The “Joseph Smith Translation” of the Bible

Ironhold said:

*headdesk*

Your comment is so inane that I'm having trouble not screaming right now.

You basically just stated that you would rather remain in willful ignorance because actually educating yourself would require challenging your own pre-conceived notions.

Click to expand...

IchoozJC said:

Same way a bank teller knows a counterfeit as soon as it enters their hands, because of spending so much time with the real thing.

Click to expand...

drstevej said:

Interesting. They admit it is revision not translation.

Inspired by WHOM is the question.

Click to expand...

TasteForTruth said:

This whole discussion has become juvenile. The OP poses a question. The First Presidency of the LDS church, which is its highest governing authority, releases a statement that directly answers the question. And four pages later, people are still speculating... now about the authority of BYU professors vs. lay members.

It seems a safe conclusion, then, that some people aren't interested in the truth, but in grasping at straws until they find some shred of something that they might be able to leverage to dupe the gullible into accepting their erroneous preconception as reality.

Click to expand...

Ironhold said:

BYU isn't a seminary by any means.

It's a private four-year college.

The church subsidizes the cost of tuition so that people who might not otherwise afford tuition at such a large facility can attend... hence the decision to have it chartered as a private college instead of a public one.

The church does require a code of conduct and a minimum number of credit hours of theology, but beyond that students - which include a number of non-Mormons - are on their own. It's far less restrictive or demanding in this regards than such non-Mormon schools as the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, which is infamous locally for its strict code and the mandatory attendance of chapel services.

While a person can major in theology at BYU, it's far from the only course of study. In fact, at one point BYU's Marriott School of Business was consistently ranked as one of the top 40 B-schools in the nation. BYU is also famous for its animation program and its nursing program, and from what I understand has a fairly respectable law school as well.

Click to expand...

bbbbbbb said:

What did you make of the link I supplied in my post?

Click to expand...

IchoozJC said:

You may think they are all liars. I don't. Some, but I believe the majority are just deceived by the Father of lies.

Click to expand...

TasteForTruth said:

Where in that does it state that BYU Professors speak for the entire LDS church? Highlight it in RED for me.

Muchísimas Gracias in advance

Click to expand...

BigDaddy4 said:

Sure. No problemo...

Brigham Young University is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is part of the Church Educational System, which serves more than 1.2 million people in 144 countries worldwide. In addition to students at BYU in Provo, Utah; BYU-Hawaii in Laie, Hawaii; BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, Idaho; and LDS Business College in Salt Lake City, Utah, hundreds of thousands throughout the world are being served in continuing education and literacy programs, seminaries and institutes of religion and elementary and secondary schools.

http://yfacts.byu.edu/Article?id=137

Established in 1875, the university provides an outstanding education in an atmosphere consistent with the ideals and principles of its sponsor, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

http://yfacts.byu.edu/Article?id=130

It seems BYU doesn't share your opinion...

I will await your typical dismissive response instead of admitting you were incorrect.

Click to expand...

IchoozJC said:

I've educated myself, for 18 years and counting, on the Bible alone. That's how I KNEW so quickly that Mormonism was a false religion when I began looking at it 8 months ago.

Same way a bank teller knows a counterfeit as soon as it enters their hands, because of spending so much time with the real thing.

Click to expand...

bbbbbbb said:

As we all know, the LDS does not have a seminary because it does not operate with seminary-trained pastors.

Click to expand...

But, I think those individuals who do teach theology there probably know what they are talking about when it comes to LDS beliefs, don't you agree?

Click to expand...

FreeinChrist said:

I lived in a heavily LDS area with one of the older temples. Somehow, every junior high, and high school and the Community College had a 'seminary' on the edge of the property. LDS students could take LDS classes outside of school during school hours.

If the Brigham Young professors are LDS and teaching doctrine, then it matters what they say.

Click to expand...

TasteForTruth said:

I did not read it. I never read web pages or articles referenced by a poster when he offers no commentary to accompany it. That's just lazy and discourteous debate. If you'd like to summarize the article or quote from it and then explain why it is relevant to the OP or your post, then I will likely have some comment to offer in return.

Click to expand...

Ironhold said:

Actually, the church's goal is to ensure that everyone who is a member receives a considerable degree of education in all things church-related via both church classes and personal studies.

Thus, for many members, having a formal theology training program is viewed as redundant.

You again presume that these professors are LDS to begin with.

Click to expand...

Ironhold said:

In the LDS faith, "seminary" refers to a course of study for high school-age students in which they go through the LDS canon of scripture. The idea is to ensure that all LDS teens have read the canon at least once before they graduate and have a functional knowledge of what's in there.

It's not a seminary in the non-LDS sense, which refers to a trade education program.

Click to expand...

bbbbbbb said:

How many theology professors at BYU who teach classes in LDS theology are non-LDS? My guess is approximately zero.

Click to expand...

Ironhold said:

Care to actually look it up?

Click to expand...

bbbbbbb said:

Not a problem. I will provide a couple of paragraphs which explain to a limited extent the far-reaching aspects of the JST.

The Joseph Smith Translation similarly provides missing details to the story of Joseph, who was a prophet like his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather before him. The Bible makes the point in the cases of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that the Lord appeared to each of these great men to reestablish the Abrahamic covenant individually. They each were shown a vision of the future of their posterity, whom they blessed and counseled accordingly (see, for example, Jacob’s prophetic patriarchal blessings to his 12 sons in Genesis 49). These patriarchal witnesses and blessings are known among biblical scholars as “testaments.”

But where is the testament of Joseph, the birthright son of Jacob and spiritual head of the family after his father’s death? It is in the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 50, which adds 15 verses to the story of Joseph, containing his witness of the power of the covenant to his brothers and to his descendants, along with an important prophetic look into the future. Joseph prophesied of the bondage in Egypt, the deliverance under Moses, the coming of the Messiah, the scattering of Israel, and the coming forth of a great prophet from his own lineage, for the Lord had promised: “And his name shall be called Joseph, and it shall be after the name of his father; and he shall be like unto you; for the thing which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand shall bring my people unto salvation” (JST, Gen. 50:33). While Joseph of Egypt, in the deliverance of his brethren from captivity, was a type of Jesus Christ, he is also a type of Joseph Smith, his descendant, who would open the work of salvation for the remnant of Israel.

Do you believe that these added verses are "plain and precious truths" which Christians removed from the Bible during the Great Apostasy?

Click to expand...

TasteForTruth said:

I do not have a belief one way or the others as to why this particular account does not appear in known Bibles.

Click to expand...