{"id":10893,"date":"2007-07-22T21:58:04","date_gmt":"2007-07-23T02:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=10893"},"modified":"2019-10-09T10:09:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-09T15:09:41","slug":"did-orson-pratt-originate-the-idea-that-the-bible-is-unreliable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-orson-pratt-originate-the-idea-that-the-bible-is-unreliable\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Orson Pratt originate the idea that the Bible is unreliable?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

Good morning.\u00a0 Back in the 1800’s Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt stated that the Bible is fundamentally unreliable; that it had been mistranslated over the centuries.\u00a0 What I want to know is, \u00a0was this statement by Pratt original with him, or did this kind of claim originate earlier in history?\u00a0 [My objective in knowing this is to be able to tell the Mormon missionary, standing on my front porch, that Orson Pratt’s claim\u00a0did not originate with him, and that Pratt had no “special revelation”].\u00a0 Any information you can provide will be most appreciated.\u00a0 Or, maybe there is a web site that you can refer me to.\u00a0 At\u00a0any rate,\u00a0 I thank you for your time and consideration.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

One of the basic problems Joseph Smith ran into with his\u00a0Book of Mormon<\/em>\u00a0is that its teachings and his own teachings conflicted with what was found in the Bible. Thus he reached for an explanation that has been used before — he claimed that the Bible was corrupted. Joseph Smith in the\u00a0Evening and Morning Star,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>published in 1833, stated, “As to the errors in the bible, any man possessed of common understanding, knows, that both old and new testaments are filled with errors, obscurities, italics, and contradictions, which must be the work of men.” In the Pearl of Great Price, in the eighth article of faith, Smith stated, “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.” Thus, giving himself and his followers a back door to use whenever someone points out a flaw in the\u00a0Book of Mormon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Orson Pratt, a follower of Smith, echoed his words.<\/p>\n

“God gave many revelations to Hebrew Prophets, in the Hebrew language.\u00a0 Some of these revelations have been translated by human wisdom into many other languages, and called the Bible.\u00a0 The same revelations have been translated many times by different authors:\u00a0 but no two translations agree.\u00a0 They differ not only in words and style, but also in sentiment, according to the various opinions of the translators.\u00a0 These clashing translations are circulated among the people, as the words of God, when , in reality they are the words of translators; and words too, selected by their own human wisdom.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 … Therefore, so far as the uninspired translators and the people are concerned, no part of the Bible can, with certainty, be known by them to be the word of God.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 … The Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the Bible from which translations have been made, are evidently very much corrupted, as appears from the fact, that scarcely any two copies are alike in any chapter or verse. … This uncertainty, combined with the imperfections of uninspired translations, renders the Bibles of all languages, at the present day, emphatically the words of men, instead of the pure words of God.” [Spiritual Gifts<\/em>, pages 70-71].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Joseph Smith eventually did his own “translation,” in which he claimed to restore the text to its original state. There is a good, scholarly paper called, “The Joseph Smith Translation in Light of the New Testament: An Examination of Key Passages in the Gospel of John<\/a>” by Joel B. Groat that documents both the claims and the evidence against the claims.<\/p>\n

But as I stated, Joseph Smith isn’t the first to use this tactic of casting doubt on the accuracy of the Bible in order to introduce another document. Islam does the same thing. A. S. Hashim, M.D., in his book\u00a0Iman Basic Beliefs<\/em>, states “In the case of the Gospel, the Torah, and the Psalms, none of these were written the same way as the Holy Qur’an was. They were written some years following the life of that particular Prophet, and the people who wrote them could not simply write all the revelations accurately. Actually, some of the teachings were also lost to those people. There were also many changes and many additions. So, we don’t know which part of the Gospel is the truth and which part is not. The same is true with the Torah and the Psalms.” [page 45-46]. Thus a follower of Islam can both claim the Bible is from God and reject proof offered from the Bible at the same time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Good morning.\u00a0 Back in the 1800’s Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt stated that the Bible is fundamentally unreliable; that it had been mistranslated over the centuries.\u00a0 What I want to know is, \u00a0was this statement by Pratt original with him, or did this kind of claim originate earlier in history?\u00a0 [My objective in knowing this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[568,361,687,362],"class_list":["post-10893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-accuracy-of-the-bible","tag-islam","tag-mormons","tag-muslims"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49043,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-mormons-are-in-town\/","url_meta":{"origin":10893,"position":0},"title":"The Mormons Are in Town","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wayne S. Walker Not too long ago when I was taking a walk in the large park which is across the street from our house and had sat down for a moment to rest on one of the benches, I was approached by two nice-looking, clean-cut young men in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37518,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/changing-the-book-of-mormon-and-other-mormon-absurdities\/","url_meta":{"origin":10893,"position":1},"title":"Changing the Book of Mormon and other Mormon Absurdities","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant One of the strange Mormon doctrines states that the reason for the dark skin of Negroes and Indians is that God cursed them as the result of sin. But as the result of these people being converted, their skin would lighten, and they would become a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Salad-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":58179,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/mormonism-and-the-virgin-birth-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":10893,"position":2},"title":"Mormonism and the Virgin Birth of Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 20, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Connie W. Adams via\u00a0Guardian of Truth\u00a0XXXIX: 5 p. 3-4, March 2, 1995 \"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60983,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-the-mormons-call\/","url_meta":{"origin":10893,"position":3},"title":"When the Mormons Call","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Johnie Edwards via\u00a0Truth Magazine\u00a0XXIII: Part One (31, pp. 503-504, Aug. 9, 1979); Part Two (32, p. 514, Aug. 16, 1979); Part Three (33, p. 537, Aug. 23, 1979); Part Four (34, pp. 552-553, Aug. 31, 1979) Most communities have had a visit from young men calling themselves Mormon Elders.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/Mormon-Elders.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":34489,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-conversation-with-mormon-elders\/","url_meta":{"origin":10893,"position":4},"title":"A Conversation with Mormon Elders","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jimmy Ferguson Many of us have received a knock on the door from young men claiming to be \"elders\" in the Mormon Church. While we admire their enthusiasm, it saddens us that these young men have been led into error. Some time ago I had an opportunity to sit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6931,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-use-the-book-of-mormon\/","url_meta":{"origin":10893,"position":5},"title":"How to Use the Book of Mormon","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dudley Ross Spears The \"Book of Mormon\" is one of several alleged \"revelations\" the followers of the late Joseph Smith, Jr. accept as divinely inspired. While they give some credence to the Bible, \"as far as it is translated correctly\" (Articles of Faith, # 8), the Book of Mormon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}