Latter-day Saints and the Bible

Last updated 05-11-2021

This is a list of resources for understanding the history and nature of the Bible, and how it has been used and understood by Latter-day Saints. Bold indicates something particularly good or accessible to non-specialists, a “read this first.”Starred items are available from Logos.  I am an Amazon affiliate, and each of the affiliate links to Amazon below may generate a small amount of income

History of the Bible, and the King James Version

• *Mark Ward, Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible
• McGrath, In the Beginning: the Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture
• Robert Alter, Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Version
• Nicolson, God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible 
• Brake and Beach, A Visual History of the King James Bible 

Latter-day Saints and the Bible

• Philip Barlow, Mormons and the Bible: The Place of the Latter-day Saints in American Religion (Oxford Press)
• Grant Hardy, “The King James Bible and the Future of Missionary Work,” Dialogue 45:2 (Summer 2012)
• Philip Barlow, “Why the King James Version? From the Common to the Official Bible of Mormonism,” Dialogue, 22:2 (Summer 1986)
• Ben Spackman, “Why Bible Translations Differ: A Guide for the Perplexed,” Religious Educator 15:1 (2014)
• Daniel O. McClellan, “’As Far as It Is Translated Correctly’: Bible Translation and the Church,” Religious Educator 20:2 (2019)
  • Dan works as Bible translator/supervisor for the LDS Church. 
• Royal Skousen, “Through a Glass, Darkly: Trying to Understand the Scriptures” BYU Studies 26:4 (1986)
• The King James Bible and the Restoration
  • Entire volume is online
• The entire issue of Studies in the Bible and Antiquity vol. 8. Link
• Joshua M. Sears, “Santa Biblia: The Latter-day Saint Bible in Spanish” BYU Studies 54:1
• Joshua M. Sears, “Study Bibles: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints” Religious Educator 20:3 (2019), 26-57 

LDS and the Joseph Smith Translation

• Robert J. Matthews, “A Plainer Translation” Joseph Smiths Translation of the Bible – A History and Commentary
• Revelations in Context section on the JST, here.
• Gospel Topics Essay, here.
• “Was Adam Clarke the Source of the JST?” Interview with Thom Wayment. (See also here)
• Julie Smith, “Five Impulses of the Joseph Smith Translation of Mark and Their Implications for LDS Hermeneutics,”

  Studies in the Bible and Antiquity,  7 (2015), 1–21

Translation in General

• Alter, The Art of Bible Translation
• Spackman, “Why Bible Translations Differ: A Guide for the Perplexed,” Religious Educator, 15:1 (2014)