By RAY HAMMOND
Sixty percent of students who responded to a survey thought that the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible offered no additional doctrine to that taught in other LDS scripture.
This misconception was the largest one found by sophomores Jeff Larson and Joseph Willard, both students of Religion 320 -- History and Contribution of Joseph Smith's Translation of the Bible. They conducted the survey to find out how knowledgeable BYU students are of the translation that Joseph Smith called 'a branch of my calling.'
With their results, Larson and Willard said in a research paper that this statistic is 'soberingly indicative of the disregard the majority of BYU students have for the JST.' Hence the title of their paper, 'Many Do Stumble.'
'We wanted to produce something that would receive enough attention to make members of the (LDS) Church want to study the JST more,' the opening paragraph of their paper said.
The survey was administered in two forms to 751 current and past BYU students. While some of the findings met Larson and Willard's expectations, others did not.
Although Larson and Willard both studied the JST while serving in the same LDS mission, they confess that their knowledge of the translation was minor before taking Religion 320.
'I studied making comparisons between the JST and the New Testament on my mission, but I didn't see the significance in the minor changes that were made that I see now,' Willard said.
There is only one section of this course offered at BYU.
Why is there only one section offered at BYU for such a major work? BYU Dean of Religious Education Robert L. Millet, and instructor for Fall Semester's course said one reason for one section is that there are not many faculty members who would feel comfortable teaching the JST.
Since it was first offered at BYU 20 years ago, Religion 320 has been taught by Millet for the last 15 years and by Robert J. Matthews, the last Dean of Religious Education and current president of the LDS Mount Timpanogos Temple, for the first five years.
'This may be the greatest eye-opening class that I teach,' Millet said of Religion 320.
According to the class syllabus, the objective of Religion 320 is two-fold, teaching the historical backgrounds of the JST and the doctrinal contributions of the translation to the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In all, Joseph Smith altered 3,140 verses in the King James Bible, most of which are found in Genesis. Much of The Pearl of Great Price, a standard work of the LDS Church, is the result of the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible.
'Students come away from the class seeing Joseph Smith far more significantly than they saw him before,' Millet said.
'What many don't understand is that the JST pertains to all books of scripture,' Millet said. 'It would be incomplete to teach from the scriptures without mentioning the Joseph Smith Translation.'
Larson and Willard are anxious for BYU to make JST courses more widely available.
'If we want to improve the (LDS) Church's consciousness of the JST, what better place to start than BYU?,' they wrote in their research paper.
Religion 320 will be taught Winter Semester at 9 a.m. It will taught by Scott Faulring, an LDS Church historical researcher.