Difference between revisions of "Book of Mormon textual changes"
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The published text of the Book of Mormon has been corrected and edited through its various editions. [[Anti-Mormon]] critics claim that this is evidence that Joseph Smith and other Church leaders were attempting to cover up errors that would expose the book as a work of man, not God.
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Joseph Smith taught "the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth." By this he meant correct in ''principle'' and ''teaching,'' not in grammar or spelling. The authors of the Book of Mormon explained several times that their writing was imperfect, but that the teachings in the book were from God ([http://scriptures.lds.org/query?words=1+Nephi+19%3A6 1 Nephi 19:6]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/query?words=2+Nephi+33%3A4 2 Nephi 33:4]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/query?words=Mormon+8%3A17 Mormon 8:17]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/query?words=Mormon+9%3A31-33 9:31-33]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/query?words=Ether+12%3A23-26 Ether 12:23-26]).
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|L1=Book of Mormon/Textual changes/Why were these changes made
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|L2=Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"the Son of"
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|L3=Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"white" changed to "pure"
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|L4=Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"Benjamin" changed to "Mosiah"
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|L5=Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"Words missing in Alma 32:30"
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The critical issue is not the ''number'' of changes that have been made to the text, but the ''nature'' of the changes. If one counts every difference in every punctuation mark in every edition of the Book of Mormon, the result is over 100,000 changes (Skousen, 2002).
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The claim is often heard that there are more than 4000 changes to the Book of Mormon text. The majority of these are typographical. Few of the changes are significant. We examine the more noteworthy changes.
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{{:Book of Mormon/Textual changes/Why were these changes made}}
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{{:Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"the Son of"}}
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{{:Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"white" changed to "pure"}}
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{{:Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"Benjamin" changed to "Mosiah"}}
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{{:Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"Words missing in Alma 32:30"}}
  
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There are, of course, thousands of insignificant changes in spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  For example, the word ''meet'' -- meaning "appropriate" -- as it appears in [http://scriptures.lds.org/query?words=1+Nephi+7%3A1 1 Nephi 7:1], was spelled "mete" in the first edition of the Book of Mormon, published in 1830. "Mete" means ''to distribute'', but the context here is obvious, and so the spelling was corrected in later editions.
 
  
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What really matters is:
 
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* which changes are substantial AND
 
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* could possibly change the doctrine of the book OR
 
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* could be used as evidence that the book was written by Joseph Smith.
 
  
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There are surprisingly few of these.
 
  
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'''EXAMPLES'''
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'''CONCLUSION'''
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[[de:Das Buch Mormon/Textänderungen]]
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[[es:El Libro de Mormón/Cambios en el texto]]
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==Further reading==
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[[pt:O Livro de Mórmon/Alterações textuais]]
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===FAIR wiki articles===
 
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===FAIR web site===
 
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*FAIR Topical Guide: [http://fairlds.org/apol/ai282.html Changes in the Book of Mormon]
 
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===External links===
 
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===Printed material===
 
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*Royal Skousen, "Changes In the Book of Mormon," 2002 FAIR Conference proceedings.
 
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*Stan Larson, "Changes in Early Texts of The Book of Mormon," ''Ensign'', September 1976, pp. ??-??.
 

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Book of Mormon textual changes


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The claim is often heard that there are more than 4000 changes to the Book of Mormon text. The majority of these are typographical. Few of the changes are significant. We examine the more noteworthy changes.

Reasons for textual changes made to the Book of Mormon over the years after it was first published


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"God" changed to "Son of God" in the Book of Mormon


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"White and delightsome" changed to "pure and delightsome"


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"Benjamin" was changed to "Mosiah" in later editions of the Book of Mormon


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Words missing in Alma 32:30


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