 Changes to Latter-day Scripture
LDS Leaders Have Made Thousands of
Changes to Mormon Scriptures — Why?
Copyright © 1998 Institute for
Religious Research. All rights reserved.
Many people are unaware that over the years the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) has made thousands of changes to its
scriptures. LDS leaders have added and deleted words and tampered with previously
published revelations by writing in new material and falsely attributing it to an earlier
date. What follows are examples of some of the most significant revisions made to the Book
of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Within this article
are links to scanned images of these historical documents from the 1830s.
Changes to the Book of Mormon
According to the Mormon Church’s teaching
manual, Gospel Principles, page 53,
Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon into English through the
gift and power of God. He said that it is "the most correct of any book on earth, and
the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its
precepts, than by any other book" (History of the Church, 4:461).
Yet, the book which Joseph Smith declared was "the most correct
of any book on earth" (History of the Church, vol. 4, p. 461) has been revised
in over 3900 places. Most of these changes were made to correct embarrassing spelling and
grammatical errors (this will be examined in more detail later in this article). However,
there are numerous other changes which affect the doctrinal teachings of the Book of
Mormon.
Changes in Doctrine. Key Passages on Deity in the
original 1830 text of the Book of Mormon were changed in the 1837 edition to reflect Joseph Smith’s changing doctrine of Deity.
Joseph originally taught that Jesus and the Father were the same person and that God had
always been God, but later developed the idea that the Father and Son were separate Gods,
each with a tangible body. Smith taught that both God the Father and Jesus had been mortal
men. What follows are specific examples from the original 1830 first edition Book of
Mormon (which did not have verse divisions) compared with the altered text of recent
versions.
Original
1830 Text |
|
Current,
Altered Text |
| 1 Nephi 3, p. 25*
¾ And he said unto me, Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of God,
after the manner of the flesh *The
1830 text did not have verse divisions. |
|
1 Nephi 11:18 ¾
And he said unto me, Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of
God. |
| 1 Nephi 3, p. 25
¾ And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, even the Eternal Father! [ |
|
1 Nephi 11:21 ¾
And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, even the Son of the Eternal
Father! |
| 1 Nephi 3, p. 26 ¾
And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Everlasting God, was judged of the world. |
|
1 Nephi 11:32¾
And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of
the Everlasting God, was judged of the world. |
| 1 Nephi 3, p. 32
¾ These last records ... shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the
Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Savior of the world. |
|
1 Nephi 13:40 ¾
These last records ... shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that
the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father and the Savior of the world. |
Other Changes to the Book of Mormon. A
variety of other changes have been made that also alter the meaning of the text.
Original 1830
Text |
|
Altered Text |
| Alma 15, p. 303 ¾
yea, I know that he alloteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills |
|
Alma 29:4 ¾
yea, I know that he alloteth unto men, yea,
decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills |
| NOTE: Later
editions from at least 1840 to 1980 deleted without explanation these eight words.
LDS leaders re-inserted the omitted words into all editions since 1981. It is possible Joseph Smith deleted this portion of the verse because it
conflicted with a revelation he claimed to receive in 1831 found in Doctrine &
Covenants 56:4,5 ¾ "Wherefore I, the Lord, command and revoke, as it seemeth me
good; and all of this upon the heads of the rebellious, saith the Lord. Wherefore, I
revoke the commandment which was given unto my servants …" |
| Mosiah 9, p. 200
¾ … King Benjamin had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings
… |
|
Mosiah 21:28 ¾
… King Mosiah had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings
… |
| Ether 1, p. 546
¾ … and for this cause did King
Benjamin keep them … |
|
Ether 4:1
¾ … and for this cause did King Mosiah keep them
… NOTE: According to Book of Mormon chronology, King
Benjamin was already dead when these events took place. Apparently LDS leaders changed the
name to Mosiah to eliminate the mistake. |
| 2 Nephi 8, p. 87
¾ … and the mean man boweth
down, and the great man humbleth himself not |
|
2 Nephi 12:9 ¾
… and the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not … |
| 1 Nephi 5, p. 52
¾ … O house of Jacob, which are called out of the waters of Judah, which swear by
the name of the Lord … |
|
1 Nephi 20:1 ¾
… O house of Jacob, which are called out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism, which swear by the name of the Lord … |
| 2 Nephi 12, p. 117
¾ … and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and
a delightsome people. |
|
2 Nephi 30:6
(1840 edition) ¾ … and many generations shall not pass away among them, save
they shall be a white pure and a
delightsome people. (Later editions until 1981) ¾
… white and delightsome
(1981 to current edition) ¾ pure
and delightsome |
| NOTE: Before 1978
dark-skinned males were not allowed to hold positions of priesthood authority within the
Mormon church. Today Mormon scriptures continue to teach that dark skin is a curse from
God and a sign of His displeasure (See 1 Nephi 12:23; 2 Nephi 5:21; Alma 3:6). Brigham
Young, second president and prophet of the LDS church referred to those with dark skin as
being "cursed with a s[k]in of blackness" (Journal of Discourses,
vol. 11, p. 272). |
Grammatical, Spelling and Syntactical
Changes. As stated earlier, the Mormon church has made many changes to the
Book of Mormon in order to correct Joseph’s poor grammar and spelling. This should
not have been necessary, however, given the manner in which Joseph is supposed to have
produced this book. According to eyewitness testimony, Joseph Smith gave his scribe a
word-for-word dictation of what he read off a magical stone that he had placed in his hat.
(This seer stone would later be referred to by the Old Testament name of Urim and
Thummim.) The fact that Joseph simply dictated the words he read on the stone was supposed
to prove that the Book of Mormon came from God and not Joseph. This view was taught by
Joseph F. Smith, 6th President of the Mormon church. On Saturday, February 25,
1881, Oliver B. Huntington recorded in his journal:
I went to Provo to a quarterly Stake Conference. Heard Joseph F.
Smith describe the manner of translating the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith the Prophet
and Seer, which was as follows as near as I can recollect the substance of his
description. Joseph did not render the writing on the gold plates into the English
language in his own style of language as many people believe. But every word and every
letter was given him by the gift and power of God. So it is the work of God and not of
Joseph Smith, and it was done in this way … The Lord caused
each word spelled as it is in the book to appear on the stones in short sentences or
words, and when Joseph had uttered the sentence or word before him and the scribe had
written it properly, that sentence would disappear and another appear. And if there was a
word wrongly written or even a letter incorrect the writing on the stone would remain
there. (Journal of Oliver B. Huntington, p. 168 of typed copy at the Utah State
Historical Society)
For more details on this subject and quotes from the eyewitnesses,
see the article, Translation or Clairvoyance.
1
While the following short sampling of changes do not affect the
meaning of the text, they do reveal the human origin of the book.
Improper use of "was" in 1830
edition later changed to "were"
"… Adam and Eve, which was our first parents
…" [p. 15]
"… the bands which was upon my wrists …"
[p. 49]
"… the priests was not to depend …" [p.
193]
"… they was angry with me …" [p. 248]
"… there was no wild beasts …" [p. 460]
Improper use of "is" in the 1830
edition later changed to "are"
"… the words which is expedient …" [p.
67]
"… But great is the promises of the Lord
…" [p. 85]
"… And whoredoms is an abomination …" [p.
127]
"… here is our weapons of war …" [p. 346]
Improper use of "a" in the 1830
edition later deleted from text
"… As I was a journeying …" [p. 249]
"… he found Muloki a preaching …" [p.
284]
"… had been a preparing the minds …" [p.
358]
"… Moroni was a coming against them [p. 403]
Improper or slang word usage in 1830 edition
deleted, correct words inserted in later editions
"Behold the Scriptures are before you; if ye will arrest
them, it shall be to your own destruction." [p. 260] The word "arrest"
is now changed to "wrest" [Alma 13:20].
"… they were exceeding fraid …" [pp. 354,
392, 415]. The phrase "exceeding fraid" is now changed to "exceedingly
afraid" [Alma 47:2; 58:24; Helaman 4:3].
"… my soul was wrecked with eternal torment
…" [p. 214]. The word "wrecked" is now changed to "racked"
[Mosiah 27:29].
Changes to the Doctrine & Covenants
The Mormon scripture called the Doctrine and
Covenants is a series of revelations which Joseph Smith and other LDS prophets claimed to
receive directly from God. The first of these revelations were printed in The Book of
Commandments in the year 1833. Since that time many of these revelations have been
radically altered, with words and even whole sentences deleted. In other places later
doctrinal innovations were written back into earlier revelations to hide the glaring
contradictions that would otherwise result. In this way, events that were previously
unheard of suddenly become part of the historical record as a revelation from God.
Here are some specific examples representative of thousands of
changes:
Original 1833
Book of Commandments |
|
Current,
Altered Doctrine & Covenants |
| BC 4:2, p. 10
— and he has a gift to translate the book [of Mormon], and I have commanded him that
he shall pretend to no other gift, for I will grant him no other gift. [Harmony, Pennsylvania ¾ March 1829] |
|
D&C
5:4 — And you have a gift to translate the plates; [and this is the first gift that I bestowed upon you;]
and I have commanded that you should pretend to no other gift [until
my purpose is fulfilled in this;] for I will grant unto you no other gift [until it is finished]. Note:
The changes to this revelation were necessary for Joseph had already claimed the divine
ability to do his own translation of the Bible. Later he would claim the gift to translate
ancient Egyptian papyri. However, the evidence does not support these as authentic
translations.2 |
| BC 28:6-7, p. 60
¾ Behold this is wisdom in me, wherefore marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will
drink of the fruit of the vine with you, on the earth, and with all those whom my Father
hath given me out of the world: Wherefore lift up your hearts
and rejoice, and gird up your loins and be faithful until I come: even so. Amen.
[Harmony, Pennsylvania ¾ September 4, 1830]
|
|
D&C 27:5ff
¾ Behold this is wisdom in me, wherefore marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will
drink of the fruit of the vine with you, on the earth, and with [Moroni,
whom I have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of the
everlasting gospel…] [Harmony, Pennsylvania
¾ first part August 1830, remainder September
1830]
NOTE: At this point in the revelation over 300 words are added
regarding the restoration of the Mormon priesthood by means of divine ordination. By
making the account part of a revelation that is dated to 1830, it appears the story has
been known since then. However, it is not a part of any revelation until the 1835 edition
of the Doctrine & Covenants. Apparently Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, who were in
charge of editing the 1835 D&C, inserted this material so that the concept of the
Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods being restored and the office of high priest would
appear to have been in place from the start and would appear to have been given directly
by God. The revelation concludes with over 130 additional words, taken from the Bible
copied almost verbatim from Ephesian 6:13-17. No explanation is given for the dating
discrepancy. |
| BC 44:26, p. 92
¾ If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments; and behold, thou
shalt consecrate all thy properties, that which thou hast unto me, with a covenant and a
deed which can not be broken; and they shall be laid before the bishop of my church, and
two of the elders, such as he shall appoint and set apart for that purpose. [Kirtland, Ohio ¾ February 1831] |
|
D&C 42:29-30
¾ If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments; and behold, [thou wilt remember the poor, and] thou
shalt consecrate [of] all thy
properties [for their support] that which thou hast [to impart] unto me [them] with
a covenant and a deed which can not be broken. [And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto
me] and they shall be laid before the bishop of my
church [and his counselors], two of the elders [or high priests], such as he shall appoint [or has appointed]
and set apart for that purpose. (February 1831) |
| NOTE: By 1835 when
the D&C was printed Joseph Smith had given up on the idea of communalism. Therefore
this revelation was changed so that Mormons were no longer told by God to consecrate all
their properties, but instead the emphasis is shifted to a command to remember the poor
and give "of your property". Also, at the time the revelation was originally
given there was no office of "counselor" or "high priest" in the
Mormon church, so these also had to be added to the revelation retroactively, once again
giving the appearance these offices were there from the beginning. |
| BC 9:1, p. 22
¾ Now, behold I say unto you, that because you delivered up so many writings, which you
had power to translate, into the hands of a wicked man, you have lost them, and you also
lost your gift at the same time … [Harmony, Pennsylvania
¾ May 1829]
|
|
D&C 10:1 9:1
¾ Now, behold I say unto you, that because you delivered up so
many [those] writings, which you had power [given
unto you] to translate [by the means of the Urim and Thummim],
into the hands of a wicked man, you have lost them.(v.2) And
you also lost your gift at the same time, [and your mind became
darkened].
NOTE: There is no mention of the Old Testament Urim and Thummim in
the Book of Mormon nor is there any connection of the Urim and Thummim to the translation
of the Book of Mormon until 1833, which is four years after this revelation was supposedly
given. |
| Another example of a revelation
that has undergone hundreds of changes was first published in The Evening &
Morning Star in October 1832. The revelation was said to have been received in
November of 1831. |
|
This revelation is now D&C 68
and contains multiple references to the Melchizedek priesthood, high priests and the First
Presidency. Once again the attempt is made to write later developments into previously
given revelations to make them fit Joseph’s evolving church structure. |
Changes in the Pearl of Great Price
As with the Doctrine and Covenants, LDS leaders have
altered the revelations contained in the Pearl of Great Price.
Original
1851 Pearl of Great Price |
|
Current,
Altered Pearl of Great Price |
| PGP Moses, p. 14
— And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, amd I did eat. And again, the Lord
said unto the woman, I will greatly multiply your sorrow, and your conception.
|
|
PGP Moses 4:19-22
— And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And again, [I] the Lord [God] said unto the [serpent:
Because thou has done this thou shalt be cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of
the field; upon they belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life; And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed; and
he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the] woman, [I the Lord God
said],.I will greatly multiply [thy] your sorrow, and [thy] your conception. |
| PGP Moses, p. 16
— And the Lord said unto Cain, why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? If
you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door, and
Satan desires to have you; and except you shall hearken unto my commandments, I will
deliver you up, and it shall be unto you according to his desire. |
|
PGP Moses 5:22-31
— And the Lord said unto Cain, why are you angry
[art thou wroth]? Why is your [thy]
countenance fallen? If you do [thou doest]
well, will you not be [thou shall be]
accepted?. And if you [thou]
do[est] not well, sin lie[th] at
the door, and Satan desire[th] to have you
[thee]; and except you [thou] shall
hearken unto my commandments, I will deliver you
[thee] up, and it shall be unto you [thee]
according to his desire. [And thou shalt rule over him; For from
this time forth thou shalt be the father of his lies; thou shalt be called Perdition; for
thou wast also before the world. For from this time forth thou shalt be ...]Note: At this point there are an additional 200 words added to this passage
including Cain making a pact directly with Satan to be able to kill his brother Abel. |
| PGP JS History, p. 41
— He called me by name and said unto me, that he was a messenger sent from the
presence of God to me, and that his name was Nephi. |
|
PGP JS History, 1:33
— He called me by name and said unto me, that he was a messenger sent from the
presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni. |
| Note: All evidence
indicates this change was made after the death of Joseph Smith, and cannot be considered a
clerical error. Both the handwritten manuscripts for the History of the Church, and the
printed history in the Church newspaper Times and Seasons (of which Joseph Smith was
editor) give the visiting personage’s name as "Nephi." |
Conclusion
The historical record is clear. The Mormon Church has made thousands
of changes to its scriptures ¾ changes which raise the following questions.
- If, as the Mormon Church claims, the original revelations came
directly from God, what justifies the tampering documented above?
- How can one put faith in an organization like the Mormon Church whose
history and doctrines are built on deception, fabrication and deliberate alteration of the
very writings they claim are divine scripture?
¾ Joel B. Groat
Free Book
Offer
 For a
limited time the publisher is offering, to members of the LDS Church, a free copy of the
research tool titled Where Does It Say That? It provides photographic duplications
of key LDS sources that are often difficult to obtain. These sources document the LDS
church’s teaching on various issues including: Adam-God, polygamy, the First Vision,
and blood atonement. Please include $2 for postage and handling to US addresses. For
addresses outside the US, include $3. Send your request to:
Institute for Religious Research
Dept. MIT
1340 Monroe Ave. N.W.
Grand Rapids, MI 49505
Those who are not members of the LDS Church may order
the book from the Institute for Religious Research for the price of $5.95, plus $2 for
postage and handling.
Notes
1 Later
Mormon leaders including General Authority Brigham H. Roberts, expressed a strong
desire to abandon the idea that Joseph received the text of the Book of Mormon directly
from God. Elder Roberts reasoned that such a view made God responsible for the grammatical
and spelling errors and would hinder people from accepting Joseph Smith and the Book of
Mormon as divinely inspired. Roberts wrote:
That old theory cannot be successfully maintained; that is
the Urim and Thummim did the translating, the Prophet, nothing beyond repeating what he
saw reflected in that instrument; that God directly or indirectly is responsible for the
verbal and grammatical errors of translation. To advance such a theory before intelligent
and educated people is to unnecessarily invite ridicule, and make of those who advocate it
candidates for contempt. …
It is no use resisting the matter. The old theory must be
abandoned. It could only come into existence and remain so long and now be clung to by
some so tenaciously because our fathers and our people in the past and now were and are
uncritical" (B.H. Roberts, Defense of the Faith, pp. 307, 308 – cited in Mormonism
Shadow orReality, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, p. 90). [Return to text of article]
The new theory proposed by Roberts, and still popular
today, is that God only gave Joseph the ideas and concepts for the Book of Mormon. These
Joseph recorded in his own grammatically poor language and style. With this new theory,
LDS leaders justified themselves in making thousands of word changes designed to enhance
the quality and credibility of the Book of Mormon.[Return to
text of article]
A serious problem with the theory of Joseph receiving only
inspired ideas and concepts and then rendering them into his own words after much study
and contemplation, is that there is no historical evidence to support it. It is a theory
born of necessity in the minds of LDS leaders decades after the fact. Compare this with
the word-for-word dictation method which has extensive testimony from those who were
closest to Joseph personally and present during the act of dictating the Book of Mormon.
Today the Mormon Church gives potential converts a copy of
a corrected and grammatically sanitized Book of Mormon but still points to Joseph
Smith’s lack of education as evidence for its divine origin. What is implied is that
Joseph could not have produced such a book without divine aid. What they do not say is
that Joseph’s poor grammar, so evident in the first edition, is now masked by
thousands of changes and corrections made by later LDS leaders. As a result, today we do
not have the Book of Mormon as it came from the hand of Joseph Smith, but rather a heavily
edited version as it has come through the hands of LDS church
leaders. [Return to text of
article]
2 For details on Joseph’s
false revisions to the King James Bible request, Joseph Smith’s Inspired
Translation in Light of the Greek New Testament, from Institute for Religious
Research, 1340 Monroe Ave. NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49505. [Return to text of article]
|
