The Mormon Apocrypha

Last time, I posted some Old Testament passages from the Joseph Smith Translation if the Old Testament. Today, I want to post some passages from the New Testament. Matthew 3: 24-26  Jesus' youth and childhood are described.  24 And it came to pass that Jesus grew up with his brethren, and waxed strong, and waited upon the Lord for the time of his ministry to come.     25 And he served under his father, and he spake not as other men, neither could he be taught; for he needed not that any man should teach him.     26 And after many years, the hour of his ministry drew nigh. Matthew  7: 1- 37 Christ gives instruction to his Disciples 1  Now these are the words which Jesus taught his disciples that they should say unto the people.      2 Judge not  unrighteously, that ye be not judged: but judge righteous judgment.  3 For with what judgment ye shall judge, ye shall be judged; and with what me...

The Joseph Smith Translation, also known as the inspired version, is an interesting part of Latter-day Saint history. After translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith began his translation of the King James Bible in June 1830. In 1833, he believed it sufficiently finished to begin publication. Unfortunately, Joseph Smith did not live to see it published.  Following Smith's death, John Milton Bernhisel, a confidant of Brigham Young, asked Emma Smith for permission to use Joseph's translation in his own bible. Unfortunately, Bernhisel's bible had less than half of the corrections of the JST and was never published. When Jospeh Smith III became prophet of the RLDS Church, he began work on a bible based on his father notes, publishing it in 1867. The JST has not been canonized by the LDS church, with the exception of the Book of Moses, which contains Genesis 1-7 of the JST, and Joseph Smith Matthew, which contains Matthew 24 of the JST. Below are some sections from the Old Te...

After the martyrdom of Joseph Smith, most of his followers followed Brigham Young into the Salt Lake Valley. But some stayed behind in the East, Emma Smith and her son, Joseph Smith III being some of them.  Jason W. Briggs was a follower of Joseph Smith. He did not follow Brigham Young into Utah as he believed they fell into apostasy. He affiliated with James Strang's group, until Strang started practicing polygamy, after which he left. In the early 1850s he, along with other important leaders in the restoration, organized a new church that became to be known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the RLDS Church. On April 6, 1860, Joseph Smith III was made the President of the Church. Joseph Smith III's descendants continued to preside over the church until Wallace B. Smith, who designated W. Grant McMurray as his successor. On April 6, 2001, the Church under McMurray changed its name to the Community of Christ. Recently in 2024, the Comm...

On February 4, 1879, Joseph Smith III, prophet of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, went to visit his mother, Emma Smith Bidamon at her house in Nauvoo Illinois. He asked her some questions about her life, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. It is inspiring how even after all she had been through; she still had a testimony in her husband's work and the Book of Mormon. Below is a sampling of the questions asked to her. Question: What of the truth of Mormonism?  Answer: I know Mormonism to be the truth; and believe the Church to have been established by divine direction. I have complete faith in it. In writing for your father, I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the [seer] stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us.1  Q. Had he not a book or manuscript from which he read, or dictated to you?  A. He had neither manuscript nor book to re...

 The true latter day saint Hearld, known now as the Herald, was an official periodical of the RLDS church. First published in 1860, it or some form of it has been printed for over 160 years. Published below is an entry from an 1869 printing, about the meaning of the Gospel. The Gospel Described By Brother D. M. Williams How have they changed the ordinance? In the first place, many have changed the ordinance of baptism; for in the original baptism by immersion, for the remission of sins, the converts of the numerous sects of our day can choose for themselves what kind of baptism they prefer. The greatest number are sprinkled, which is not the kind of baptism that Paul administered, as he acknowledged but one kind of baptism. See Eph. iv. 5 " One Lord, one faith, one baptism. " For the proof that the original baptism was for the remission of sins, sec Acts ii. 38. Head what Paul says to the Romans, vi. 3-5: " Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Chris...

The LDS church is not the only branch of "Mormonism" in the world and I want to include spiritual writings from other faith traditions within the "Mormon" umbrella and maybe even the occasional non Mormon Christian writings as well.  For my first foray into Mormonism outside the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I wanted to share a vision of Joseph Smith III, the son of Joseph Smith Jr, and leader of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, now known as the Community of Christ. It is a snippet of a much larger sermon published in the Zions Ensign, a Newspaper run by the RLDS Church. It was also published in the book Revelations in our Times.   Vision by President Joseph Smith III   In 1883, Some of you will remember, I had a controversy in writing with L. O. Littlefield in the far west, and some of you thought I had picked up a job that I could not get through with. After I had written the third letter and they had published it in the ...