Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1893-07-22


contained ~ number OF the creeds ~
they now exist In written form. This
itlen IL etiil cntertaiued-thnt ~, II IL
said 10 be entertained, aud | suppose
we must give credit for sincerity 10
those who utter It, although Il L. rather
hard 10 believe-by great many mon
who are learned, eloquent, trained la
the understanding Of the Scfipturea
after the msnuur Of men, and educated
20 deliver their ijeas TO the public, aud
they WELD great Influence In what IL
called Chfistenddm. They say they
believe that this book, aud all the
verses In It, anu all The expressions Ia
those verses, are Inspired Of G1d-tho
very words OF God Almighty. When
pressed to worry close point on this.
some Of them will admit, however,
that what we have Ia simply n human
translation OF the words that men
wrote when they were Inspired OF God.
They 10 back TO the idea
that the original Scriptures were In.
epired; that those things that were
written 10y the prophets, the trnusla.
tlon VI which We have In this book,
were the very words OF God, the same
~ though God had spoken them Him.
self 10 the people, and that they have
been handed down 10 US anu trans.
lated for our benefit into the English
language. But theae gentlemen /
have been speaking about, some Of
whom have been accommodated
from their churches, and others stand
Ia n state Of suspension, say they DO
not believe that the Bible Ia literally
the word Of God. They dObtlievu that
holy men Of old were inspired; they
DO believe that some OF their words
have been handed down 10 us In their
original purity; but they believe that
those men were but mon, anu that
they wrote 10 the best OF their ability,
although they were assisted by the
git aud power Of the Holy Chest.
They thinE, too, that great many in-
Temptations have been made, anu that
great many things have been
omitted from the ancient books. They
think that some books were not alto.
gether written by inspiration, but men
wrote them according q tbs beet
knowledge ana understanding that
they had. Aud while they endeavUt
10 cling hs closely a. they can, IN order
10 be rs orthodox M possible, 10 the old
Ideas OF the cfeeds, yet they show by
their expressions that they discard
that idea, or, as they say, they have
grown out Of IL; their minds nave ex.
landed; they are not tied down by tue
rules, ceremonies and ordinances Of
their church, but they have been led
to think for themselves, apart from
their cfeeds, and they have formed
more advanced ideas.
Now, what do the LNtter.day Saints
hold In regard 90 tho Scripture? AZ
far as the text that | have Just read to
you II concerned, they under
stand II as II Is written.
The Apostle Paul, writing 10
Timothy, said that "Ffom u child
thou hast known tho holy scriptures,
which nte able TO make thee wise unto
salvation through faith which IL In
Christ Jesus" That IN taken az evi.
dence by some Of our learned Christian
friends that this Bible IL inspired, be.
cause Il goes on TO say "All scripture
Is given by inspiration OF God, ami Is
pfofitablc,o etc. hut let US look Into
this text "A little. When Timothy was
a child, what scriptures did he have?
He certainly did not have the New
Testhment-it was not written. He
certainly did not have this book TINT IL
called the Bible, for Il was not com.
piled; In fact, the Bible was not com.
piled until centuries after Timothy
was dead. Therefore, he could not
have had the Bible In its presont form,
and the scripture with which he was
acquainted when a child was not that
which IN now called the holy
scriptures. WHAT did he have? Why,
Timothy, with the rest Of the people
who believed In the Ola Testament
scriptures among the Jews, had the
law and the writings OF the prophets.
They had some books that We do not
have. We can read about them la
those that We do have. Ho certainly
did not have the New Testament. He
did not have the four gospels, ms they
are called, nor the eplstles that the
Apostles wrote 10 the churches. He
had the letter, alter he got to be man,
that Paul wrote TO him; but when lac
was child no did not have any Of tho
New Testament, and he may not have
had some OF the books that We call the
Old Testament.
The saying OF the Apostle Paul 90
Timothy, then, has no particular bear
ing upon the question OF the Ruthen.
tlciiy OF the scriptures as we have
them, nor M TO the value Of the
scriptures MS an unerring guide. IL
10 written here, Gan scripture u
given by inspiration OF God" hut
you will Hind the word "lh" In italics.
What does that signify? II slgnints
that the translatOTs, when TRANSMITTING
tho New Testament, interleoted that
word 10 make sense, NJ they under.
stood II. IL In not claimed that the
men who translated the Old and New
Testamsnts In the time Of King James
were inspired Of God. They were
learned men, experienced men, edu-
Gated men, and no doubt they did the
best they could anu gave TO the work
committed to them the benefit VI their
eTuditiOn, their experience and their
research. Hut sometimes they found
passages that would not make exact
sense M they read themin the original,
ana therefore they inleTPolateu some
words, which are placed Ia italics In
this translation. Suppose We read this
passage without THAI little word: "All
scripture given by Inspiration OF God
10 profitable for doctrine, for TeproOf,
Tor correction, for instruction In righte-
ousness.O DOn't you thiuk that would
make n good deal better sense? IL
seems to ms that II would. And let
me here say, from what we have
learned by difect revelation from God
to the people Ia these days, that IL the
correct rendering. That Is the spirit Of
II, and the understanding that we
should have ID that all scripture which