My Response to
the LDS Video:
"WHY THE BIBLE DOESN’T MAKE SENSE WITHOUT MOSES CH. 1"
From Scripture Central January 10, 2026 (A publication by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)
Watching and listening to this video by endorsed representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints prompts many questions. Many questions are about the detailed assertions in the long conversation. But the fundamental questions are prompted by the introduction to the video. Here is the Introduction paragraph:
"What if the Bible’s most dangerous distortions don’t come from bad intentions, but from skipping its preface? Many people experience faith as exhausting. Commandments feel heavy. Scripture feels fragmented. And belief slowly collapses into rules. This conversation challenges a core assumption: that the Bible explains itself from page one. Without a restored frame of identity—without knowing who you are before being told what to do—the Bible can be misunderstood, misused, and even weaponized. This episode reframes the Old Testament through a single, often-overlooked key that changes how scripture reads, how God is understood, and why faith so often turns into burnout."
Here are my questions:
1. What are the "dangerous distortions" in the Bible? Are there actual distortions or are there just things that do not align with, confirm, or support the claimed revelations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints? The claim of "distortions" could easily be switched to say that the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints "distort" the clear millennia-old statements of the Bible.
2. Why is a "preface" necessary and what kind of "preface" does the Bible skip? How many books do not begin with an explanation of what went before or what prompted the rest of the book? The claim of the video is that the Pearl of Great Price book of Moses provides an accurate and official "preface" to the Old Testament. As questionable as the origin of the Book of Mormon is, the origin of the Book of Moses is even more so. The questions regarding the Book of Moses are easily researched. Suffice it to say that there is no credible linguistic or historical evidence that the Egyptian papyrus Joseph Smith claimed to "interpret" as the Book of Moses is anything other than Egyptian Funeral texts. To claim that The Book of Moses is a trustworthy and authoritative "preface" to the Old Testament is highly suspect to say the least.
As far as a "preface" to the Bible is concerned, there could not be a more dramatic, intriguing introduction than the four words "In the beginning God..." And the first chapters address the ever-present questions about the nature of God and the nature of mankind and the relationship between the two. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints simply disagrees with the Bible's answers to these questions. They seek to redefine the Bible's answers by replacing them with their claimed "revelations" such as the ideas in the Book of Moses.
3. Who claims that "the Bible explains itself from page one." This claim is a straw man designed to require some sort of documents that redefine the Biblical explanations of the natures of God and Man and the relationship between them. It is historically more often claimed that the Bible "explains" itself as it unfolds Biblical doctrine from page to page throughout the entire Bible.
4. Why does the Old Testament need to be "reframed" and "changed" how it reads? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints answer is, because it says things with which their church fundamentally and essentially disagree. Rather than simply say the Bible is wrong they seek to add to, modify, and change what the Bible actually says to fit their contrary teachings. Seeking to be identified as "Christian" the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints claims to believe the Bible while adding to and correcting it to conform to their modern revelations.
It is perhaps this constant attempt to claim to believe the Bible while continually challenging its accuracy and truthfulness that leads the faith of Latter Day Saints "to turn into burnout." How can faith in the Bible be maintained and grown when its truthfulness is constantly subject to statements of .
5. Who does this comment most accurately describe? "Many people experience faith as exhausting. Commandments feel heavy. Scripture feels fragmented. And belief slowly collapses into rules."
Which religions keep their people busy with all manner of church callings and obligations? Which religion has commandments and covenants that feel heavy? (Read the LDS "True to The Faith") Which religions have multiple Scriptures that are fragmented and ever open to addition and change? And finally, Which religion governs the lives of their people with hundreds of rules? (Read "668 Rules for LDS Members.")
The first thing Satan did to tempt, deceive, and devour God's people was to ask the question: "Did God actually say..." (Genesis 3:9) He has been asking the same question ever since. And we have been answering it the same way Adam and Eve did on that awful day: "I prefer God to say 'the tree is good for food, a delight to my eyes and I think it can make me wise.'" And we help each other make the Bible say whatever we want it to say.
The Bible is full of statements that describe its consistent authenticity and uniquely singular value. Here is one, written near the end of John's Gospel: "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:30,31) It is appropriate to evaluate what "other signs" it is claimed that Jesus did. but it is extremely dangerous to believe anything that contradicts the things "written in this book."
The Bible needs no "preface." The Bible does not need for us to add to it or correct it. The only need the Bible has is for us to believe what it says. This certainly involves our personal study and prayer. However the tendency of Latter Day Saints (and many other religious people) is to rely most readily on the opinions and comments of their leaders for their understanding of the Bible.
One of the questions we all answer over and over every day is "what is your truth source?" Our answer is important for everything in our lives, but most important regarding our beliefs about God, ourselves and our relationship with God.
I write with the desire that God will bless us with HIMSELF ("have LIFE in his name"), on His terms not ours.
