This is a great day to think about the book of mormon. If the book of mormon was translated as mormon history claims, even. The preface contains an explanation by joseph smith about the lost 116 pages. This is the first published text of the book of mormon to show the precise history of many textual variants.
Examples from the book of mormon illustrate how the lord adapted his means of revelation from earlier ancient near eastern patterns to patterns found in precolombian. The letter states that smith, as of 1829, claimed to be the author of the book of mormon. Be it remembered, that on the eeventh day of june, in the fiftythird year of the independence of the united states of america, a. The objective of this restoration edition has been to recover the text of the book of mormon back to what joseph smith intended it to be before his. Verses make the scripture very manageable and are of great use in teaching situations, but reading the book of mormon as it was originally published, with only chapters, you get a real sense of the story within the book. The 1830 edition of the book of mormon named joseph smith as the. In the 1830 book of mormon you will also find a preface written by the author of the. Hearken and hear this, o house of jacob, which are called by the name of israel, and are come forth out of the waters of judah, which swear by the name of the lord. Written by the prophet joseph smith, the preface to the 1830 edition of the book of mormon is not included in the current edition, for the preface already served. Chiasmus in the book of mormon religious studies center. The original book of mormon transcript the book of. In making this study we obtained photocopies of an original 1830 edition of the book of mormon from the university of utah library. To the reader as many false reports have been circulated respecting the following work, and also many unlawful measures taken by the evil designing persons to destroy me, and also the work, i would inform you that i translated, by the gift and power of god, and caused to be written, one hundred and sixteen pages, the which i took from the book.
Experience reading the book of mormon as the early saints did, with this 1830 heritage editiona faithful reproduction of the version printed by e. From the day the book of mormon rolled off the press in 1830, those who gave it credence asserted that it obviously read like a hebrew text. Clark, a respected authority on the archaeology of precolumbian mesoamerica, teaches at brigham young university. Experience the book of mormon just as early converts such as emma smith, brigham young, and parley p. Although studies have verified, again and again, the precision and accuracy of the book of mormon, moronis statement. Title page from an original 1830 edition of the book of mormon printed in palmyra. He later said of this book that, it is the most perfect book ever printed, because it had been made by the power of god using a seer stone and verbatum dictation. It is thus more than a little suspicious to note that the 1830 book of mormon uniformly spells cumorah as camorah. Book of mormon, 1830, page 0 the joseph smith papers. Published by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Changes to latterday scripture lds leaders have made. This newlyreleased replica is a beautiful recreation of the original 1830 book of mormon printed in palmyra, new york. First edition book of mormon history moons rare books. For example, all of jacobs speech in jacob 23 and all of almas blessing to his son corianton in alma 3942 were single chapters.
The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of. 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. The first edition of the book of mormon contained a preface, written by joseph smith, that explains the situation with the lost 116 pages. This booklet explores the credibility of the account given by joseph smith, jr. It should also be pointed out that in the preface of the 1830 edition of the book of mormon the prophet joseph smith designated himself as the author but also indicated no less than six times that he was the translator of the text. The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of errors. Reading of the 1830 facsimile edition book of mormon preface addeddate 20101103 00. Although this textual study of the editions and manuscripts of the book of mormon is incomplete and preliminary, it is helpful for a general overview of the textual history of the book of mormon.
Punctuation and paragraphing added by grandins employee, john h. The earliest stage is represented by the book of mormon 1830, the. Latterday saints are accustomed to speaking of joseph smith as the inspired translator of the book of mormon. Archaeology, relics and book of mormon belief deseret news. How the plates of the book of mormon were translated. A piece of something resembling a parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing.
The book of mormon is a sacred, ancient record that was translated by the gift and power of god into english in 1830 through joseph smith jr. Those who were not so convinced insisted that it obviously read like anything but a hebrew text. Nevertheless, this material is not presented as an apologetic work, neither is. By dean maurice helland preface the writing of this paper is the fulfillment of a desire the author has had ever since he studied his way out of the book of mormon over 20 years ago. How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the lord. How is it that ye have not hearkened unto the word of the lord. To the inside front cover are affixed four clippings of descriptions of different versions of first edition copies of the book of mormon and of an 1854 edition of the doctrine and covenants, along with a clipping describing the origin of the text of the book of mormon and a bookplate of the shepard book company of salt lake city, utah. In making this study we obtained photocopies of an original 1830 edition of the book of mormon.
However, the title page of the first edition of the book of mormon published in 1830 identifies the prophet as the author and proprietor of the book. There were five early editions of the book of mormon published that are extremely significant to the lds faith, the first edition of 1830 being the most important, but also the 1837 kirtland, the. Preface also says that joseph smith and oliver cowdery carefully com. Many of the things which appear here in documented form he already had discovered on his own. The original text betrays its new england origin in many ways, from inconsistent spelling to incorrect use of tenses and number, as well as. Approximately million copies of the book of mormon have been printed since 1830. At different times he asked oliver cowdery, martin harris, emma smith his wife, and a few other people to write down what he said as he translated from the gold plates see js. First two editions of the book of mormon available benchmark books. Pdfs of 1830 palmyra edition of the book of mormon. Included as part of the first sixteenpage gathering of the book of mormon, the preface is thus jss first autobiographical. This book is a facsimile reproduction of the original printing of the book of mormon in 1830, written by joseph smith. Book of mormon, 1830, page 127 the joseph smith papers.
According to smith, the book is originally written in an otherwise unknown language called reformed egyptian on golden plates and it should be of similar importance as the bible. Book of mormon 1830 wikisource, the free online library. Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten how great things the lord hath done. Wherefore it is an abridgment of the record of the people of nephi. It was the full text of the title page of the book of mormon, followed by this. Rude or colloquial translations are usually marked in red or orange. The book of mormon testimony of the three witnesses preface. In newer editions of the book of mormon the lds church has entirely omitted a letter which was originally on page two 1830 ed. To the readeras many false reports have been circulated respecting the following work, and. Isaiah in the book of mormon religious studies center. Modern readers may be interested to see how the sections of the book of mormon were divided in the 1830 edition, which are divided along broad conceptual lines. Since the publication of the book of mormon in 1830 it has had s of changes made to it. Actually, all that became obvious was the failure of both believers and unbelievers to cite much specific evidence.
By far the majority of changes between the 1830 and subsequent versions of the book of mormon are spelling or grammar corrections. It seems that if nephi had copied them from the plates of brass in hebrew onto his own record and that if joseph smith had then received the english translation by the gift and power of god, the isaiah passages would read more like the 1830 book of mormon and less. In 2005, he published an article on archaeology and the book of mormon titled archaeology, relics and book of mormon belief see archaeology, relics, and book of mormon belief, journal of book of mormon studies 142 2005 publications. Preface, page viii of current editions of their book of mormon.
This verse is taken from isaiah 48, and appears as follows in the 1830 edition of the book of mormon. For other versions of this work, see book of mormon. In response to the criticism of some early church leaders, the lord emphatically revealed that revelations come in according to the language and understanding of his people, a principle nephi taught in the 6th century bc. We who created and who maintain this onomasticon work under the belief that the book of mormon is an ancient document whose cultural roots, except for the jaredite cultural legacy, reach back to 7th century bc judah. His claim is that he received a set of metal plates which he translated by the gift and power of god with the aid of the instruments which the. Usage attribution topics book, mormon, 1830, preface. On the night of september 21, 1823, an angel appeared to joseph smith, jr. The 1830 edition of the book of mormon named joseph smith as the author and proprietor of the book. Book of mormon editions 18301981 the encyclopedia of. Palmyra collectors edition 1830 book of mormon replica. Shawn goes through the title page of the original book of mormon, hummmm problems already.
At the time he wrote it, joseph needed to explain the 116 lost manuscript pages and why the book of lehi was not retranslated. Preface to book of mormon, circa august 1829, page iii. On march 26, 1830, the wayne sentinel a newspaper in palmyra, ny, published an announcement. In 1830, joseph smith took the book of mormon to a printer in palmyra, new york see history of the church, 1. Today were going to see another example of the mesomania bias in the joseph smith papers and the ongoing rejection of letter vii in this case, even when it is cited. The book of mormon is a sacred text that was published in march 1830 by joseph smith, jr. This has caused some to wonder if the prophet gave conflicting accounts about his role in bringing forth the book of mormon, since later editions name him as the translator of the book. Written by the prophet joseph smith, the preface to the 1830 edition of the book of mormon is not included in the current edition, for the preface already served its purpose. Reading of the 1830 facsimile edition book of mormon preface. Please report examples to be edited or not to be displayed.
1491 1067 1128 804 971 1406 990 919 35 1050 322 1352 706 984 716 13 518 343 1442 981 895 639 781 1543 864 757 938 1397 120 695 482