“We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.” We prefer the last printing of the Book of Mormon during Joseph Smith Jr.’s lifetime, the Nauvoo, 1842 edition “carefully revised by the translator.” We prefer the last printing of the Doctrine and Covenants during Joseph Smith’s lifetime, the Nauvoo, 1844 edition.  The Nauvoo Doctrine and Covenants contains the “Lectures of Faith,” and the revelations from the Book of Commandments (1833) and from the first Doctrine and Covenants (1835), and the additional revelations from 1835 to 1844.  The Nauvoo edition does not have the purported revelations which may or may not have some historical validity (such as one on eternal marriage, first published in Utah in 1852).  But we have not discarded any of Joseph Smith Jr.’s revelations that were printed in the Doctrine and Covenants before his death.  The Nauvoo scripture editions are available in our Catalogue.

Joseph Smith used a commercial edition of the King James version printed in Cooperstown, N.Y., 1828. We know that Joseph Smith made a “New Translation” of the Bible, and we believe that work to be inspired; but modern publications of that text do not contain his last draft (as quoted for example in the Lectures of Faith, Section 2 in the Doctrine and Covenants).  We cautiously use the publication of his earliest corrections published as the “Inspired Version” or “Joseph Smith Translation” by the sons of Joseph Smith in Plano, Ill., 1867.  We know that “The Book of Abraham” was published in an early periodical as a text “purporting to be the writings of Abraham” with no indication of its translation process (see Times and Seasons, March 1, 1842), and therefore have no authorized position on it.

We have prophecies, visions, revelations, and translations, printed by James J. Strang in the Voree Herald and Diamond. Most of those which survived are published in the Revelations of James J. Strang and Book of the Law of the Lord.  The Book of the Law of the Lord is mentioned repeatedly in the Bible, and we believe it was translated from the brass plates of Laban taken by Nephi from Jerusalem.