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Book of Mormon — 5,000 Changes

Criticism of the Bible

One of the chief criticisms of the Bible that Mormons, Muslims and Atheists join hands in, is the belief that errors have crept into the text over time.

• However, the Bible has been meticulously copied and translated for centuries. There are tens of thousands of extant ancient manuscripts and fragments, some 2,700-years-old. The Dead Sea Scrolls discovery has reinforced that the textual transmission has been highly dependable.
• While some minor copyist errors have occurred during this process, such as misspellings or omissions, these are easily detected by cross-referencing the vast wealth of manuscripts.
• Biblical scholarship and textual criticism view the diversity and antiquity of the biblical manuscripts as a strength. Rather than point to any ancient biblical text, the LDS church says that the differences among modern English translations is proof of textual corruption.

As the Bible was compiled, organized, translated, and transcribed, many errors entered the text. The existence of such errors becomes apparent when one considers the numerous and often conflicting translations of the Bible in existence today.
	— Gospel Topics "Bible, Inerrancy of" lds.org

• The burden of proof lies with the critic to demonstrate how any errors or variations in the biblical texts have resulted in corrupt or altered doctrine.
• If the LDS church holds that technical copying errors result in inaccurate messaging, then that same standard should also apply to their Book of Mormon.

Changes in the Book of Mormon

Since its first printing in 1830, the Book of Moron has undergone thousands of changes.

• Royal Skousen, a BYU linguistics professor and expert of the textual history of the Book of Mormon, identified 5,280 variations in all its editions.

• Source: The Book of Mormon, The Earliest Text, Royal Skousen

• Jerald and Sandra Tanner of the Utah Lighthouse Ministry identified nearly 4,000 changes between the 1830 and 1964 editions.

• Source: 3,913 Changes in the Book of Mormon, Jerald and Sandra Tanner

Doctrinal Changes

A selection of doctrinal changes in the Book of Mormon.

• Godhead
  Changes were made to the Book of Mormon after Joseph Smith evolved his doctrine from Monotheism to Polytheism.

	1830 Original Edition	1837, Forward
1 Nephi 11:18	And he said unto me, Behold, the virgin which thou seest, is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh.	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.
1 Nephi 11:21	And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father!	And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!
1 Nephi 11:32	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 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.
1 Nephi 13:40	That the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Savior of the world.	That the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world.

• Racism
  The church made changes to the Book of Mormon to soften its racism.

	1920	1981	2013
2 Nephi, Ch. 5	The rebellious cursed with a dark skin.	The Lamanites are cursed, receive a skin of blackness, and become a scourge unto the Nephites.	The Lamanites are cut off from the presence of the Lord, are cursed, receive a skin of blackness, and become a scourge unto the Nephites.
Mormon, Ch. 5		The Lamanites shall be a dark, filthy, and loathsome people.	The Lamanites shall be a dark, filthy, and loathsome people will be scattered, and the Spirit will cease to strive with them.

• Alterable Decrees
  In 1835, Joseph altered his original revelations published in the 1833 Book of Commandments. His evolving doctrines necessitated altering the Book of Mormon’s teaching that God’s decrees are unalterable.

	1830 Original Edition	1837 edition until 1981
Alma 29:4	I had not ought to harrow up in my desires, the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desires, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills; whether it be unto salvation or unto destruction.	I had ought not to harrow up in my desires, the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills; whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction

Correcting Errors

A selection of changes correcting the human origins of the Book of Mormon.

• Christ named too soon
• The name of Christ is first revealed in 2 Nephi 10:3

Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ—for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name.
	— 2 Nephi 10:3

• Consequently, back in 1 Nephi 12:18, ‘Jesus Christ’ had to be replaced with ‘Messiah’.

	1830 Original Edition	1837, forward
1 Nephi 12:18	Yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and Jesus Christ, which is the Lamb of God.	Yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and Jesus Christ the Messiah, who is the Lamb of God.

• King Benjamin alive after being dead
  Mosiah 6:5 records King Benjamin’s death. Later in the original, the author forgot that king Benjamin had died, which necessitated replacing him with another King.

	1830 Original Edition	1837, forward
Mosiah 21:28	King Benjamin had a gift from God.	King Benjamin Mosiah had a gift from God.
Ether 4:1	And for this cause did king Benjamin keep them	And for this cause did king Benjamin *Mosiah keep them altered in 1879

Conclusion

• 72% of the original Book of Mormon handwritten manuscript, which was dictated by Joseph Smith, was destroyed.
• A handwritten copy, prepared for the original 1830 printing, referred to as the ‘Printer’s Manuscript’ survives. The LDS church acquired it in 2017 from the RLDS church (Community of Christ) for a reported $35 million.
• Six Mormon denominations have published their own editions of the Book of Mormon, including one version which even omits the numerous ‘and it came to pass’.
• The LDS church has translated and published the Book of Mormon in over 80 languages.
• There are over 30 English Book of Mormon editions and versions alone.

In the nearly 200 years since its first printing, the same types of transmission errors found in the Bible are also present in the Book of Mormon—and the vast majority of them do not change the message of either book. Therefore, any blanket statement by the LDS church casting doubt on the Bible over the same issues in the Book of Mormon is dishonest.

• Where a variation is significant to change the meaning of a text, the burden is on the skeptic to demonstrate it.
• The handbook presents above a selection of significant changes in the Book of Mormon.

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