NKJV Deuteronomy 12:32 Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
What would be a current illustration of adding to the word? Give this verse to a Mormon and he will say this means not to add to the book of Deuteronomy.
NKJV Proverbs 30:5-6 5Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. 6Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.
Again a Mormon will say this means not to add to the book of Proverbs. The context says "Every word of God"; do not add to His words.
NKJV Psalm 138:2 You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
When a Mormon inadvertently states the book of Mormon is considered the word of God alongside the Bible they have removed the Bible's authority replacing it with a man's.
"After Joseph had translated the Book of Mormon from the gold plates, the Lord COMMANDED him to TRANSLATE THE BIBLE... This young man, Joseph Smith, ...was commanded to translate the Bible BY INSPIRATION..." (LDS "Apostle" Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 15, pp. 247-249).
According to Mormonism Joseph Smith rewrote the Bible in the early 1830's. Without any knowledge of Hebrew or Greek language or manuscripts, he "restored" what had been lost. This "restoration of the bible" is known today as the Joseph Smith Translation (JST).
What makes this more intriguing is that the "inspired version" tells us how Joseph Smith received this revelation to write a NEW Holy book he "was caught up into an exceeding high mountain, and he saw God face to face, and he talked with him..."
Joseph Smith was commanded by God to publish the new translation of the Bible, God allegedly said "hearken to the counsel of my servant Joseph,... and publish the new translation of my holy word unto the inhabitants of the earth (ibid. 124:89)." In its completion in 1833 there would be over 9000 changes.
In February 1995 a BYU professor stated, "With the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible, the Prophet restored truth lost through the corruption of ancient texts and gave us the scriptures even as they are in [God's] own bosom, to the salvation of [his] own elect's (D&C 35:20)." (Kent P. Jackson, Ensign, 2/95, p. 63).
"Important changes were made in several thousand verses, but there are yet thousands of passages to be revised, clarified, and perfected." After his work of revision, the Prophet frequently quoted parts of the King James Version, announced that they contained errors, and gave clarified translations -- none of which he had incorporated into his prior revisions of the Bible. (Mormon Doctrine, Bruce R. McConkie, p.384, under Inspired Version of the Bible.)
Joseph Smith's "inspired version" did not make any changes to Esther, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Malachi, Second John or Third John, all of which were deemed "correct" by Smith.
However, The Song of Solomon was designated "not inspired writing" and was excluded. Joseph Smith made changes in the book of Genesis, approximately 32 different statements about the book of Genesis.
In Genesis 1-8 he taught that Adam, Enoch, and Noah all accepted and taught the gospel of Jesus Christ, this is impossible since the one the gospel centers on was not even yet born, died, or raised.
188 changes were made in Psalms. Isaiah received more changes than any other Old Testament book.
The New Testament received more than twice as many changes as the Old Testament, which makes no sense since we have more manuscript evidence for the New Testament than any other ancient literature. Smith was not aware of this because of his lack of education and the many discoveries that took place since he did his translation.
Fourteen books remained unchanged after Smith completed his revisions, three of these (Philemon and 2 and 3 John) were in the New Testament.
Smith proceeded to make 560 changes in the book of Luke. 483 in Matthew. John had 159 changes.
According to his own words Joseph Smith said "the book of Revelation was the plainest book God caused to be written."
Today we have a God given right and duty to teach our children and grandchildren the truth. Stand up for your Father and speak the truth. You don't need to be bitter and angry, you can get your point across. But you will never get your point across unless you speak.
Psalm 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
This is just one example of deceitfully handling the Word of Truth.
Revelation 22:18-19 19For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19Unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
To sum this all up Joseph Smith said an incredible statement: "the book of Revelation was the plainest book God caused to be written." If this is true Joseph should have paid more attention to the plain words in the above verses.ÿ
Note: All scripture is from the King James Version unless otherwise noted. NIV indicates The New International Version, NKJV means the New King James Version, ASV means the American Standard Version, BBE means the Bible in Basic English, DBY means the Darby translation, and NAB means the New American Bible translation. For more information, go to the Works Cited page.