Differences Between Versions of the Book of Mormon

Yes, the Book of Mormon has different versions. I want to mention just a few thoughts on this subject. What I am referring to is the original Book of Mormon that Joseph Smith printed in 1830. A replica can be purchased from Amazon and other places.
I appreciate those who made an effort to replicate the original as it very different in presentation from the current version which was copyrighted in 1981. The differences are in how the story is presented. Joseph Smith's version was typical of the day. It has long paragraphs, some going more than a page in length. There are no verses, or any breakup on a detailed level. In some ways, at least to someone like me who grew up on the current version, there is more impact from the original style. It is obviously more difficult to manage and keep track of various relevant sections where the content has no meaningful breakup at the detailed level. Whereas if you were to talk with someone who knows the Book of Mormon well, and ask them to describe Mosiah chapter 18, he or she would know exactly what you are talking about. In the original design, one would have to say, "remember the incident at the Waters of Mormon...oh what page was that on...oh yeah page 192."

This is how the original looks, and the following is how the current version looks

There are other rather major differences between the two versions. The title pages are almost identical, but the verso pages differ greatly. In the current, the verso page has very simple items stating edition and copyright dates. The original however, has a full note by the publisher, as sort of a witness to the account of how the Book of Mormon was published.

The original also includes, right after the verso, a Preface by the Author (Joseph Smith) about an incident which he felt needed to be addressed before anyone undertook to read what he translated.

This Preface is not included in the current version of the Book of Mormon. Most likely because this incident (the Lost 116 Pages) is today accounted for and explained by various sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, which were in no way organized in 1830. Though some of the Sections of the Doctrine and Covenants appear before the coming of the Book of Mormon, they were not organized into a published account until 1833 at the earliest, as The Book of Commandments. Because the Lost 116 Pages was well known in the region, Joseph wanted everyone to understand that what he published did NOT include anything from the lost manuscript, thus Satan's plans were frustrated, and God's plan was not.

Joseph writes:

To the Reader -
As many false reports have been circulated respecting the following work, and also many unlawful measures taken by 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 of Lehi, which was an account abridged from the plates of Lehi, by the hand of Mormon; which said account, some person or persons have stolen and kept from me, notwithstanding my utmost exertions to recover it again---and being commanded of the Lord that I should not translate the same over again, for Satan had put it into their hearts to tempt the Lord their God, by altering the words, that they did read contrary from that which I translated and caused to be written; and if I should bring forth the same words again, or, in other words, if I should translate the same over again, they would publish that which they had stolen, and Satan would stir up the hearts of this generation, that they might not receive this work: but behold, the Lord said unto me, I will not suffer that Satan shall accomplish his evil design in this thing: therefore thou shall translate from the plates of Nephi, until ye have come to that which ye have translated, which ye have retained; behold ye shall publish it as the record of Nephi; and thus I will confound those who have altered my words. I will not suffer that they shall destroy my work; yea, I will shew unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the Devil. Wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of God, I have, through his grace and mercy, accomplished that which he hath commanded me respecting this thing. I would also inform you that the plates of which hath been spoken, were found in the township of Manchester, Ontario county, New-York.
The Author.

You can see where Joseph got that thinking by reading Doctrine and Covenants 10, which was given to Joseph in the summer of 1828. Twice in the seventy verses of Section 10, the Lord states the designs of those who stole the manuscript from Martin Harris.

The current version of the Book of Mormon takes a totally different course after the verso page. And what I will be doing here is linking to the LDS Scriptures page for each section. Whereas the original version gives Joseph Smith's Preface and then goes right into the text, the current version includes an "Introduction" page which attempts to give a layout of what is to be expected in the book, including the purpose of the book itself, as it emanates from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10: 3-5.)
Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.

The modern editors want readers to know that the purpose is to bring people to Christ. Following the Introduction, the current version includes the testimonies of the Three Witnesses and the testimony of the Eight Witnesses. The original version has the Witnesses at the end of the book. Following the Witnesses, the current version includes the Testimony of Joseph Smith, which is an abbreviated account found in more detail in the Pearl of Great Price. This account comes from the Wentworth letter of 1838, which is why it is not to be found in the original version of the Book of Mormon. No doubt Joseph would have included it in the original version if he had written that letter in 1830 or earlier.

Finally, the current version also includes A Brief Explanation About the Book of Mormon. This attempts to clarify what the heck is going on with all these "plates" and "translations" and how the Book of Mormon is divided up. They also state that the current edition attempts to clarify minor errors in the text:

About this edition: Some minor errors in the text have been perpetuated in past editions of the Book of Mormon. 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.

The current edition is not done yet in differences. Next comes a contents page of the illustrations included in this version. Over the past nearly 200 years, LDS artists have rendered some of the scenes in the Book of Mormon, and some have been included here. Depending on which kind of version you get or purchase, the pictures would either be included at the beginning of the book, just before the actual text begins, or interspersed at their relevant locations within the text. I grew up with a version where the pictures are interspersed within the text. So when you read about Samuel the Lamanite on the wall, right next to the text is the awesome painting of Samuel the Lamanite on the wall!

Now, even after all that, we're still not done with additions the current version has before we even get to the text. After the pictures comes the contents page (which you do not find in the original version). This page lists the titles of the books within the Book of Mormon and the pages where they can be found. Finally, the verso of the contents page consists of helpful information about the abbreviations used in the footnotes and indexes.

FINALLY, we get to the actual text. :) We note immediately a big difference. The original, as I said earlier, gets right off into the story formatted as a novel. In the current version, not only is the text broken up in a Biblical verse model, but you also get footnotes and cross references. The footnotes and cross references in the LDS works are amazing and extremely helpful. More on that another day.

The current version attempts to keep content fairly organized. Aside from verses, there is no organization of content below the chapter level. King James Versions of the Bible include a paragraph break to separate where the story changes (something very prevalent in the New Testament). The chapters are fairly arbitrary and not based on the original content breaks. The or
iginal version has chapter breaks but at different parts, and far fewer in between than the current version.

Within the text itself, differences are slight but range from various issues. As noted in the Introduction, there are errors in the text of a minor nature. Also I noticed slight changes in some syntax and spelling to update with modern English language. Of the essence and meat of the text, are there any changes? No. As noted in the Title Page:

And now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment-seat of Christ.

Which Moroni and Nephi both caution on in the text, which I take to mean that the writings are not meant to be exact and perfect. Clearly, it is very easy to rip to shreds the Bible over its inconsistencies and errors, which are multitude (the biggest problem of which is that no original document remains of anything from the Bible). Yet that does not discredit Christian thought, nor should differences between versions of the Book of Mormon discredit the book. The Bible itself has numerous versions, based on how one wishes to translate, into which "edition" of the English language. The King James Version retains its translation in the English language of 1611. Other version like the New Revised Standard Version attempts to work the translation into more readable language for the English language used today (which is exactly what King James's editors were trying to do in 1611---get a version that speaks to the language of the people of the time). Various languages also provide better understanding of context and meaning, as words normally weighed equally upon translation don't exactly retain the same exact meaning in context. The German Bible is considered one of the better, if not the best, Bible to read. The reader must first gain an understanding of German.

The point of all this is that scripture is a hybrid of the Lord of Hosts and the prophet through which He speaks. Thus immediately upon entrance into this imperfect world of ours through an imperfect medium (the prophet---an imperfect human being), the words themselves are not exactly 100% what the Lord meant, but rather what the prophet attempts to communicate in imperfect language to the rest of us what the Lord tells him in his heart and mind. As such, the words of prophets must be taken into consideration with the world in which those prophets reside.

The greatness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is that with all these imperfections in the Lord's mouthpieces, we get a most beautiful and amazing path laid before us to take. And it is not complete; we, each one of us who accepts Christ, add to the character and nature of being a follower of Christ. Thus it is highly imperative that those who do claim to follow Christ ensure that they live as best they can up to that standard.

In any case, back to the subject at hand, having differences between versions of the Book of Mormon doesn't alter the importance or validity of the contents of the Book of Mormon. They stand on their own quite well as we will see. The Book of Mormon writers who caution against railing on human weaknesses show the wisdom in not bothering with differences of this nature. This is not a legalistic exercise, where preciseness in language matters. This is a spiritual matter where allowance is given us to make mistakes. The atonement of Jesus Christ gives us an allowance to make mistakes and still be on path.