if the book of mormon is perfect, why the changes over the years?

Question

even if to only correct grammatical errors? let's not even get into why WHOLE WORDS have been changed.

If it has been proven and the church admits that ol' joe stared into a hat and dictated the letters one by one to do the translation using his seer stone then how can misspellings occur? Dictating letter by letter is HARD to screw up if the source is the LORD himself and the LORD himself is assisting in his translation/dictation of the most perfect text in the history of mankind.

i never said the bible was perfect either, answer the question...

the following comes from FARMS, might I add a church sanctioned entity.

"will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph would put the seer stone into a hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to Brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another with the interpretation would appear. Thus the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and not by any power of man."
-- ref: (David Whitmer, An Address to All Believers in Christ)

Again, I ask; how do these errors occur when translating this way?

Answer 1

do you mean how the Bible could never contain any mistakes... Yet now we have people arguing over NIV vs KJV 1611.

If you were to research some of the history of Mormons rather than going to an anti Mormon site to spread your propaganda you would realize most of the changes were made by Smith before his death. You would also realize that Smith never claimed to be perfect. It was after a lot of reflection that he made these changes.

Answer 2

First, no one, not even Joseph Smith, ever claimed that the Book of Mormon is perfect, or was. He said it was the most CORRECT book, in that it's teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ are the most correct. But never perfect.

It has NOT been proven, nor has the church admitted that Joseph Smith stared into a hat, dictated letters one by one, etc. NO one knows how exactly he did it, since he was always behind a sheet. Since he only had about two months to get it done, that was hardly enough time to spell out each word letter by letter. And the Lord will NOT interfere in anyone's free agency. God can't force any man to be perfect, or to do anything perfectly.

That's why Joseph Smith made corrections after the first printing.

Answer 3

Yes, the Book of Mormon is the word of God and was translated through his power.

The reason there were errors is very simple. Joseph used the Urim and Thummim to translate it. He didn't write the translation. He was dictating to another person (mostly Oliver Cowdery). Thus, it is very reasonable to expect grammatical errors, since it was written by hand by an imperfect human. Then, let's not forget, it was taken to a printing press for printing. Tell me how many books have you seen from a printing press that have zero mistakes? It's very plausible that there were mistakes made as the type for the press was set.

Oh, and by the way. For all that like to make fun of Joseph's translating by saying he used a hat to translate. Please read your bible. There are many references in the bible to the Urim and Thummim.

Here are just a few for you to look up (in the King James Version):
Exodus 28: 30
Leviticus 8: 8
Deuteronomy 33: 8
Ezra 2: 63
Nehemiah 7: 65

Answer 4

This is a bit long, but a simple read from the official church website, I believe it fully answers your question:

"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."

Hope that helps

Answer 5

In the 1981 and later editions it reads:

About this edition: Some minor errors in the text have been perpetuated in past editions of the Book of Mormon. This edition contains corrections that seem appropriate to bring the material into conformity with prepublication manuscripts and early editions edited by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Answer 6

Mormons don't believe the translation of the Book of Mormon is perfect, because mankind is not perfect. They do believe the Book of Mormon is the most "correct", which doesn't refer to the grammer or the translation, but more to the fulness of the gospel for which it contains and the clear representation of that truth.

Answer 7

Who ever said it is perfect? Even we as LDS don't believe it is "perfect"...but we do believe it is the most correct. Joseph translating was still human, he didn't become "perfect" to translate... also, I really believe that those minor changes, even the WHOLE WORD changes, had nothing to do with doctrine, so IF Joseph had translated something that was incorrect in DOCTRINE, I think the Lord would have corrected him.
We aren't perfect, just striving for it.

Answer 8

Nobody said it was a perfect book. In fact, Mormon himself (the one who compiled the record) said this on the opening page:

"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."

Answer 9

It is just added proof that this is not the kind of book that they say that it is! That means that this is not the most correct book on the face of the earth.

Answer 10

I don't want to get into any religious intolerance or anything, but only the Bible is perfect. This is saying that anything else is not perfect, including the book of Mormon. God does not make grammatical errors (He created language), man does. This puts the Book of Mormon into question.

Another interesting fact: There is no known archeological proof that any of the groups (Lephites and Lamanites) named in the book of Mormon ever existed.

Not only that but there are new additions to the book as well. Surely a book that is perfect cannot have additions explaining the text.