Posted on 07/01/2013 6:16:37 AM PDT by Colofornian
Although Joseph Smith said God had pronounced the completed translation of the plates as published in 1830 correct, many changes were made in later editions. There are at least 3,913 changes, and not all of them minor or merely grammatical. The LDS Church suggests that the changes are unimportant, but actual examination does not bear this out, especially when one considers that the Golden Plates were supposedly translated letter-by-letter by the power of God (H. of C. 1, pp. 54-55). Spelling or grammatical errors are one thing, but changes in doctrine and errors in consistency and common sense are quite another.
Doctrine
1) Title page: 1830: "by Joseph Smith, Jr., author and proprietor."
Today: "translated by Joseph Smith, Jr."
2) First Book of Nephi, p. 25, 1830: "Behold, the virgin which thou seest, is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh."
Today: 1 Nephi 11: 18: "is the mother of the Son of God."
3) First Book of Nephi, p. 25, 1830: "behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father!"
Today: 1 Nephi 11:21: "yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!"
4) Second Book of Nephi, p. 117, 1830: "and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and delightsome people."
Today: 2 Nephi 30:6: "and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and delightsome people."
5) Book of Alma, p. 303, 1830: "yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable according to their wills."
1950: Alma 29:4: "yea, I know that he allotteth unto men according to their wills."
Today: Alma 29:4: "yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable according to their wills."
6) Book of Alma p. 315, 1830: "But behold, as the seed swelleth and sprouteth and beginneth to grow, and then ye must needs say, That seed is good; for behold, it swelleth and sprouteth and beginneth to grow."
Today: Alma 32:30: "But behold, as the seed swelleth and sprouteth and beginneth to grow, and then ye must needs say, That seed is good; for behold, it swelleth and sprouteth and beginneth to grow. And now behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say that I know that this is a good seed; for behold, it sprouteth and beginneth to grow."
Consistency
1) Book of Mosiah, p. 200, 1830: "on learning from the mouth of Ammon that king Benjamin had a gift from God."
Today: Mosiah 21:28: "on learning from the mouth of Ammon that king Mosiah had a gift from God."
2) Book of Mosiah, p. 214, 1830: "My soul was wrecked with eternal torment."
Today: Mosiah 27:29: "My soul was racked with eternal torment."
3) Book of Alma, p. 278, 1830: "the multitude beheld that the man had fell dead." (Also p. 310)
Today: Alma 19:24: "the multitude beheld that the man had fallen dead."
4) Book of Alma, p. 388; 1830: "For behold, Ammon had sent to their support."
Today: Alma 57:17: "For behold, Ammoron had sent to their support."
Now, was it the Lord or Joseph Smith who could not spell, keep doctrine and characters straight. And who was it that even had serious problems with grammar and logic? There are even more strange things such as the following:
1) Jacob 7:27: "and to the reader I bid farewell, hoping that many of my brethren may read my words. Brethren, adieu." (What is a French word doing in a document supposedly written by a Hebrew in Egyptian living in America around 421 B.C.?)
2) Helaman 9:6: "when the judge had been murdered, he being stabbed by his brother by a garb of secrecy" (How can one be stabbed by a garb (garment)?)
3) Alma 13: 1: "my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord God gave these commandments unto his children." (How can you ‘cite’ someone’s mind ‘forward’ to something that happened in the past?)
4) Alma 24:19: "they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war for peace." (What is a ‘weapon of peace’, and can it be the same as a weapon of war?)
5) Alma 43:38: "they being shielded from the more vital parts of the body." (How does one shield oneself from the vital parts of one’s own body?)
6) Ether 15:31: "And it came to pass that after he had smitten off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised up on his hands and fell; and after that he struggled for breath, he died." (Impossible)
The sad thing is even after so many revisions it’s still chock full of inconsistencies and anachronisms.
Probably had to keep up with the changes when new “prophesies” were needed. Then too, grammar. And if they took out all those “and it came to pass” and “in the fullness of time” statements you’d have something the size of a pamphlet.
Hmmm. Because the tablets didn’t utilize retinal display???
I think South Park covered it.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s07e12-all-about-mormons
The slurs are hurled by Mormons when they get backed into a corner on their theology and their only rejoinder is to lash out incoherently .
You should read Mark Twain’s commentary on the Book of Mormon.
I’m no Mormon apologist as I believe it is a false religion; however, this article comes from a site called “Hebrew Translation”. How do we know this site is not biased? Did these doctrinal changes in their “bible” actually happen? What do the Mormons say?
Most of us don’t care what practicing Mormons believe as long as they don’t under pain of death make all of us live under their rules, cut off the heads of Christians, Jews or make our wives and daughters wear black sheets from head to toe.
1) Is Islam another gospel? Yep
2) Is Gabriel an Angel? Yep
3) Can an Angel of God (not a fallen Angel) lie? Nope.
Answer is NO.
Paul is supposing an impossible case...with a metaphor. He is basically saying: It doesn't matter WHO it is...if they teach something contrary to THIS Gospel...let them be devoted to the direst of woes.
There are some of us who care about the condition of a persons eternal soul, and consider that issue important.
Now there's something that I did not know. I learned something new today!
BoM has changed because there is no foundation from which to build
I get kind of tired of this constant hand ringing about Mormons. They seem to be peace loving people with great family values....do I agree with their religion...no....do they have a right to believe what they want...yes...when they start beheading innocents I will get worried , until then I don’t have a problem one with them!!!!
Lou brings up a very good point - Biblical manuscripts exist from with to make Biblical translation corrections. Without the "golden plates", no such pre-translated manuscript is available for the BoM. Any corrections to the original BoM translation must therefore made up out of whole cloth.
I get kind of tired of this occasional hand ringing about those who challenge Mormonism. They seem to be peace loving people with great family values....do they have a right to believe what they want?...yes...
Therefore, you don’t have a problem with those who challenge Mormonism...do you?
I found the tablets when I was putzing around in my garden. I’m in the process of retranslating them, with the help of my seer stones and a top hat. So far, the biggest surprise was one verse that said “DRINK MORE OVALTINE”.
So if I wrote my own translation of the Bible, you would accept it? Yes? No? Whenever men rewrite the Bible, they introduce changes in the meaning and impact, whether it is intentional or not. Why so many variations / translations if not for the reason that some men think they can improve upon the original words or they believe that the original is not socially correct for modern times?
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