Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just,

whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report.

If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Hey listeners, this is Nick from Scripture Central, and today's podcast addresses the question. How often do the articles of faith track sayings of Paul?

On March 1, 1842, the church newspaper, Times and Seasons, published a letter that Joseph Smith had written to a Chicago newspaper reporter named John Wentworth.

In this letter, Joseph set forth 13 statements of beliefs of the restored Church of Jesus Christ that would later become known as the Articles of Faith.

As people all over the world read these articles of faith today, it is inspiring to notice how much of their wording is founded upon statements taught by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament.

Significantly, it would appear that each is a central belief that was held by the ancient Christian church, as well as the modern restored church.

Indeed, as John Welch and John Hall have detailed,

the essence of each of the articles of faith can be found, often verbatim, in the writings of Paul.

For example, Joseph Smith said,

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.

In the New Testament, several authors maintain this same view of

salvation, each declaring that we would be responsible for our own life choices. For example,

as Paul described, whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. During the first centuries

of the Christian Church, the majority of the Greek fathers, including

origin and Clement of Alexandria, agreed with Paul and believed that death has passed on

all mankind because all had sinned.

In later centuries this doctrine was lost or marginalized as prominent theologians

promulgated the notion that there was an original sin

passed on to mankind through the fall of Adam and Eve, largely on the basis of a mistranslation

of Romans 5 verse 12 into Latin in the 4th century. Augustine of Hippo would formulate the clearest

...