Elder Linder

In my previous post about understanding God’s true nature, I touched on how certain doctrines developed over time, particularly through church councils and human interpretation. Today, I want to explore another fundamental truth restored through Joseph Smith: the nature of scripture itself.

Many Christians point to Paul’s declaration that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16) as evidence for biblical infallibility. However, it’s crucial to understand that Paul was primarily referring to the Old Testament scriptures available in his day—the New Testament hadn’t yet been compiled. Moreover, the Greek word translated as “inspiration of God” (theopneustos) literally means “God-breathed,” which early Christians understood as “life-giving”—reminiscent of how God breathed life into Adam (Genesis 2:7). As John C. Poirier demonstrates in his book “The Invention of the Inspired Text”, this understanding of scripture as “life-giving” rather than “divinely dictated” was the predominant view until the third century CE. The text was meant to point readers to the ultimate Life-giver, not to serve as an infallible oracle.

This verse became particularly significant during the Protestant Reformation, when reformers developed the doctrine of Sola Scriptura (“by Scripture alone”), which holds that the Bible is the only infallible authority for Christian faith and practice. While Catholics and Orthodox Christians reject Sola Scriptura in favor of a three-fold authority of Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium (teaching authority), they still maintain that Scripture itself is infallible, protected from error by the Holy Spirit’s guidance.

The scriptures themselves reveal their human element. We see this clearly in Paul’s letters, where he explicitly distinguishes between divine commandments and his personal judgment (1 Corinthians 7:12), or in John’s admission that he had to be selective about which events from Jesus’s life to include in his gospel (John 21:25). These passages show that the biblical authors understood they were conveying divine truth through human vessels, with all their cultural perspectives, personal experiences, and linguistic limitations.

As Latter-day Saints, we approach scripture differently than Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox traditions. While we treasure the Bible as inspired writing that testifies of God, we don’t believe it to be infallible or complete. As our Articles of Faith state, “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.” This isn’t about diminishing the Bible’s importance—it’s about understanding its nature as a collection of sacred texts transmitted through human hands, with all the complexities that entails.

The idea of scripture as a perfect, infallible text would have been foreign to ancient writers and readers, who understood these texts as divine messages conveyed through human vessels. Even Paul acknowledged that he sometimes spoke from his own judgment rather than divine command (1 Corinthians 7:12), and that he saw spiritual truths “through a glass, darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Consider the Bible’s journey to us: original manuscripts that no longer exist, copies of copies, translations of translations, decisions about which books to include or exclude, and centuries of scribal work—both careful and sometimes careless. As Nephi foresaw, “many plain and precious things” were lost from the original teachings (1 Nephi 13:28). We see evidence of this in references to lost books within the Bible itself, such as the Book of Jasher (Joshua 10:13), the Book of the Wars of the Lord (Numbers 21:14), and Paul’s earlier letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:9).

This understanding transforms how we approach scripture. Rather than seeing it as a perfect, complete, and final revelation, we see it as part of an ongoing conversation between God and His children. The Bible isn’t the end of God’s word—it’s part of a continuing revelation that includes the Book of Mormon, modern prophets, and personal revelation. As Moroni taught, by the power of the Holy Ghost, we can “know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5).

Some might ask, “If scripture isn’t perfect, how can we trust it?” But this argument misunderstands both the nature and purpose of scripture. We trust imperfect sources every day—from news reports and historical accounts to scientific papers that are constantly being refined and updated. We trust the people we interact with daily—our family members, friends, teachers, and colleagues—despite their imperfections. We don’t demand absolute perfection to find value and truth in these sources and relationships. Similarly, recognizing the human element in scripture doesn’t diminish its divine message; rather, it helps us better understand how God works through imperfect human vessels to accomplish His purposes.

This view actually elevates scripture rather than diminishing it. When we remove the burden of assumed infallibility, we can engage with scripture more honestly, wrestling with its complexities and seeking personal revelation to understand its meaning for our lives. We can acknowledge historical context, human influence, and even inconsistencies or errors while still treasuring the divine truths these texts convey.

Most importantly, this understanding points us toward the true source of religious authority: not a book, but the living God who continues to speak to His children today. As President Russell M. Nelson has taught, “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”

I testify that God continues to speak today, both through modern prophets and through personal revelation. The scriptures aren’t an end point but a guide that leads us to seek direct communion with heaven. As we study them with this understanding, they become not just historical records but living invitations to receive our own revelation.