After the visit from smith and harris, hadley wrote in his paper that a huge. Yesterday while reading some interesting news stories on byus online newspaper, i came across an article they posted a few years back about changes made to the introduction in the book of mormon. What could cause such a miraculous change in eric you might ask. Certainly the introduction of the current book of mormon is not there by mistake or accident. At the conclusion of the original article, i provide some specific numbers for the different types of changes in the history of the book of mormon text, including the number of changes introduced in the book of mormon.
In making this study we obtained photocopies of an original 1830 edition of the book of mormon from the university of utah library. King james english in the book of mormon an oddity in the book of mormon, published in 1830, is that it uses antiquated english resembling the style of the king james version kjv bible. Moronis america the north american setting for the book. This changed in the 1980s when efforts were made to reemphasize the book of mormon. Then i would like to turn to the issue of changes in the text to the book of mormon. Although joseph smith was the translator of the book of mormon, the spelling in the first edition was oliver cowderys, and the punctuation was john h. Understanding textual changes in the book of mormon. Identical errors or intended as identical teachings in the beginning of mormonism, before joseph smith changed his theology of god. Since its first publication in 1830, the book of moron has undergone thousands of changes. There have been thousands of changes to the exact text of the book of mormon since its first printing, in. A valuable new analysis of the many types of changes in the text of the book of mormon is brian c.
Numerous changes were disclosed between the original script and the final production. The book of mormon is a musical comedy with music, lyrics and book by trey parker, robert. This should not have been necessary, however, given the manner in which joseph is supposed to have produced this book. A photoreprint of the original 1830 edition of the book of mormon with all changes marked compared to a 1964 edition. Debate renewed with change in book of mormon introduction.
To understand why some words were altered, reference will be made to the original and the printers manuscripts. Im first going to describe the critical text project, some of its major findings. Book of mormon introduction change may reflect new thinking. The book of mormon videos youtube channel is a collection of videos based on accounts from the book of mormon. Joseph fielding smith, the tenth president of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints, proclaimed. People around the world who are staying home for public health reasons are spending a lot of time on the internet. Changes in the book of mormon book of mormon central. Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the son god. This interview was conducted before the recent shootings in sandy hook.
Book of mormon introduction change may reflect new thinking about an ancient people. Changes to latterday scripture lds leaders have made. Royal skousen, a professor of linguistics at byu and a recognized expert of the textual history of the book of mormon, has identified 5,280 variations in all editions of the book of mormon. The new theory proposed by roberts, and still popular today, is that god only gave joseph the ideas and concepts for the book of mormon.
Smith is full of bluff and bluster, and is a fraud. The book of mormon, the pearl of great price, and the doctrine and covenants are accepted as scripture without any qualifications whatsoever. Spend some time learning more about the book of mormon and related topics. Hales, changing critics criticisms of book of mormon changes, interpreter. A challenge to origins of the book of mormon a group of researchers contend that joseph smiths 1830 translation is based less on writings he found on gold plates than on the king james version of the bible. You cannot be a college graduate, in fact, you can have only three years of schooling. The videos will be available on a new book of mormon videos youtube channel, mormon channel platforms and existing book of mormon and gospel library apps for use in.
In this study we will show that there have been at least 3,9 changes made in the book of mormon from the time it was first published in 1830. Many mormon church members, including church leaders, stumbled across the changes them selves, and noticed the doctrinal significance. The book of mormon for the least of these, volume 1. A popular charge of antimormons is that the church is guilty of fraud because of changes in the book of mormon, or that the book of mormon cant be true and divine because corrections have been made. Interestingly, in addition to the changes in the actual text of the book of mormon, there are changes that have taken place in the introductory material as well. Claims in recent years by lds anthropologist thomas murphy and former lds molecular biologist simon southerton regarding the lack of a. I witnessed a miracle this last march as i saw a boy whom we will call eric, age 15, change from a depressed, low selfesteemed, bitter teenager into a happy, confident, grateful, and testimonyfilled young man. Critical texts have previously been prepared for important historical and literary works but until fairly.
I have a copy of the original book of mormon and all the changes in it next to it. Printers manuscript of the book of mormon the joseph smith papers. The videos will be available on a new book of mormon videos youtube channel, mormon channel platforms and existing book of mormon and gospel library apps for use in church classrooms, in. Significant changes in the book of mormon this also summarizes many of the major changes in meaning made to the book of mormon, and points out some of the errors which still remain in the book. Book of mormon changes the fall of mormonism rich kelsey. Joseph smiths other writings, such as his history and diary, reflect the modern english era of his day.
The jaredites book of ether came to the new world at the time of the tower of babel. Martin harris acted as joseph smiths scribe from 12 april to 14 june 1828, and at the end of this period they had written out 116 pages. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to. How many pages you need to read in a day to finish in a certain amount of time. It made a comeback in the early days of the lds church and has since gone away again. Jul 06, 20 book of mormon wikipedia, the free encyclopedia the church of jesus christ of latterday saints salt lake city the book of mormon. Hales reminds us that the tanners and others have been deceptive in their treatment of the minor changes and corrections that have been made, creating the. Help about wikipedia community portal recent changes contact page. After joseph smith dictated the book of mormon text, oliver cowdery. Book of mormon introduction change may reflect new. The book of mormon has been described as the bible of north america i. A challenge to origins of the book of mormon and joseph smith.
Heres your first look at the new book of mormon videos lds. The claim is often heard that there are more than 4000 changes to the book of mormon text. Focus on the storyline and get familiar with the people in the book. Joseph smith said that the book of mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to god by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book, history of the church, vol. These joseph recorded in his own grammatically poor language and style. Its the book of mormon, the ninetime tony awardwinning best musical. Jun 11, 2009 a recent word change to the introduction of the book of mormon has once again brought attention to the question regarding the historical reliability of one of mormonisms most sacred texts. Nov 25, 2014 there are two ways to read the book of mormon. The 1830 book of mormon summary of changes this gives an intriguing explanation of the origin of the words cumorah and moroni. Book of mormon reading charts keeping committed to reading the book of mormon is hard, but these three reading charts will make your resolution to read it so much easier and more fun. Jul 01, 2011 as stated earlier, the mormon church has made many changes to the book of mormon in order to correct josephs poor grammar and spelling. Jan 24, 20 identical errors or intended as identical teachings in the beginning of mormonism, before joseph smith changed his theology of god. Mormonism must stand or fall on the story of joseph smith.
Heres your first look at the new book of mormon videos. Joseph smiths negotiations to publish the book of mormon. Grandin was adamant that the book of mormon would not sell, and refused to. The earliest text, the definitive scholarly edition of the book of mormon, published in 2009 by yale university press. Changes to the book of mormon there are 39 changes that have been made to the book of mormon, some of which are significant doctrinal changes. Dec 26, 2015 a very plausible lost and missing novel by solomon spalding manuscript found, separate and distinct from the oberlin manuscript has not been ruled out by mormon apologists. An early mormon doctrine by jerald and sandra tanner. The book of mormon contains the purported stories of three different groups which sailed to the americas.
With this new theory, lds leaders justified themselves in making thousands of word changes designed to. Feb 20, 2011 how many changed has the book of mormon been changed. They were instructed to build eight barges in which to sail to america. The mission of byutv is to create purposeful, engaging viewing and listening experiences that entertain, inspire, uplift, and. Book of mormon word change christian research institute. Dingers book begins with a foreword by stan larson that provides some historical background to larsons own earlier work on the book of mormon text, plus a list of significant textual changes that come, for the most part, from the current book of mormon critical text project. You must write a book with 239 chapters, 54 of them about wars, 21 about history, 55 about prophecy, 71 about doctrine, 17 about missionaries, and 21 about the mission of jesus. You should know also that by recent decision of the brethren the book of mormon will henceforth bear the title the book of mormon, with. Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of god. The purpose of this article is to analyse some of the word changes made in the book of mormon during the three major editions printed during the lifetime of the prophet joseph smith. By far the majority of changes between the 1830 and subsequent versions of the book of mormon are spelling or grammar corrections.
Some are learning new things and building their talent stacks. Another change affirms the teaching that the book of mormon alone contains the fullness of the gospel. For all the recent attention given to the study of mormonism, surprisingly little has been devoted to the book of mormon itself. The vast majority of mormons who are even aware that the book has been changed at all believe that there has been, at most, a grammatical correction here or there andor a clarification of an ambiguity or two. Ive read it both ways and both have valuebut one way is more life changing than the other. The arguments are rather weak but need to be dealt with thats the purpose of this page. The original text betrays its new england origin in many ways, from inconsistent spelling to incorrect use of tenses and number, as well as incorrect usage of jacobean english. Few mormons are aware of the thousands of word changes and nature of the changes that have been made in the book of mormon, doctrine and covenants, and the pearl of great price since the first editions. Polygamy was practiced sporadically by prophets such as abraham and jacob in the old testament. To demolish the mormon urban myth that there have been few, if any, changes to the book of mormon since its publication.
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