Book of Mormon – Correct or Corrected? Hello, my name is Danny, and I was an active Latter-day Saints for 6 decades. As you probably know – Joseph Smith claimed that the Book of Mormon was “the most correct book on earth.” That is a high bar to set for this book considered to be ancient scripture. LDS Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland went so far as to draw a line in the sand when he stated, “Either the Book of Mormon is what the Prophet Joseph said it is, or this Church and its founder are false, a deception from the first instance onward.” Joseph Smith also stated in the 8th Article of Faith “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" Again, implying that unlike the Bible - the Book of Mormon is translated correctly. A couple years ago, I began a word for word comparison of the 1830 copy of the original Book of Mormon with my current Book of Mormon edition. It was tedious but very revealing. I was shocked to find so many differences in the texts. It was a bit overwhelming to highlight every alteration that I came across. The vast majority were corrections to spelling, punctuation, or grammar. I had known that from first-hand accounts that the Book of Mormon translation process required textual accuracy. As Joseph translated each character or word that would appear on the treasure-seeking seer stone or rock in the bottom of his top hat – Smith would tell a scribe to write it down and then he would confirm the translation by having the scribe read it back to him before proceeding. That is referred to as a “tight” translation. Yet, subsequent editions of the Book of Mormon include hundreds if not thousands of word changes and edits. For one thing, when you read the original 1830 edition of the Book of Mormon, you can’t help but recognize numerous passages that display a distinct nineteenth-century New England grammar spoken of in Joseph Smith’s daily environment. Here are just a few quick examples: Alma 10:7-8 – “As I was a journeying to see a very near kindred…, as I was a going thither…” That needed correcting. Mosiah 10:15 – “had arriven to the promised land” 3 Nephi 3:5 – “I have wrote this epistle” Helaman 7:8; 13:37 – “in them days” 9:29 – “they done all these things” That definitely, needed correcting. These nineteenth-century grammar issues have no place in a “tight” word for word translation of an ancient manuscript. Such grammar implies a creative production of text at the time - rather than a pure rendition. In other words, Smith was improvising as he “translated.” LDS apologists call that method - a “loose” translation and give it credibility. As I was reading the original 1830 edition and comparing it to my current edition - I also noticed in the very first chapters some major doctrinal corrections. These revisions were already widely known, but it was eye-opening for me to see them. They involved something as important as the nature of the Godhead, the definition of God, and who Jesus is. The Book of Mormon teaches a Trinitarian view of the Godhead. It is no mere coincidence that Joseph Smith’s early theology also held this view. As part of the over 4,000 changes to the Book of Mormon, there were major changes made to reflect Smith’s evolving view of who was God. I believe those revisions are evidence of an ever-evolving theology of Joseph Smith that moved from a more Trinitarian view of God in the Book of Mormon - toward the current LDS concept of a godhead consisting of three separate Gods. I’m going to demonstrate for you what I’m talking about as I present a verse-by-verse comparison of these significant doctrinal changes Smith made to the Book of Mormon from the original 1830 to the 1837 edition. Original 1830 Edition: Remember there were no chapters or verses in this first edition. 1 Nephi 3 (pg25) “And he said unto me, Behold, the virgin whom thou seest, is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh.” 1837 Revised Edition: to distinguish between Jesus Christ and God the Father. For example: 1 Nephi 11:18 “And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin who thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.” 1830 Edition: 1 Nephi 3 (p25) “And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father!” 1837 Revised Edition: 1 Nephi 11:21 “And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father.” 1830 Edition: 1 Nephi 3 (p.26) “And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Everlasting God, was judged of the world.” 1837 Revised Edition: 1 Nephi 11:32 “And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world.” 1830 Edition: 1 Nephi 3 (p32) “These last records…shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Saviour of the world.” 1837 Revised Edition: 1 Nephi 2:40 “These last records…shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Saviour of the world.” The continuing predicament the Book of Mormon has, despite trying to delineate the Son of God from the Eternal Father - is that other places in the text state that the Lamb of God or Jesus IS the Eternal Father. In fact, from the Title Page of the Book of Mormon as it states “written by the hand of Mormon taken from the Plates of Nephi,” it reads “And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.” That hasn’t been modified. Another noteworthy change to the 1830 edition involves a passage containing an offensive comment. Lehi’s son Nephi was shown in vision that when the Book of Mormon gospel would eventually be shared with the modern American Indians, starting in Joseph Smith’s, day forward – that as those native Americans accepted its teachings this would happen to them. 2 Nephi 30:6 “And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and delightsome people.” As late as the 1981 edition of my Book of Mormon, that questionable phrase “white and delightsome people” was revised to describe the Lamanite or ancient American Indian people as a "pure and delightsome people." Still, the Book of Mormon is full of other racially offense passages that remain unchanged – for now. For a more complete treatment on this subject, I invite you to watch the video I posted titled - “Book of Mormon Racism.” I just want to clearly state - the dark skin of the indigenous native Americans is not now - nor never was a curse from God. What a horrible indictment to make against the beautiful race of native Americans, and God, Himself for that matter. I believe Joseph Smith is to blame for the racism in his book, which has been a source for the degrading, destroying, and the rewriting of a rich culture of the indigenous peoples in North, Central, South Americas and the islands of the sea. And the Mormon Church is guilty of continuing to propagate a tragically false narrative by endorsing the Book of Mormon. There are two more examples of changes through the updated versions of the Book of Mormon that I’ll mention. The one has to do with the clarity of names. In both Mosiah 21:28 and Ether 4:1, the 1830 Book of Mormon mentions king Benjamin by mistake instead of king Mosiah. Benjamin had long been dead during the events of those passages, so the name “Benjamin” had to be switched to Mosiah” to correct the chronological inconsistency. This huge error could not have come from a “tight” word for word translation from the peep stone. It was most likely Joseph Smith forgetting, who he was talking about as he was making up the story. And the last change I’ll explain today is a significant one. The LDS Church was forced to change a SINGLE word in its “Introduction to the Book of Mormon.” A change that has serious implications for LDS beliefs about the ancestry of the American Indians. Here in my 1981 Book of Mormon, it reads “After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.” That statement is supported by the Book of Mormon itself claiming the New World lands to be uninhabited except for the Jaredites, Mulekites, and the family of Lehi (see Ether 2:7 and 2 Nephi 1:5-9). But then a bombshell was dropped! Comprehensive DNA surveys of Native Americans and Polynesians failed to find any genetic markers or any evidence of pre-Columbian Hebrew migrations into the New World or Pacific Islands. Scientists saw no genetic or cultural connection between Native American and Polynesian people - and ancient Hebrew people. Scientists are certain that the American Indian ancestors migrated from Siberia on the Eastern Asia Continent to the North American continent across the ancient Bering Strait. As evidence steadily accumulated against the Book of Mormon narrative, the LDS Church has been compelled to take steps to address the seriousness of the problem. The Mormon Church was confronted with a serious challenge to its truth claims. However, Joseph Smith left no room for conjecture on the ancestry of the American Indians. Joseph Smith said, “He [the angel Moroni] told me of a sacred record which was written on plates of gold, I saw in the vision the place where they were deposited, he said the Indians were the literal descendants of Abraham.” Abraham who was a Hebrew. In 2014 the LDS Church released a Gospel Topic Essay titled: The Book of Mormon and DNA Studies. The essay demotes the Book of Mormon people to minor players in the Western Hemisphere’s gene pool by stating that they were not “the principle ancestors” but now considered to be “among the ancestors.” So, in the 2007 Book of Mormon edition it was changed to now read “After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.” This scientific DNA evidence has had a huge impact in challenging the historical claims of the Book of Mormon. The current LDS leadership’s apparent shift in thinking - regarding both the origins of the American Indian, and the Church’s long-standing interpretation of the Book of Mormon, illustrates (once again) the propensity of the Church to revise “inspired truth” to suit the changing times. In conclusion, I believe the Book of Mormon along with its author, Joseph Smith Jr. is exactly what Jeffrey R. Holland warned them possibly to be - “false, fraudulent, a deception from the first instance forward.” The Church wants to change the narrative, and it will do it gradually – so that members won’t be aware of its intentions. But as hard as it tries - Mormonism is never going to escape its racist history and false narrative as, long as the Book of Mormon remains it’s “keystone scripture.” I believe it will continue to be the Achillies heal of the LDS Church! Since its publication in 1830, the Book of Mormon has had thousands of changes made to it through several editions. Perhaps, we should edit Smith’s claim of the Book of Mormon being “the most correct book on earth,” to the Book of Mormon being the most “corrected book on earth.” So much more to share about the problems of the Book of Mormon that will be left for future videos. Thanks for watching this one. And to find more - go to You Tube or at talkingtomormons.com. God Bless!!!
Danny's Weekly Word