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After having read the testimony and seeing how very particular God was in furnishing an automatic instrument which furnished the very words to be used, and then noting how they have been changed; it seems to me that one would be justified in condemning the whole work as the scheme of an evil designing man, without asking for reasons. Under any circumstances I do not see how we can avoid asking: Why so many changes in the book after it was published to the world? Again, after one has read the Book of Mormon even casually, and noted how very particular God was to keep the plates in the hands of just men; men who could and would keep the record correct, it seems to me that he would be justified in the exclamation: Why was God so slothful at the last with his history and law? Why did He get over His bachelor notions of precision so soon? Why did He allow His book to be overhauled, amended, patched, cut, doctored, in more than two-thousand places, and still hold His peace? Why did He not come out in his wrath as He did with Uzziah for putting forth his hand to steady the ark? Or the 50,070 men of Bethshemish for simply looking into the ark? Oh! why this great change in Him who is "the same yesterday, to-day and forever?"
But one thing we should all learn if we have not learned it already; and that is always to let the accused speak for himself. For if it does no good it can do no harm. So in this case, we will let the advocates of the book speak for themselves. It may be that we have overlooked something that would clear up all this seeming contradiction of statements and circumstances. It may be that we have put altogether too much stress on the way the book was translated. We cannot tell what may come until, we let the accused speak.
When we stop to gather up our scattered thoughts, and assemble the wanderings of our minds, we may remember that we don't remember of having seen a single reference to the matter in any of the church publications. We may think there are but few of our writers who know that the book has been so shamefully handled; or we may think they do not want the public to know all about such a matter, because it is not one of the "Faith Promoting Series." If any are conversant with the matter they have kept up an awful stillness; prolonged with care, the period of ignorance of the matter. But a few words have been dropped, and we will consider them though they be but few.
The preface to the second edition of the Book of Mormon is the only printed explanation why the changes were made, I have been able to find. But while investigating it, it did not satisfy me, so I wrote to Prest. Jos. F. Smith for further information. Only a small portion of the correspondence bears on the subject at hand-Reasons given for making the changes-but fearing some may think we have not quoted fairly we give all time letters. From them the I reader can see time questions asked and the answers given. Then we present preface to the second edition in full, which is all the material I have been able to find.
A Series of Letters.
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BOUNTIFUL, UTAH, Jan. 17, 1897.
Joseph F. Smith, Salt Lake City, Utah.
DEAR BROTHER:- For some time past I have been growing skeptical to revealed religion. For a long time the Bible has had but one prop, that of new revelation, and now, even that, to my mind, is being weakened day by day.
The reprint of the "Doctrine and Covenants" I left with you some eighteen months ago has weakened my faith slightly. But this winter I learned that the "Book of Mormon" has been amended since the first edition. While the changes are only grammatical for the most part, when we consider how the book was translated, to my mind even grammatical changes are unpardonable.
The ward authorities know how I feel, and they think I should get down on one side of the fence or the other, which I cannot say is wrong. if I were out I should not ask to come in while I feel as I do, but since I am in I do not wish to withdraw my name until I have examined every point of evidence in my reach.
If I should learn that the Tribune had not copied the "Doctrine and Covenants" Correctly it would strengthen my faith a little Then it you could give a satisfactory explanation for the many grammatical changes of the "Book of Mormon" it would do much toward satisfying my mind. This done, the other little clashing points could probably be borne up by the many favorable evidences already in my possession; and I would be ready to make a full hand again in church matters.
Wednesdays or Fridays after 12, noon, would be my best time to leave school and meet with a committee you might appoint, but I will come any time you suggest, or a written reply would do as well.
Unless some change takes place it will be necessary for me to give the ward authorities an answer soon, probably in three weeks from to-day.
Hoping to hear from you soon with such a shower of evidence that my mind will be set permanently at rest. I remain desirous of being considered a Brother in the Gospel of Christ.
LAMONI CALL
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SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, Jan. 23, 1897.
Lamoni Call, Bountiful, Davis, Co.
MY DEAR BROTHER CALL:-Your esteemed favor of the 17th inst, came to bend on the 20th and I have been so driven with duties and extraordinary pressure upon my time on account of severe sickness in my family that I have found it impossible to suitably reply to your letter. I have but a moment at my disposal now, hence this hastily written acknowledgment and my desire to express the wish that you will suspend feeling and action until I can get a few moments to write you or speak with you. Come and see me and let me speak with you regarding your views. I have a great regard for your name and ancestry and I would love to see you prosperous and happy and full of faith, knowledge and power for good. I would see you at any time I could get moment, or I will write you later on, until then believe me your brother and friend.
JOS. F. SMITH.
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BOUNTIFUL, UTAH, June. 27, 1897.
DEAR BROTHER: Again I am persuaded that I should write you. Since receiving you. of Jan. 23, 1897. I have called at your office several times but always found you buisy. The ward authorities waited on me until my school quit since which time I have spent much of any time reading the Book of Mormon, and comparing the present with the first edition.
All I wish to say is that the more I read the Book the unresonable it seems to me to be. I wish it were as I onece thought it to be. It is not pleasant to cut myself off from the society of my friends, but I see no other show.
The president of the Seventies quorum said the Bishop had asked him to push things to an issue, and If I would not resign to handle me.
Now I do not wish to be handled; I have no plea to make. In my present situation I cannot think that God has done the work our people credit him with doing.
In your letter to me you asked me not to act until you saw me or wrote me, so I have delayed until now. But if do not learn something favorable between now and next Sunday I expect to resign my my position.
I enclose stap, please send my reprint of the "Covenants and Commandments".
I will come to visit you if you advise it. With kind reguards.
LAMONI CALL
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NOTE-The above letter is set just as it was written. Reference is made to the mistakes in it by Jos. F. in the following:
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, Jan. 28, 1897.
Lamoni Call, Esq., Bountiful.
DEAR BROTHER: Your favor of the 27th inst. is duly received. I do not need to read between the lines to discover the temper of your feeling nor the condition of your mind.
I am Fully persuaded that under existing conditions, with reference to your frame of mind and darkened spirit, it would be a waste of time and words for me to attempt by means of conversation or by letter to dissuade you from your intended purpose as expressed in your letter to me, or to change the trend of your thoughts by any argument, statement of facts or testimony within my power at this time. I feel quite sure that only time, experience, and the exercise of a few grains of common sense will suffice to bring about the change of heart you so much need.
I regret, probably as much as you do, the existence in the Book of Mormon as well as other church works of typographical and grammatical errors, but these are due to the imperfections of men whose handiwork in comparison to the handiwork of God is always faulty and imperfect. But this is only the evidence of man's weakness and does not destroy the perfection of God's works, nor should they impair our confidence in them. I am thankful beyond measure to know that the Gospel truths revealed through the medium of the Book of Mormon and other books accepted as authentic by the church, are divine truths and can be relied upon by every man as spiritual and intellectual guide which if well followed will most assuredly lead him back into His presence and glory and eternal life. No amount of verbal changing or paragraphing or versing can ever shake my faith in the divine mission of Christ nor of Joseph Smith or the divine origin of the Book of Mormon, and the revelations contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, or which may still remain as unpublished records In the manuscript history of the church. Especially is this so when such changes tend only to make the thought more clam, the truth more clear, and does not change or destroy its true sense. Howbeit, the things of God knoweth no man but (by) the Spirit of God. Herein lies your mistake and consequent trouble. The scriptures are plain upon this subject. Therein it is sad, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are (or seem to be) foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned". (See lst Cor., 2 ch., 9th to 16th ver.)
If you will humble yourself before the Lord and get a little of His Spirit in your heart, then bend your thought and effort to finding out and demonstrating the truth of the Book of Mormon and the revelations from God to Joseph Smith, instead of trying to discover whatever of error can be found in them which error, if it does exist, is only incident to the weaknesses of men, I will warrant that you will begin to see things in their true light. If you would take this course from now on, you might, I firmly believe, save yourself from a a serious blunder, which if you make it I can only hope that you may live long enough to discover it and repent.
With sorrow for your unfortunate mental and social condition, and yet with sympathy and love for you as a descendant of true, noble, and clear sighted man, I am, with sincere regards, Your Brother,
JOS. F. SMITH.
P.S. By the way I find five glaring mistakes in your letter and you are "A publisher." Your letter would not make more than one fourth of a page of the B. of M. How thankful I am Joseph did not have you to proof read the B. of M.! 0. Cowdery was not a publisher"!
J. F. S.
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Preface to Second Edition of the Book
of Mormon,
Printed at Kirtland, Ohio, 1837.
"The publishers of the following volumes having obtained leave to issue five thousand copies of the same, from those holding the copyrights, would respectfully notice a few items for the benefit of the reader."
"The 1830 edition of the book of Mormon having sometime since been distributed, the pressing calls for the same, as well as the book of Doctrine and Covenants, and the vast importance attached to their contents, have induced the undersigned to seek the privilege of supplying those calls by presenting in one volume both books, in a condensed form, rendering greater convenience to elders, and others, who convey the same to different parts.
"Individuals acquainted with book printing are aware of the numerous typographical errors which always occur in manuscript editions. It is only necessary to say, that the whole has been carefully reexamined and compared with the original manuscripts, by elder Joseph Smith. Jr., the translator of the book of Mormon, assisted by the present printer, brother 0. Cowdery, who formerly wrote the greatest portion of the same, as dictated by brother Smith.
"Expecting, as we have reason to, that this book will be conveyed to places which circumstances will render it impossible for us to visit, and be perused by thousands whose faces we may never see on this side of eternity, we cannot consistently let the opportunity pass, without expressing our sincere conviction of its truth, and the great and glorious purposes it must effect, in the restoration or the house of Israel, and the ushering in of that blessed day when the knowledge of God will cover the earth, and one universal peace pervades all people.
PARLEY P. PRATT,
JOHN GOODSON.
"Note from back- Contrary to our expectations, when the foregoing work was commenced, we have been induced to abandon the idea of attaching to it the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. We came to this conclusion from the fact, that the two connected, would make a volume, entirely too unwieldy for the purpose intended, that of a pocket companion.
THE PUBLISHERS."
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Our witnesses are few and their statements are not voluminous. So we should by a careful reading and a little thought sift it to the bottom and get the truth. At the word "truth" I realize that many of those who hold Joseph as a prophet will feel just a little indignant. The very thought of questioning his word! But let it be remembered that we are investigating, that Joseph has made a record, that that record will be investigated for a long time to come. Let those who love Joseph rest easy for the "truth will out. Many men who were considered heretics in their day are now being boosted as high as we poor mortals can boost them. All we can get is their name and record, but that is a thing that cannot be sentenced to death by a bigoted judge or a fanatical priest; or enthroned in glory by a loving mother or an earnest convert.
If Joseph Smith's work was a successful fraud, the people who hold themselves open to conviction will learn the facts, but those who say, " tis because 'tis," and, being so afraid of having their faith weaken that they positively refuse to read anything that is liable to overturn it, will remain in ignorance, and glory in that ignorance, and think it is the "power of God unto salvation." "Ignorance is bless."
If his work is just what he claims it to be, the truth is somewhere buried -from my mind at least-in the multiplied statements which seem to me to be clashing. (To say they do not clash without investigating is either lazy or cowardly. To say they do clash without investigating is just as bad.) And a careful study will bring it to the top all right. The evidence will be classified and weighed, and he will finally get full value for all time good he has done. Men will study both sides of the question and be will be given his portion among the world's greatest heroes.
So let us go to and carefully examine every point within our reach. Let us not be afraid of the scripture which says if we do not believe we will be damned, because that doctrine would make cowards of the best of us. Let me assure you that that scripture is not a heavenly truth; a Godly justice, and if it were God never would have trusted it out of heaven for fear he would be overrun with cowards.
The first edition of the book had been in circulation seven years when the second was printed. It had undoubtedly been criticized by the educated during that time. And publishers found it necessary to make a great many grammatical changes in it. The question undoubtedly arose about what they would tell the people as a reason for making the alterations in God's word.
It may seem to some that I am prejudging that the work is a fraud, by saying that they undoubtedly debated the matter to decide what to tell the people. The reader may think a person does not need to debate when he is going to tell simply what he knows to be the truth. But let it be remembered, the Book of Mormon was no common volume. It was the word of God; the Law of God. Surely it is not claiming too much when we assert that the publishers should have been very particular with it. And if they sent the law of God out with thousands of blunders in it the people would have the right to censure them for laziness at least. So they laid it at the door of the poor printer. They say the errors are typographical.
It seems to me that they could have added another source quite as reasonable as the above. For in the early part of the work Joseph let Martin Harris take 116 pages of MS. home to show it to the folks, and it was lost. To avoid a repetition of so serious a matter Oliver copied the work and took it to the printer a little at a time. So the printer did not get the original copy.
It is quite reasonable to expect that Oliver would make mistakes in copying so large a works for we have no account of his having either the seer stone or the urim and thummim to guard against errors as it did in time first copy. But the preface to the second edition makes no claim to the right to change on account of clerical errors. However, P. P. Pratt and John Goodson may not have known just what "typographical errors included. It is possible that they thought it meant any error that Oliver or the compositor made. But one would hardly think so, for they say, :Individuals acquainted with book printing are aware of the numerous typographical errors which always occur in manuscript editions. The only reason why more typographical errors should occur in manuscript editions is on account of the liability of the printer to mistake the writer's characters.
Prest. Joseph F. says, "I regret, probably as much as you do, the existence in the Book of Mormon as well as other church works of typographical and grammatical errors. But these are due to the imperfections of men whose handiwork in comparison to the handiwork of God is always faulty and imperfect. But this is only the evidence of man's weakness and does not destroy the perfection of God's works.
Does this answer my question? I had read something much clearer than that in the preface to the second edition of the Book of Mormon. They say there that they are typographical errors, and they point out the particular book which has them. But Joseph F. simply makes a sweeping statement of all the church books. But I should like to inform him, for he seems not to know, that the Book of Mormon differs from all other books in the church if the claims for it be true. He says these errors are due to mans imperfections. Probably it would not be amiss to say that I had before read in Mormon's preface in the first edition, "and now if there are faults, it be the mistakes of men " But in the second edition he says, "they are", instead of, "it be."
In Mormon 8:17. it says, "and if there be faults, they be the faults of a man." Which "Man"? Yes indeed, well may we inquire "which man."
Joseph F. now makes a sweeping classification of the church books in which he has the great amount of ONE group. And he regrets that they are not free from errors I should like to ask if the errors of all are traceable to the same source- man's ignorance. If so where is the handiwork of God. The handiwork of man is plainly apparent on every page. But where, in the name of that Great God that created heaven and earth is "the perfection of God's works? That is what I have been hunting for three years. That is what I have failed to get the first glimpse of. No I have never been able to even find one of its tracks. And if I possessed the olfactory nerves of the most sensitive hound I do not believe I could even then obtain the scent of the "perfection of Gods works" in all the ramifications of Mormonism.
Where God started out to produce a marvelous work and a wonder by eclipsing the wisdom of the wise we have the mistakes of "A man" and they bare all the earmarks of a very illiterate man too. With the second edition we have a progressive student, P. P. Pratt on the staff, and the revised edition is quite a credit to a man of his chances. Now we have the college graduate and the books sit on all the shades of difference of the men's abilities. But nowhere can "the perfection of God's works" be found.
Joseph F. can read between the lines of my letter and he sees that he will have to produce facts and since he does not think he can produce evidence which will convince me, he does not wish to waste his words on a person so likely to question everything, and believe nothing until it is proved. But I should like to call his attention to the fact that if the things of God are, or even seem to me to be, foolishness how am I to judge them? I must judge all things as they seem to ME to be. It is impossible for ME to judge them as they seem to HIM to be. I can quote his thoughts if he makes them public, but that is all. If I get his thoughts so I can use them as my own it must be by his proving to me by facts and figures that he is right. By putting me in possession of the facts which cause him to be believe or know, and then they would be my facts. I would understand them as well as he understands them. If a fact exists which cannot be proved, of what use is it? If it can only be proved to those who do not look for anything to oppose it with, of what good is it? Joseph. F. suggests that I should cease to look for the opposite. What professor of mathematics would ask his students not to look for anything opposed to the rules he gives them? And until a religion can be proved with mathematical exactness we should never close our eyes to the opposite, we should never cease to ask ourselves: "Is it not possible that I might be wrong?" Thousands of people, in past ages, have proved by laying down their lives for their religion, that their faith in their religion was stronger than their love of the pleasures of this life; however feeble their evidences in support of what they believed. But we are taught by the Latter-day Saints that no people from about one hundred years after Christ's death enjoyed the saving principles of the gospel. Shall I do as they did-refuse to consider the claims of others? No! I will not. I will be free. I will investigate everything And if God gets "mad" about it, I cannot help that. He had no business to give me a mind if He did not want me to use it.
Just a word on Joseph F's postscript. He finds five glaring mistakes in my letter. He might have found more. He is thankful that Joseph did not have me to proof read the Book of Mormon. He also informs me that Oliver Cowdry was not a publisher, and consequently he could not be expected to do a good job of proof reading.
Here he confirms the preface to the second edition, in that the mistakes are typographical, in the strongest of terms. His inference is that the manuscript, as it came from the urim and thummim was absolutely perfect. Indeed, no other claim could be made.
This being true, the only thing we need to consider is, did the printer make the errors in the first edition that have been corrected since. In other words, is our present Book of Mormon like the original manuscript as it came from the urim and thummim? If it is, the work may be true. But if it is not, the work is a fraud, as the claims of the originators of the book is not true.
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