The Articles of Faith / A Series of Lectures on the Principal Doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

by James E. Talmage

1. Our Acceptance of the Bible.—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accepts the Bible as the first and foremost of her standard works, chief among the books which have been proclaimed as her written guides in faith and doctrine. In the respect and sanctity with which the Latter-day Saints regard the Bible, they are of like profession with Christian denominations in general, but differ from them in the additional acknowledgment of certain other scriptures as authentic and holy, which others are in harmony with the Bible, and serve to support and emphasize its facts and doctrines. There is, therefore, no specifically "Mormon" treatment of the Bible to be presented. The historical and other data, upon which is based the current Christian faith as to the genuineness of the biblical record, are accepted as unreservedly by the Latter-day Saints as by the members of any sect; and in literalness of interpretation this Church probably excels.

2. Nevertheless, the Church announces a reservation in the case of erroneous translation, which may occur as a result of human incapacity; and even in this measure of caution we are not alone, for biblical scholars generally admit the presence of errors of the kind, many of them self-apparent. The Latter-day Saints believe the original records to be the word of God unto man, and, as far as these records have been translated correctly, the translations are regarded as equally authentic. The English Bible professes to be a translation made through the wisdom of man; in its preparation the most scholarly men have been enlisted; yet not a version has been published in which even the unlearned cannot perceive errors. However, an impartial investigator has cause to wonder more at the paucity of errors than that errors are to be found at all.

3. There will be, there can be, no absolutely reliable translation of these or other scriptures, unless it be effected through the gift of translation, as one of the endowments of the Holy Ghost. The translator must have the spirit of the prophet if he would render in another tongue the prophet's words; and human wisdom leads not to that possession. Let the Bible then be read reverently, and with prayerful care, the reader ever seeking the light of the Spirit that he may discern between truth and the mistakes of men.

4. The Name "Bible."—In present usage, the term Holy Bible designates the collection of sacred writings otherwise known as the Jewish scriptures, containing an account of the dealings of God with the human family; which account is confined wholly, except in the record of ante-diluvian events, to the eastern hemisphere. The word Bible, though singular in form, is the English representative of a Greek plural, Biblia, signifying literally the books. The use of the word probably dates from the fourth century, at which time we find Chrysostom[731] employing the term to designate the scriptural books then accepted as canonical by the Greek Christians. It is to be noted, that the idea of a collection of books predominates in all early usages of the word Bible; the scriptures were, as they are, composed of the special writings of many authors, widely separated in time; and, from the striking harmony and unity prevailing throughout these diverse productions, strong evidence of their authenticity may be adduced.

5. The word Biblia was thus endowed with a special meaning in the Greek, signifying the books, that is to say the holy books as distinguishing the sacred scriptures from all other writings; and the term soon became current in the Latin, in which tongue it was used from the first in its special sense. Through Latin usage, perhaps during the thirteenth century, the word came to be regarded as a singular noun signifying the book; this departure from the plural meaning, invariably associated with the term in the Greek original, led up to the popular error of regarding the Bible as having been a unified volume from the first. Hence we meet with the reputed derivation of the word from the Greek singular noun Biblos meaning the book, but this is declared by a preponderance of good authority to be founded on a traditional misconception. It may appear that the derivation of a word is of trifling importance; yet in this case, the original form and first use of the title now current as that of the sacred volume must be of instructive interest, as throwing some light upon the compilation of the book in its present form.

6. It is evident that the name Bible is not of itself a biblical term; its use as a designation of the Jewish scriptures is wholly external to those scriptures themselves. In its earliest application, which dates from post-apostolic times, it was made to embrace most if not all the books of the Old and the New Testament. Prior to the time of Christ, the books of the Old Testament were known by no single collective name, but were designated in groups as (1) the Pentateuch, or five books of the Law; (2) the Prophets; and (3) the Hagiographa, comprising all sacred records not included in the other divisions. But we may the better consider the parts of the Bible by taking the main divisions separately. A very natural division of the biblical record is effected by the earthly work of the Savior; the written productions of pre-Christian times came to be known as the Old Covenant; those of the days of the Savior and the years immediately following, as the New Covenant.[732] The term testament gradually grew in favor until the designations Old and New Testaments became common.

THE OLD TESTAMENT.

7. Its Origin and Growth.—At the time of our Lord's ministry in the flesh, the Jews were in possession of certain scriptures which they regarded as canonical or authoritative. There can be little doubt as to the authenticity of those works, for they were frequently quoted by both Christ and the apostles, by whom they were designated as "the scriptures."[733] The Savior specifically refers to them under their accepted terms of classification as "the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms."[734] The books thus accepted by the people in the time of Christ are sometimes spoken of as the Jewish canon of scripture. The term canon, now generally current, suggests not books that are merely credible, authentic, or even inspired, but such books as are recognized as authoritative guides in profession and practice. The term is instructive in its derivation. Its Greek original, kanonkanon, signified a straight measuring rod, and hence it came to mean an authoritative standard of comparison, a rule, or test, as applied to moral subjects as well as to material objects.

8. As to the formation of the Jewish canon, or the Old Testament, we read that Moses wrote the first part of it, viz. the Law; and that he committed it to the care of the priests, or Levites, with a command that they preserve it in the ark of the covenant,[735] to be a witness against Israel in their transgressions. Fore-seeing that a king would some day govern Israel, Moses commanded that the monarch should make a copy of the Law for his guidance.[736] Joshua, successor of Moses, as leader and law-giver of Israel, wrote further of the dealings of God with the people, and of the Divine precepts; and this writing he evidently appended to the Law as recorded by Moses.[737] Three centuries and a half after the time of Moses, when the theocracy had been replaced by a monarchy, Samuel, the approved prophet of the Lord, wrote of the change "in a book, and laid it up before the Lord."[738] And thus we see the law of Moses was augmented by later authoritative records. From the writings of Isaiah, we learn that the people had access to the "Book of the Lord;" for the prophet admonished them to seek it out, and read it.[739] It is evident, then, that in the time of Isaiah the people had a written authority in doctrine and practice.

9. Nearly four centuries later (640-630 B. C.), while the righteous king Josiah occupied the throne of Judah as a part of divided Israel, Hilkiah the high priest and father of the prophet Jeremiah found in the temple "a book of the law of the Lord,"[740] which was read before the kings.[741] Then, during the fifth century B. C., in the days of Ezra, the edict of Cyrus permitted the captive people of Judah, a remnant of once united Israel, to return to Jerusalem,[742] there to rebuild the temple of the Lord, according to the law[743] of God then in the hand of Ezra. From this we may infer that the written law was then known; and to Ezra is usually attributed the credit of compiling the books of the Old Testament as far as completed in his day, to which he added his own writings.[744] In this work of compilation he was probably assisted by Nehemiah and the members of the Great Synagogue,—a Jewish college of a hundred and twenty scholars.[745] The book of Nehemiah, which gives a continuation of the historical story as recorded by Ezra, is supposed to have been written by the prophet whose name it bears, in part at least during the life of Ezra. Then, a century later, Malachi,[746] the last of the prophets of note who flourished before the opening of the dispensation of Christ, added his record, completing, and virtually closing the pre-Christian canon, with a prophetic promise of the Messiah and of the messenger whose commission would be to prepare the way of the Lord.