Biblical Manuscripts and Changes Made to the Bible

This is a presentation of the facts. Many believe an ancient (original) English manuscript is lying around somewhere in the Middle East. It’s slightly more complicated than this.

None of this material should offend you. You should learn this if you don’t already understand this.

This debate (and evidence presented by Wallace), in my view, demonstrates that we have sufficient evidence to trust the text of the New Testament.

Though we have the fewest manuscripts from the centuries immediately after Christ, we still have more biblical manuscripts by many, many, many times than from other authors in the ancient world.

Were the scribes perfect? No. We know they made lots of mistakes. But the NT message was propagated.

LDS scholar, Thomas Wayment, shares his understanding on scripture:

Doubts

Gary has good advice on doubting. He explains that most doubt is emotional. And provides strategies.

“Train your habit of faith.” Good advice from to C.S. Lewis.

Dealing with emotional doubt:

Dealing with factual doubt:

Church of Christ – Temple Lot (Hedrickites)

Rick Bennett interviews Jean Addams, who is a former president of the John Whitmer Association. Jean tells about his family connection to Granville and John Hedrick.

The Hedrickites play an interesting part in LDS Church history. Especially at the time they were involved in a lawsuit with the RLDS Church and feuded over polygamy. The RLDS Church insisted Joseph was not a polygamist. The Hedrickites insisted Joseph had multiple wives.

Part 2 discusses the gradual gathering back to Independence and the feud over the temple lot that eventually went to the Supreme Court.

Faith is a Unique Journey for Everyone

Many members never become less active. Yet, many do. Everyone’s path is unique.

I’ve never left the Church, but certainly have modified my views as I’ve been exposed to truth from all kinds of sources. Nobody’s faith should remain the same for long, is my view.

Below are stories that show how and why certain Latter-day Saints stopped believing and practicing their faith. And how and why they returned.

Great insights from Elder Uchtdorf:

Three prominent Latter-day Saints left the Church.  Years later they returned.  Each story of deconversion and reconversion is very unique.

I’ll introduce each panelist briefly:

  •  on the right:   Janet Eyring; niece of Spencer W. Kimball and cousin of Henry B. Eyring; grew up in Berkeley, CA; graduated from BYU in 1976; served mission in Toronto; got Master’s & PhD at UCLA; crisis of faith started as a child & wasn’t resolved till 46; spent 20 years outside the Church
  • middle:   Don Bradley; grew up in Upstate NY; Bachelor’s in History from BYU; spent time as an agnostic and atheist, then back to theist, then Baha’i, then generic Protestant before returning to the Utah-based church where he had begun; now getting Master’s in History at Utah State
  • on the left:   Maxine Hanks;  related to Marion G. Hanks; was excommunicated as one of the “September 6” in 1993; was out of the LDS Church for 20 years; 1/2 of life in the Church, 1/2 of life out of the Church; feminist who has authored or co-authored several books including Women & Authority: Re-emerging Mormon FeminismMormon Faith in AmericaGetting Together With YesterdayA History of Sanpete County, and was a contributor to Secrets of Mary MagdaleneReligion in America, and Latter-day Dissent.

Don Bradley was interviewed about his period outside of the Church:

Dusty was referenced in a talk by Elder Uchdorf as one who opposed the Church who returned to faith:

For young Latter-day Saints:

Patrick Mason — author of Planted — discusses belief and doubt.

Pearl of Great Price Central

Stated goal of this site: Building faith in Jesus Christ by making the Pearl of Great Price accessible, comprehensible, and defensible to the entire world.

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The book that concerns us was purposely called “The Pearl of Great Price,” that term being . . . the designation of a treasure that is both hidden and inexhaustible. Being hidden, it must be searched out and dug up—brought out of the depths by the strenuous and determined efforts of whoever would possess it. Being inexhaustibly vast, it can never cease to be a source of new wonders to the inquiring mind. . . . The Pearl of Great Price is unique among scriptures in that its message is available only to that extent to which God’s children choose to make it so, but at the same time it is capable of conveying knowledge of undreamed of scope and significance.

– Hugh Nibley, “A New Look at the Pearl of Great Price,” Improvement Era, May 1970, 94.

Book of Mormon Central was created several years ago. I was pleased to see this site roll out. Many folks have had questions and struggled with the Book of Abraham.

I appreciated the details shared in these two recent articles: 

The Relationship Between the Book of Abraham and the Joseph Smith Papyri,

The “Kirtland Egyptian Papers” and the Book of Abraham.

KEP1

From Jeff Lindsay in the context of recent scholarship by Jensen/Hauglid:  

To understand