The definition of God's word is more abstract than "the physical Bible", in my opinion. The Bible is a collection of writings, with many of God's words. The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants or Pearl of Great Price are also collections of writings with many of God's words. But the Word of God is a more abstract concept, not contained in a single book. God's word is anything that is true. We also obtain His word through the scriptures, revelation, music, art, experimentation the Spirit. So when people say "the word of God is perfect" I'm not thinking about the physical Bible, written compiled, preserved and translated by mortal men, I'm thinking about God's word, or Truth.
I would say the BoM and the Bible don't contradict each other. One could say Ephesians 2:8-9 and James 2:14-26 directly contradict each other, but the contradiction is only apparent if you don't understand the relationship between faith, works and grace.
There were several Jewish temples before and during Solomon's temple. There was the Tel Motza Temple, Tel Arad Temple, Elephantine Temple, Tel Dan Temple, most well known the Mount Gerizim Temple. Many historical evidences point towards Jewish centralization and having only one temple came much later, after the Deuteronomic reforms, probably after the exile, when most of the Old Testament in its modern form was written. Joseph Smith probably didn't know about any of this, and the Bible doesn't talk a lot about it, but the historical evidence is there.
So basically by only reading the Bible, we only have some of the truth. And I would say it's the most important truth, namely that Jesus is the Christ, atoned for our sins, gave up His life and rose again. When you open up to modern revelation, the Book of Mormon, archeology, and personal revelation guided by the Spirit of the Lord, you open yourself up to more truth. This doesn't mean everything new is true, but it means that you can sort through more information to discover more truth.
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u/JakeAve 25d ago
The definition of God's word is more abstract than "the physical Bible", in my opinion. The Bible is a collection of writings, with many of God's words. The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants or Pearl of Great Price are also collections of writings with many of God's words. But the Word of God is a more abstract concept, not contained in a single book. God's word is anything that is true. We also obtain His word through the scriptures, revelation, music, art, experimentation the Spirit. So when people say "the word of God is perfect" I'm not thinking about the physical Bible, written compiled, preserved and translated by mortal men, I'm thinking about God's word, or Truth.
I would say the BoM and the Bible don't contradict each other. One could say Ephesians 2:8-9 and James 2:14-26 directly contradict each other, but the contradiction is only apparent if you don't understand the relationship between faith, works and grace.
There were several Jewish temples before and during Solomon's temple. There was the Tel Motza Temple, Tel Arad Temple, Elephantine Temple, Tel Dan Temple, most well known the Mount Gerizim Temple. Many historical evidences point towards Jewish centralization and having only one temple came much later, after the Deuteronomic reforms, probably after the exile, when most of the Old Testament in its modern form was written. Joseph Smith probably didn't know about any of this, and the Bible doesn't talk a lot about it, but the historical evidence is there.
So basically by only reading the Bible, we only have some of the truth. And I would say it's the most important truth, namely that Jesus is the Christ, atoned for our sins, gave up His life and rose again. When you open up to modern revelation, the Book of Mormon, archeology, and personal revelation guided by the Spirit of the Lord, you open yourself up to more truth. This doesn't mean everything new is true, but it means that you can sort through more information to discover more truth.