I was on social media; I admit I have had a hard time keeping away from it. I was supposed to go on a fast from it and failed. I need to try again. Either way, I came across a post where a pastor was reading from the new “Gen Z” translation of the bible.
In short before talking about this, I must point out two things. This translation of the bible appears to have been written by Chap GPT and whoever did it must be an ex-Mormon because the authors name was Broseph Smith. Honestly, that is kind of funny. But, at the same time, I know it is intended to make light of sacred things.
The verses the pastor was sharing were from Luke about Mary. I don’t have a script for that, but here are examples the listing on Amazon shares.
Original text: “That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”
Updated version: “Keep your acts of kindness hush-hush, and your heavenly Father, who sees everything, will give you props for real, like in public and stuff. Now, when it comes to prayin’, don’t be like those hypocrites. They love showin’ off, prayin’ loud and clear in the synagogues and on street corners, just so people will notice them. Let me tell ya, they’ve already got what they were after.”
Original text: “And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.”
Updated version: “But then, this Pharisee homie sees that Jesus didn’t wash his hands before dinner, and he’s all shook, like, ‘What’s up with that?’”
TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE
Wikipedia says “The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. As of September 2023 all of the Bible has been translated into 736 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,658 languages, and smaller portions of the Bible have been translated into 1,264 other languages according to Wycliffe Global Alliance. Thus, at least some portions of the Bible have been translated into 3,658 languages.”
Of those, how many are English translations? The Bible Project says: “Since Tyndale’s English translation in 1526, translators and publishers have created approximately 900 different English Bibles, making it hard to know which to choose.”
That was kind of funny. As soon as I read that paragraph, it reminded me of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith History 1:12 “for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.”
Wow, 900 translations of the English bible. It’s no wonder everyone is so confused. Isn’t it amazing that Joseph Smith realized this. We as members of the church have these 13 Articles of Faith that more or less sum up our belief structure. Number 8 says; “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.”
We do believe there were errors. I would go as far as saying different translations of the bible curtail to a belief or theology. As well as omit things that contradict their belief or theology. We believe that over time plain and precious truths were lost from the bible which is why we have the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. Not only that, we have the Joseph Smith Translation of the bible. Where he went through fixes mistakes in the King James Version of the bible.
MATTHEW 3:3-4
JOSEPH SMITH TRANSLATION:
4. And when he had gathered all the chief priests, and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them, saying, Where is the place that is written of by the prophets, in which Christ should be born? For he greatly feared, yet he believed not the prophets.
5.And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
ORIGINAL KJV:
4. And they said unto him, It is written by the prophets, that he should be born in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus have they said,
5. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,
WHY WOULD I TAKE ISSUE WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION AND NOT A JOSEPH SMITH TRANSLATION?
A spiritual answer to that question would be: I believe Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. I have read the standard works, many times. I have received a witness from the Holy Ghost that these things are true. Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. He recorded the Word of God given to him in revelations included in the Doctrine and Covenants. There is such a wealth of material that it is either all true or all false. And if he was wrong on one, he would be wrong on all. But I have read his words and I know in my heart that they are all true. So yes, I fully trust the Joseph Smith Translation of the bible came from God.
A logical answer to the question would be: It makes sense that there would only be one way, one path, one faith, one baptism. Not many versions of it or varying options or conditions. God is NOT a God of confusion. I know the history of the bible that it was written by the Jews and passed unto all nations. I know the books were compiled by men doing their best to decern which books were of value. I know that the writings were handed down re-written over and over again throughout history. But they were just men, under the order of a king.
The apocryphal works are a representation of error. The apocrypha was once part of the bible. Many of these books are being believed to contain errors and lack sound doctrinal truth. Why then is it so hard to believe that the bible itself may contain errors?
If there is one way and one baptism, God would make sure sooner or later that clarity was given. Likewise, if we are to believe the bible and that God speaks to prophet and presents his word and his law through prophets, why would he not do so today? It is clearly presented over and over again throughout the bible. One might say, when Jesus came, he completed all and no more is needed. I would counter that with, when God gave the law to Moses, they had the law. Did they have no more need for Moses? Or any other prophet after him? Yes, they did. Because even though they had the law, they did not keep the law. And even though they had the law they broke the law and looked beyond the law. How much worse are we today? Are not we as a people in as much need for guidance as the children of Israel?
So, what do we do, we dumb down the word of God by making it match modern slang. Or we make his word gender neutral. Or we purge the words that might offend us from the book. We make it conform to our expectations of God, not to his expectation for us. Making us all the more in need of a living prophet to help us see the errors of our way.