It appears I need to follow my own advice.
Punctuation was included in the original printings. It was not included in the original manuscript.
I was wrong. You have my apologies, Greg.
As to the substance: The idea that thousands of changes were made to the Book of Mormon is a common accusation of our detractors, who portray this fact as being demonstrative of the LDS Church’s somehow covering up original material, or admitting error, or some such thing.
It must be remembered that, while the Book of Mormon is the word of God, its printing was still the work of men; and there are other various circumstances that explain the many changes made since the original edition, such as a printer that wasn’t particularly friendly to the early Church, and therefore wasn’t keen on fixing many errors.
For a full treatment of this topic, and explanations for the changes cited, the following is an excellent resource:
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_changes.shtml
The fact remains, that the changes made to the Book of Mormon have generally been very minor, and have been made with an eye toward reflecting more closely the text of the -original- manuscript and improving readability.
The changes made have been anything but conspiratorial.
It does strike me that those who try to use this factoid to condemn the LDS Church simultaneously ignore the extended evolutionary process undergone by the Bible. Another double standard applied to Mormonism? Perhaps.
[1830 Edition
1837 Edition]
1 Ne. 11:19
the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh
1 Ne. 11:19
the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.
1 Ne. 11:21
Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father!
1 Ne. 11:21
Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!
1 Ne. 11:32
[the Lamb of God] was taken by the people; yea, the everlasting God was judged of the world.
1 Ne. 11:32
[the Lamb of God] was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world.
1 Ne. 13:40
[these records] shall make known to all … that the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world.
1 Ne. 13:40
[these records] shall make known to all … that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world.
The original text of Mosiah 21:28 reads: "And now Limhi was again filled with joy, on learning from the mouth of Ammon that king Benjamin had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings; yea, and Ammon also did rejoice."
The problem, of course, is that king Benjamin was dead by this time (Mosiah 6:5). This reference was changed to 'Mosiah' in the 1837 and subsequent editions. However, it appears that this was not the only place where such a change was made. The original text of Ether 4:1 reads: "...and for this cause did king Benjamin keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ shew himself unto his people."
Again, Benjamin was changed to "Mosiah" in subsequent editions. The fact that there are two such changes leads one to speculate that Joseph Smith may possibly have had a slightly different course in mind for the life of King Benjamin and had perhaps killed off Benjamin prematurely while rewriting the lost 116 pages of the Book of Mormon.
The original text of I Nephi 12:18 reads: "...yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and Jesus Christ, which is the Lamb of God..."
The problem here is that the name 'Jesus Christ' was not revealed to the Nephites until II 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--should come among the Jews..."
In order to correct this contradiction, the text of I Nephi 12:18 was changed to read 'Messiah' instead of 'Jesus Christ'. How does the church explain that?
The original text of I Nephi 20:1 reads: "Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel; yet they swear not in truth, nor righteousness."
In 1840 this verse was changed to read:
"Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism , who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness."
The phrase "or out of the waters of baptism" was inserted in the 1840 edition. Why did it take God ten years to decide to introduce the ordinance of baptism into Old Testament text?
The original text of II Nephi 16:2 reads:
"Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly."
This is a quotation from the King James Version of the Bible, specifically Isaiah 6:2. In a rare grammatical mistake, the KJV has an incorrect plural for 'seraph'. The correct plural, of course, should be 'seraphim', as the later text of II Nephi 16:2 reads. How does one explain that Joseph Smith would make the same exact spelling error in the BofM "translation" that the writers of the KJV of the Bible made centuries before?
These are not simple punctutation errors or changes and they are but a small inkling of the fraud throughout the part of B of M.
“The fact remains, that the changes made to the Book of Mormon have generally been very minor, and have been made with an eye toward reflecting more closely the text of the -original- manuscript and improving readability.”
You do realized that it is impossible to actually see the
original??? Assuming there actually were golden plates,
which is a huge assumption, no one can compare.
best,
ampu