False
Teachers Say…
SOME DISTURBING THINGS ABOUT THE BIBLE
The churches of Christ Greet You (Romans
Below we will give
a few of
the attitudes displayed by some who claim belief in the Bible. When
their error
is exposed their true UNBELIEF can be clearly seen.
We quote excerpts
from an
address by the cardinals of the Catholic Church to Pope Pius III, which
is
preserved in the National Library of Paris, Vol. 2, pages 650, 651. "Of
all the advice that we can offer your holiness, we must open your eyes
well and
use all possible force in the matter, namely, to permit the reading of
the
gospel as little as possible in all the countries under your
jurisdiction. Let
the very little part of the gospel which usually is read in mass, and
let no
one be permitted to read it more. So long as people will be content
with the
small amount, your interest will prosper; but as soon as the people
want to
read more, your interest will begin to fail. The Bible is the book
which more
than any other thing has raised against us the tumults and tempests by
which we
have almost perished. In fact, if one compares the teaching of the
Bible with
what takes place in our churches, he will soon find discord, and will
realize
that our teachings are often different from the Bible, and often still,
contrary to it."
In November 1842,
several
Jesuit missionaries held a protracted meeting in the town of Champlain,
New
York. A large number of Catholics from adjoining towns and country
sides
attended the meeting. The meeting continued for several days, until the
priests
called for all Bibles to be brought to them. And on the 27th of that
same
month, they burned these Bibles, in front of a large crowd in the open.
It was
said of them, "It would be better to burn such translations of the
Bible
than to give it to grocers and dealers to wrap their wares in." What a
sad
and shameful commentary of the religious world.
The
Joseph Smith, the founder of the
Probably one of the most vocal LDS critics of the Bible was Apostle Orson Pratt. He claimed, "... who in his right mind could for one moment suppose the Bible in its present form to be a perfect guide? Who knows that even one verse of the Bible has escaped pollution, so as to convey the same sense now that it did in the original?" (Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon, pg. 47.) If Pratt's assessment is true, how can a Mormon know if James 1:5, the verse which Joseph Smith used to draw him to the "sacred grove," was indeed correct? For that matter, how do they know if all of the other pet "proof-texts" Mormons so often use are accurate? It would seem reasonable that whatever test for accuracy could be applied to James 1:5 could also be applied to every other biblical verse as well.
Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matt. 24:35). The will of God that men reject, will be the standard and rule of their judgment (John 12:48; Acts 17:30‑31; Phil. 3:16; 2 Thess. 1:6‑9).