In a book I recently read, one defender of the formal sufficiency of the Bible wrote the following:
THE
BIBLE’S CANDOR PROVES THAT IT IS THE WORD OF GOD
When men write biographies of
their heroes, they commonly whitewash their faults; but the Bible exhibits its
divine quality by showing man as it is. Not only is the Bible true; it is blunt
and candid. Even the best of men described in the Bible are described with all
their faults. We are told plainly of Adam’s rebellion, Noah’s drunkenness,
David’s adultery, Solomon’s apostasy. Jonah’s pity party, peter’s disavowal of
his Master, Paul and Barnabas’ strive. And consider the disciples’ unbelief in
the face of Christ’s resurrection. The following is from The Berean Call,
January 2005: “Scripture honestly reveals the flaws and sins of the best
saints—even when such facts could have been avoided. Such honesty gives the
ring of truth to Scripture. One of the strangest accounts concerns the
disciples’ unbelief in the face of Christ’s resurrection. In fact, their
scepticism and apparent unwillingness to believe, even when Christ met them
face to face, seems so unlikely that no fiction writer would have dared to portray
it. Christ indicts His disciples with ‘hardness of heart’ (Mk. 16:14). They did
not believe, even when Christ appeared to them (Lk. 24:36-38). Yet one of the
thieves crucified with Christ believed in His resurrection, or he would not
have asked, ‘Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom’ (Lk. 23:42).
The disciples’ were without excuse in view of the many Messianic prophecies.
That they could be so blind to the Scripture, even after being taught
personally by Christ over several years, should cause us to re-examine
ourselves lest we be guilty of the same.” (Mariam Mustapha, The Bible Alone
is the Only True Word of God [Xulon Press, 2014], 227)
While I do not believe this to be a particularly good argument,
funnily enough, if the apologist (and others who may think this is a good
argument) were to be consistent, one would have to accept Joseph Smith
and the Doctrine and Covenants. As one fellow LDS apologist wrote:
In
the LDS volume of scripture called the Doctrine and Covenants, almost from the
beginning we have a powerful warning about the fallibility of the Prophet
Joseph Smith, for in Section 3 he is sorely chastised for his mistake of being
tricked into letting the first part of the Book of Mormon--the 116 pages of
initial translation--be stolen. Joseph prayerfully made the decision to lend
the 116 pages to Martin Harris, but in spite of his prayers, he followed his
own will, not the Lord's, and made a mistake that would cost millions of people
access to sacred words and details that I imagine could have provided much
additional significant evidence for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon.
This was no minor mistake, but a devastating tragedy for the whole Church, and
the fallible Joseph Smith was sorely rebuked by the Lord. Here is an excerpt
from Doctrine and Covenants 3:
3
Remember, remember that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the
work of men;
4 For although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do many
mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the
counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal
desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him.
5 Behold, you have been entrusted with these things, but how strict were your
commandments; and remember also the promises which were made to you, if you did
not transgress them.
6 And behold, how oft you have transgressed the commandments and the laws of
God, and have gone on in the persuasions of men.
7 For, behold, you should not have feared man more than God. Although men set
at naught the counsels of God, and despise his words--
8 Yet you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and
supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; and he would have
been with you in every time of trouble.
9 Behold, thou art Joseph, and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord, but
because of transgression, if thou art not aware thou wilt fall.
Ouch!
That's pretty strong language. (And so much for the theory that Joseph Smith
was a megalomaniac who felt he could do no wrong. Here he is recording a
royal--no, a divine--chewing out that leaves him looking pretty guilty and
foolish, and he puts this dressing down near the very beginning of his
collection of revelations.) But if Joseph could make a mistake like that, we
surely can't expect other mortal leaders to be free of other embarrassing
failures. Another prophet, Lorenzo Snow, understood this when he acknowledged
the human limitations of Joseph Smith:
I
can fellowship the President of the Church, if he does not know everything I
know. . . . I saw the . . . imperfections in [Joseph Smith]. . . . I thanked
God that he would put upon a man who had those imperfections the power and
authority he placed upon him . . . for I knew that I myself had weakness[es],
and I thought there was a chance for me. . . . I thanked God that I saw these
imperfections.
(As cited by Neal A. Maxwell, "Out of Obscurity," Ensign,
Nov. 1984, p. 10; also Conference Report, Oct. 1984.)
A
few sections later in Doctrine and Covenants 10:37, the Lord again points to
the limited human abilities of the Prophet Joseph Smith:
But
as you cannot always judge the righteous, or as you cannot always tell the
wicked from the righteous, therefore I say unto you, hold your peace until I
shall see fit to make all things known unto the world concerning the matter.
Ponder that: God tells the Prophet by revelation just how limited the gift of revelation is. Joseph is not able to always discern who is righteous or wicked, meaning that he can be deceived. Being a prophet does not mean that one gains continuous access to the knowledge of God. That's an utterly unbiblical concept that is also not part of LDS doctrine. (Jeff Lindsay, "Mormon Prophets and Fallibility"; note also D&C 5:12: "And now I command you, my servant Joseph, to repent and walk more uprightly before me, and to yield to the persuasions of men no more")
If one believes the Bible’s candor is evidence or proof of its
authenticity, being consistent, the Doctrine and Covenants is also the Word of God.
