The book of mormon even contains king james bible translation errors. The original book of mormon transcript the book of. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Joseph smith was not given the actual words, but instead only. Smith, they will say, translated the book of mormon from golden plates he dug up in a hill in new york in the early 1800s. In this study we will show that there have been at least 3,9 changes made in the book of mormon from the time it was first published in 1830. This is some heavy duty gaslighting and throwing the bom under the bus. However, we know they really existed, because at the front of the book of mormon is the testimony of three witnesses, as well as a second testimony of five witnesses. Joseph smith said that the book of mormon was 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, vol. I am not suggesting that the real author of the book of mormon actually used these modern place names, or that he was even consciously aware of them. Why thousands of errors in the original 1830 the book of mormon. The additional problems links provide further evidence of the book of mormon and joseph smiths illegitimacy.
Error in printed lds church manual could revive racial. And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men. When mormon missionaries properly called latter day saints or simply lds come to your door, they will often offer a free copy of the book of mormon and tell you about its author, joseph smith. How could there be so many witnesses of the book of mormon and the plates and not one of them deny their testimony even when some of them became bitter toward joseph smith. Large parts of the book of mormon were found to be the same as parts of the 1769 version of the king james version of the bible. The writer has an obsession with warfare and killing, with killings starting from chapter 4. So read the title page in the june 1829 application, the printers manuscript, and the 1830 edition of the book of mormon. It is claimed that a number of items or concepts in the book of mormon are not consistent with what is known about ancient. A book of mistakes, error, and fraud by jon gary williams introduction the mormon church promotes the book of mormon as an inspired writing. Second, the book of mormon contains none of the key mormon doctrines.
The first group left the tower of babel about 2250 bc, crossing to europe and sailing to central america. Deity, either through direct or indirect means, men will reject the claims of the book of mormon. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, some claim that it shouldnt contain these translational errors. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. The heading for chapter 10 of moroni states that this last chapter of the book of mormon was written about a. I was going through all of the downloaded pdf files on my tablet, getting rid of a few, when i came across this booklet that i had downloaded some time ago.
Third, the book of mormon abounds in textual errors, factual errors, and outright plagiarisms from other works. It is in fact replete with such errors, as i intend to show in these two part 6 posts to ed. Book of mormon student manual salt lake city, utah. The book of mormon claims to be the history of 2 ancient civilizations on the american continent. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. However, after a fair and candid examination of the evidence, many thousands of. The book of mormon comedy, musical two young latterday saints are sent on a mission to convince the people of a small village in uganda to become part of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Historical errors in the book of mormon catholic apologetics. Problems with the book of mormon catholic answers catholic. The book of mormon is clear that it was a literal curse on their skin. Fairmormons response to presence of 1769 kjv errors in book of mormon in terms of attempting to pinpoint the origin of the book of mormon, even more significant than book of mormon revisions are places where it follows the kjv into error, echoing mistranslations or including translations of late and derivative greek texts.
It tells of the jaredites, people from the tower of babel who came to central america but perished because of their own immorality. They teach that as it was first written, it was perfect. Another major problem for the book of mormon is archeology, a major embarrassment for the mormon church. Book of mormon contradicts both itself and the bible. Understanding the nature of the thousands of small changes in the book of mormon may be helpful and interesting. The mormon view completely ignores the context, hoping that no one will read the passage too carefully.
Although the principles of the gospel of jesus christ as contained in the book of mormon remain correct, the text itself suffered some problems. When a mormon missionary shows people the book of mormon, he usually explains that the gold plates were taken back and no longer exist today. How a mormon lawyer transformed archaeology in mexicoand. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints, ch. 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. Royal skousen, a professor of linguistics at byu and a recognized expert of the textual history of the book of mormon, has identified 5,280 variations in all editions of the book of mormon. However, after a fair and candid examination of the evidence, many thousands of honest mormons have discovered that this claim simply is not true. In making this study we obtained photocopies of an original 1830 edition of the book of mormon. Rather than ascribe these errors to deity, either through direct or indirect means, men will reject the claims of the book of mormon. This is important because the latterday saints make such a point about it containing the fullness of the everlasting gospel. The problem for mormons is that these exact same errors show up in the book of mormon. Lds church members are taught that the book of mormon bom is scripture, as well as a true record of the inhabitants of the americas from about 2200 bc to 420 ad. How a mormon lawyer transformed archaeology in mexicoand ended up losing his faith. Large portions of the book of mormon are very similar to the king james.
It is mostly a book of wars, oppression, slavery, treachery, bloodshed. Anachronisms claimed to exist in the book of mormon summary. Weapons used from 544 bc to 52 bc p107359 are listed as bows and arrows, steel swords, axes. This means that anything mentioned in the book of mormon takes place from approximately 2200 bc to approximately 421 ad.
Think joseph smith could have gotten that right by sheer chance. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. Understanding textual changes in the book of mormon. This is the 2nd part of the series on problems with the book of mormon, the supposed most correct book on earth, and this episode covers the problems with the second book in the book of mormon which is the book of 2nd nephi. While other books were attempted to be added, they were considered noncanonical due to the lack of eyewitnesses, the heavy gnostic heresy content, historical errors, etc. The origin of the hill comora wildly racial statements in mormon writings.
Volumes have been written on its distinctive and rhythmic style, and it is still regarded as a triumph of modern english literature. If this is true, then the book of mormon should be full of errors. The book of mormon is supposed to be the account of people who came from the middleeast to the americas. As francis kirkham, an lds missionary to the maori in the 1890s remembered, we would go to them, hold up a copy of the book of mormon and tell them that we had a book that told the history of their ancestors barber 1215. What are 1769 kjv edition errors doing in book of mormon.
Some have attempted to explain the egregious errors within the book of mormon by suggesting that. It is called the book of mormon a book of mistakes, error, and fraud. An anachronism is defined as an event that appears out of time. In reality, the original text and current text of the book of mormon is a mixture of nineteenthcentury nonsense, plagiarism, and selected existing kjv scripture verses including its 1769 kjv edition errors as well as 17th century italics made by 17th century translators.
Some minor errors in the text have been perpetuated in past editions of the book of mormon. Thereafter, the book s teachings on israelites became a focus for proselyting work among the maori. Mormonism is a religion less than two centuries old, but in this short time it has managed to accrue a long list of embarrassments which the church leaders would prefer were kept. There are two possible explanations for the origin of the book of mormon. The tanners have listed, one by one, 400 verses and portions of verses quoted from the new testament in the book of mormon in their book, the case against mormonism. Shawn covers some of the biggest mistakes in the book of mormon. An example would be a reference to an event that had not yet occurred, or mention of objects or materials which did not yet exist. Sources and notes on presence of 1769 king james version edition errors in the book of mormon a supposed ancient text. The most flagrant errors in the book of mormon are its anachronisms. Mormon is allegedly a prophethistorian who was the native american believed by mormons to have written the book of mormon the main religious text of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints mormonism.
The book of moroni, chapter 10 heading, book of mormon. Any mistakes and changes are the mistakes of mortals. It is either of divine or human origin, and if it is of human origin that means that joseph smith concocted the book. Book of mormontranslation errors from the kjv fairmormon. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, why would it contain translational errors that exist in the king james bible. Royal skousen has looked carefully at the transmission history of the book of mormon and has highlighted many interesting things about the text that inspire confidence in its reliability and josephs ability as a translator.
Introduction to 3,9 changes utah lighthouse ministry. Hagoth and the polynesians religious studies center. The book of mormon incorporates text which seems to be taken from the king james version, including passages which are now considered to be mistranslations in the king james version. Although studies have verified, again and again, the precision and accuracy of the book of mormon, moronis statement. Since its first publication in 1830, the book of moron has undergone thousands of changes. There are some serios problems with the book of mormon that the lds church. Ive done some statistical analysis of the use of the phrase it came to pass and the word exceedingly in the book of mormon, which is discussed in the book of mormon authorship page. Horses are mentioned numerous times throughout the book of mormon. The king james version of the bible is, in all likelihood, the most successful of all the english translations.
Mormon church says it was an error in their come follow. A wellknown instance is the reference to a clock in shakespeares julius caesar. Mormon church says it was an error in their come follow me manual that there was a curse of dark skin. Last year, the church produced a new manual for its 2020 curriculum, which will be a study of the faiths signature scripture, the book of mormon, which latterday saints believe tells the. It seems reasonable to assume that if smith was a prophet of god and was translating the book of mormon under divine inspiration, he would have known about the errors found in the king james version, and would have corrected them for when passages from the king james version appeared in the book of mormon. Despite these errors, manmade decisions, and complications, mormons revere the bible as the word of god.
First, lets list many more book of mormon problems i didnt include in this video. The book of mormon 1905 colorado mission error church of jesus christ of latterday saints, joseph smith jr. In reality, though, the kind of stylistic accuracy achieved by these changes has little to do with what joseph meant when he called the book of mormon the most correct of any book on earth. The book of mormon has no claim to validity due to its lack of incorporation into the biblical cannon. We know it was the 1769 version because even translation errors unique to that bible were copied into the original 1830 book of mormon. I list them primarily to show that any similarities between book of mormon names and egyptian or hebrew names unknown to joseph smith which may be cited as evidence of the book of mormon are rather meaningless. Joseph smith said that the book of mormon was 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, vol. The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of. The book of mormon is the only explanation for this scripture. Top 10 embarrassments of the mormon religion listverse. The events in the book are said to have occurred in the americas from about 2500 bce to 400 ce, but many things are mentioned which did not exist in the americas at that time.