Romney Believes in the Bible "Absolutely," Even Though Mormons Don't

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) got a bit overzealous in trying to present himself as an acceptable candidate to Christian America, as his religion increasingly becomes an issue for Iowa caucus-goers. Responding to this question, which asked the candidates if they believed every word of the Bible, Romney claimed, "I believe the Bible to be the word of God, absolutely."

But that claim jibes with the teaching of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. According to the Church's Eighth Article of Faith (emph. added):

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.

This probably isn't a sign that Romney is changing his faith, but we'll get back to you on that.

Comments

[NotUnoriginal]

08:34 PM on 12/04/2007

No, the author knows what “to jibe” means…Its first definition as an intransitive verb is “to shift a fore-and-aft sail from one side of a vessel to the other while sailing before the wind so as to sail on the opposite tack.” It works here and might even be considered an interesting choice given the significance of water and water-involving rites in much of the Bible.

At any rate, the point of the post is that Romney may not have answered the question in a nuanced way that is fully representative of his religious beliefs. Will isn’t attacking the Mormon faith, he’s commenting on a presidential candidate’s too simple answer to an important and complex question. That’s it.

Personally, I hope that no one believes in a single, inanimate book held in one person’s hand in Texas, which is what the questioner actually asked. Believing in an inanimate object and believing in the inspired Word of God as communicated through the Holy Bible are two very different things. I’ll just hope that Romney meant the latter…

[rma2108]

05:06 AM on 12/01/2007

Yes, the author doesn't realize that "to jibe" means "to be in accordance with." I think he thinks it means the opposite. In any event the entire post is pretty ridiculous. You fault him for not believing the parts that are translated incorrectly? Of all the legitimate concerns we should be having about Romney (hmmmm, like that he supports Bush and the war), why are we focusing on his religion? And why are the people criticizing always so clueless about the Mormon faith?

[stephen73]

07:26 PM on 11/29/2007

Hey get your facts straight. When it says, “as long as it’s translated correctly” LDS members and Joseph Smith were specifically referring to how many translations of the bible there are in the world. Most translations now are interpretations of what people think the apostles meant and the wording is all wrong. I and my church believe that the Kings James Bible is the closest thing to correct that the world has in English, and we believe in every word there in. Why don't you criticize the so called Christian churches that only use the New Testament isn't that part of the bible? Or even better they totally discrete the Old Testament as not literal, so go report on them and how they don’t believe in the whole bible and leave Romney alone. You need to actually speak to a person who is LDS and don’t Google a quote to try and make your self sound knowledgeable about my religion.

[CaptainZoom]

12:33 AM on 11/29/2007

Will Thomas writes blah blah blah. Not interested any longer in what you have to write. Grow up.

[Advocate123]

12:24 AM on 11/29/2007

I agree. This is just like how Christians support the old and new testament.

Mormons believe in the bible and the book of Mormon.

[Mrrar]

11:43 PM on 11/28/2007

...I'm sorry but this is just an awful post, and it's honestly below Huffington Post to make it. Leave his friggin Mormonism alone, even if it buys you some election Hot points.

Do you understand the difference between this and a legitimate criticism of someone's views?

This is mud-slinging, this is gross, this is the type of politics Obama is talking about when he says that they're divisive.

Criticizing someone legitimately is good.

This is just disgusting and demeaning to..

me, the reader
you, the producer,
and they, our founders.