Tuesday, October 26, 2021

Joseph Fielding Smith vs. Bruce R. McConkie on the Importance of Studying the Original Languages of the Scriptures

Bruce McConkie gets a bad rap at times, but he deserves such for producing one of the worst talks of all time:

 

The Bible, a Sealed Book

 

The anti-intellectual nature of the article is exemplified by this attitude towards study of the original language texts of the Bible:

 

When a knowledge of ancient languages is used properly—as a means of gaining inspiration about particular passages—it merits a rating of, say, one or one and two-tenths. Improperly used—as an end in itself—its value sinks off the scale to a minus five or a minus ten, depending upon the attitude and spiritual outlook of the user.

 

Those who turn to the original tongues for their doctrinal knowledge have a tendency to rely on scholars rather than on prophets for scriptural interpretations. This is perilous; it is a sad thing to be numbered with the wise and the learned who know more than the Lord.

 

Interestingly, his then-future father in law and Church president, Joseph Fielding Smith, did not share McConkie’s (very errant) attitude towards studying the original languages of the Bible:

 

In the summer of 1922, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, Apostle and Church Historian, had written, “The study of Hebrew is the most important of all the languages for our young people at this time. . . . The day of the Gentile is drawing to its close and the day of the Jew is at hand, so far as the Gospel is concerned.”[50] The president of BYU concurred: “It seems to me very desirable for us to have scholars in various languages, particularly those which have had to do with the work of the chosen people of the Lord on the earth. Among these of course Hebrew ranks first. . . . I think it would be highly desirable for the Church University to offer courses in Hebrew . . . I should certainly like to have a good man in Hebrew connected with our institution if we could afford it.”[51] Elder Smith replied, “I have always regretted that we had no scholars in the Church who understand Hebrew and also Egyptian, both languages being of the greatest value to us.”[52] (V. Wallace McCarlie Jr. and Andrew C. Skinner, “Sidney B. Sperry: Seeking to Know the Word,” in Avram R. Shannon, Gaye Strathearn, George A. Pierce, and Joshua M. Sears, eds., Covenant of Compassion: Caring for the Marginalized and Disadvantaged in the Old Testament [Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2021], 28, here, p. 13)

 

Notes for the Above

 

[50] Joseph Fielding Smith to Franklin S. Harris, Salt Lake City, September 5, 1922, Harris MSS, Perry Special Collections. He indicates that Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and President Anthony W. Ivins of the First Presidency concur that Hebrew is preeminent and should be taught.

 

[51] Franklin S. Harris to Joseph Fielding Smith, Provo, Utah, September 7, 1922, Harris MSS, Perry Special Collections.

 

[52] Joseph Fielding Smith to Franklin S. Harris, Salt Lake City, September 11, 1922, Harris MSS, Perry Special Collections. “We strand in a peculiar position as a people, in regard to education, because of the message we have for the world. The Gospel was to be preached first to the Gentile and then to the Jew (D&C 90:9). The time has now come when the Gospel message must go to the Jew and to the Lamanite, in fulfillment and the predictions of old. The Jew is, as the Book of Mormon declares, he would do, ‘beginning to believe in Christ.’ We are certainly in need of missionaries who are acquainted with Hebrew and Jewish customs so that they will understand how to appeal to these scattered sheep of the House of Israel.”