The Bible/Lost scripture

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This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.

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Questions

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I've heard about "lost scripture" mentioned in the Bible. What does the Book of Mormon mean when it says that "plain and precious" things have been taken out of the bible? What is this about, and what implications does it have for the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy and sufficiency?

To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here

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Answer

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1. Biblical writers considered writings not in the present canon to be scriptural writings.
2. Christian groups do not agree on what constitutes the Biblical canon—any claim that the canon is closed, complete, and sufficient must answer:

a) which canon?

b) what establishes this canon as authoritative and not some other?

3. Differences in canon between Christian groups and Biblical authors' clear belief in the scriptural status of other non-Biblical texts argue against a coherent doctrine of Biblical sufficiency and inerrancy drawn from the Bible itself. Such a claim must come from outside the Bible.

Stephen E. Robinson said the following of this subject:

"The Book of Mormon teaches that "plain and precious" things have been taken out of the Bible (1 Nephi 13:24-29). Both Latter-day Saints and Evangelicals often assume this means that the present biblical books went through a cut-and-paste process to remove these things...However, I see no reason to understand things this way, and in fact I it is largely erroneous. The pertinent passages from the Book of Mormon give no reason to assume that the process of removing plain and precious things from Scripture was one exclusively or even primarily of editing the books of the present canon. The bulk of the text-critical evidence is against a process of wholesale cutting and pasting...

It is clear to me, therefore, that "the plain and precious truths" were not necessarily in the originals of the present biblical books, and I suspect that the editing process that excised them did not consist solely or even primarily of cutting and pasting the present books, but rather largely in keeping other apostolic or prophetic writings from being included in the canon. In other words, "the plain and precious truths" were primarily excised not by means of controlling the text, but by means of controlling the canon."^[1]

So called "lost scripture" is in reference to writings mentioned or cited within the present Biblical record, but which are not in the Bible itself. Some of these writings are known from other sources, and some are not.

Examples of "lost scripture"

Lost writing	Biblical citation to the lost writing
Book of the Wars of the Lord	Numbers 21꞉14
Book of Jasher	Joshua 10꞉13, 2 Samuel 1꞉18
Book of the Acts of Solomon	1 Kings 11꞉41
Book of Samuel the Seer	1 Chronicles 29꞉29
Book of Gad the Seer	1 Chronicles 29꞉29
Book of Nathan the Prophet	1 Chronicles 29꞉29, 2 Chronicles 9꞉29
Prophecy of Ahijah	2 Chronicles 9꞉29
Visions of Iddo the Seer	2 Chronicles 9꞉29, 2 Chronicles 12꞉15, 2 Chronicles 13꞉22
Book of Shemaiah	2 Chronicles 12꞉15
Book of Jehu	2 Chronicles 20꞉34
Sayings of the Seers	2 Chronicles 33꞉19
lament for Josiah	2 Chronicles 35꞉25
Paul's epistle to Corinthians before our "1 Corinthians"	1 Corinthians 5꞉9
Paul's possible earlier Ephesians epistle	Ephesians 3꞉3
Paul's epistle to Church at Laodicea	Colossians 4꞉16
1 Enoch 1:19 and The Assumption of Moses	Jude 1꞉14-15
1 Enoch	"It influenced Matthew, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, Hebrews, 1 John, Jude (which quotes it directly) and Revelation (with numerous points of contact)…in molding New Testament doctrines concerning the nature of the Messiah, the Son of Man, the messianic kingdom, demonology, the future, resurrection, the final judgment, the whole eschatological theater, and symbolism."[2]

Examples of canonical differences among Bibles

The picture is further complicated by the fact that Christians have not always agreed on the "canon"—that is, they have not always agreed upon which writings were "scripture" and which were not.

Some examples of these variations:

Christian Person or Group	Difference in canon from Protestant Bible (e.g., the KJV)
Catholics	Apocrypha is canonical
Orthodox	Apocrypha is canonical
Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 200)	Included in canon: Epistle of Barnabas Epistle of Clement The Preaching of Peter[3]
Roman Christians (circa A.D. 200)	Included in canon: Revelation of Peter Wisdom of Solomon Excluded from canon: Hebrews 1 Peter 2 Peter 3 John[4]
Origen (date)	Included in canon: Epistle of Barnabas Shepherd of Hermas[5] Excluded from canon: James Jude 2 John Those disputed by Rome (see above)[6]
Syriac Peshitta	Excluded from the canon: 2 Peter 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation of St. John[7]
Armenian Church	Included in canon: 3 Corinthians Excluded from canon: Revelation of St. John prior to 12th century[8]
Ethiopian Church	Included in canon: Sinodos Clement Book of the Covenant Didascalia[9]
Martin Luther	Considered Epistle of James "a right strawy epistle."[10] Also didn't agree with Sermon on the Mount because didn't match his "grace only" theology.

Implications for inerrancy and sufficiency doctrine of the Bible

All these canons cannot be correct. Why must we accept that the critic's Bible is complete and inerrant? By what authority is this declared? Such an authority would have to be outside the Bible, thus demonstrating that there is some other source for the Word of God besides the Bible.

Furthermore, one should remember that Biblical writers were not aware of the Bible canon, because the Bible was not compiled until centuries later. Thus, Biblical writers cannot have referred to completeness and sufficiency of the canon, because the canon did not exist.

The clear evidence of "lost scripture" from the Bible was a common early LDS argument. See, for example:

• J. Goodson, "Dear Sir," Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 3 no. 1 (October 1836), 397–99. off-site

== Notes ==

1. [note]  Craig L. Blomberg and Stephen E. Robinson, How Wide the Divide: A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1997), 63. ISBN 0830819916.
2. [note]  E. Isaac, "1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch," in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. J. H. Charlesworth, 2 vols, (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983), 1:10; cited in Daniel C. Peterson and Stephen D. Ricks, "Comparing LDS Beliefs with First-Century Christianity, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, no date). off-site
3. [note]  Daniel C. Peterson and Stephen D. Ricks, "Comparing LDS Beliefs with First-Century Christianity, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, no date). off-site
4. [note]  Mike Ash, "Is the Bible Complete?": 1. PDF link
5. [note]  Daniel C. Peterson and Stephen D. Ricks, "Comparing LDS Beliefs with First-Century Christianity, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, no date). off-site; citing Clyde L. Manschreck, A History of Christianity in the World, 2d. ed. (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1985), 52.
6. [note]  Mike Ash, "Is the Bible Complete?": 1. PDF link
7. [note]  William J. Hamblin and Daniel C. Peterson, "The Evangelical Is Our Brother (Review of How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation)," FARMS Review of Books 11/2 (1999): 178–209. off-site; citing Kurt Aland, Nestle-Aland Greek-English New Testament, 5th ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1990), 769–75; see also Craig A. Evans, Noncanonical Writings and New Testament Interpretation (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1992), 190–219, who provides almost 1,500 quotations, allusions, and parallels between noncanonical sources and the New Testament.
8. [note] William J. Hamblin and Daniel C. Peterson, "The Evangelical Is Our Brother (Review of How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation)," FARMS Review of Books 11/2 (1999): 178–209. off-site
9. [note] William J. Hamblin and Daniel C. Peterson, "The Evangelical Is Our Brother (Review of How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation)," FARMS Review of Books 11/2 (1999): 178–209. off-site
10. [note]  Timothy George, "'A Right Strawy Epistle': Reformation Perspectives on James," The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology (Fall 2000), 20–31. PDF link