How to read the Apocrypha.
On March 9, 1833, while revising the Bible, Joseph Smith asked the Lord how to handle the Apocryphal books — works carried in many ancient Bibles but set apart from the canon. The answer became Doctrine & Covenants section 91. It is the most useful posture the modern reader can hold toward this section of the library.
The Apocrypha is “mostly translated correctly” — it contains many true things alongside the interpolations of men. The Lord does not command its translation, nor forbid its reading. He commits the work to the Spirit: “whoso readeth it, let him understand,” and “whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom.” The Apocrypha is profitable to the spiritually attentive reader, and a mire to anyone who tries to read it without the Spirit.
Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you concerning the Apocrypha — there are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly;
Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth;
And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom;
The same verse that edifies one reader may mislead another. The Lord makes the Spirit — not the editor — the arbiter of profit. Pray before, read slow, set aside what does not witness.
Many things are true; not all things are true. Ancient editors, scribes, and translators added, embellished, and theologized. The Spirit will sort the gold from the brass when invited.
Where an Apocryphal passage agrees with the standard works, weight increases. Where it diverges or contradicts, the standard works arbitrate. The Apocrypha illuminates; it does not overturn.
