Changing Mormon Stories: Changes to the Book of Mormon

LDS Church Edits Book of Mormon Title Page!

Check out this video on MyFoxUtah.com. Here they describe how the church is changing just one word in the introduction to the Book of Mormon. That one word, however, changes the implications dramatically. Isn't change a pure sign of apostacy?

This isn't the first time the Book of Mormon has been edited since it's original publishing. There are thousands upon thousands of small changes such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation. As a document supposedly produced by the awesome power of god, don't you think that god would know how to spell and punctuate?

But not only are there many small changes to the Book of Mormon, there are some major changes as well, changes that drastically alter the meanings and the doctrine being taught. A lot of the good examples occur in 1 Nephi. For example:

1 Nephi 12:18 (1830 version)

and the large and spacious building which thy father saw, is vain imaginations, and the pride of the children of men. And a great and terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and Jesus Christ, which is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until this time, and from this time henceforth and forever.

1 Nephi 12:18 (current version)

And the large and spacious building, which thy father saw, is vain imaginations and the pride of the children of men. And a great and a terrible gulf divideth them; yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and the Messiah who is the Lamb of God, of whom the Holy Ghost beareth record, from the beginning of the world until this time, and from this time henceforth and forever.

First of all, just comparing these two quotes, one can see the punctuation changes. The major change here, obviously, is changing the name of "Jesus Christ" to "the Messiah". The actual name of Jesus Christ is not "revealed" in the Book of Mormon until 2 Nephi 25:19, a whole generation later. The church, realizing that 1 Nephi slipped out the name of Jesus Christ too early, knew they had to change it. How can 1 Nephi know the name of Jesus Christ if it is not even revealed until 2 Nephi?

Way to go, Joe!

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1 Nephi 10:3 and 19:13, where he mistakenly prophesies future events in the past tense:

1830 version:

10:3 How that after they were destroyed, yea, even that great city of Jerusalem; and that many were carried away captive into Babylon; that according to the own due time of the Lord, they should return again; yea, even be brought back out of captivity; and after they are brought back out of captivity, to possess again the land of their inheritance.

19:13 And as for they which are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, shall be scouraged by all people, saith the prophet, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turned their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and power and glory of the God of Israel;

Current version

10:3 That after they should be destroyed, even that great city Jerusalem, and many be carried away captive into Babylon, according to the own due time of the Lord, they should return again, yea, even be brought back out of captivity; and after they should be brought back out of captivity they should possess again the land of their inheritance.

19:13 And as for those who are at Jerusalem, saith the prophet, they shall be scourged by all people, because they crucify the God of Israel, and turn their hearts aside, rejecting signs and wonders, and the power and glory of the God of Israel.

As you can see here, the phrase "saith the prophet" was removed since it was repetitive. In addition, Joseph Smith mistakenly used the past tense when writing these prophesies. However, in the story he was writing, these events had not yet taken place. From the characters' points of view, it was a future event and they would not have written it at all in the past tense.

Doh, Joe!

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Another big example of a wording change that makes a huge difference in doctrine is that of the Trinity. In 1 Nephi 11:18, 21, & 32 the original Book of Mormon said:

18 And he said unto me, Behold the virgin whom thou seest, is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh.

21 And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?

32 And it came to pass that the angle spake unto me again, saying, look! 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; and I saw and bear record.

Now the current version says:

18 And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.

21 And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?

32 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! 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; and I saw and bear record.

Once again, notice all the punctuation corrections. Then, obviously, is the addition in all three verses of "the Son of". The change from "God" to "the Son of God" is a major doctrinal difference. In fact, the beginning of the original Book of Mormon taught the Trinity doctrine, while the latter part of the original Book of Mormon taught the belief that LDS believe today, three separate and distinct individuals. There are other instances in the original Book of Mormon where the Trinity doctrine was taught.

If it is / was the most correct of any book on earth, according to Joseph Smith, why did the original version teach the Trinity doctrine? Once again, if this book was produced by the awesome power of god, why was it so full of mistakes? Minor or major, it doesn't matter. God is perfect. His perfect book should be flaw free. So how come it's not?

Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon and as his influence and beliefs changed, so did the doctrine in the Book of Mormon. Other factors from Joseph's life show up in the Book of Mormon as well. Just one, for example:

Before Joseph became a "prophet" he had his magical seer stone, later called the Urim and Thummim. He claimed that he could use it to find buried treasure in the ground. For money from local farmers, he would use this stone and tell them where to dig for buried treasure. When they dug and found nothing, he would claimed that it had slipped away. There is proof of this in court documents, as well as proof that he pled guilty of fraud by using his magical stone. This idea of slipping away shows up in the Book of Mormon.

Hel. 13: 35 Yea, we have hid up our treasures and they have slipped away from us, because of the curse of the land.

One fraud after another, Joseph Smith went from buried treasure to buried golden plates. None of the farmers who employed him ever found any treasure. And the golden plates, on which was engraven the Book of Mormon, were never seen by anyone credible and they conveniently vanished after his "translation" was complete. True prophet of god, or lying fraud? I'll let you decide.

Use your brain and a little common sense tells you the real truth, Joseph's Myth is nothing but a huge lie!

A special thank you to Dr. Shades of www.mormoninformation.com/ for providing much of the information used here. Go browse his web site. He's got a lot of good information and some funny, yet ironic material as well.

Just another evil apostate...