Mormons: If your doctrine has not been altered, how do you explain this change in the Book of Mormon?

Question

1830 Book Of Mormon:
And he said unto me, Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of God,after the manner of the flesh.*
http://www.irr.org/mit/1830bom-cs-p25a.html

1837 Book of Mormon:
And he said unto me, Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother OF THE SON of God. (1 Nephi 11:18)

They are telling me their doctrine does not change and I am saying it does.

Answer 1

The changes you state are very minor and in now way changes any doctrine. Joseph Smith, the trasnaltro of the Book of Mormon, autorized the change. Since he is the one who published the book in the first place, he has the ability to clarify the slight change as needed.

Answer 2

This was not doctrine. There were many other places in the Book of Mormon, 1830 edition, that matched more the revised verse, than the original. Joseph Smith made the change, in order for that ONE verse to match up with the rest of the Book of Mormon.

Therefore, our belief that Jesus is the SON of God has never changed.

Answer 3

It says on the title page of the book of mormon:

"And now if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ."

I can testify to you that the original gold plates that Joseph Smith unearthed contained the words "Son of" in that particular scripture of which you speak. The plates were translated through the power of God. Joseph Smith would see the translation through the seer stones which came with the plates, and read it off to his scribe. They translated at a rate of about 10 pages per day.

You should keep in mind that these are hardly literate farm workers translating. It took several teams of victorian era scholars an entire day to translate one page of the bible.

Joseph Smith would read captions off to his scribe at a rate that was probably similar to normal reading speed, and he was expected to write it as Joseph spoke. I suspect that this is where most of the errors occured.

Whatever the reason for the errors was, they were corrected by revelation through the prophet Joseph Smith.

So basically to answer your question, there was no change in doctrine, but an error was made by some man which was later corrected by the power of God through the prophet Joseph Smith.

Answer 4

I don't see a change in docterine. I see a change in three words. This does not change what we believe and what we stand for. When the Book of Mormon was being translated, simple textual errors were being copied, but were later corrected. Prophet of God or not, this man is only humnan. The value of the sentence was not changed, simply the words that are used to express it. This was done by modern day revelation through a prophet of God, which we still have on the earth today.

Answer 5

In the citations that you provided, I'm not seeing the "change in doctrine". I see the words are different, but the doctrine remains the same....Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. So are you hung up on who God is? Is God Jesus? or perhaps some other being? God is our Heavenly Father. Jesus is his only begotten Son. Jesus and God are seperate individuals, yet one in purpose and will.

But you will not hear the answer...it's as if you've already made up your mind.

Answer 6

I don't see the change in the doctrine....
"God" can be given in name for Christ or our Heavenly Father...usually in the scriptures, reference to "God" and "Lord" is Jesus Christ and other times in the scriptures, reference of "Father" or "God" (ususally when Christ is speaking) is in reference to our Heavenly Father.
You can say what ever you want. That's your choice.

Answer 7

Let me offer you a balanced view from your website source (which I also noticed was anti-JW - interesting)

from: http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg/menuitem.3933737ad2ff28132eb22a86942826a0/?vgnextoid=bbd508f54922d010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1de42f2324d98010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____

"The book of Mormon was translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith through the gift and power of God. However, minor errors entered the text during the transcription and printing processes. The Prophet Joseph Smith helped prepare several subsequent editions (1837, 1840, and 1842) to correct these errors and make clarifications. These corrections were later incorporated into the current edition of the Book of Mormon.

Oliver Cowdery transcribed the majority of the Book of Mormon while Joseph Smith translated it. He described his experience as follows: "These were days never to be forgotten—to sit under the sound of a voice dictated by the inspiration of heaven! . . . Day after day I continued, uninterrupted, to write from his mouth, as he translated" (Joseph Smith—History 1:71, footnote).

During the translation process, Joseph Smith dictated short passages that Oliver Cowdery wrote and then read back for verification. Then Joseph continued with the next passage. They did not stop the process for editorial review.

When Oliver Cowdery transcribed the translation of the Book of Mormon, spelling was not standardized. In the late 1820s, several dictionaries were in circulation, but they contained variations in the spelling of many words. Oliver wrote what he heard, and many words, such as Nephite and Lamanite names, were unfamiliar to him.

In 1829, the printer's manuscript (Oliver Cowdery's handwritten copy of the original manuscript) was taken to publisher E. B. Grandin for typesetting and printing. Errors were introduced into the text during the typesetting process. For example, the phrase "yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable" found in Alma 29:4 of the current edition was mistakenly left out by the typesetter of the first edition. Grandin's typesetter, John H. Gilbert, read and punctuated the manuscript, adding between 30,000 and 35,000 punctuation marks. Oliver Cowdery's handwriting may have presented additional challenges to the typesetter; records indicate, for example, that Oliver's Rs and Ns may have been difficult to distinguish.

In March 1830, the first edition of the Book of Mormon was completed. The Prophet Joseph Smith helped prepare several subsequent editions (1837, 1840, 1842) to correct errors and make clarifications. For example, the word "robber" in today's edition of Helaman 3:23 was printed as "nobler" in the 1830 edition. The first English edition published in Europe was based on the 1837 edition and therefore did not include corrections made by the Prophet Joseph Smith for the 1840 and 1842 editions. Later editions published in the United States were based on the 1837 European edition, so some earlier errors were perpetuated.

In 1879, President John Taylor assigned Orson Pratt, an Apostle, to prepare a new edition, which included a re-division of the chapters and the addition of the verse numbers and references. In 1920, President Heber J. Grant asked James E. Talmage, also an Apostle, to prepare a new edition, which included double columns, revised references, a pronunciation guide, an index, and grammatical corrections. In 1981, the Church produced the edition most familiar to Church members today. The 1981 edition included the changes made by the Prophet Joseph Smith to the 1840 and 1842 editions. It also provided chapter summaries, revised introductory materials, revised footnotes, and other reference materials designed to improve study.

Considering the conditions under which early editions of Book of Mormon were printed, it is easy to understand how errors entered the text. The purpose for changes, in every case, has been to return to the wording intended by the Prophet Joseph Smith, as indicated by available evidence."


I've noticed the sort of websites you've been favoring lately, don't forget to look for balance - thanks

Answer 8

Its a living breathing document that changes constantly. Ie. polygamy was something God told them to do in their bible and then suddenly its not ok when they are told to drop it or no statehood for Utah.

Answer 9

The Book of Mormon is the most correct book. Why do you think we are told to read it every day? I love to read it more than the Bible.

Answer 10

The glasses got foggy alot.