{"id":8296,"date":"2007-01-27T21:54:01","date_gmt":"2007-01-28T03:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=8296"},"modified":"2019-08-24T21:57:14","modified_gmt":"2019-08-25T02:57:14","slug":"isnt-the-best-way-to-preserve-something-is-to-hide-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-the-best-way-to-preserve-something-is-to-hide-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Isn’t the best way to preserve something is to hide it?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t

Question:<\/h2>\n

In reference to deletions, or missing portions of ancient scripture, please consider the following instance: In Matthew is the declaration that Jesus dwelt in Nazareth, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets,\u00a0 He shall be called a Nazarene<\/em>” (Matthew 2:23). Is there any instance of this prophecy in the Old Testament?\u00a0 I haven’t found one. I realize that there are prophets and prophecies that were never recorded, but it is possible that this was originally a generally known prophecy that was omitted as copies were handed down. If you think of the method in which records were copied, handwritten tediously, it is entirely possible that people, imperfect as they are, made errors in the copies. I know it sounds stupid and fantastic if you don’t believe it, but the only way to really bring forth uncorrupted scripture is to hide them, and then publish them using God’s gift as a\u00a0 means to translate them, without handing down copy after copy.\u00a0 It is miraculous, like finding the Dead Sea Scrolls.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

The above is taken from a long letter defending various aspects of Mormon beliefs. I decided to break it up by subject.<\/p>\n

One of the tenets of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints is that the current Bible that exists has become corrupted over the years. While claiming to admire and study the Bible, Mormons leave plenty of room to ignore or deny things found in the Bible that are contradictory to their religion by claiming that it is one of those corrupted passages.<\/p>\n

Yet the truth of the matter is that they are denying that God is capable of preserving His Word. Jesus stated, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away<\/em>” (Matthew 24:35).<\/p>\n

You mention the Dead Sea Scrolls. One of the interesting things that came to light with the finding of the scrolls is the remarkable preservation of the Old Testament. Prior to this discovery, our oldest known copies dated to about 900 years after Christ. The Dead Sea Scrolls date to 200 years before Christ. Yet, in that 1,100-year gap, there are only minor differences between our copy and theirs. God was able to preserve His Word.<\/p>\n

But to use this as a comparison to the Book of Mormon is almost laughable. The Book of Mormon did not exist in the world prior to the 1800s when Joseph Smith produced it. There is no mention that anything even close to it existed in anyone’s knowledge. There is nothing to compare it to. You want to say that God preserved His Word by hiding the Book of Mormon, but that claim means God hid His message from the world for thousands of years. The introduction of an unknown book offers no proof that God preserved His Word. It forms no evidence that the book originated from God. The Bible is not the same. It has existed.<\/p>\n

You claim that Matthew 2:23 proves that prophecies were lost. However, to make that conclusion, you must assume that Matthew was quoting a specific prophecy. Yet, read the passage again and you will find that he doesn’t say a prophet said this. He said prophets said this. In other words, Matthew is summarizing a point made by several prophets. I discussed this at length with someone who wanted to deny the inspiration of the Bible by using the same verse. You can read it in “Did Matthew fabricate a prophecy to support his claim that Jesus was the Messiah?<\/a>“<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: In reference to deletions, or missing portions of ancient scripture, please consider the following instance: In Matthew is the declaration that Jesus dwelt in Nazareth, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets,\u00a0 He shall be called a Nazarene” (Matthew 2:23). Is there any instance of this prophecy in the Old…<\/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":[687],"class_list":["post-8296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-mormons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6953,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/prophets\/","url_meta":{"origin":8296,"position":0},"title":"Prophets","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Jeremiah 23:9-40 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At the founding of the church, Peter quotes the prophet Joel - Acts 2:14-21 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A part of the foundation of the church were prophets - Ephesians 2:19-20 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0People in denominations claim that prophecy continues \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some claim they have prophets in their midst \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Others essentially claim they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7794,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-matthew-fabricate-a-prophecy-to-support-his-claim-that-jesus-was-the-messiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":8296,"position":1},"title":"Did Matthew fabricate a prophecy to support his claim that Jesus was the Messiah?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have another question.\u00a0 It may seem like I am attacking Christianity with this one, but I'm not.\u00a0 I'm just very interested in studying the Bible and every now and then I come across an objection I need help answering.\u00a0 So here is the objection I found on another\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2676,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-acts-217-18-prove-women-can-be-preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":8296,"position":2},"title":"Does Acts 2:17-18 prove women can be preachers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I've been talking with a person who says Acts 2:17-18 gives women the right to be preachers. I showed him I Corinthians 14:34-37 and I Timothy 2:11-12. I said woman have divinely been given a place, but that place is not to be in authority over a man. Answer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8983,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-your-bible-come-into-existence\/","url_meta":{"origin":8296,"position":3},"title":"How did your Bible come into existence?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 12, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Could you please tell me how the Bible you currently have originally come into existence? Since we know that some of the apostles did not even start to write until about 50 AD, about 20 years after Christ ascended to heaven, we know with certainty that the apostles went\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19744,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-translations-in-greek-instead-of-hebrew-the-language-jesus-spoke-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":8296,"position":4},"title":"Why are translations in Greek instead of Hebrew, the language Jesus spoke in?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why are all of your translations in Greek instead of Hebrew, which would be the language Jesus spoke in? Answer: The following is specific toward Matthew, which is usually the one book people like to claim was originally written in Hebrew:\u00a0Was Matthew originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic? The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60556,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/understanding-prophecy\/","url_meta":{"origin":8296,"position":5},"title":"Understanding Prophecy","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan R. Longhenry Prophecy is an important part of the message of God as understood in the Scriptures. Unfortunately, the nature of prophecy is often quite misunderstood. Many think that prophecy always involves things that will happen in the future. When the word \"prophecy\" is mentioned, many start thinking\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\/8296","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=8296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8296\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}