david bokovoy

Latter-day Saints have always had a complicated relationship with the Bible. Joseph Smith signaled his deep reliance on the holy text even while challenging its authority. While he accepted many of his era’s common assumptions about the Bible, he also emphasized that it was only true insofar as it was “translated correctly.” ((See Articles of Faith 1:8. As with all blog posts, this book note represents the views of its author and not necessarily that of the Maxwell Institute or Brigham Young University.)) He made revisions through prophetic inspiration but also labored to learn Hebrew in order to wrestle with the most ancient form of the text available. Joseph employed spirit and mind in his scriptural study. He translated the Book of Mormon and issued many of his own new revelations, but the Bible remained his most-referenced sermon source.