Why are there 4000 changes to the Book of Mormon?
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"Some people claim that there have been as many as 4000 changes to the Book of Mormon. They usually forget to include the scope. For example, what if I were to claim that I changed two words in the previous sentence? Two doesn't sound like a lot, but when you realize that there are only seven words in that sentence you realize that it has been changed over 25%. If you remove the chapter headings, numbers, verse numbers, testimonies, explanations and the introduction, the Book of Mormon has more than 268,000 words. Assuming that every correction claimed by the critics is a word correction and not punctuation, it means that there is only about a 1.5% variation in the exact wording and spelling from the original Book of Mormon.
Most of the edits were corrections to spelling and other single word changes. For example, "east off forever" was changed to "cast off forever," "&c" was changed to "and so forth," and one name was corrected. Some critics claim that the name change means that the doctrine has been altered or that the work cannot be divine, even though this change does not affect any of its teachings. The book itself claims that it is a record made by a person who is not immune to faults. The title page, which was part of the original translation, states, " 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." The doctrine and spiritual teachings in the book have not been altered.
A photographed copy of the first edition is available at josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/book-of-mormon-1830 if you want to verify this for yourself.
In comparison most scholars agree that there are about 24,000 changes between 1611 version and the 1769 version of the KJV Bible. The KJV Bible has over 930,000 words when you include the Apocrypha for a variation of 2.5%."
Source: www.EvidencesOfMormon.org/comparison/why-are-there-4000-changes-to-the-book-of-mormon.aspx
Some people claim that there have been as many as 4000 changes to the Book of Mormon. They usually forget to include the scope. For example, what if I were to claim that I changed two words in the previous sentence? Two doesn't sound like a lot, but when you realize that there are only seven words in that sentence you realize that it has been changed over 25%. If you remove the chapter headings, numbers, verse numbers, testimonies, explanations and the introduction, the Book of Mormon has more than 268,000 words. Assuming that every correction claimed by the critics is a word correction and not punctuation, it means that there is only about a 1.5% variation in the exact wording and spelling from the original Book of Mormon.
While there have been some changes from the first edition of the Book of Mormon, most of the edits were corrections to spelling and other single word changes. For example, "east off" was changed to "cast off," "&c." was changed to "and so forth," and one name was corrected. Some critics claim that the name change means that the doctrine has been altered or that the work cannot be divine, even though this change does not affect any of its teachings. The book itself claims that it is a record made by a person who is not immune to faults. The title page, which was part of the original translation, states, " 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."
An original first edition Book of Mormon has been photographed and is available for viewing at josephsmithpapers.org.
Changes to the Bible
In comparison most scholars agree that there are about 24,000 changes between 1611 version and the 1769 version of the KJV Bible. The KJV Bible has over 930,000 words when you include the Apocrypha for a variation of 2.5%. Since then there have been dozens of major Bible versions that use the KJV Bible as their source.
External resources:
Understanding Textual Changes in the Book of Mormon
Have There Been Thousands of Changes in the Book of Mormon?
Book of Mormon textual changes