Question
Hi Gramps,
Concerning the JST Bible. I found a site by the RLDS that claims they have the complete JST Bible. I have read some of Genesis and it follows a lot with what is written in the Pearl of Great Price. I have to admit it is a very interesting read. Is it sanctioned by the first Presidency? If memory serves me you can pick up a version of the JST Bible from Desert Book, I don’t know if it is the same. Any help you can render would be great. One note: the JST footnotes in the scriptures reads the same as the their Bible version.
kosh
Answer
kosh,
The original documents of the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, which was not complete, was kept by Emma Smith and then given to her son who became the first President of the RLDS Church, now called the Community of Christ. Brigham Young tried to persuade Emma and her family to go west, but she refused, remaining in Nauvoo. Brigham Young also tried on several occasions to persuade Emma to give the Church the original translation and sent several of the brethren to visit with her and ask for the translation, all to no avail. The prophet’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, writes of the above in her book on the life of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price is an extract from the translation of the Bible as revealed to Joseph Smith, as is Joseph Smith–Matthew. Also portions of the Joseph Smith Translation are found after the Bible Dictionary in the authorized King James version of the Bible published by the Church. These, along with those appearing as footnotes in the Standard Works, would be the ones “sanctioned” by the Church.
Gramps
