Why the Book of Mormon Has Been Changed Thousands of Times

Last night I finished reading an 1830-edition Book of Mormon, the very first printed script of the book.

After completing this project, I can confirm that there have indeed been thousands of changes made to the book since that time, and they are indeed horrifying in nature. Some of these abominable alterations include:

-Spelling errors

-Misplaced commas

-Incorrect pronouns

-Flagrantly wrong verb conjugations

-Division of 5-page-long paragraphs into verses

-Division of 30-page chapters into smaller units

-Chapter summaries

-Removing a foreword by Joseph Smith explaining why the Book of Lehi (the lost 116 pages) is missing (actually this one was kinda cool)

-The addition of “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” as a subtitle for the book

-Replacing the chronological index with a more thorough topical index that includes thousands of cross-references between not just Book of Mormon scriptures, but Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price passages as well

-Footnotes and cross-references at the bottom of each page

-Division of text into manageable columns in lieu of 20-word-line block text

-Introductory pages that essentially say, “No, this book wasn’t transcribed perfectly, because it was written, compiled, and translated by freaking human beings–and yet even then, it’s still the most doctrinally pure, spiritually uplifting, Christ-centered book you’ll ever read.”

-A pronunciation guide to set all those “Mo-ro-NAI-hah” and “Mo-ro-NEE-ah” contenders straight

-Paper that doesn’t look like it was pulled straight out of a pulp machine

-The title printed on the actual book cover

I know–it’s such a shame that the Book of Mormon has fallen so far from its original, 2.5-inch-thick state. But alas, all we can do is hope these shocking alterations haven’t blurred its truthfulness beyond recognition or advanced some Comma Wizard’s nefarious ulterior agenda.