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What if the Bible is translated correctly after all?

The 8th of Mormonism's 13 Articles of Faith at the end of the Pearl of Great Price says, "We believe the Bible to be the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly...".

In the Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon, p. 47, Apostle Orson Pratt implies that none of the Bible can be trusted.

The Bible is actually a compilation of 66 books written by more than 40 authors over a 1,500 year time span. Parts of the Bible were written on three different continents in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) ... yet it is in complete agreement with itself.  There are more than 30 predictions about the life of Jesus.  In addition, there are many prophets recorded in the Bible that have already come true. The total number is certainly more than 100.  The probability of 100 prophecies being fulfilled by chance is less than one in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

The 1947 discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in Qumran, Israel, which included most of the Old Testament writings and a number of commentaries produced between 200 B.C. and 100 A.D., prove the accuracy of the Old Testament.  On a scroll which contained Isaiah 53, out of the 166 words in this chapter, there are only 17 letters in question. 10 of those letters are simply a matter of spelling, which does not affect the sense. 4 of the letters are minor stylistic changes, such as conjunctions. The remaining 3 comprise the word "light", which is added in verse 11, and does not affect the meaning greatly.  Thus in 1 chapter of 166 words, there is only 1 word in question after a thousand years of transmission and this does not significally change the meaning of the passage.

Most Mormons parrot other informed Mormons on the reliability of the Scriptures.  Pratt, McConkie, Petersen, and Matthews, etc. were not even experts in the field of biblical textual criticism.

Which edition, the RLDS or LDS translation, was translated by the gift and power of God?  The Bible was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek; therefore, there can be no "exact" translation to English just as there can be no "exact" translation between French and German or Spanish and Russian.
 

Why should a person pray about the Book of Mormon when the Bible says we should not rely on such a subjective test?

When asking has truly been an exercise of faith in Christ, we will be rewarded with an answer through the power of the Holy Ghost ... but it will be according to His timing, not ours.  1 John 4:1 says, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."  1 Thessalonians adds, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."  James 1:5 does not suggest praying about a religion to see if it might be true, " If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

Praying for a spiritual sensation is neither a biblical principle nor is it logically consistent.  A person could pray as much as we wanted about defying gravity when jumping off a 50 story building, yet no matter how confident a person believes he'll land safely the fact is 10 out of 10 people who attempt it will die. Just as 10 out of 10 people who do not recognize the Jesus of the Bible as their Savior will die in their sins and be eternally damned (John 8:24).

As Timothy was told by Paul "study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15).

Where in the Bible does it say a person has to be worthy to enter the temple?

The Christian Church has taught that temple worship and animal sacrifices are no longer required. Jesus' blood is the atoning sacrifice that makes it possible to obtain salvation (Romans 3:25, 5:9; Ephesians 1:7, 2:13; Colossians 1:20; Hebrews 9; 1 Peter 1:19; 1 John 1:7).  The Gospel of Luke (18:11-14) tells the story of two men who went to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a publican:

"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

Upon the death of Christ the temple vail was ripped in two (Luke 23:45).  Isaiah 64:6 says all our righteous acs are like filthy rags. Faith in His unspotted righteousness, not our personal merit, makes all believers worthy in the the sight of God (Ephesians 2:8).
 

What  historical support does the Mormon Church have to justify baptism for the dead?

If baptism for the dead is such a vital doctrine, then one would expect to find many additional biblical reference to support it. There is no outside proof to show that baptism for the dead was accepted by the early Christian Church. With so much expense incurred and effort given to baptism for the dead by the LDS Church, it seems peculiar that there is a major lack of biblical backing to support this keystone Mormon doctrine (2 Corinthians 6:2; 1 Timothy 1:3-4; Titus 3:9; Hebrews 9:27). And oddly enough, it does not appear in the Book of Mormon, but was added later by Smith in his Doctrine and Covenants.

The clear teaching of Scripture is that man shall believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Salvation is an individual matter that every person must settle with God during his life on earth. Scripture teaches that salvation is personal - not by proxy. (Acts 16:31; Romans 10:1, 10; John 1:12).

Mormons base their baptism for the dead on 1 Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:29) that they have taken out of context. This Scripture shows Paul is discussing Christians and their hope in the Resurrection. If they would read the entire Chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, Paul is talking about people who have believed in Jesus Christ and who have known Him as their personal Saviour.  It is obvious that the Scripture does not mean that someone could be literally baptized in place of a dead relative and in doing so obtain salvation for a relative who had made no act of personal commitment to Jesus Christ while he is living
 

If Mormon families will be together for ever, what about your spouse and their family?

First of all, each family member would have to strictly obey every one of God's commandments and prepare for exaltation in this life or be doomed to spend eternity in another level of Mormon heaven.  For the sake of argument, we'll suppose your whole family was able to meet the requirements for entry into the celestial kingdom.  So if everyone is promised their own planet or kingdom, how will all the family members be together? If a son-in-law won the right to his own kingdom, surely he would take his spouse, the daughter of another family, but how could he if that daughter is to live with her parents on their own planet or kingdom? And who's kingdom or planet would the grandchildren go to?

The Bible says that through Christ believers will sit together in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6-7; revelation 19:1-6).  Mormonism depicts an eternity of self-made gods occupying themselves while the Bible speaks of the family of God.