Wherefore condemn not the things of god, that ye may be found spotless at the judgment seat of christ. The king james quotations in the book of mormon kjq, 2019 royal skousen, with the collaboration of stanford carmack. Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. Doesnt the book of mormon blatently plagiarize the king james bible. Ruckman examines four hundred socalled contradictions, which scholars have supposedly found in the king james bible, and he answers every major attack on the words of the king james text as we presently have it. Kjv verses in the book of mormon book of mormon depot. Besides the extensive list of parallels between the bible and the book of mormon, this book examines many other possible sources used to create the text, i. No book from gods hand will contain factual mistakes because he does not make mistakes. In this part 5 of volume 3 of the critical text, we identify one more use of early modern english in fact, a very specific one in the original text of the book of mormon, namely, quotations from the king james bible. Kjv translation errors as found in the book of mormon. The book of mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the king james bible kjv. Why is the book of mormon written in king james english.
Errors which are unique to the 1769 edition that joseph smith owned. The king james bible and the doctrine and covenants. It is also instructive to note that the translation of the king james bible took 47 trained scholars. Joseph smiths other writings, such as his history and diary, reflect the. Other significant connections between the two books include book of mormon words and phrases that only appear in their kjv usage, perpetuation of bible passages considered by some scholars to have been mistranslated in the. According to chronology found in the book of mormon, king benjamin should have been dead at this time. The critics have been quick to condemn the book of mormon because of this fact. The king james quotations in the book of mormon, the history of the text of the book of mormon.
Some linguistic evidences for the book of mormon latter. Critics of the book of mormon have assailed the books authenticity on the grounds that it has undergone many changes since its 1830 publication. Joseph smiths plagiarism of the bible in the book of mormon. By its own admission, the book of mormon is not a perfect text. In some cases, entire passages are duplicated in the book of mormon. It is recorded in the book of mormon that both lehi and jeremiah added their records to the brass plates of laban. It seems clear that the book of mormon is the most correct book on earth because by living and applying its teachings one can come closer to god than by any other book. Volumes have been written on its distinctive and rhythmic style, and it is still regarded as a triumph of modern english literature.
Making it a separate book so that recommendations are better or cleanup is easier seems to be putting the excuse the pun bibliograhic cart before the colophon of the horse. It is mostly a book of wars, oppression, slavery, treachery, bloodshed. Book of mormontranslation errors from the kjv fairmormon. The holy bible, king james version lds edition the church of jesus christ of latterday saints on. Sources and notes on presence of 1769 king james version edition errors in the book of mormon a supposed ancient text. Since its first publication in 1830, the book of moron has undergone thousands of changes. Are there errors from the 1769 king james version of the. I dont think you can say that the book of mormon contains unique errors from the king james version bible. And there are many more, but these will suffice to show the true origin of the book of mormon. The writer has an obsession with warfare and killing, with killings starting from chapter 4. By definition, he is omniscient and perfect in all his ways cf. The book of mormon contains numerous passages that contradict what the bible says.
They believe that most versions of the bible are full of mistakes or deliberate changes to the. The book of mormon is written in the style of the king james version of the bible but contains many linguistic clues that indicate it has an ancient hebrew source. In some cases, a passage in the book of mormon exactly matches a passage in the king james version of the bible, but was later revised in the joseph smith translation of the bible. Literary style used in book of mormon insured accurate. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, why would it contain translational errors that exist in the king james bible.
In responding to the ces letters book of mormon section, fairmormon makes a few critical concessions, including that errors unique to the 1769 version of the king james version bible are included in the current version of the book of mormon. And now if there be fault, it be the mistake of men. Where there was reason to deviate from the king james version, it was done. Large portions of the book of mormon are very similar to the king james. If one compares the wording the book of mormon isaiah with that of the king james version one finds that they are nearly identicalnearly, but not completely. Let me repeat that, hundreds of verses are copied absolutely verbatim. If he later decided the passage should be revised, why didnt he revise it the first time, while he was translating the book of mormon. The purpose of each new edition is to eliminate the human errors that have occurred. The book of mormon and the king james bible wikipedia. Kjv does not take the word for rock and accidentally translate. Although few in number, the king james version does contain a number of undeniable incorrect translations. Joseph smiths inspired revisions to the king james. For example, several textual variants occur in matthew 6a chapter that was reproduced in 3 nephi. This page shows the book of mormon verses that incorporate text from the king james version of the bible.
King james english in the book of mormon an oddity in the book of mormon, published in 1830, is that it uses antiquated english resembling the style of the king james version kjv bible. Large portions of the book of mormon are very similar to the king james version of the bible, which of course was about the only english bible available to joseph smith in the 1820s. Josephs language, according to his understanding of what scripture should look like, would have been the king james english. Sometimes the quotation is explicit, as in the second book of nephi, which contains 18 quoted chapters of the book of isaiah. There are other similar mistakes where the book of mormon includes the spurious kjv readings in 3 nephi. Instead, the book of mormon perpetuated the mistakes. The dependence of the book of mormon on the king james version, however, goes deeper than a mere affectation of style. What are 1769 king james version edition errors doing in the book of mormon.
The mormon church promotes the book of mormon as an inspired writing. One important framework for understanding the book is to examine its publishing history. No, the book of mormon does not contain unique errors from the king james version bible. All this statement does is transfer the problem to why god chose to have joseph smith translate the book of mormon into king james version biblical language see that topic below. The first part of the book of mormon, down to the book of mosiah, was translated directly from the writings of nephi and jacob, with brief entries by others down to sometime between 279 and bc. Why do quotes from the king james version appear in the. Discussing the importance of analyzing all the evidence for the claim the book of mormon just simply slavishly and stupidly copies the king james version of the bible.
Do the errors exclusively found in the 1769 king james. Mistakes, failure, and confusion were part of josephs life and mission, and they are going to be part of yours too. Another thing that has bothered me is the claim that there are 1769 king james version edition errors in the book of mormon, errors that are unique to the 1769 edition. However, when confronted with the presence of 1769 kjv errors and 17th century italics in the book of mormon, many of the same apologists will revert to the loose translation by claiming that.
We find, therefore, that the king james version left an indelible mark on the book of mormon. Joseph smith nor the nephites lived in jacobean england. Sperry, of the brigham young university, made the following comment concerning this change. Kjv isaiah, bom 2nd nephi, correct translation, kjv bom translation. The issue of the influence of the king james bible upon the revelations first contained in the book of commandments and then published and augmented in the subsequent editions of the doctrine and covenants is, in many ways, similar to that of the kjvs relationship to the english text of the book of mormon. Joseph smiths other writings, such as his history and diary, reflect the modern english era of his day. Why is some of the book of mormon identical to the bible. The rest of the book was written by mormon and moroni, who lived in the forth century ad after their written language had been significantly modified. This process is not described in the book of mormon, but the whole group of nephites and mulekites were hereafter known as nephites. So what were they doing in the book of mormon if it is supposedly an ancient text. They are, the king james version of the bible, the book of mormon a record of the ancient inhabitants of the americas, and more recently publicized as another testament of jesus christ, the doctrine and covenants a numbered listing of prophecies and revelations received by joseph smith and subsequent prophets of the lds church, and. The book of mormon, doctrines and covenants, the pearl of great price. Furthermore, the book of mormon is full of scripture, and for the world of joseph smiths day, the king james version was the scripture, as we have noted.
While the 1830 edition of the book of mormon read if there be fault, it be the mistake of men, the 1837 edition of the book of mormon, edited by joseph smith himself, was amended to read if there are faults, they are the mistakes of men. It is in fact replete with such errors, as i intend to show in these two part 6 posts to ed. It is also true that the king james version contains some textual errors. The book of mormons title page, translated by joseph smith, ends with a rather intriguing disclaimer for a book of scripture. Book of mormon central is designed and built by people who love the book of mormon. Ces letter no translation errors i dont think you can say that the book of mormon contains unique errors from the king james version bible. The book of mormon and the king james version secular web.
In verses that directly quote the bible, whether attributed by book of mormon narrators or not, the table shows which words were deleted from the source kjv verse and which words were added by the book of mormon verse. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of. What are 1769 king james versionedition errors doing in the book. Holy bible should the lds edition of the king james. The truth is, however, they do contradict one another. The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of.
Importantly, many of these clues are linguistic patterns missing from the bible or undetected for generations, meaning the translators could not have just made it up or copied from. James jesse strang march 21, 18 july 9, 1856 was an american religious leader, politician and selfproclaimed monarch. And, apologists sometimes claim that what the ces letter calls translation errors doesnt necessarily agree with what biblical scholars would call an error anyway. The errors are unique to the 1769 edition that joseph smith owned. False, because of mistakes in book of mormon, doctrines and covenants, and the pearl of great price. Answers to my mormon friends details historical and doctrinal mistakes of the book of mormon and other lds scriptures. The holy bible king james version the book of mormon. Weapons used from 544 bc to 52 bc p107359 are listed as bows and arrows, steel swords, axes. Royal skousen, a professor of linguistics at byu and a recognized expert of the textual history of the book of mormon, has identified 5,280 variations in all editions of the book of mormon. King mosiah and the nephites who followed him joined up with these mulekites and somehow was able to become king over both groups. Over the last 178 years, seven major editions of the book of mormon have been published by the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. The text of the lds editions of the king james bible isare exactly the same.
What are 1769 king james versionedition errors doing in the book of mormon. The book of mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the king james bible. The best confirmation that the book of mormon used the kjv bible is the. What are 1769 kjv edition errors doing in book of mormon. The king james bible and the book of mormon its obvious even to the casual reader that the book of mormon, in its original 1830 translation, is written in the language of the king james version bible hereafter kjv. For example, mormon apologists will embrace the tight translation of the book of mormon translation when discussing how joseph used his rock in a hat. The book of mormon certainly sounds biblical not only because it was written in king james 17thcentury language, but also because more than 27,000 words hundreds of verses, are copied directly from the king james version of the bible. Also notice how the apologists blame you for taking director to mean director.
The king james version of the bible is, in all likelihood, the most successful of all the english translations. Over a hundred years ago, in july of 1856, james jesse strang, selfstyled mormon prophet and king of beaver island, died at the hands of assassins. Smith copied vast quantities of the bible into the book of mormon, and the bible that he used was the king james version. Kjv idioms and the book of mormon november 3, 2011 by bhodges if you go to the churchs online edition of the scriptures youll notice a prominent link to a 3part documentary called fires of faith. Since joseph smith used no paper notes, scripts or other texts, whatever he produced in the book of mormon came from god. Our mission is to build enduring faith in jesus christ by making the book. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, some claim that it shouldnt contain these translational errors. The book of mormon incorporates text which seems to be taken from the king james version, including passages which are now considered to be mistranslations in the king james version.
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