Mormons- Did Joseph Smith really know who he saw in his visions? Is the BOM the most correct book?

Question

So which version of the BOM is the most correct? In these examples who did Joseph SMith see, God the Father or Christ? How could he have mixed the two up?

1830
1 Nephi 3, p. 25* And he said unto me, Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh

CURRENT
1 Nephi 11:18 And he said unto me, Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God.

1830
1 Nephi 3, p. 25 And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, even the Eternal Father!

CURRENT
1 Nephi 11:21 And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, even the Son of the Eternal Father!

1830
1 Nephi 3, p. 26 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.

CURRENT
1 Nephi 11:32 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.

http://www.irr.org/mit/CHANGINGSCRIPS.HTML

Beta fishy - point taken on whose vision it was.....

But mistaking God the FAther for GOd incarnate is hardly a semantic issue, especially since Mormons believe Gos the Father and Son both have bodies and are separate Gods!

Answer 1

i like you! i think you've done more research into the Mormon church than many Mormons have.

Answer 2

Hmmm.... Those scriptures aren't referring to any vision that Joseph Smith had. They're referring to a vision that an ancient prophet named Nephi had. And the changes sound like semantics to me, since "Son of God" and "God" are used interchangeably throughout the scriptures.

I suggest you do some reading and praying about the subject instead of taking quotes from an anti-mormon website and trying to start arguments.

EDIT: Yes, we do believe that both God and His Son have physical bodies and are separate beings. However, we also refer to Jesus as both "God" and "the Son" and "The Son of God" and many other titles. These changes appear to be nothing more than clarification to bring the text more in line with the original manuscripts, as the note at the beginning of the book indicates.

Answer 3

Those discrepancies mean the same thing. the change was made for clarification purposes. Christ is the God of this world by assignment from His Father. The Lamb of God is Jesus Christ. He is also the Son of God the Father. Jesus Christ is Jehovah of the Old Testament. As far as we mortals are concerned, He is our God, the first one to whom we are accountable. By obedience to Christ, He will represent us and be our advocate before the Father when we go before Him to be judged.
As for Joseph Smith's record. He stated unequivacably that he saw the Father and the Son standing in the air before him. The one called him by name, and pointing to the other, said this is my beloved Son, hear Him. There is no doubt to whom he was conversing.
The Book of Mormon was translated by power beyond his own. Joseph could not have written such a work without the power of divine revelation. It is a true book of scripture that has not endured the many translations of the Bible. We receive it in a single translation from reformed Egyptian to English. There is a disclaimer, of sorts, in the Book of Mormon that many will say is convenient. I say it is evidence of God's wisdom through His prophets to tell us that if there be mistaked, they be the mistakes of men, therefore, do not mock that which is from God. This was written by Moroni before he sealed up the record.
Take Moroni's challenge and read it, ponder it, and pray about it, in the name of Christ, with faith and sincerity, to know the truth of the record. If so, the truth will be manifest by way of the Holy Ghost. You will know, as millions have come to know, that the record is true.

Answer 4

Firstly, Joseph Smith Jr did not dictate punctuation while translating the plates; he just spoke the words. The publisher added punctuation and changed a few things from the original manuscripts. Upon seeing those errors in the first edition, Joseph personally made several corrections - including the passages you cited above.

Answer 5

As I understand it, Oliver Cowdery made a second handwritten 'copy' of the original dictated text to be taken to the printer. Smith had not fully envisioned his doctrine yet and still had a concept of the "Holy Trinity" in mind as he dictated, as well as Mary Mother of God, etc. Various editions show how the evolution of 'doctrine' came about, although there were at least two separate printers, one in England, the other in the US. That explains some of the discrepancies in text when English converts began emigrating. The use of newer printing technologies forced more proofreading of the previous texts.

In the end it is truly a moot matter: the Book of Mormon is pure fantasy, bad fiction, and a remarkably poor basis to found a major religious movement on. The events described never occurred, the people never existed, and my Magic 8-Ball works better than that damn Liahona ever did...

Answer 6

What Rac said ^. I need not say anymore. And as Beta_Fishy said, please stop using Anti-Mormon sites, all they have on them is lies anyways. And as I said in answer to another one of your questions, the grammatical errors mean nothing, it is the content and ideas that matter.

Answer 7

lds.org my dear - if you are really interested that is....if you just want an argument - well, I'm way too tired today. Try me on a friday!