I have always been intrigued with the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. I wonder if Joseph had lived longer and finished the translation, would the JST translation of the Bible be the official Bible of the LDS church? Did Heavenly Father want us to use the King James Version of the Bible so that we might have some commonality with other churches (or some other reason that my mind cannot comprehend), and therefore Joseph just did what he could do, and we live with that? Whatever the reason, Heavenly Father must have been satisfied with the work and extent of the work that Joseph did, for no other prophet has been commanded to continue a new translation of the Bible itself, as a whole.
Here is a great article from the Ensign called Joseph Smith's Efforts to Publish His Bible "Translation."
Here is an insightful excerpts from the article about what we can learn from Joseph's work regarding the translation:
The translation was begun in June 1830, commencing with Genesis. The
Prophet had just previously brought the Book of Mormon from the press (March
18–25) and organized the Church (6 April 1830). At this early time, there was
still much to be revealed to the Prophet about the doctrines of the gospel and
the management of the young Church. As the facts are assembled, it becomes clear
that one of the benefits of the Bible translation is that it provided the
Prophet with the spiritual involvement necessary for the revelation of many
important doctrines. That these revelations came as a result of intense study of
the holy scriptures is a lesson in itself. Answers are found while searching the
scriptures because inspiration comes from studying the Lord’s own words. They
are an unfailing source of light and inspiration.
I think that Quote sums it up perfectly. I love that so much of our doctrine comes from the questions he had as he read the scriptures.
ReplyDeleteI do think that at this point in time it is good that the KSV is our official Bible.