JosephLied.com

"... we heard a voice from out of the bright light above us, saying, 'These plates have been revealed by the power of God, and they have been translated by the power of God. The translation of them which you have seen is correct, and I command you to bear record of what you now see and hear.'" (History of the Church, by Joseph Smith, Vol. 1, pp. 54-55)

Joseph Smith once made the claim that the Book of Mormon was "...the most correct of any book on the earth ... " (History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 461). Over the next 170+ years, Mormon apologists have defended the book and this bold claim by saying that the first Prophet of this dispensation was merely saying the doctrines of the Book of Mormon were "the most correct of any book on the earth" and that the thousands of changes made to the book were, almost without exception, minor grammatical and/or punctuation changes. During my 30+ years as a Mormon I bought this defense, hook, line and sinker. It never occurred to me to actually look at a copy of the original 1830 Book of Mormon and investigate the changes with my own eyes. After all, men like Joseph Fielding Smith had said things like,

"...enemies of the Church...have made the statement that there have been one or two or more thousand changes in the Book of Mormon since the first edition was published. Well, of course, there is no truth in that statement." (The Improvement Era, December, 1961, pg. 924)

Frankly, I believed the leaders of the church when they said things like this. After all, these men were Prophets and Apostles of God. Surely they would have no reason to lie about things such as changes to the Book of Mormon. It wasn’t until after I left the church that I took a much closer look at the claim that there had been nearly 4,000 changes to the Book of Mormon.

Should we expect perfection?

Surprisingly, the answer to this question is “Yes”. We have detailed information as to exactly how the Book of Mormon was translated. It was, quite literally, supposed to have been the first book ever written with the aid of God himself. Considering the methodical means by which the gold plates were translated, there was little, if any, room for error. Consider the following quotes:

"I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English." (An Address to All Believers in Christ, by David Whitmer, 1887, page 12)

"'Martin [Harris] explained the translation as follows: By aid of the seer stone, sentences would appear and were read by the prophet and written by Martin, and when finished he would say, "Written," and if correctly written, that sentence would disappear and another appear in its place, but if not written correctly it remained until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven (sic) on the plates, precisely in the language then used.'" (Myth of the Manuscript Found, Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883 edition, page 91)

George Reynolds, who was a member of the First Council of the Seventy, 1890-1909, made this statement in 1883:

"But at the outset it must be recollected that the translation was accomplished by no common method, by no ordinary means. It was done by divine aid. There were no delays over obscure passages, no difficulties over the choice of words, no stoppages from the ignorance of the translator; no time was wasted in investigation or argument over the value, intent or meaning of certain characters, and there were no references to authorities. These difficulties to human work were removed. All was as simple as when a clerk writes from dictation. The translation of the characters appeared on the Urim and Thummim, sentence by sentence, and as soon as one was correctly transcribed the next would appear." (Myth of the Manuscript Found, 1883 edition, page 71)

Oliver B. Huntington recorded in his journal that in 1881 Joseph F. Smith, who became the sixth President of the Mormon Church, taught that the Lord gave Joseph Smith the exact English wording and spelling that he should use in the Book of Mormon:

"Saturday Feb. 25, 1881, I went to Provo to a quarterly Stake Conference. Heard Joseph F. Smith describe the manner of translating the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith the Prophet and Seer, which was as follows as near as I can recollect the substance of his description. Joseph did not render the writing on the gold plates into the English language in his own style of language as many people believe, but every word and every letter was given to him by the gift and power of God. So it is the work of God and not of Joseph Smith, and it was done in this way .... The Lord caused each word spelled as it is in the book to appear on the stones in short sentences or words, and when Joseph had uttered the sentence or word before him and the scribe had written it properly, that sentence would disappear and another appear. And if there was a word wrongly written or even a letter incorrect the writing on the stones would remain there. Then Joseph would require the scribe to spell the reading of the last spoken and thus find the mistake and when corrected the sentence would disappear as usual." (Journal of Oliver B. Huntington, page 168 of typed copy at Utah State Historical Society)

Major changes

The four following revisions occur in 1 Nephi. Since passages in the rest of the Book of Mormon which described Jesus as Father and Supreme God were not changed, is it possible that Joseph Smith intended to revise the whole Book of Mormon to reflect tritheism but only barely began the project? He may have given up, realizing that revising the Book of Mormon's theology would often require major rewriting rather than simple insertions or word replacement.
1830 Edition
1837 Edition (emphasis added)

1 Ne. 11:19
the virgin whom thou seest is the
mother of God, after the manner of
the flesh

1 Ne. 11:19
the virgin whom thou seest is the
mother of the Son of God, after the
manner of the flesh.

1 Ne. 11:21
Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father!

1 Ne. 11:21
Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even
the Son of the Eternal Father!

1 Ne. 11:32
[the Lamb of God] was taken by the people; yea, the everlasting God was judged of the world.

1 Ne. 11:32
[the Lamb of God] was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world.

1 Ne. 13:40
[these records] shall make known to
all … that the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world.

1 Ne. 13:40
[these records] shall make known to
all … that the Lamb of God is the Son
of the Eternal Father, and the Savior
of the world.

The original text of Mosiah 21:28 reads: "And now Limhi was again filled with joy, on learning from the mouth of Ammon that king Benjamin had a gift from God, whereby he could interpret such engravings; yea, and Ammon also did rejoice."

The problem, of course, is that king Benjamin was dead by this time (Mosiah 6:5). This reference was changed to 'Mosiah' in the 1837 and subsequent editions. However, it appears that this was not the only
place where such a change was made. The original text of Ether 4:1 reads: "...and for this cause did king Benjamin keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ shew himself unto his people."

Again, Benjamin was changed to "Mosiah" in subsequent editions. The fact that there are two such changes leads one to speculate that Joseph Smith may possibly have had a slightly different course in mind for the life of King Benjamin and had perhaps killed off Benjamin prematurely while rewriting the lost 116 pages of the Book of Mormon.

The original text of I Nephi 12:18 reads: "...yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God, and Jesus Christ, which is the Lamb of God..."

The problem here is that the name 'Jesus Christ' was not revealed to the Nephites until II Nephi 10:3.
"Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ--for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name--should come among the Jews..."

In order to correct this contradiction, the text of I Nephi 12:18 was changed to read 'Messiah' instead of 'Jesus Christ'. How does the church explain that?

The original text of I Nephi 20:1 reads:
"Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel; yet they swear not in truth, nor righteousness."

In 1840 this verse was changed to read:
"Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism , who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness."

The phrase "or out of the waters of baptism" was inserted in the 1840 edition. Why did it take God ten years to decide to introduce the ordinance of baptism into Old Testament text?

The original text of II Nephi 16:2 reads:

"Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly."

This is a quotation from the King James Version of the Bible, specifically Isaiah 6:2. In a rare grammatical mistake, the KJV has an incorrect plural for 'seraph'. The correct plural, of course, should be 'seraphim', as the later text of II Nephi 16:2 reads. How does one explain that Joseph Smith would make the same exact spelling error in the BofM "translation" that the writers of the KJV of the Bible made centuries before?

Ain't ain't a word
(But it would sure feel at home in the 1830 Book of Mormon)

It has already been shown that the witnesses to the translation process and also through the comments of former church leaders, that the Book of Mormon should have been virtually perfect and free from even the slightest mistakes. Certainly there shouldn’t have been thousands of mistakes in what was called “the most correct of any book on the earth”. However, let’s take a look at some of the more obvious grammatical errors Joseph Smith made while “translating with the aid and power of God”.

One of the most frequent mistakes in the first edition of the Book of Mormon is the use of the word "was" instead of the word "were". The following are extracts from the first edition of the Book of Mormon in which the word "was" has been changed in later editions to "were" The page number you see after each quote corresponds to the original page number that the quote was on in the 1830 Book of Mormon (which was not divided into chapters and verses). Following the page number is the location of the quote in the current Book of Mormon:

"... and also of Adam and Eve, which was our first parents ..." (page 15) [1 Nephi 5:11]
"Wherefore, all mankind was in a lost and in a fallen state ..." (page 22) [1 Nephi 10:6]
"And all these things of which I have spoken, was done ..." (page 23) [1 Nephi 10:1116]
"... and loosed the bands which was upon my wrists ..." (page 49) [1 Nephi 18:15]
"And great was the covenants of the Lord ..." (page 66) [2 Nephi 3:4]
"... and they were surrounded by the king's guard, and was taken, and was bound, and was committed to prison." (page 169) [Mosiah 7:7]
"... and these interpreters was doubtless prepared ... (page 173) [Mosiah 8:19]
"... and the seats which was set apart for the high priests, which was above all the other seats ..." (page 178) [Mosiah 11:11]
"... the arms of mercy was extended towards them; for the arms of mercy was extended ..." (page 189) [Mosiah 16:12]
"... both Alma and Helam was buried in the water ..." (page 192) [Mosiah 18:14]
"And the priests was not to depend upon the people ..." (page 193) [Mosiah 18:26]
"... and those that was with him." (page 195) [Mosiah 19:18]
"... the afflictions of the Nephites was great ..." (page 198) [Mosiah 21:5]
"... many of his people was desirous to be baptized ..." (page 200) [Mosiah 21:33]
"And now there was seven Churches ..." (page 209) [Mosiah 25:23]
"... there was many of the rising generation ..." (page 209)
"... those who committed sin that was in the church ..." (page 209)
"Now the sons of Mosiah was numbered ..." (page 212) [Mosiah 27:8]
"... I had much desire that ye was not in the state of dilemma ..." (page 241) [Alma 7:18]
"... they was angry with me ..." (page 248) [Alma 9:32]
"... the land of Nephi, and the land of Zarahemla, was nearly surrounded..."(page 288) [Alma 22:32]
"But behold there was no wild beasts ..." (page 460) [3 Nephi 4:2]

There are also many places where the word "were" has been changed to "was". The following are extracts from the first edition:
"... but it all were vain ..." (page 142) [Jacob 7:24]
"... an army of the Lamanites were in the borders ..." (page 204) [Mosiah 23:25]
"... inasmuch as it were possible." (page 224) [Alma 1:32]
"Now the object of these Lawyers were to get gain ..." (page 251) [Alma 10:32]
"... every living soul of the Ammonihahites were destroyed ..." (page 267) [Alma 16:9]
"... for the promise of the Lord were , If they should ..." (page 359) [Alma 48:25]
"... there was not a single soul of the Nephites which were slain." (page 362) [Alma 49:23]
"... because it were easy to guard them ..." (page 375) [Alma 53:5]
"And in this year there were continual rejoicing ..." (page 414) [Helaman 3:31]
"And there were but little alteration in the affairs ..." (page 450) Helaman 16:12]
"... therefore there were no chance for the robbers to plunder ..." (page 460) [3 Nephi 4:2]
"... in the which there were so much wickedness ..." (page 463) [3 Nephi 5:6]
"Behold I were about to write them all ..." (page 506) [3 Nephi 26:11]
"... there were no blood shed." (page 519) [Mormon 1:12]
"... and I were forbidden that I should preach unto them ..." (page 519) [Mormon 1:116]

Another common mistake in the first edition of the Book of Mormon is the use of the word "is" when it should read "are". The following are extracts from the first edition in which the word "is" has been changed to "are" in later editions:
"... the tender mercies of the Lord is over all ..." (page 7) [1 Nephi 1:20]
"... the mixture of thy seed, which is among thy brethren ..." (page 30) [1 Nephi 13:30]
"... shall establish the truth of the first, which is of the twelve apostles ..." (page 32) [1 Nephi 13:40]
"... there is, save it be, two churches ..." (page 33) [1 Nephi 14:10]
"... and all things that in them is ..." (page 64) [2 Nephi 2:14]
"... and all things are given them which is expedient ..." (page 65) [2 Nephi 2:27]
"... shall be the words which is expedient in my wisdom ..." (page 67) [2 Nephi 3:19]
"But great is the promises of the Lord ..." (page 85) [2 Nephi 10:21]
"And whoredoms is an abomination before me ..." (page 127) [Jacob 2:28]
"... according to his judgments, which is just ... " (page 150) [Omni v. 22]
"... and prophesied of many things which is to come ..." (page 171) [Mosiah 7:26]
"... or any likeness of things which is in heaven above, or which is in the earth beneath, or which is in the water under the earth." (page 184) [Mosiah 13:12]
"Behold, here is the waters of Mormon ..." (page 192) [Mosiah 18:8]
"... ye hope for things which is not seen, which are true." (page 315) [Alma 32:21]
"... Behold, here is our weapons of war ..." (page 346) [Alma 44:8]

In the following extracts from the first edition of the Book of Mormon the word "much" has been changed to "many" in later editions:
"... and wild goats, and also much horses." (page 145) [Enos v. 21]
"... and destroy the souls of much people." (page 217) [Mosiah 29:7]

In the following extracts from the first edition of the Book of Mormon the word "had" has been deleted and the words "not ought" have been rearranged to ought not in later edition:
"... lest he should look for that he had not ought and he should perish." (page 173) [Mosiah 8:13]
"And he told them that these things had not ought to be ..." (page 220) [Mosiah 29:34]
"... and that they had not ought to murder ..." (page 289) [Alma 23:3]
"I had not ought to harrow up in my desires ..." (page 303) [Alma 29:4]

Another common mistake in the first edition of the Book of Mormon is the use of the word "a" where it does not belong. In the following extracts from the first edition the word "a" has been deleted in later editions:
"As I was a journeying to see a very near kindred ..." (page 249) [Alma 10:7]
"And as I was a going thither ..." (page 249) [Alma 10:8]
"... the foundation of the destruction of this people is a beginning to be laid ..." (page 251) [Alma 10:27]
"... he met with the sons of Mosiah, a journeying towards the land ..." (page 269) [Alma 17:1]
"... as Ammon and Lamoni was a journeying thither ..." (page 280) [Alma 20:8]
"... there he found Muloki a preaching the word ..." (page 284) [Alma 21:11]
"... went about from house to house, a begging for his food." (page 309) [Alma 30:56]
"And Korihor did go about from house to house, a begging food ..." (page 309) [Alma 30:58]
"... Moroni, on the other hand, had been a preparing the minds ..." (page 358) [Alma 48:7]
"And thus Moroni had obtained a possession of the city Mulek ..." (page 373) [Alma 52:26]
"... the armies of the Lamanites are a marching towards the city ..." (page 389) [Alma 57:31]
"... the Lamanites saw that Moroni was a coming against them ..." (page 403) [Alma 62:31]
"... the Lamanites a marching towards them ..." (page 529) [Mormon 6:7]

In the following extracts from the first edition of the Book of Mormon the word "for" has been deleted in later editions:
"... the Lamanites did gather themselves together for to sing ..." (page 196) [Mosiah 20:1]
"... they did prepare for to meet them ..." (page 225) [Alma 2:12]
"... the Son of God, which should come for to redeem his people ..." (page 239) [Alma 6:8]
"Now it was for the sole purpose for to get gain ..." (page 252) [Alma 11:20]
"... preparing the hearts of the children of men for to receive his word ..." (page 261) [Alma 13:24]
"... did pour out his spirit on all the face of the land, for to prepare ..." (page 268) [Alma 16:16]
"... after their many struggles for to destroy them ..." (page 299) [Alma 27:1]
"... free intercourse one with another, for to buy and to sell ..." (page 422) [Helaman 6:8]
"... we depend upon them for to teach us the word ..." (page 451) [Helaman 16:21]
"... they did cast up mighty heaps of earth for to get ore ... " (page 560) [Ether 10:23]

On page 260 of the first edition the following statement appears:
"Behold, the Scriptures are before you; if ye will arrest them, it shall be to your own destruction."
In the 1964 reprint (Alma 13:20) this has been changed to read:
"Behold, the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest them it shall be to your own destruction."

A similar mistake is found on page 336 of the first edition:
"... some have arrested the Scriptures ..."
In the 1964 reprint (Alma 41:1) this has been changed to read:
"... some have wrested the scriptures ..."

The following are extracts from the first edition of the Book of Mormon. The word "arriven" has been changed to "arrived" in later editions:
"... when they had arriven in the borders of the land ..." (page 270) [Alma 17:13]
"... wo unto this people, because of this time which has arriven ..." (page 443) [Helaman 13:24]

The following are extracts from the first edition. The word "respects" has been changed to "respect" in later editions:
"... having no respects to persons as to those who stood in need ..." (page 224) [Alma 1:30]
"... they did impart the word of God, without any respects of persons ..." (page 268) [Helaman 13:24]

The two extracts which follow are from the first edition of the Book of Mormon. The word "fell" has been changed to "fallen" in later editions:
"... the multitude beheld that the man had fell dead ..." (page 278) [Alma 19:24]
"But they had fell into great errors ..." (page 310) [Alma 31:9]

The following extracts are from the first edition of the Book of Mormon. The word "wrote" has been changed to "written" in later editions:
"And thus ended the record of Alma, which was wrote upon the plates of Nephi." (page 347) [Alma 44:24]
"... I have wrote unto you somewhat concerning this war ..." (page 377) [Alma 54:5]
"... therefore I have wrote this epistle ..." (page 457) [3 Nephi 3:5]
"... I have wrote them to the intent ..." (page 506) [3 Nephi 26:8]

The following are extracts from the first edition. The expression "exceeding fraid" has been changed to "exceedingly afraid" in later editions:
"... they were exceeding fraid ; yea, they feared to displease the king ..." (page 354) [Alma 47:2]
"... they were exceeding fraid , lest there were a plan laid ..." (page 392) [Alma 58:24]
"... the Lamanites were exceeding fraid ..." (page 415) [Helaman 4:3]

On page 76 of the first edition the following appears:
"The Lord God hath appointed mine ear ..."
In the 1964 edition (2 Nephi 7:5)
"The Lord God hath opened mine ear ..."

On page 74 of the first edition this statement appears:
"... my brother hath desired me that I should speak unto you."
In the 1964 reprint (2 Nephi 6:4) this has been changed to read:
"... my brother has desired that I should speak unto you."

On page 56 of the first edition of the Book of Mormon this statement appears:
"And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, after that I had read these things ..."
In the 1964 reprint (1 Nephi 22:1) four words have been deleted:
"And now it came to pass that I, Nephi, had read these things ..."

The following are extracts from the first edition of the Book of Mormon. The word "began" has been changed to "begun" in later editions.
"... it had sprang forth, and began to bear fruit." (page 132) [Jacob 5:17
"... they had began to possess the land of Amulon, and had began to till the ground." (page 204) [Mosiah 23:31]
"... they had began to settle the affairs ..." (page 368) [Alma 51:12]
"... had began his march towards the land ..." (page 372) [Alma 52:15]
"... the church had began to dwindle ..." (page 417) [Helaman 4:23]

On page 568 of the first edition this statement appears:
"... the people upon all the face of the land were a shedding blood, and there was none to constrain them."
In the 1964 edition (Ether 13:31) this has been changed to read:
"... the people upon the face of the land were shedding blood, and there was none to restrain them."

On page 135 of the first edition we find this statement:
"... I had hope to preserve, to have laid up fruit thereof ..."
In the 1964 reprint (Jacob 5:46) this was changed to read:
"... I had hoped to preserve, to have laid up fruit thereof ..."

On page 138 of the first edition this statement appears:
"... and the fruit were equal ..."
In the 1964 reprint (Jacob 5:74) this has been changed to read:
"... and the fruits were equal ..."

On page 171 of the first edition of the Book of Mormon we find the following:
"... and the effects thereof, is poison."
In the 1964 reprint (Mosiah 7:30) this has been changed to read:
"... and the effect thereof is poison."

The following are extracts from the first edition of the Book of Mormon. The word "retained" has been changed to "regained" in later editions.
"... to the maintaining those parts of the land, of the which we had retained of our possessions ..." (page 390) [Alma 58:3]
"... that he may support those parts of our country which he hath retained ..." (page 397) [Alma 60:24]
"... and having retained many of the Nephites which had been taken ..." (page 403) [Alma 62:30]
"... even until they had retained the one half of their property ..." (page 416) [Helaman 4:16]

The extracts that follow are from the first edition of the Book of Mormon; the word "took" has been changed to "taken" in later editions:
"... and behold, we have took of their wine ..." (page 379) [Alma 55:8]
"... after they had took them, they caused them to enter into a covenant ..." (page 402) [Alma 62:16]
"... the people of Nephi, which had some years before gone over unto the Lamanites, and took upon themselves the name of Lamanites ..." (page 438) [Helaman 11:24]

The extracts that follow are from the first edition; the word "gave" has been changed to "given" in later editions:
"... and had gave them power to gain possession ..." (page 380) [Alma 55:20]
"... even as I have broken bread, and blessed it, and gave it unto you." (page 490) [3 Nephi 18:6]

On page 359 of the first edition this statement appears:
"... the Devil would never have no power over the hearts of the children of men."
In the 1964 reprint (Alma 48:17) the double negative has been deleted:
"... the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."

A similar mistake appears on page 141 of the first edition:
"... neither hath been, nor never will be."
In the 1964 reprint (Jacob 7:9) this has been changed to read:
"... neither has been, nor ever will be."

The extracts that follow are from the first edition; the word "no" has been changed to "any" in later editions:
"... have not sought gold nor silver, nor no manner of riches of you ..." (page 157) [Mosiah 2:12]
"... there shall be no other name given, nor no other way nor means ..." (page 161) [Mosiah 3:17]
"... nor murdering, nor no manner of iniquity ..." (page 218) [Mosiah 29:14]
"... they did not fight against God no more ..." (page 290) [Alma 23:7]
"... nor murders, nor no manner of lasciviousness ..." (page 515) [4 Nephi v. 16]
"... neither were there Lamanites, nor no manner of Ites ..." (page 515) [4 Nephi v. 17]

On page 289 of the first edition this statement appears:
"... or Omner, or Himni, nor neither of their brethren ..."
In the 1964 edition (Alma 23:1) this has been changed to read:
"... or Omner, or Himni, nor either of their brethren ..."

The two extracts that follow are from the first edition of the Book of Mormon; the word "an" has been deleted in later editions:
"And behold, they would have carried this plan into an effect ..." (page 365) [Alma 50:30]
"... we were desirous to bring a stratagem into an effect upon them ..." (page 384) [Alma 56:30]

The following are extracts from the first edition of the Book of Mormon. The word "done" has been changed to "did" in later editions.
"... the servant of the Lord of the vineyard, done according to the word of the Lord of the vineyard ..." (page 132) [Jacob 5:10]
"... and this he done that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ." (page 140) [Jacob 7:2]
"... all this he done, for the sole purpose ..." (page 170) [Mosiah 7:22]
"... and this they done throughout all the land." (page 220) [Mosiah 29:41]
"... and this he done that he might subject them to him." (page 225) [Alma 2:10]
"... this they done that they might provide food ..." (page 269) [Alma 17:7]
"Now this he done that he might preserve their hatred ..." (page 340) [Alma 43:7]
"... this he done that he might usurp great power over them ..." (page 341) [Alma 43:8]

On the title page of the first edition (which was supposed to have been translated from the gold plates) this ironic statement appears:
"... now if there be fault, it be the mistake of men ..."
In the 1964 edition this has been changed to read:
"... now, if there are faults they are the mistakes of men ..."

It is interesting to note that even the signed statement by the eight witnesses to the Book of Mormon has been altered. In the 1830 edition (last page) it read:
"... that Joseph Smith, Jr. the Author and Proprietor of this work, has shewn unto us the plates ... "

In the 1964 edition it reads:"... That Joseph Smith, Jun., the Translator of this work, has shown unto us the plates ... "

Conclusion

So, it would appear that Joseph Fielding Smith was telling a bold faced lie when he said,

It is quite improbable that a person as high ranking as Joseph Fielding Smith would have been unaware of the fact that nearly 4,000 changes had been made over the years to the Book of Mormon. Sadly, it has been shown time and time again that when church leaders say something, the rank and file believe it without question. At one time I was one of those believers. Even after leaving the church I had a hard time believing that the 3,913 changes in the Book of Mormon didn't include even a single punctuation error.

In the year 2000, I had the good pleasure of proof reading the rough draft of a book that a friend of mine had written. I am a far cry from being an English Professor, but I had a keen interest in the subject which my friend had written about (the British cruise ship R.M.S. Berengaria), and had even loaned him over one hundred photographs, postcards, leaflets and rare ephemera for use in his book. The book turned out to be 120 pages long and, after reading through the rough draft twice, I found exactly two mistakes that needed to be fixed. Now, I am also a far cry from being a Mathematician, but by my calculations, Joseph Smith would have made about 884 mistakes if the Book of Mormon had been limited to just 120 pages.

Keep in mind, virtually none of Joseph's mistakes were simple misspellings (those were almost always fixed by the typesetter) and Joseph Smith is told to have "translated the plates by the gift and power of God". Apparently, it wasn't Joseph who was lacking in a formal education, but rather it was God who seemed to lack in basic grammar skills. After all, let's not forget that Joseph F. Smith said that the Book of Mormon " ...is the work of God and not of Joseph Smith."