to Joseph Smith and by him to the Church.
We also believe if we were destitute of the Spirit of the Lord, and our
eyes were closed so that we could not see and understand things as they
are by the spirit of revelation, we might say farewell to all these
books, no matter how numerous. If we had all the revelation given since
the days of Adam and were without the spirit of revelation to be and
abide in the midst of the people, it would be impossible for us to be
saved in the celestial kingdom of God. 12:259-260.
The book of Doctrine and Covenants is given for the Latter-day Saints
expressly for their everyday walk and actions. 16:188.
_The Use of the Scriptures_--Do you read the Scriptures, my
brethren and sisters, as though you were writing them {198} a thousand,
two thousand, or five thousand years ago? Do you read them as though
you stood in the place of the men who wrote them? If you do not feel
thus, it is your privilege to do so, that you may be as familiar with
the spirit and meaning of the written word of God as you are with your
daily walk and conversation, or as you are with your workmen or with
your households. 7:333.
The people on every hand are inquiring, "What does this scripture
mean, and how shall we understand this or that passage?" Now I wish,
my brethren and sisters, for us to understand things precisely as they
are, and not as the flitting, changing imagination of the human mind
may frame them.
The Bible is just as plain and easy of comprehension as the revelation
which I have just read to you, if you understand the Spirit of God--the
Spirit of Revelation, and know how the Gospel of salvation is adapted
to the capacity of weak man. 3:336.
We are not in the same attitude that the people were a few thousand
years ago--they were depending on the Prophet or Prophets, or on having
immediate revelation for themselves to know the will of the Lord,
without the record of their predecessors, while we have the records of
those who have lived before us, also the testimony of the Holy Spirit;
and, to the satisfaction of all who desire a testimony, we can turn
to this book and read that which we believe, learn the object of our
pursuit, the end that we expect to accomplish--the end of the race as
far as mortality is concerned--and the fulness of the glory that is
beyond this vale of tears; consequently we have the advantage of those
who lived before us. We are in pursuit of knowledge; and when you meet
together, if you have a word of prophecy, {199} a dream, a vision, or a
word of wisdom, impart the same to the people. 15:35.
Is there anything in the Bible that should not be read by the scholars
in schools? If there be, leave out such parts, or rather replace the
language there used, with phraseology more in accordance with modern
usage, so that the principles contained in the Bible may be taught in
your catechisms or other books. I know that there is some plain talk
in the Bible, plainer than I heard this morning; but that plain talk
was the custom of the ancients. The mere phraseology there used is not
of much consequence, it is the true principle which that book teaches
which renders it so valuable. If any of you, ladies and gentlemen, were
to step on a steamboat and cross over to Liverpool, you would hear
language and see customs that you never heard or saw in Yankee land.
It is the same with regard to the Bible, the phraseology is that which
was customary centuries ago; but no matter what the language is, that
is merely custom. But I will say that the doctrines taught in the Old
and New Testaments concerning the will of God towards his children here
on the earth; the history of what he has done for their salvation; the
ordinances which he has instituted for their redemption; the gift of
his Son and his atonement--all these are true, and we, the Latter-day
Saints, believe in them. 13:174.
I am a witness, so far as this is concerned, that the persons whose
names are mentioned, and many others of the first Elders of the Church,
were looked upon almost as angels. They were looked upon by the young
members as being so filled with the Spirit and power of God, that we
were hardly worthy to converse with them. You hear the names of Bishop
Partridge, of Brother W. W. Phelps, who {200} is now sitting in this
stand, of Parley P. Pratt, of David Whitmer, of Oliver Cowdery, and the
names of many others of the first Elders who had been up to Zion, and
I declare to you that brethren in other parts of the land, those who
had not seen the persons named, felt that should they come into their
presence they would have to pull off their shoes, as the ground would
be so holy upon which they trod.
Do you know what distance and age accomplish? They produce in people
the most reverential awe that can be imagined.
When we reflect and rightly understand, we learn how easy of
comprehension the Gospel is, how plain it is in its plan, in every part
and principle fitted perfectly to the capacity of mankind, insomuch
that when it is introduced among the lovers of truth it appears very
easy and very plain, and how very ready the honest are to receive it.
But send it abroad and give it antiquity, and it is at once clothed
with mystery. This is the case with all the ancient revelations. Those
which were received and understood by the ancients are shrouded in
mystery and uncertainty to this generation, and men are employed to
reveal the meaning of the ancient Scriptures. 3:335-6. {201}