Book of Mormon textual changes

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Authorship	Book of Mormon Joseph Smith listed as author and proprietor Spalding theory View of the Hebrews theory Late War theory Golden Pot theory Sidney Rigdon theory Mushrooms and entheogenics theory Creative fiction theories Possible 19th Century influences on Book of Mormon Theory of Book of Mormon place names from area around Joseph Smith's home Theory of Book of Mormon place names from Comoros Islands Understanding accusations of plagiarism
Translation process	Seer stones and the Urim and Thummim Gold plates and the translation process Artistic depictions of the translation Joseph Smith and the translation process
Gold plates	Weight and size Plates too heavy to run? Engravings and sealed portion Stone box where the gold plates were deposited Attempts to steal the gold plates from Joseph Smith Gold plates and the translation process Metal plates in ancient Israel
Witnesses	Eleven official witnesses Statement of the Three Witnesses Oliver Cowdery David Whitmer Martin Harris Statement of the Eight Witnesses Christian Whitmer Jacob Whitmer Peter Whitmer Jr. John Whitmer Hiram Page Joseph Smith Sr. Hyrum Smith Samuel Smith Other witnesses to the Book of Mormon
The Bible and the Book of Mormon	Bible passages in the Book of Mormon The New Testament and the Book of Mormon KJV italicized text in the Book of Mormon KJV translation errors in the Book of Mormon Joseph Smith Translation and the Book of Mormon The Apocrypha and the Book of Mormon Isaiah and the Book of Mormon The documentary hypothesis and the Book of Mormon
Language and the Book of Mormon	Hebraisms Chiasmus Names in the Book of Mormon Hebrew and Native American languages Reformed Egyptian and the Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon as an ancient text
Geography	Church statements on Book of Mormon geography Evaluating Book of Mormon geography theories Old world geography in the Book of Mormon Lehi's journey in the Old World Possible locations for the Valley of Lemuel Possible locations for Shazer Possible locations for Nahom Possible locations for Nephi's Bountiful The Hill Cumorah Mesoamerican Model Hemispheric Geography Model Great Lakes Model Heartland Model Hoaxes related to Book of Mormon geography claims Geographical issues related to DNA and the Book of Mormon
DNA	DNA and the Book of Mormon Identifying ancient DNA related to Book of Mormon people Geographical issues related to DNA and the Book of Mormon
Anachronisms	Anachronism overview Biblical texts Horses Elephants Other animals Synagogues and churches Climate Metals and materials Metal plates in ancient Israel Plants Objects and artifacts
Doctrine and teachings	Moroni's promise The fulness of the gospel The Book of Mormon as the most correct book The nature of God Name of Jesus Christ Virgin birth of Jesus Christ Jesus Christ bled from every pore The Holy Ghost Baptism Priesthood authority Temples The Book of Mormon as the Stick of Ephraim Plural marriage Freemasonry Nephite burnt offerings The great and abominable church The tree of life Baptism before or after remission of sins One versus multiple creators
Lamanites	Identity of the Lamanites Native Americans and the Lamanites Relationship of the Maya and the Olmec to the Lamanites and the Jaredites Polynesians and the Lamanites The Lamanite curse Wrath of God on the Lamanites
Other	Population and demographics The Nephite calendar Biblical archaeology compared to the Book of Mormon Thomas Stuart Ferguson and Mormon archaeology Attempt to sell the Book of Mormon copyright in Canada Textual changes The Book of Mormon as history Legal codes in the Book of Mormon Lehi's ancestry and place of residence Three days of darkness The killing of Laban Human sacrifice Warfare in the Book of Mormon Events in Ether The death of Shiz

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• Book of Mormon/Textual changes/Why were these changes made
• Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"the Son of"
• Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"white" changed to "pure"
• Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"Benjamin" changed to "Mosiah"
• Book of Mormon/Textual changes/"Words missing in Alma 32:30"

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

Jump to details:

• 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?
• Ensign, "Great and Marvelous Are the Revelations of God"
• Royal Skousen, "Do We Need to Make Changes to the Book of Mormon Text?"

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

Jump to details:

• Question: What changes were made to the 1837 edition of the Book of Mormon?
• Question: Why did Joseph Smith make changes to the Book of Mormon such as modifying "God" to read "the Son of God"?
• Question: Why did Joseph Smith change the wording in Mormon 7:7 from "is one God" to "are one God"?
• Question: Were any of these changes made in reaction to sectarian criticism?

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

Jump to details:

• Question: Why was the phrase "white and delightsome" changed to "pure and delightsome" in the 1840 edition of the Book of Mormon?
• Royal Skousen, "Changes in the Book of Mormon"
• Royal Skousen, "Restoring the Original Text of the Book of Mormon"

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

Jump to details:

• Question: When and where was the name "Benjamin" changed to "Mosiah" in the Book of Mormon?
• Question: Does the Book of Mormon contain mistakes?
• Question: What does the Book of Mormon actually say about the finding of the record of the Jaredites, and the name of the king who could translate it?
• L. Ara Norwood, "Benjamin or Mosiah? Resolving an Anomaly in Mosiah 21:28"

Words missing in Alma 32:30

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• Question: Why were 35 words at the end of Alma 32:30 in the original manuscript omitted from early editions of the Book of Mormon?

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Source(s) of the criticism:

Critical sources

Contender Ministries, Questions All Mormons Should Ask Themselves. Answers John Dehlin, "Why People Leave the LDS Church," (2008). Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Revised) (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1997), 202-203. ( Index of claims ) Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism (Moody Press, 1979), 128–129, 131, 183.( Index of claims ) Tower to Truth Ministries, "50 Questions to Ask Mormons," towertotruth.net (accessed 15 November 2007). 50 Answers Watchman Fellowship, The Watchman Expositor (Page 3) Complaints of spelling, stylistic, or grammatical faults [Letter on Mormonism, 26 July 1841,] Christian Advocate and Journal (New York) 15, no. 52 (11 August 1841). off-site “Complaints of a Mormonite,” Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate (Utica, New York) ( 5 September 1835): 285. off-site “Diabolical,” The Reflector (Palmyra, New York) new series, no. 8 (27 February 1830): 66-67. off-site “Gold Bible, No. 5,” The Reflector (Palmyra, New York) 2, no. 14 (28 February 1831): 109. off-site “The Mormons,” Religious Herald (Richmond, Virginia) (9 April 1840). off-site S. Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate (Utica, New York) new series 2, no. 6 (5 February 1831): 47. off-site Origen Bachelor, Mormonism Exposed Internally and Externally (New York: Privately Published, 1838), 9, 11–12, 14–16. off-site The author has an entire section dedicated to "barbarisms" of the "gross violations of the propriety of language" and another on supposed "modernisms." C. C. Blatchley, “Caution Against the Golden Bible,” New-York Telescope 6, no. 38 (20 February 1830): 150. off-site Alexander Campbell, “Signs of the Times,” Millennial Harbinger 5, no. 4 (April 1834): 148, note. off-site John A. Clark, “Gleanings by the Way. No. VII,” Episcopal Recorder (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 18, no. 25 (12 September 1840), n.p.. off-site Gimel, “Book of Mormon,” The Christian Watchman (Boston) 12, no. 40 (7 October 1831). off-site Josiah Priest, American Antiquities (Albany: Hoffman and White, 1833), ??. off-site G.C. Stewart, “The Book of Mormon,” The Perfectionist (Putney, Vermont) 3, no. 7 (15 May 1843): 28. off-site La Roy Sunderland, “Mormonism,” Zion’s Watchman (New York) 3, no. 9 (3 March 1838): n.p.. off-site La Roy Sunderland, “Mormonism,” Zion’s Watchman (New York) 3, no. 7 (17 February 1838). off-site Western Traveller, “Mormonism,” Christian Advocate and Journal (New York) 7, no. 30 (22 March 1833): 1. off-site S. Williams, Mormonism Exposed (1838), 6. off-site