Gallup 2014 Values And Beliefs Poll Indicates 75 Percent Of Respondents Consider The Bible To Be The Word Of God; 47 Percent Effectively Embrace The LDS Viewpoint On The Bible

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.

LDS Church Announces Release Of The Life Of Jesus Christ Bible Videos Series; Exclusive Biblical Orientation Intended To Appeal To Non-Mormons

On December 4th, 2011, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the release of the first batch of videos in the series The Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos and the establishment of the BibleVideos.lds.org website. Each video depict scenes from Christ’s life, ranging from the angel foretelling Christ’s birth to the Savior's Resurrection. When complete, the project will yield more than 100 vignettes portraying the life of Christ, taken directly from the text of the King James Version of the Bible. The KJV, which is the LDS Biblical standard, remains the predominant standard throughout the Christian world to this day.

Here is a short introductory video:



Mormons aren't the only target audience for these videos. “We intend for these videos to be used freely by individuals, families, and groups,” said Elder Lynn G. Robbins, Executive Director of the Media Services Department. “We want to help our own members strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ, and we offer this freely to other churches who may wish to use these videos in a similar way. The message of the Lord Jesus Christ needs to be shared as widely as possible throughout the world.”

This explains why they're called Bible videos. The videos cite Biblical references only; no Book of Mormon references are included. This means any Christian pastor who uses the King James Version of the Bible as a church standard can use these videos without any doctrinal conflicts. We recognize that many Christian pastors are reluctant to use Mormon material because they've been taught that the Book of Mormon is non-canonical; indeed, the prophet Nephi predicted in 2 Nephi 29:3 that many people would react to the Book of Mormon by saying, "A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible". Keeping this batch of videos exclusively Biblical is consistent with the LDS Church's desire that, regardless of whether or not people join the LDS Church, the basic message of Christ be shared as widely as possible throughout the world.

If you cannot bring yourself to accept membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at this time, at least take steps to bring Christ into your life. Placing yourself under the protection of Jesus Christ and living by His principles will invite the Holy Spirit into your life; through the intercession of the Spirit, the Father can direct you to where He wants you to go.

Why The LDS Church Uses The King James Version Instead Of The Joseph Smith Translation (Inspired Version) Of The Bible

Many people are curious as to why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chooses to use the King James Version of the Bible instead of the Joseph Smith Translation (JST), alternately known as the Inspired Version. After all, the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) has used the JST since its inception.

I also was curious as to whether or not there was an official explanation. And I found a reference in the April 1977 edition of the New Era magazine, a faith-promoting Church magazine oriented towards teens and younger adults. Here is the applicable part of the guidance:

Perhaps the principal reason why the Church has not published or officially adopted the new translation is that the Prophet Joseph Smith was unable to attend to an authorized publication of it before his death. The Church records show that the Prophet wanted to publish the translation and was in the process of preparing the manuscript for that purpose at the time of his death but was hindered by persecution and lack of finances. As recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord indicated that He wished to have it published. (See D&C 124:89.) It is also very probable that the Prophet would have made some additional corrections had he lived longer.

However, at the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the manuscripts and documents pertaining to the translation were retained by Emma Smith, the Prophet’s widow, who would not give them to the Quorum of the Twelve although Elder Willard Richards, apparently acting on behalf of President Young, requested the new translation of her. Consequently, when the Church moved to the Salt Lake Valley, it did so without the new translation of the Bible.

Subsequently, the Reorganized church (RLDS) was organized in Illinois, and in 1866 Sister Emma Smith gave the manuscripts into the custody of that church. In 1867 the RLDS published the first edition of the translation and obtained a copyright for it. The RLDS church still has the original manuscripts and the copyright and is therefore the sole publisher.

Since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had neither the original manuscripts nor the copyright, it would have been quite difficult, if not impossible, for the Church to publish the translation, even if it had wanted to. In Nauvoo in 1845, Dr. John M. Bernhisel made a partial copy from the original, and the Church has this in its offices in Salt Lake City, but it contains less than half of the corrections and is not suitable for publication.

Because the translation was published by the RLDS church, some questions have existed as to whether it had been published accurately. However, research in the past few years with the original manuscripts has indicated that the Inspired Version of the Bible, published by the RLDS church, is an accurate representation of the sense of the original manuscripts prepared by Joseph Smith and his scribes.

This explanation is still representative of "official" opinion in 2009, although since that time, we now much more explicitly proclaim the equality of the Bible in value to the other standard works, which include the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. This was necessitated to resolve the confusion resultant from our Eighth Article of Faith, which proclaims, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God". Many believe the qualifier confers second-class citizenship upon the Bible, that we consider the Bible to be of inferior value.

This, of course, is not true. The statement "so far as it is translated correctly" is merely an explanatory clause acknowledging our belief that the Bible has errors, and is not a conditional clause suggesting inferiority in value. This is similar to the attitude strict Constitutional constructionists hold towards the "militia clause" in the Second Amendment, in which the militia clause is merely an explanatory clause rather than a conditional clause requiring militia membership in order to bear arms.

The LDS edition of the King James Version of the Bible is identical to the normal King James Version, except that it has cross-references to other LDS standard works. Some excerpts from the JST are included in the newest LDS edition of the King James Version. Expert LDS blogger Jeff Lindsay also presents Q & A about LDS usage of scriptures HERE.

Additional information about the Joseph Smith Translation can be found in Wikipedia. The online version of the JST can be found HERE.