The JST was not really a "translation" of the Bible. It was not a "inspired" verson at all. It was a copy (plagiarism) of Adam Clarke’s famous Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments. Which was a popular Bible commentary that was readily available to Joseph Smith during the 1820's and 1830's.
This information was brought to light by BYU researchers. It pretty much kills the notion that Joseph Smith added further light and knowledge to the New Testament. Here is a quote from the BYU article:
Joseph Smith’s translation of the Bible has attracted significant attention in recent decades, drawing the interest of a wide variety of academics and those who affirm its nearly canonical status in the LDS scriptural canon. More recently, in conducting new research into the origins of Smith’s Bible translation, we uncovered evidence that Smith and his associates used a readily available Bible commentary while compiling a new Bible translation, or more properly a revision of the King James Bible. The commentary, Adam Clarke’s famous Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, was a mainstay for Methodist theologians and biblical scholars alike, and was one of the most widely available commentaries in the mid-1820s and 1830s in America.
http://jur.byu.edu/?p=21296
This seems to me as the strike three (Book of Abraham, Kinderhook plates) and now JST. I guess if you count the Book of Mormon, it is strike four.
Maybe I have been on the outside too long. But I don't understand how Supposedly educated people can continue to believe this charlatan (Joseph Smith).
Please help me understand this.