All I Possess

All my life I’ve been told the Bible is pretty good, but it’s incorrect. In some places. Don’t know where.

I mean, Joseph Smith literally found and corrected these places right?

But somehow we still don’t trust the Bible.

I grew up with this quote on my refrigerator:

I grew up basically being told my life could be perfect — if I just read the Book of Mormon every day.

So we did.

(Spoiler: After reading the Book of Mormon alone and as a family for 20 years, my children are none of these things.)

I have zero memory of my parents reading the Bible to me.

Zero.

But we believe in it.

…we just don’t really like it or trust it all that much.

I mean, we watched Jesus movies though, right? We knew The Prince of Egypt, The Ten Commandments and Joseph King of Dreams. And don’t forget Veggie Tales!

So I knew the popular stories.

When I was in college, my boyfriend told me that Eve partook of the fruit first, then gave it to Adam. I was like “No way!” Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy. What did Eve have to do with it?

I had never read my Bible.

When we were married with kids, we watched The Bible miniseries and loved it. (Remember the “sexy Jesus” craze?)

But who is this mean Saul dude? Who is this guy with long hair who gets it cut off by a sneaky girl? Oh yeah, I heard about him in a Regina Spektor song. Except there was no Wonderbread in this TV show.🤣

I literally didn’t know.

I’m gonna say right here, I love the Book of Mormon. Personally I think it’s a great book. Haven’t found anything that blatantly contradicts the Bible yet (just contradicts the LDS church *cough*), and lots of beautiful stories of those who gave their lives to Christ.

But you know what?

I think putting so much focus on it keeps people from reading their Bible.

“But the Bible had plain and precious truths taken out!”

Well.

You know what I think?

More and more, I’m finding the Bible is plain and precious.

And the LDS church is complicated.

Christianity is simple.

And the LDS church is complicated.

I don’t know what “plain and precious truths” were taken out of the Bible. But I’d rather have that than 100 years worth of conference talks filled with contradictions and straight up lies.

The Bible is beautiful.

“Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught and revile against that which is good, and say it is of no worth!” (2 Nephi 28:16)

Is that not what the LDS church does to the Bible?

“Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob. You who are called by the name of Israel…you who take oaths in the name of the Lord, and invoke the God is Israel, but not in truth or righteousness; you who call yourself citizens of the Holy City, and claim to rely upon the God of Israel…

I do know how treacherous you are. But for my own name’s sake I delay my wrath…I will not yield my glory to another.” (Isaiah 48:1-11)