Book of Mormon textual changes/"the Son of"

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Contents

Criticism

Critics charge that the earliest edition of the Book of Mormon referred to Jesus as "God," but in later editions this was changed to "the Son of God." They cite this as evidence that Joseph Smith changed the Book of Mormon to conform to his changing beliefs about the Trinity. They claim Joseph was originally a solid Trinitarian (perhaps even a Modalist), and as he later began to teach that the Father and Son were two separate beings, he had to change the Book of Mormon to support his new doctrine.

Response

This change was a deliberate editorial insertion by Joseph Smith to clarify four verses in 1 Nephi.

The 1837 edition of the Book of Mormon

The second edition of the Book of Mormon was published in 1837 at Kirtland, Ohio. The typesetting and printing were done during the winter of 1836–37, with Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery taking an active part in the editing process.

In this edition numerous corrections were made to the text of the 1830 (first) edition to bring it back to the reading in the original and printer's manuscripts. Joseph Smith also made a number of editorial changes to the text, as was his right as the translator of the text.

Among the changes he made are these four in 1 Nephi 11 and 13:

  Original manuscript Printer's manuscript 1830 edition 1837 edition
1_Ne. 11:18 behold the virgin which thou seest is the Mother of god after the manner of the flesh behold the virgin which <whom> thou seest is the Mother of <the son of> God after the manner of the flesh Behold, the virgin which thou seest, is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh. Behold, the virgin whom thou seest, is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.
1_Ne. 11:21 & the angel said unto me behold the lam of god yea even the eternal father knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw & the Angel said unto me behold the Lamb of God yea even the <God> Father knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? And the angel said unto me, behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father! Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?
1_Ne. 11:32 & it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again saying look and i lookt & beheld the lam of god that he was taken By the People yea the ever lasting god was judgd of the world and i saw & bare record & it came to pass that the Angel spake unto me again saying look & I looked & behold the Lamb of God that he was taken by the People yea the everlasting God was Judged of the world & I saw &amp bear record And it came to pass the angel spake unto me again, saying, look! 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; and I saw and bear record. And it came to pass the angel spake unto me again, saying, look! 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; and I saw and bear record.
1_Ne. 13:40 (Not extant.) & the Angel spake unto me saying these last records which thou hast seen among the Gentiles shall establish the truth of the first which is <which are> of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb & shall make known the plain & precious things which have been taken away from them & shall make known unto all Kindreds Tongues & People that the Lamb of God is the <the son of> eternal Father & the saviour of the world & that all men must Come unto him or they cannot be saved And the angel spake unto me, saying: These last records which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first, which is of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain the precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Saviour of the world; and that all men must come unto Him, or they cannot be saved; And the angel spake unto me, saying: These last records which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first, which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain the precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father and the Saviour of the world; and that all men must come unto Him, or they cannot be saved;

(The strikeouts and <insertions> in the printer's manuscript are in Joseph's hand, and were added by him during the preparation of the 1837 edition.)

Why was this change made?

Clarification, not doctrinal modification

These changes are clarifications that the passages are speaking of Jesus, not God the Father.

The terms "God," "Everlasting God," and "Eternal Father" are ambiguous since they could properly refer to either the Father or the Son. For example, "Eternal Father" refers to God the Father in Moro. 4:3, Moro. 5:2, and Moro. 10:4, but to God the Son in Mosiah 16:15 and Alma 11:38-39.

The addition of "the Son of" to four passages in 1 Nephi does not change the Book of Mormon's teaching that Jesus Christ is the God of Old Testament Israel. This concept is taught in more than a dozen other passages whose readings remain unchanged from the original manuscripts. For example:

  • "And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself...as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up...and to be crucified...and to be buried in a sepulchre...." (1_Ne. 19:10)
  • "...he said unto them that Christ was the God, the Father of all things, and said that he should take upon him the image of man, and it should be the image after which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was created after the image of God, and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth." (Mosiah 7:27)
  • "Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father." (Mosiah 16:15)
  • "Now Zeezrom saith again unto him: Is the Son of God the very Eternal Father? And Amulek said unto him: Yea, he is the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in them are; he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last." (Alma 11:38-39)

(See also 2_Ne. 25:12; Mosiah 3:8; Mosiah 13:28,33-34; Mosiah 15:1; Hel. 8:22-23; Hel. 14:12; Hel. 16:18; 3_Ne. 11:10,14; Morm. 9:12; Eth. 3:14; Eth. 4:7; Eth. 4:12.)

It is simply illogical to conclude that Joseph Smith changed the four passages in 1 Nephi to conform to his supposed changing theological beliefs, but somehow forgot to change all the others.[1]

Reaction to sectarian criticism?

Another reason "the Son of" was introduced into 1 Nephi 11:18 could have been to eliminate the Catholic-sounding phrase "the mother of God" that had been objected to by early critics of the Book of Mormon. Oliver Cowdery, responding to an article by Alexander Campbell in the Baptist newspaper The Pioneer, wrote in 1835:

Again, this writer [Campbell] says: "The name of Jesus Christ, was declared to Nephi, 545 years before it was announced to Mary, and she, in true Roman phraseology, is called 'the mother of God.'"
∗       ∗       ∗
This "friend of truth" says that Mary was "called the mother of God."—The reader will please turn to the 25th page of the book of Mormon, and read: "And he [the angel] said unto me, behold, the virgin which thou seest is the mother of God, after the manner of the flesh."
Now, every man knows, who has read the New Testament, that Mary was called the Lord's mother; and beside we remember to have read a word or two of Paul's writings, where he says: "But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother. Now, the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not."—See Gal. 1. Here we have it—the Lord Jesus was born of a woman, had a brother, and yet had no mother according to the flesh!![2]

Since this criticism of the Book of Mormon was fresh on Oliver's mind, and he was involved in the editing of the 1837 edition of the Book of Mormon, it is possible that the change in 1 Nephi 11:18 was inserted at his prompting.

Conclusion

Although some have claimed that the meaning of the text was altered by these additions, a more plausible explanation is that the editorial insertions clarified to whom the verses referred.

Endnotes

  1. [back] Because of the significant number of Book of Mormon passages that speak of Jesus as God, the original readings in 1 Nephi are perfectly acceptable in their original form. Royal Skousen, editor of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, has recommended that they be restored to their original readings (Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon 4/1: 233).
  2. [back] Oliver Cowdery, "Trouble in the West," Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 1:1 (April 1835): 105. off-site direct off-site

Further reading

FAIR wiki articles

Book of Mormon wiki articles

See also: "Anachronisms"•Authorship•DNA issues•Geography issues•Hebraic influence•Witnesses

FAIR web site

  • FAIR Topical Guide: Changes in the Book of Mormon FAIR link
  • Royal Skousen, "Changes In the Book of Mormon," 2002 FAIR Conference proceedings. FAIR link

External links

Book of Mormon on-line articles
  • Donald B. Doty, "I Have A Question: Why is the Book of Mormon the ‘most correct of any book on earth’?," Ensign (August 1988): 28–29. off-site
  • Monte S. Nyman, "The Most Correct Book," Ensign (June 1984): 21. off-site
  • Monte S. Nyman, "Why is the Book of Mormon the 'most correct book,' and how does it contain the fulness of the gospel?," Ensign (September 1976): 87. off-site

See also: Archaeology•Authorship•DNA issues•Geography issues•Hebraic influence•Witnesses

Printed material

Book of Mormon Critical Text Project

Working in collaboration with FARMS, professor Royal Skousen is currently producing the definitive critical edition of the Book of Mormon, comparing the original manuscripts and all printed editions, identifying differences, and suggesting improvements to the current text. The following volumes in the series are currently available: (Key source)

Volume 1

  • Royal Skousen (editor), The Original Manuscript of the Book of Mormon : typographical facsimile of the extant text [Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Vol. 1] (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2001), 1. ISBN 0934893047.

Volume 2

  • Royal Skousen (editor), The Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon : typographical facsimile of the entire text in two parts [Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Vol. 2, Part 1: 1 Nephi 1–Alma 17] (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2001), 1. ISBN 0934893055.
  • Royal Skousen (editor), The Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon : typographical facsimile of the entire text in two parts [Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Vol. 2, Part 2: Alma 18–Moroni 10] (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2001), 1. ISBN 0934893063.

Volume 3

  • Forthcoming

Volume 4

  • Royal Skousen (editor), Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon [Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Vol. 4, Part 1: 1 Nephi 1–2 Nephi 10] (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2004), 1. ISBN 0934893071.
  • Royal Skousen (editor), Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon [Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Vol. 4, Part 2: 2 Nephi 11–Mosiah 16] (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2005), 1. ISBN 093489308X.
  • Royal Skousen (editor), Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon [Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Vol. 4, Part 3: Mosiah 17–Alma 20] (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2006), 1. ISBN 093489311X.
  • Royal Skousen (editor), Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon [Book of Mormon Critical Text Project, Vol. 4, Part 4: Alma 21–55] (Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2007), 1. ISBN 0934893128.

See also:

  • M. Gerald Bradford and Alison V.P. Coutts, "Uncovering the Original Text of the Book of Mormon,” in “Uncovering the Original Text of the Book of Mormon," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 11/0 (2002): 1–57. [No off-site] PDF link wiki ISBN 0934893683.
  • M. Gerald Bradford, "Recovering the Original Text of the Book of Mormon: An Interim Review," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 15/1 (2006): 30–31. off-site PDF link wiki
  • Terryl L. Givens, "The Book of Mormon Critical Text Project," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 15/1 (2006): 32–35. off-site PDF link wiki
  • Anonymous, "English Editions of the Book of Mormon 1830–1981," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 15/1 (2006): 36–37. [No off-site] PDF link wiki
  • Robert J. Matthews, "Joseph Smith and the Text of the Book of Mormon," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 15/1 (2006): 38–42. off-site PDF link wiki
  • Grant Hardy, "Scholarship for the Ages," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 15/1 (2006): 43–53. off-site PDF link wiki
  • Kevin L. Barney, "Seeking Joseph Smith's Voice," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 15/1 (2006): 54–59. off-site PDF link wiki
  • Kerry Muhlestein, "Insights Available as We Approach the Original Text," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 15/1 (2006): 60–65. off-site PDF link wiki
Book of Mormon printed materials
  • Free copy of the Book of Mormon with no obligation.

See also: Authorship•DNA issues•Geography issues•Hebraic influence•Historicity•Witnesses

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