One of the most hotly debated subjects in Christian theology is about Biblical interpretation. Is the Bible actually inerrant or merely authoritative? One point of view holds that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, meaning the words of the Bible came directly from God, essentially using the writers as scribes. The other point of view holds that the Bible is merely authoritative, meaning that it reflects the words of men, guided by divine inspiration.
To take the public's pulse on this and other religious issues, Gallup conducted their annual Values and Beliefs poll from May 8-11, 2014. A sample of 518 U.S. adults provided these responses:
-- 28 percent believe the Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word. This means they consider the Bible to be "inerrant"; some use the phrase "God-breathed". But note that most of these people probably eat shellfish and pork, and virtually none of them practice animal sacrifice or stone adulteresses.
-- 47 percent believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, but that not everything in it should be taken literally. While they acknowledge the authenticity of the Bible, they do not consider it "inerrant" because it was recorded by imperfect human beings using imperfect human syntax. Imperfection cannot produce perfection. This come closest to the doctrinal position expressed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which states in the Eighth Article of Faith, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly..." So 47 percent of respondents effectively embrace the LDS belief about the authenticity of the Bible.
-- 21 percent believe the Bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man.
However, to help clarify where the non-literal believers stand on God's role in the Bible, Gallup asked 510 respondents in a second poll a different question that offered a fourth choice: saying the Bible is the actual word of God, but with multiple interpretations possible. Here's the split:
-- 28 percent believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, but that not everything in it should be taken literally.
-- 28 percent believe the Bible is the actual word of God, but multiple interpretations are possible.
Only 22 percent still thought the Bible should be taken word for word, and only 18 percent still considered it a book of fables.
Of course, the LDS Church is the only Christian church (other than its derivatives) that also accepts the Book of Mormon as the authoritative word of God. It seems rather odd that, 184 years after the initial publication of the Book of Mormon, not a single known prominent pastor, priest, or preacher has accepted and taught the Book of Mormon alongside the Bible to his flock. One is not actually required to join the LDS Church to accept the Book of Mormon; one merely has to have an open mind and consider the fact that our Heavenly Father always desires to communicate with us and would not be so cruel as to slam the windows of heaven shut for all eternity in 100 A.D.
On June 2nd, Gallup released the results of another poll taken in their Values and Beliefs survey. A total of 1,028 U.S. adults sounded off on creationism:
-- 42 percent believe that God created humans in present form. This come closest to the doctrinal position expressed by the LDS Church, but we do not believe the world was created in seven calendar days.
-- 31 percent believe that humans evolved from other life forms, but that God guided the process.
-- 19 percent believe that humans evolved from other life forms, and God was not involved.
It seems like many people already accept aspects of Mormon doctrine without actively realizing it.
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