The Holy Bible

I am now reading the Bible. When I was actively attending the LDS Church, I was often reading the Book of Mormon. That is not bad at all. I would occasionally try to read the Bible. The LDS version of the Bible is the King James Version. So, the language was difficult and it was hard to read.

But things got kind of strange. The King James Bible is considered LDS scripture. But there are parts that Joseph Smith altered. He claimed they were a better translation from God. He didn't just change words or decide the Hebrew meant something different. He added whole verses and passages containing concepts that would define Mormon doctrine. The problem is that it looks rather obvious and sometimes destroys the clear, simple meaning of the text.

I believed, for several years, the the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) was correct. And then, I found out that the LDS Church had only approved a certain portion of the manuscript of the JST. And then I began to wonder what criteria they used to choose which passages would be altered.

And currently, as I go through the Bible again, this time, hoping to finish it, not just dabble in it, the JST does not make much sense. Joseph Smith really did make some passages clearer and point out discrepancies that Bible scholars should look at. But I now believe that it ends right there.

I wish to read the King James version of the Bible without relying as much on the JST. It really actually is better and clearer without the added JST passages. Something tells me that this clarity was meant to be.

Any Bible text relies, ultimately, on some old manuscripts that may or may not have properly preserved the text. And there may have truly been some men who altered or cut out passages they didn't like.

But I prefer to believe that there are many ways of dealing with these textual problems. And I prefer to believe that not just one man has all of the answers.

What really fries my cheese is the fact that I was told that The Holy Bible was not as spiritual as the Book of Mormon. This tends to be a rather LDS take on why there is more than one holy book in our religion. I don't believe this.

About five years ago, I went to stake conference, and the main speaker told us that we were to read the Book of Mormon because it would bring in the Holy Spirit. He told us that the Bible would not. I was then wondering if I shouldn't read the whole Bible. I had started to be interested in it. I was enjoying the book of Genesis very much, even to the point that I thought it was entertaining, and a great psychological look at human nature.

And then I went to that stake conference, and I felt guilty for liking the Bible. I stopped reading it and went back to my Book of Mormon.

It was a true tragedy. A few months later, when I tried to pick up the Bible again, it seemed much harder to read. I didn't appreciate or understand it on any level.

Last year, I picked up the Bible again. I found it untrue that the Book of Mormon did a better job of bringing in the Holy Spirit. I felt something very good upon me as I began reading it from the beginning. I began to see how the Bible informs the typical doctrines of the Christian religions. I began to see how valuable it was.

It was truly a good spiritual experience. It was truly a defining moment of my life.

I hope that everyone else out there can, at some point in their lives, have this experience with that very interesting book, the Holy Bible.