Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 91 which is a very short section about whether Joseph Smith should re translate the Apocrypha. The Lord tells Joseph that he does not need to because for the more part it is true and translated correctly and one only needs to read with the Spirit to know which parts are false.
I have personally never read the Apocrypha as I have always felt if it were really important for us to know what was in it, it would have been included in the King James version of the Bible which the church uses. I also don't like the fact that as I was reading it I would not know which parts were true and which ones were not.
For some people all of the Bible is like that. My dad is a convert to the church and I remember he told me that he used to hate reading the Bible before he became a Latter-day Saint because he could never understand it and it made no sense to him. But once he was given the gift of the Holy Ghost reading the Bible became a lot easier for him. I can relate that reading the Bible is difficult. I really do not like reading the Old Testament. It's very dry and almost no doctrine that applies to us in this day and age. It's perfect for a scholar, but I do not personally enjoy it.
The New Testament is far more interesting as it contains the teachings of the Savior and is completely applicable still in our day and age. It is a joy to read about the life of the Savior Himself while He was on the earth. It gives us a great example to emulate and can help us better understand what type of men and women we should be.
Maybe I should give reading the Apocrypha a chance. The Lord says it is mostly true and as long as I read it with the Spirit I will know which parts are not true. I'm just not certain it is the best use of my time when I could instead be reading the Book of Mormon or other scriptures that I don't have to wonder if all of it is true. We shall see. I am personally extremely grateful to the Lord and Joseph Smith for re-translating the Bible so that it makes a lot more sense. I actually have all the Joseph Smith translations in my Bible highlighted so that I know right away it is a translation. I love how the Lord tries very hard to remove all stumbling blocks from our path so that we know exactly what to do, which paths to trod and how to return back to Him. It's really nice. Until tomorrow.
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