In the 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon, the Introduction section
states, "The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable
to the Bible. It ... contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the
everlasting Gospel."
"Contains" -> present tense.
When we look at the March 2008 edition of the Ensign magazine, we see,
"Nephi testified that the Bible once contained the fulness of the
gospel of the Lord ... He [Nephi] then prophesied that the precious
things would be restored (see 1 Nephi 13:34-35). And they were
restored" (article Who is Jesus Christ, p. 15-16).
"Once contained" -> past tense.
Someone informed me that the new DoubleDay edition of the Book of
Mormon has removed the "fulness" comment about the Bible altogether.
If confirmed, this would make another significant change to the Book
of Mormon in recent months.
This downgrading treatment of the Bible is sort of similar to what I
read in another LDS publication, Preach My Gospel, used to train
missionaries.
Section 5, page 114 states, "Help missionaries see how the Book of
Mormon teaches the doctrines from the missionary lessons. In a second
column, have them list side-by-side those same elements as taught in
the Bible. Have your missionaries leave blank those elements that are
missing or not taught in the Bible. It will become very evident to the
missionary how the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our doctrine.
This same activity can be done with the other doctrines that
missionaries teach".
For an unspecified reason, the missionaries are not instructed to
leave blank those elements (doctrines and practices of the LDS Church)
that are missing or not taught in the Book of Mormon.
I think the practice of degrading the Bible began before Joseph Smith
was born, and I feel it is now being more encouraged by the LDS
Church. If Joseph Smith's parents and grandparents were more
biblically grounded, things would have turned out a lot differently.
But getting back to the Ensign magazine. Does it rule over the many
1981 versions of the Book of Mormon out there?
Jeff
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