JHEALY - I am greatly searching for the truth in the Bible and within the Book of Mormon. The Articles of faith from the LDS Church which reflect the subject of this e-mail, have not been comforting in the least. What evidence do you have, to sustain this statement:
"We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly"

JOEL - Let me first quote Article of Faith #8 you are refering to:
"We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. We also believe in the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."

Simply stated, we believe that every message and doctrine of God spoken about in both the Holy Bible and Book of Mormon are the things that God wants us to know and to believe in and to live. The LDS Church places the Bible as the number one source of scripture and doctrine of Christ with the Book of Mormon serving as a second witness. That is why the official title of the Book of Mormon includes the phrase "another testament of Jesus Christ".
Nevertheless our church does place a certain degree of reservation on the Bible in the case of erroneous translation, which may occur as a result of human incapacity. We are not alone in this for most Bible scholars generally admit the presence of errors of translation and transcription of the ancient text. I have often listened to pastors and preachers of other Christian faiths qualify certain passages of Bible scripture as they try to extract the meaning. They will often refer to the original Hebrew or Greek words and then offer their own translation of the text, which they claim would be a "better" translation of the words to support their ideas. Our Church is no different in this regard, except that we admit this fact up front in our beliefs and go on from there.
I have already offered many examples within Bible scriptures that demonstrate inconsistancies and contradictions at this page.
But even with the many errors that can be found in the Bible we can still regard it as the word of God because for the most part that which is recorded is consistant within itself and is even supported by other historical records and archeological evidences. More importantly, as we read it the Holy Spirit confirms its truth to our souls. We also have prophets living today who can provide us with correct translations and understandings and help us to know the mind and will of God as it was recorded by His servants. And we have the Book of Mormon, a completely separate cannon of scripture, which also teaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ and supports all that is true and correct in the Bible.

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