Topical Guide/Book of Mormon/Textual Issues/Changes in the Book of Mormon
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Book of Mormon textual changes
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- "the Son of" added to 1 Nephi 11:18, 1 Nephi 11:21, 1 Nephi 11:32, and 1 Nephi 13:40—
Critics charge that the earliest edition of the Book of Mormon referred to Jesus as "God," but in later editions this was changed to "the Son of God." They cite this as evidence that Joseph Smith changed the Book of Mormon to conform to his changing beliefs about the Trinity. They claim Joseph was originally a solid Trinitarian (perhaps even a Modalist), and as he later began to teach that the Father and Son were two separate beings, he had to change the Book of Mormon to support his new doctrine. (Link) - "or out of the waters of baptism" added to 1 Nephi 20:1—
The phrase "or out of the waters of baptism" was added to 1 Nephi 20:1 in the 1840 edition Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith. (Link) - "white" changed to "pure" in 2 Nephi 30:6—
The phrase "white and delightsome" was changed to "pure and delightsome" in the Book of Mormon. Critics accuse the Church of attempting to hide a racially offensive statement. (Link) - "Benjamin" changed to "Mosiah" in Mosiah 21:28 and Ether 4:1—
In the text currently found in Mosiah 21:28 of the Book of Mormon, the 1830 edition reads "Benjamin", while all subsequent editions read "Mosiah." Likewise, a reference to Benjamin in what is now Ether 4:1 was changed to "Mosiah" in 1849. Critics claim that "either God made a mistake when He inspired the record or Joseph made a mistake when he translated it." (Link) - "Words missing in Alma 32:30"—
Thirty-five words at the end of Alma 32:30 in the original manuscript were omitted from previous editions of the Book of Mormon. The text was restored in the 1981 edition of the Book of Mormon. (Link)
FAIR Articles
- FAIR Topical Guide: Changes in the Book of Mormon FAIR link
