2 Timothy 3:16, 17-"All Scripture given by inspiration of God, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

John 5:40-"Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me" (39).

THE WORD OF GOD IMMUTABLE; TO BE OBEYED

Deut, 4:2-"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God."

Deut. 8:3-"That he might make thee known that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live."

Ps. 33:11-"The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations."

Ps. 119:9, 88, 89-"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. . . . So shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth. For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven."

Prov. 30:5, 6-"Every word of God is pure: . . . Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar."

Eccles. 3:14-"Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever; nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it."

John 12:48-"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."

*Gal. 3:15-"Though it be but a man's covenant, yet when it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto."

Rev. 22:18, 19-"For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city."

Deut. 12:32; Ps. 89:34; *Matt. 4:4; Luke 4:4; Jas. 1:17.

ON THE PURITY OF THE SCRIPTURES

The Epitome of Faith-"We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly."

SOME WREST THE SCRIPTURES

*2 Peter 3:16-"Some things hard to be understood, which they who are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction."

CHANGES IN THE SCRIPTURES

I Nephi 3:168-"For behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious."

Verse 175-"Because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceeding great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them."

GENERAL INFORMATION

THE CANONICAL BOOKS

The Jewish canon contains the same thirty-nine books of the Old Testament that will be found in the Protestant versions of the Bible, but their grouping is different. They are, (1) The Law, Torah, or Pentateuch, (2) The Prophets, and (3) The Hagiographa, or Holy Writings, and they are usually arranged in that order in the Hebrew canon.

Certain books called the Apocrypha by Protestants, however, are included in the Old Testament canon by Roman Catholics, and are called by them Deuterocanonical books, being accepted by them as inspired writings. The Reorganized Church does not accept the Apocrypha as of equal authority with the canonical books, pursuant to a revelation given in 1833, which states in part:

"There are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly; there are many things contained therein that are not true, which are interpolations by the hands of men. Verily I say unto you, that it is not needful that the Apocrypha should be translated."-D. and C. 88:1.

The church also rejects as uninspired the book known as The Song of Solomon, hence the Inspired Version of the Holy Scriptures omits it and contains but thirty-eight books in the Old Testament, instead of thirty-nine above mentioned.

Both the Protestant and Roman Catholic canon of the New Testament contain twenty-seven books, and these are also found in the Inspired Version accepted by the Reorganized Church, the only differences therefore being those of translation in the various texts.

BIBLE MANUSCRIPTS AND VERSIONS

The most important and by far the greater portion of Bible manuscripts were written in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Syriac, Aramaic, and Coptic. From the time of Ezra, the Aramaic was increasingly used, hence some traces of it are found in the Old Testament, notably in certain parts of Daniel and Ezra. Most of the New Testament manuscripts of chief importance are in Greek, Latin, and Syriac. But other manuscripts of interest include two Coptic dialects, the Bohairic and the Sahidic, and Aramaic, Gothic, and Slavonic texts or fragments Some of these, however, are translations of still older manuscripts, mostly Greek, it is believed. The value of the oldest translations is largely due to the fact that they were derived from manuscripts, either originals or copies, that were older than any now known to be in existence.

What are known as the four Great Uncials, considered generally to be the most important and the most nearly complete of the old Greek manuscripts, include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, both believed to be of the fourth century, and Codex Alexandrinus and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, said to be of the fifth century. Codex Sinaiticus is the only Uncial that contains all books of the New Testament, though it does not contain the concluding verses of Mark that some reject. But it contains the Epistle of Barnabas and part of the Shepherd of Hermas, which were read in some of the ancient churches.

For a more extensive study of the canonical books and of Bible manuscripts and versions, material may be found in Helps to Bible Study, pages 47 to 71. Examination of the "Bibliography" on pages 575-577 is also suggested for further research in that and allied fields of religious study.

Of modern versions we note the Twentieth Centurey New Testament, by Julia Smith; a translation of the Old Testament, by Mrs. Helen Spurrell; The Centenary Translation; New Testament, by James Moffatt, 1901. A new translation of the whole Bible in 1926 by R. G. Moulton, began in 1885, issued in twenty-one volumes. Weymouth, modern-speech version, 1903, The Riverdale New Testament of 1901; Goodspeed, 1923.

The Inspired Version was begun in July, 1830, by Joseph Smith. He did not have access to the earlier manuscripts but used a King James Bible and claimed corrections by the Holy Spirit. After beginning at Genesis, he was directed to take up the New Testament, March, 1831 (D. and C. 45:11), which was completed February 2, 1833, and the Old Testament, July 2, 1833. This manuscript was preserved by Emma Smith and published by the Reorganized Church in 1867.

MISSING BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

The following books are mentioned, but are not found in the King James' translation:

Prophecy of Enoch ........................................Jude 14

Book of the Wars of the Lord.............Num. 21:14

Book of Jasher..................Josh. 10:13; 2 Sam. 1:18

Book of the Manner of the Kingdom .......................................................................I Sam. 10:25

Solomon's Three Thousand Proverbs. ..........................................................I Kings 4:32, 33

Book of the Acts of Solomon...........I Kings 11:41

Book of Gad, the Seer.....................I Chron. 29:29

Book of Nathan the Prophet ....................................I Chron 29:29; 2 Chron. 9:29

Prophecy of Ahijah.........................2 Chron. 9:29

Visions and Story of Iddo, the Seer. .....................................................2 Chron. 9:29; 13:22

Book of Shemaiah the Prophet....2 Chron. 12:15

Genealogies of Iddo the Seer.......2 Chron. 12:15

Book of Jehu.......................................2 Chron. 20:34

Isaiah's History of Uzziah............2 Chron. 26:22

Book of the Sayings of the Seers .................................................................2 Chron. 33:19

Book written by Jeremiah...............Jer. 36:2, 32

Daniel's Sealed Book............................Dan. 12:4, 9

Book of Ephraim................................... Hosea 8:12

A previous Epistle to the Corinthians .........................................................................I Cor. 5:9

Epistle to the Laodiceans..........................Col. 4:16

Jude's previous Epistle...............................Jude 3

Twenty-one books in all. Then there were many testimonies of Christ (Luke 1:1). There are other texts that are believed by some to refer to still other books, such as:

Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ................................................I Kings 14: 19

Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah ...............................................I Kings 15:7

Book of the Kings ..................................................................2 Chron. 24:27

Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah .......................2 Chron. 28:26; 35:27 2 Chron. 36:8

Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah................................................. 2 Chron. 33:18

It is possible that these books are the ones known to us as the First and Second Book of Kings and the First and Second Book of Chronicles, though some scholars say that they must have been different books from these.

INSCRIPTIONS, ANCIENT MATERIALS USED

Some have supposed that ancient inscriptions were never engraved on metals. But South Arabian inscriptions on bronze have been found ascribed to 900 B.C. or before. In the Old Testament, from Genesis 4:22 onward, brass is mentioned about 100 times. Some think it may refer to copper, the word nachshown being from another Hebrew term that conveys the sense of ringing, as of bell-metal, says Strong. But Brown's Antiquities of The Jews states:

"It is generally thought that engraving on brass and lead and on a rock or tablet of stone, was the form in which the public laws were written."-Volume 2, page 90.

Aramaic inscriptions on bronze, weights found at Nineveh are ascribed to about the 8th century B.C. by the Encyclopaedia Britannica (Vol. 14, pages 619-627, on "Inscriptions"). It also states that public documents of the Romans were largely engraved on bronze, also some Greek inscribed bronze tablets have been found.

The Pocket Dictionay of the Bible, by Dr. Alexander, for American Sunday School Union, 5th edition, 1830, explains that:

"Hesiod's works (c. 776 B. C.) were written on tables of lead; the Roman laws on twelve tables of brass; Solon's (c. 639-559 B. C.) on wood; and those of God on stone, probably marble."-Article "Book," page 118.

The People's Dictionary of the Bible, Second edition, says:

"Books in the form we have them were unknown to the ancients. The materials employed by them to write upon, and sometimes now called books, were of various kinds. Plates of lead or copper or of wood, coated with wax, were in common use, the inscriptions being made with a stylus."-Article "Book," page 47.

The Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge (page 257) states of books of the ancients:

"Those books which were inscribed on tablets of wood, lead, brass, or ivory, were connected together by rings at the back, through which a rod was passed to carry them by. The Orientals appear to have taken pleasure in giving tropical or enigmatical titles to their books. The titles prefixed to the fifty-sixth, sixtieth, and eightieth psalms appear to of this description."-The Truth Defended, page 136.

Nivens' Biblical Antiquities (pages 158, 159) remarks:

"Some refer the origin of writing to the time of Moses; others, to that of Abraham; while a still different opinion throws it back to the age of Adam himself. . . . One of the earliest methods was to cut out the letters on a tablet of stone. Another, was to trace them on unbaked tiles, or bricks, which were afterwards thoroughly burned with fire. Tablets (that is, small, level surfaces or plates) of lead or brass were sometimes employed. When the writing was wanted to be most durable, the last was chosen."-Ibid., page 137,

Dr. Bissell's Biblical Antiquities, Eleventh edition, has this to say:

"Doubtless engraving on wood, stone and the metals was well understood by the Hebrews. . . . There are still to be found mines on the Sinaitic peninsula which, as it is admitted, were worked by the Egyptians before the days of Moses. The remains of smelting-furnaces, hammers of porphyry, reservoirs for water, and even the piers and wharves on the adjacent coast where the ore was shipped, are still visible. There is abundant evidence that the process of separating metals from their alloys was to some degree early understood. . . . Those employed with metals who are specially referred to in the Bible are gold and silversmiths and workers in brass and iron."-Chapter VI, pages 151, 157.

These facts clearly show that the ancient Hebrews were familiar with the art of engraving upon metals; and that this included language inscriptions on gold plates seems beyond reasonable question, for Exodus 28:36 states that God commanded:

"And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD."