View source for Book of Mormon/Textual changes/Why were these changes made

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{{H2
|L=Book of Mormon/Textual changes/Why were these changes made
|H=Reasons for textual changes made to the Book of Mormon over the years after it was first published
|S=
|L1=Question: Why were textual changes made to the Book of Mormon over the years after it was first published?
|L2=Question: Why was the phrase "or out of the waters of baptism" added to 1 Nephi 20:1?
|L3=Ensign, "Great and Marvelous Are the Revelations of God"
|L4=Royal Skousen, "Do We Need to Make Changes to the Book of Mormon Text?"
}}
</onlyinclude>
{{:Question: Why were textual changes made to the Book of Mormon over the years after it was first published?}}
{{:Question: Why was the phrase "or out of the waters of baptism" added to 1 Nephi 20:1?}}

{{ChurchResponseBar
|summary=Many Revelations Were Later Revised by Joseph Smith through Inspiration. Over the course of the first five years of the Church, Joseph and others under his direction made changes and corrections to some of the early revelation texts in an attempt to more closely portray the intent of the revelation. Other times, especially as the revelations were being prepared for publication, Joseph was inspired to update the contents of the revelations to reflect a growing Church structure and new circumstances. At times this process resulted in substantial additions to the original text. As early as November 1831, a Church conference resolved that “Joseph Smith Jr. correct those errors or mistakes which he may discover by the Holy Spirit while reviewing the revelations and commandments and also the fullness of the scriptures.
|author=Gerrit Dirkmaat
|title=Great and Marvelous Are the Revelations of God
|publication=Ensign
|date=January 2013
|link=http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/01/great-and-marvelous-are-the-revelations-of-god?lang=eng
}}

{{PerspectivesBar
|link=http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/fair-conferences/2012-fair-conference/2012-do-we-need-to-make-changes-to-the-book-of-mormon-text
|author=Royal Skousen
|authorlink=http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/authors/skousen-royal
|title=Do We Need to Make Changes to the Book of Mormon Text?
|publication=Proceedings of the 2012 FAIR Conference
|date=August 2012
|summary=There have been three important findings in the critical text project of the Book of Mormon. The first is that Joseph Smith received an English-language text word for word, which he read off to his scribe. The second finding is that the original English-language text itself was very precisely constructed; where textual error has occurred in its transmission, the earliest reading is usually the superior reading. The third finding is the recent identification of 256 changes in the text that make a difference in the meaning or in the spelling of a name, ones that would show up in any translation of the book. Ultimately, these findings have led me to the conclusion that any serious study of the Book of Mormon requires the most accurate text possible.
}}


{{Critical sources box:Book of Mormon/Textual changes/CriticalSources}}
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[[Category:John Dehlin's "Questions and Answers"]]

[[es:El Libro de Mormón/Cambios en el texto/Por qué se hicieron estos cambios]]