Content changes and plagiarism in the Book of Mormon

Mormons claim that the Book of Mormon is more correct than even the Bible:

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 bookHistory of the church, Vol. 4, p. 461

In reality, the Book of Mormon has a number of problems. This page covers some of the many changes of the book, talks about its plagiarism of the King James Version (along with its errors), and responds to the Mormon defense of the Book of Mormon's problems.

Changes to the Book of Mormon

Mormonism teaches that the Lord revealed the exact words of the Book of Mormon to Joseph Smith by making them appear on magic stones. The stones would not reveal the next words until the first words were both spoken and recorded correctly:

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

If that's true--and certainly Mormons must maintain that it is--then we should encounter no changes, clarifications, corrections, omissions, etc, from one edition of the book to another. After all, the original 1830 Book of Mormon is exactly as the Lord supposedly revealed it to Joseph Smith. The fact that these changes do exist proves that the Book of Mormon is merely a human lie.

1830 Book of Mormon

Altered Book of Mormon

1 Nephi 3 (p25) And he said unto me, Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh

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

1 Nephi 3 (p25) And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, even the Eternal Father!

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

1 Nephi 3 (p26) 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 11:32 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

1 Nephi 3 (p32) 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 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.

Alma 15 (p303) yea, I know that he alloteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills

Alma 29:4 yea, I know that he alloteth unto men, according to their wills

The above words from Alma 15 were absent from the Book of Mormon from 1840 to 1980, but were reinserted in 1981. The selection was probably removed because it conflicted with a revelation he claimed to have received in 1831:

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...Doctrine & Covenants 56:4-5

Mosiah 9 (p200) ...King Benjamin had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings...

Mosiah 21:28 ...King Mosiah had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings...

Ether 1 (p546) ...and for this cause did King Benjamin keep them...

Ether 4:1 ...and for this cause did King Mosiah keep them...

The Book of Mormon's chronology indicates that King Benjamin was already dead by the time the events described here took place. The above change was likely made to fix this problem.

2 Nephi 8 (p87) ...and the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself not...

2 Nephi 12:9 ...and the mean man boweth not down, and the great man humbleth himself not...

1 Nephi 5 (p52) ...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 ...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 (p117) ...and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and a delightsome people.

2 Nephi 30:6 ...and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a pure and a delightsome people.

The above change is found in editions since 1981.

Introduction - 1981 After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.

Introduction - 2007 Doubleday Edition After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are among the ancestors of the American Indians.

This change was reported in the Salt Lake Tribune, "Single word change in the Book of Mormon speaks volumes", by Peggy Fletcher Stack

  • Improper "was" (1830) changed to "were":

    ...Adam and Eve, which was our first parents...p15

    ...the bands which was upon my wrists...p49

    ...the priests was not to depend...p193

    ...they was angry with me...p248

    ...there was no wild beasts...p460

  • Improper "is" (1830) changed to "are":

    ...the words which is expedient...p16

    ...But great is the promises of the Lord...p85

    ...And whoredoms is an abomination...p127

    ...here is our weapons of war...p346

  • Improper "a" (1830) removed:

    ...As I was a journeying...p249

    ...he found Muloki a preaching...p284

    ...had been a preparing the minds...p358

    ...Moroni was a coming against them...p403

  • arrest changed to wrest (Alma 13:20)

    Behold the Scriptures are before you; if ye will arrest them, it shall be to your own destruction.p260

  • exceeding fraid changed to exceedingly afraid (Alma 47:2, 58:24, Helaman 4:3):

    ...they were exceeding fraid...p354, 392, 415

  • wrecked changed to racked (Mosiah 27:29):

    ...my soul was wrecked with eternal torment...p214

Quite a few changes. These cannot be dismissed as merely "clarifications," as the Book of Mormon was dictated (supposedly) by the Lord himself. Some Mormon apologists simply dismiss the changes to their texts by stating that they're only changes in grammar and such, and no real changes have been made. Clearly, however, very significant, non-grammar changes have been made. Content being removed and added, whole characters being changed...these cannot be explained. The Book of Mormon is a false book full of the lies of men and Satan.

...but the word of the Lord endures forever.1 Peter 1:25

Based on the KJV Translation

The Book of Mormon contains translation errors from the King James Version.

For instance, 2 Nephi 14:5 is the same as Isaiah 4:5. The KJV incorrectly translates the Hebrew word chuppah as "canopy," when the proper translation is "defense."

Another example is 2 Nephi 15:25, which is the same as Isaiah 5:25. The KJV incorrectly translates the Hebrew word cuwchah as "filth," when the proper translation is "torn."

If Moroni buried the plates in the Hill Cummorah not long after AD 420, why is it that the Book of Mormon includes the KJV translation errors which didn't occur until almost 1,200 years later? How could the Book of Mormon contain anything from the King James Bible? Mormons are not able to answer these questions, yet the answer is clear: the mythical plates never existed, Joseph Smith did not receive a revelation from an angel, and he certainly didn't translate anything.

Objections Answered

"Changes in the Book of Mormon are only superficial and grammatical."

Jerald and Sandra Tanner found almost 4000 changes to the Book of Mormon. Mormons say that these changes are only superficial, and quote the Tanners' own words in support:

As we stated earlier, most of the 3,913 changes which we found were related to the correction of grammatical and spelling errors and do not really change the basic meaning of the text.Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Changing World of Mormonism, p131 of the 1980 printing

As shown above, however, there are a large number of very significant changes in content. To argue that only superficial changes exist is to be dishonest, either about the nature of the changes, or about one's own knowledge of the changes.

"Grammatical changes aren't a big deal."

Mormons claim that the grammatical changes are minor and don't count. After all, the Book of Mormon was just written in the linguistic context of that time. In response:

  1. The Bible doesn't contain any grammatical errors. Why does the "most correct book" require so much correcting, when the Bible does not?
  2. Mormons claim the original Book of Mormon was recorded exactly, word for word as it was revealed to Smith. If this is so, shouldn't we question the Lord's grammar? Why would an exact, perfect, word for word record of the Lord's words need to be changed in any way whatsoever? Certainly changing a perfect book would ruin its perfection!
  3. Even if one were to grant that the grammatical changes don't matter, there is still a large number of major changes to content that must be accounted for.

"The Bible has been changed. This excuses changes to the Book of Mormon."

  1. Though Mormons claim the Bible has been changed, there is no evidence of this.
  2. Bible translations are not inspired, only the autographs (the original manuscripts). The "changes" to the Bible cited by Mormons are to translations only, and not to the authoritative manuscripts.
  3. Mormonism teaches that the English translation of the gold plates (unlike Bible translations) was revealed and recorded word-for-word exactly as it should be, so any changes at all necessarily deviate from the perfect, word-for-word, original Book of Mormon. Also, while Bible translations try to be as faithful to the original manuscripts as possible, the LDS organization constantly makes changes to the Book of Mormon's content without at all consulting the gold plates. How can they claim that their changes are justified and accurate without the original source?
  4. Even if the Bible had been changed, this fact would not acquit the Book of Mormon, but rather would only serve to convict the Bible of fallacy as well.