There are several
places in the scriptures where the same story is being told by more than one
author - the reign of King David, King Solomon, and the era of the Divided
Kingdoms, for example, are told at least twice between the books of Samuel,
Kings, and Chronicles. And, then there's the Four Gospels...
Short of carrying more than one Bible with you, it's hard to be reading
more than one version of the same story at the same time. Hence, we create
harmonies. With a harmony one can be reading both or all versions of the
same story at the same time, making it far easier to compare the versions,
note the difference, and gain a more-full picture of the event.
I have used the King James Version for my biblical
harmonies.
Besides the
Holy Bible, Latter-day Saints also
use the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great
Price as scripture, calling this collection "The Standard Works".
CLICK HERE
to get introduced to the Book of Mormon. It carries the subtitle
"Another Testament of Jesus Christ", and that's exactly what it is.
The Doctrine and Covenants is a compilation of
modern revelation and instruction from the Lord through modern prophets on
how to organize and administer His church and His ordinances & covenants.
The Pearl of Great Price is a compilation of
various translation works by Joseph Smith. When he'd completed the
translation and publication of the Book of Mormon, the Lord commanded him to
go through the Holy Bible and make corrections and retranslations as the
Holy Spirit specifically dictated. The two main sections of the Pearl of
Great Price are:
-- First, the Book of Moses, which is the Joseph Smith
translation of the first several chapters of the Book of Genesis.
-- Second, the Book of
Abraham, which is translated from a collection of Egyptian scrolls which
came into the possession of Joseph Smith and contains the writings of
Abraham when he went down into Egypt.
CLICK HERE
for some solid background information on the Book of Abraham, refuting much
of what its critics say about it. It is one man's view and research and
should not be mistaken as an official church statement.
ANOTHER BIBLE TRANSLATION - Because it is uncertain whether Joseph Smith ever
completed the translation of the Holy Bible to his or the Lord's
satisfaction, the Latter-day Saint Church (LDS) doesn't use it as their
standard version of the Bible, but they do use it for learning and
edification. The Community of Christ (formerly known as the Reorganized LDS
Church), however, does use it as their standard Bible version, and they call
it the 'Inspired Version'. The LDS Church refers to it as the 'Joseph Smith
Translation' (JST) and includes much of it in footnotes in the LDS edition
of the King James Version.
