jonw@tekmdp.UUCP (Jonathan White) (09/16/83)
In a recent article, I innocently mentioned:
By the way, a recent study by Jerald and Sandra Tanner has revealed at least
3,913 changes to the Book of Mormon since it was first published. Can this
be the same volume that Joseph Smith declared as being the "most correct of
any book on Earth"?
Apparently, this did not sit well with Russ, who complained:
Jon, why do you keep harping on a point that has absolutely no meaning?
I think that this point has a lot of meaning. If the Book of Mormon were
really the inspired word of God, then I seriously doubt that any Mormon would
dare change it. According to Joseph Smith's own testimony, there should have
been absolutely no reason to alter the Book of Mormon:
"We heard a voice from out of the bright light above us, saying, `These
plates...have been translated by the power of God. THE TRANSLATION OF
THEM WHICH YOU HAVE SEEN IS CORRECT..." [emphasis mine]
(History of the Church, vol. 1, pp. 54-55)
Note that in the above quote, God (or whoever) said that not only did Joseph
Smith get the translation right, but SO DID THE SCRIBE who copied down Smith's
words. So who is left to blame? You guessed it, the printer!
The Book of Mormon was dictated by Joseph Smith and written down by Oliver
Cowdery and others. There was no punctuation and the whole thing was
initially written as one long sentence. The printer put the punctuation in
and he made many errors. Also errors were made in hearing the word and
writing down the wrong word because of similar sounds.
I have already shown that God has contradicted Russ in his assertion that the
scribes introduced errors. And now I will quote Mormon historian B.H. Roberts
to show that Russ is also incorrect about the printer introducing errors:
"Such is the nature of the errors in question, and so interwoven are they
throughout the diction of the book, that they may not be disposed of by
saying they result from inefficient proof-reading or referring them to the
mischievous disposition of the `typos,' or the unfriendliness of the
publishing house...Indeed, the first edition of the Book of Mormon is
singularly free of typographical errors." (A New Witness for Christ in
America, The Book of Mormon pp. 200-01)
I would also like to take this opportunity to expose another popular Mormon
claim that Russ makes:
But nowhere has there been a doctrinal
change made in the Book of Mormon. Changes would only be significant if they
were an attempt to upgrade the text to bring it in line with modern thinking.
It just so happens that the current Mormon doctrine of God teaches that there
is really a plurality of Gods. But the founders of Mormonism apparently had
no such doctrine in mind when the put together the Book of Mormon. This
change in doctrine accounts for the following alteration to 1 Nephi 13:40:
1830 edition Modern edition
------------ --------------
"And the angel spake unto me, saying: "And the angel spake unto me, saying:
These last records shall make known These last records shall make known
to all kindreds, tongues, and people, to all kindreds, tongues, and people,
that the Lamb of God is the Eternal that the Lamb of God is THE SON OF
Father and the Saviour of the the Eternal Father and the Saviour of
world..." the world..."
Similar changes to the above were made to 1 Nephi 11:18-21 and 1 Nephi 11:32.
Another interesting change was made to avoid an embarrassing internal
contradiction. In Mosiah 21:28, a reference to "king Benjamin" was changed
to "king Mosiah" because from a chronology earlier in the book, it appeared
that king Benjamin should have been dead at that time.
However, the most telling change to the Book of Mormon occurs on the title page
and in "The Testimony of Eight Witnesses." In both places in the 1830 edition,
Joseph Smith was referred to as the "author and proprietor," whereas the
modern edition merely gives him credit for being the "translator."
When Joseph says the the Book of Mormon is the most correct book on the
Earth, he is making a comparison with other books...he was referring to the
concepts and ideas, that they would stand the test of time, as well they
have. Even now the quibbling is not over the text of the Book of Mormon,
but in how it come to be produced.
Oh, indeed? You should go back and re-read some of my past articles. There
are many severe problems with the content of the Book of Mormon that your
puny, selective "proofs" do not begin to make up for. Why has not one shred
of archeological evidence been found to support the book? Why do many phrases
from the New Testament (written after 34 A.D.) show up in a document that was
written by people that lost contact with the Middle East after 600 B.C.?
Likewise, why are many passages plagiarized from the Old Testament books that
were written after 600 B.C.? Why is the book so concerned with all the great
19th century theological controversies (infant baptism, ordination, the
trinity, who may baptize, free masonry, the call to the ministry, etc.)?
Why does the book borrow from "The Westminster Confession and Catechisms,"
which was written in 1729? Why do Greek words such as Timothy, Jonas, Alpha,
and Omega appear in the book when the Nephites could not have possibly had any
contact with Greek culture? And why on earth would the Nephites (people of
Hebrew descent who should have hated the Egyptians) choose to keep their
records in "reformed Egyptian"?
The answer to these questions can only be that the Book of Mormon is a 19th
century fabrication.
Jon White
Tektronix
Aloha, Ore