On John MacArthur’s New Legacy Standard Bible

 

I found the above video in which Dr William Varner is interviewed by Pastor Nate Yutzy, which provides some insight into the text of the new John MacArthur inspired Legacy Standard Bible (LSB). Dr William Varner was actively involved in the translation process, so he speaks from experience. At around 6:33 minutes into the video he makes the following general observation about Bible translations in English:

“There has been basically three different stages in the history of English translations of the Bible, and each of those stages had a different strong emphasis. The first emphasis from 1611 King James’ was on elegance. The King James’ was elegant English, it really was; and that helped sway that elegant English for a few hundred years. But elegance doesn’t always cut it, you know. ‘Rude fellows of the baser sort,’ is one of my favorite translations in the King James’. That sounds elegant, but that is really not what the Greek says. It just says, ‘some bad guys who are hanging out at the mall;’ that is what it says, you know Acts 17 verse 3, or verse 5. ‘Bad guys who are hanging around, looking for trouble.’ ‘Lewd fellows of the baser sort.’ Well, okay.”

That is his first example of “elegance” versus “accuracy” in the KJV. But I don’t see how that particular translation is “not accurate”. The KJV is not just an “elegant” translation; it is also an accurate translation. That is its primary objective, to achieve accuracy first and foremost, while achieving maximum elegance at the same time. Its aim is not to compromise “accuracy” in favor of “elegance”. It is also written in the archaic English of 400 years ago. You  don’t expect it to match the colloquial vernacular of 20^th century English. It seems to me that he is just nitpicking. He is not presenting a sound argument. His next example is the following quote from Isaiah:

“‘How art thou fallen, O Lucifer, son of the morning.’ Isaiah 14. That is beautiful, but the Hebrew doesn’t exactly say that. So the elegance was the effort until 1881.”

Too bad he doesn’t tell us what the original Hebrew text exactly “does say,” so we can make a comparison. So I looked it up in several alternative translations. Here is the result (I have rearranged them a little bit to put the ones closest to the KJV first):

KJV: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

AKJV: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

NKJV: How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

KJ21: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

JUB: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

BRG: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

TLB: How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

MEV: How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

DARBY: How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning!

GNV: How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?

ASV: How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning!

NLV: How you have fallen from heaven, O shining one, son of the morning!

NLT: How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning!

CEB: How you’ve fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn!

CJB: How did you come to fall from the heavens, morning star, son of the dawn?

EHV: How you have fallen from heaven, you bright morning star, son of the dawn!

ESV: How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!

ESVUK: How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!

GW: How you have fallen from heaven, you morning star, son of the dawn!

HCSB: Shining morning star, how you have fallen from the heavens!

ISV: How you have fallen from heaven, Day Star, son of the Dawn!

LEB: How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of dawn!

NOG: How you have fallen from heaven, you morning star, son of the dawn!

NABRE: How you have fallen from the heavens, O Morning Star, son of the dawn!

NASB: How you have fallen from heaven, You star of the morning, son of the dawn!

NASB1995: How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!

NET: Look how you have fallen from the sky, O shining one, son of the dawn!

NIV: How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!

NIVUK: How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!

NRSVA: How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!

NRSVACE: How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!

NRSVCE: How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!

NRSVUE: How you are fallen from heaven, O Morning Star, son of Dawn!

RSV: How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!

RSVCE: How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!

TLV: How you have fallen from heaven, O brightstar, son of the dawn!

How are these translations any different in meaning from the KJV? I see no difference. The only difference is that the KJV is more “elegant” than most. So his real problem is not with “accuracy,” but with elegance. He dislikes the “elegance” of the KJV; but has no valid objections to bring against its “accuracy”. The primary focus of the KJV is accuracy, not “elegance”. Having achieved accuracy, however, elegance becomes the second most important priority. But its primary emphasis is on accuracy, and secondly on elegance. The “elegance” bit is in fact part of the requirement for accuracy. The Bible, in its original form, is also elegant. It is high class literature. The book of Isaiah is not only great “prophecy,” but also great poetry. To make a truly “accurate” translation of Isaiah, the translation needs to also reflect its original elegance—otherwise it is not an “accurate” representation of the original material. Unless its “elegance” in translation matches that of the original Hebrew, it is not an “accurate” enough translation. That is why the KJV focuses on elegance after accuracy. The reason why he dislikes the KJV’s “elegance” is because he knows that he cannot match it himself, and therefore his own translation will never be as good as the KJV. He then continues as follows:

“And from 1881 to about 1977, a number of translations, the emphasis there was on accuracy. The Revised Version, the American Standard Version, the New American Standard Version, and accuracy; sacrificing a little bit of elegance for accuracy, and that was I think the second stage of English translations.”

The emphasis there was not so much on “accuracy”. The KJV was already “accurate” enough. The emphasis there was on modernization—i.e. in creating something that is composed in contemporary modern English, rather than in the archaic English of 400 years ago; otherwise the KJV was not in any way lacking in accuracy. At around 19:02 minutes into the video he says the following:

“Most people are familiar, now that this translation has been out long enough, that the term ‘slave’ has been changed in the New Testament. It was ‘bond servant’. But we wanted to get a more accurate nuance, and slave; or things such as capital LORD in the Bible, was translated as Yahweh in the Legacy Standard, to get the name of God.”

I have already discussed the issue of “slave” versus “servant” in Bible translation in two earlier blog posts, which can be seen here and here. I would say more or less the same thing with regard to the question of “Yahweh” versus “LORD” in Bible translation. I think that the translators of the KJV had some valid reasons for translating certain words as they did, and I think it is a good idea to stick with that. Jesus had no worries about identifying himself with Jehovah (John 8:58); but he didn’t mind being called “Lord” either. In fact he seemed to like that one better!:

John 13:

13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

At 19:50 minutes into the video he says the following:

“Ask a congregation who is familiar with the book of Judges, what is the theme text of the book of Judges? And usually they will say, Judges 21:25, ‘Everyone did what was right in his own eyes,’ and most translations get that right, did that was good in their own eyes, that was right in their own eyes, good. But a lot of translations miss Judges 14:3. In Judges 14:3, Samson has gone out dating, and he has come back, and he is dating a Philistine girl; and he tells his parents, and his parents are not really excited about this; and they say, Isn't there a Jewish girl that you could date, and you know, he says, ‘No, get this Philistine girl for me,’ and the Hebrew says, ‘For she is right in my eyes.’ Now the translations will say something like, ‘Because she looks good to me, she looks right to me.’ Well, actually that is what it means; but the Hebrew says very clearly, ‘She is right in my eyes.’ Now think about that; that is the theme of the book of Judges, ‘Everyone did that which is right in his own eyes.’ And here is exhibit number one. Samson, who couldn't care about what God says about, you know, a Jewish girl for his wife, ‘I want to do what is right in my eyes.’ So Samson becomes the epitome of the book of Judges, by doing not what God commands, but by doing what his eyes are commanding; and if we just say, well, ‘she looks good to me,’ we miss that intertextual connection with the theme verse in Judges, ‘Everyone did that which is right in his own eyes.’”

That is probably where the most serious error of translation (or interpretation) in the LSB occurs. When it says in the book of Judges that “every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25), what it means is that they enjoyed the freedom of action to do as they pleased. They were not ruled over by a tyrant who restricted their essential freedoms. Here are the complete verses:

Judges 17:

6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Judges 21:

25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Having the freedom to “do as you please,” or to do “what is right in your own eyes,” as the Bible puts it, does not mean freedom to do wrong, and get away with it. It means freedom to do either right or wrong, and be rewarded or punished by the law accordingly. Having the freedom to “do as you please,” or “do that which is right in your own eyes,” does not mean that you will always choose to do what is wrong either. It means the freedom to do right or wrong, and be rewarded or punished, as the case may be. It is “right in my eyes” to do good, to do what is right, and obey God. For someone else, the opposite may be true; it may be “right in their eyes” to do evil, to do wrong, and disobey God. It simply means the freedom to do either—right or wrong—and be rewarded or punished by the law in either case.

The vast majority of people in free societies today, exercise that freedom to do what is right most of the time. Those who do wrong are a small minority, and they are usually caught and punished according to the laws of the land. In the case of Samson (Judges 14:3), which he uses as a case in point; if Samson exercised his freedom to make the wrong choice (assuming that he did), it does not therefore follow that he should not have had the freedom to make that choice. How can people have the freedom to do what is right, if they don’t have the freedom to do what is wrong? It is impossible to have the one without the other.

Before Cain had transgressed God said to him, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” (Gen. 4:7) How could that warning be meaningful or make sense, if Cain did not have the freedom to do either? The freedom to do right necessitates the freedom also to do wrong. Abel exercised that freedom to do what is right. Cain exercised that freedom to do what is wrong. Each exercised that freedom to do “what is right in your own eyes”. That freedom is God given, and is enshrined in the Bible. Throughout the Bible, Old and New Testaments, mankind are exhorted to do good, to love, serve and obey God; and to abstain from evil and sin. That is written all over the Bible, from start to finish, from Genesis to Revelation. The freedom to choose, to do good or evil, to obey or disobey God, is the foundational bedrock of that divine injunction and requirement, and therefore is enshrined in the Bible. The divine command to do good, and abstain from evil, would be impossible and meaningless if the freedom to do either did not exist—followed by the consequence of reward or punishment in either case (in this life or the next). That freedom is divinely appointed and ordained, and is necessary and a requirement for the salvation process. Wanting to remove, restrict, or limit that freedom is Satan inspired and is not ordained of God.

He has also misquoted the Samson verse. He has quoted verse 3 out of context, overlooking what it says in verse 4:

Judges 14:

1 And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines.

2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife.

3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well.

4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.

John MacArthur has repeatedly made it clear in what he has said, that he is opposed to every kind of freedom, including civil, religious, and democratic freedom; and he has now attempted to inject that into his translation of the Bible. The LSB is not just a “translation”. It is an attempt to read MacArthurism into the Bible. Therefore it is an unholy attempt at Bible translation, and should not be trusted.

I did a search, and discovered that there are over a hundred different translations of the entire Bible into English, and around 30 partial translations. These translations range from extremely literal to almost a paraphrase, from elegant to inelegant, from accurate to inaccurate, to satisfy every taste—the greatest and best of which without doubt is the KJV. There is no need for another unholy Bible translation, like the one that John MacArthur has inspired.

All Authority belongs to Jesus Christ

 

Another nice short clip from James White. Here is the transcript (emphasis added):

“And when we say Jesus is Lord, we are not simply putting a bumper-sticker on our lapel. We are literally saying that the one who made all things, and holds all things together, entered into his creation, gave his life, died, has risen again, is enthroned in heaven; and he has sent us with a message of hope. But when he sent us to evangelize all the nations, he based it on what he said first. He said, “Therefore go … .” What did he say before he said that? “All authority is given to me in heaven and earth.” [Matt. 28:18-19] We have a basis for defining true authority. The secular world does not. Right now the secular world is tearing itself apart, because it has chosen to rebel against the God-ordained authority that is found in Jesus Christ.”

Agreed! All very nice. But there is a subtlety there that he has not paid much attention to. It is contained in the highlighted bit: “All authority is given to me in heaven and earth.” If all authority is given to him, then there was someone greater than he who gave that authority to him. That tends to mess up his Trinitarian theology of “three coequal Persons”. But there is more to it than that. The scripture he is referring to is as follows:

Matthew 28:

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

According to the words of Jesus, “baptism” is a commandment, it is a requirement for salvation. It is not “optional” (contrary to his “faith alone” theology). Also these Verses:

Mark 16:

15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not [and consequently not baptized] shall be damned.

All of which makes baptism mandatory for salvation, and is contrary to his Calvinistic and Reformed “faith alone” theology. (See further Acts 2:38; 2:41; 8:12-13, 36-38; 9:18; 10:48; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:5; 22:16; Rom. 6:3-4; 1 Cor. 1:13; 12:13; Eph. 4:5; Col. 2:12; Gal. 3:27; Heb. 6:2; 1 Peter 3:21; no one was converted who was not baptized.) If baptism is a requirement and a commandment (which it is, according to the words of Jesus), and without which salvation could not be administered (according to the words of Jesus), then his Calvinistic and Reformed “faith alone” theology is heretical and false, which teaches the opposite. I trust the words of Jesus more than those of John Calvin.

Pastor Spreads Falsehood About the Church!

 

Pastor Jeff McCullough has just posted his latest video critical of Latter-day Saints doctrines, beliefs, and teachings (although it was evidently recorded quite some time ago). There are two main doctrinal issues that he brings up in this video that I am going to respond to. The first relates to how Latter-day Saints understand the doctrine of “angels”. At about 6:55 minutes into the video he says the following:

“So as the story goes in the Book of Mormon, Moroni, the messenger who appeared to Joseph Smith, wasn’t just an angel; according to the Book of Mormon, he was actually an ancient prophet and warrior, and his father was named Mormon; and the revelation that he received and passed on to his son, that he then inscribed on the gold plates, were deposited on the hill Cumorah. And this sort of highlights a teaching that is unique, that is different from the rest of Christianity. You are not going to find taught in the rest of Christianity or in the Bible, the idea of a man becoming an angel. So that is something that is pretty unique, and pretty different.”

That only proves that he doesn’t know his Bible very well. In the Bible, whenever angels have appeared to men, they have always appeared as men. There are several instances of angels appearing to men, in both the Old and New Testaments; and they have always appeared as men. Here are some examples:

Genesis 18:

18 And the Lord appeared unto him [Abraham] in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

Here the angels that appeared to Abraham appeared as men. Two of those were the angels who later on went to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and rescued Lot; and they appeared to them as men (Genesis 19:1-22). We also have these examples from the New Testament:

Luke 24:

3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

Acts 1:

10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

The word “angel” literally means a messenger, or somebody who does somebody else’s bidding. In the Old Testament, the same Hebrew word (מַלְאָךְ mal'ak meaning ‘Angel’ or ‘messenger,’ Strong’s Hebrew 4397) is used to refer to divine as well as human messengers (e.g. of kings, rulers etc.); but translated into English with two different words—as “angel” when referring to divine messengers, and as “messenger” when referring to human messengers. But the original Hebrew word used is the same for both. The same phenomenon also occurs in the New Testament. The same Greek word (ἄγγελος aggelos meaning ‘angel’ or ‘messenger,’ Strong’s Greek 32) is used in the original text to refer to both human as well as divine messengers, but translated into English using two different English words, depending on whether it refers to divine or human messengers. Anybody who does what somebody else tells him to do, is that person’s “angel” or “messenger”. Even the devil has his own “angels” (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 12:9). Anybody who does what the devil tells him to do, becomes the devil’s angel; if he does what God tells him to do, becomes God’s angel. In the book of Revelation, the Christian ministers who were in charge of the various “churches” being addressed, are referred to as “angels” (Rev. 2:1; 2:8; 2:12; 2:18; 3:1; 3:7; 3:14). So what happens to those people when they die, and go to heaven? Do they stop being “angels” when they arrive in heaven? They are “angels” here on earth, but not in heaven? How does that work? If they are still serving God, doing God’s will in heaven, as they did on earth, they are still God’s “angels” in heaven, as they were on earth. If they are doing the devil’s work, then they are the devil’s angels. In Hebrews 12:23, angels are identified as “the spirits of just men made perfect”. Anybody who is in direct communion with God, and does what God tells him to do, is by definition an “angel” (messenger, emissary) of God—whether it is on earth or in heaven. And angels don’t have “wings!” That is probably what he has been thinking of. It looks like he draws his theology from Christian mythology and folklore, rather than from sound biblical teachings.

The next point he brings up refers to the Deity of Jesus Christ. At around 12:29 minutes into the video he says the following (emphasis added):

“Why are there so many different Christian denominations? There is a lot of different ways that I can answer that question, but the short answer is that there is still differences in opinion on different worship practices, how things should be taught, different expressions of the church; but we all generally agree on certain fundamental truths: For example that there is one God, and that Jesus in a Trinitarian form is God; and when Jesus came to earth, it was God made flesh. Now that is something that is really unique, from what I learned today about what Joseph Smith experienced; and I hope that as I say this, you trust that I am not trying to stir up a spirit of contention, but maybe for LDS Church members, helping you understand why a lot of the other Christian denominations have a difficult time saying that the LDS Church is a valid Christian denomination, because Joseph said in the Sacred Grove, that when Heavenly Father came to him with Jesus, that they were two separate persons, they were two separate people, and that Jesus isn’t necessarily God, that they are different Persons, and that is vastly different from what the Bible teaches. In fact the Bible teaches in John chapter 1, that in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God; and we know that the Word that John is referring to is Jesus, because a few verses later it says the Word became flesh, and dwelt among men. So when Joseph Smith is receiving a revelation, a separate revelation that actually doesn’t talk about Jesus as being God, the rest of Christianity is gonna have a very difficult time saying that that is a valid revelation, because it disagrees with the Bible.”

That of course is the typical false and slanderous accusations of the enemies of the Church, which he is pandering to. The doctrine of the Deity of Jesus Christ is taught more affirmatively, unambiguously, and explicitly in the Book of Mormon (and in other modern scriptures of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) than it is in the Bible. Here are some references (punctuation revised):

Book of Mormon Title Page:

… And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations.

1 Nephi 19:

10 And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him; yea the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man into the hands of wicked men, …

2 Nephi 10:

3 Wherefore as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ—for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name—should come among the Jews, among those who are the more wicked part of the world; and they shall crucify him—for thus it behooveth our God, and there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.

4 For should the mighty miracles be wrought among other nations, they would repent, and know that he be their God. (c.f. Matt. 11:20–24; 12:41–42; Luke 10:13–14; 11:31–32; John 15:24)

2 Nephi 11:

7 For if there be no Christ, there be no God; and if there be no God, we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ; and he cometh in the fulness of his own time.

2 Nephi 26:

12 And as I spake concerning the convincing of the Jews that Jesus is the very Christ, it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God;

Mosiah 3:

5 For behold the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, …

Mosiah 7:

27 And because he said unto them that Christ was the God, the Father of all things; and said that he should take upon him the image of man, and it should be the image after which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of God, and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth—

Mosiah 16:

15 Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father. Amen.

Mosiah 27:

31 Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God; …

Alma 11:

39 And Amulek said unto him: Yea, he [Jesus] is the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in them are; he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last;

3 Nephi 11:

14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.

Ether 3:

17 And now as I, Moroni, said I could not make a full account of these things which are written; therefore it sufficeth me to say that Jesus showed himself unto this man in the spirit, even after the manner and in the likeness of the same body even as he showed himself unto the Nephites;

18 And he ministered unto him even as he ministered unto the Nephites; and all this that this man might know that he was God, because of the many great works which the Lord had showed unto him.

Doctrine and Covenants 1:

24 Behold I am God, and have spoken it; these commandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding.

Doctrine and Covenants 19:

18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

Doctrine and Covenants 35:

1 Listen to the voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday, and forever.

2 I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, …

• • •

8 For I am God, and mine arm is not shortened; and I will show miracles, signs, and wonders, unto all those who believe on my name.

Doctrine and Covenants 38:

1 Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven before the world was made;

2 The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes.

3 I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me.

Doctrine and Covenants 39:

1 Hearken and listen to the voice of him who is from all eternity to all eternity, the Great I Am, even Jesus Christ—

2 The light and the life of the world; a light which shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not;

Doctrine and Covenants 63:

6 Wherefore verily I say, let the wicked take heed, and let the rebellious fear and tremble, and let the unbelieving hold their lips; for the day of wrath shall come upon them as a whirlwind, and all flesh shall know that I am God.

Doctrine and Covenants 76:

1 Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for the Lord is God, and beside him there is no Savior.

2 Great is his wisdom, marvelous are his ways, and the extent of his doings none can find out.

3 His purposes fail not, neither are there any who can stay his hand.

4 From eternity to eternity he is the same, and his years never fail.

Doctrine and Covenants 101:

16 Therefore let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion, for all flesh is in mine hands. Be still and know that I am God.

The Book of Mormon affirms, confirms, and attests to the divinity of Jesus Christ far more clearly, comprehensively, unambiguously, and compellingly than the Bible does. Nowhere in the Bible is the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ taught more explicitly and affirmatively than it is in the Book of Mormon (and in other Latter-day Saint scriptures). Likewise the mystery of the Trinity unfolds in the Book of Mormon (and in other modern scriptures of the Church) more meaningfully than it does in the Bible. Here are some quotes (punctuation revised):

2 Nephi 31:

21 … And now behold, this is the doctrine of Christ; and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost which is one God, without end. Amen.

Alma 11:

44 … and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit which is one Eternal God, …

Mosiah 15:

1 And now Abinadi said unto them, I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.

2 And because he dwelleth in the flesh he shall be called the Son of God, having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—

3 The Father because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and the Son—

4 And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.

5 And thus the flesh becoming subject to the spirit or [in other words] the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation and yieldeth not to temptation, …

Mosiah 16:

15 Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father.

3 Nephi 1:

13 Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.

14 Behold, I come unto my own to fulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world; and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son: of the Father because of me [in the spirit], and of the Son because of my flesh.

3 Nephi 11:

27 And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one.

• • •

36 And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me, for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.

3 Nephi 20:

35 … and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of the Father; and the Father and I are one.

3 Nephi 28:

10 … and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father, and the Father and I are one;

Mormon 9:

12 And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son.

Mormon 7:

7 … to sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above; unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost which are one God; in a state of happiness which hath no end.

Ether 3:

14 Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have light, and that eternally.

Ether 4:

12 … and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the Father. I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world.

Doctrine and Covenants 20:

28 Which Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God, infinite and eternal, without end.

Doctrine and Covenants 93:

2 And that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;

3 And that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one—

4 The Father because he gave me [in the spirit] of his fulness; and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men.…

• • •

14 And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first [i.e. in the flesh].

JST Luke 10:

23 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth that the Son is the Father, and the Father is the Son, but him to whom the Son will reveal it. (c.f. Luke 10:22)

It is the Bible in fact that describes Jesus as a created being:

Colossians 1:

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

Revelation 3:

14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

And also teaches the subordination of the Son to the Father, and the Deity of the Father over the Son, not only in time but also in eternity (John 14:28; 20:17; Rom. 15:6; 2 Cor. 11:31; Eph. 1:2-3, 17; 5:20; Col. 1:2-3; 1 Peter 1:3).

The doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ, and his eternal nature, is far more clearly taught in the Book of Mormon than it is in the Bible. So my advice to him is that if he wants to retain any credibility at all among Latter-day Saints, he had better stop spreading falsehoods and lies about their beliefs, doctrines, theology, and teachings; and to apologize for the falsehoods that he has already spread. That is what he will do if he has any integrity left at all.

And the reason why “a lot of the other Christian denominations have a difficult time saying that the LDS Church is a valid Christian denomination” (his words, not mine!) is because they are apostate, and apostate churches and religions have always fought against and opposed God’s only and true restored religion throughout history (because it destroys their craft). That is nothing new. And eventually, they have always come to an unhappy end.