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 maybe joseph smith indeed used a 1769 kjv bible to borrow verses over into the book of mormon. This addendum hopes to present information which will enable the reader to understand what the gnostic doctrine teaches and which mistranslations in the kjv. There are a couple of circumstances that bear on the similarity to the king james version. Jeremy runnells, a formerly committed mormon and byu grad, in his now famous letter to a ces director, asks at the very beginning of his paper. This article explains that joseph claimed to be restoring the true, original meaning of the bible, and looks at examples of josephs changes to the gospel of john proving this claim to have been false. Mormons believe the bible to be the word of god as far as it is translated correctly. First, i want to affirm with all evangelical christians that the bible is the word of god, inerrant, inspired, and our final authority for faith and life. As a companion to the bible, the book of mormon is a witness of jesus christs divinity and his role as the savior of the world. When it comes to the book of mormon translation, there is what is called a tight translation and there is what is called a loose translation. We find, therefore, that the king james version left an indelible mark on the book of mormon. The book of mormon restores plain and precious truths that have been lost from the bible. The king james version, or authorized version, of the bible, first published in 1611 under the authority of englands king james hence the designation, authorized, was in that day a very.
The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. While this article is necessary to point out the kjv errors, it should be noted that the errors, omissions and additions made by the rsv, niv, and other. This section will look at this phenomemon in some detail through a series of articles which reveal how smith made use of the bible. I dont think you can say that the book of mormon contains unique errors from the king james version bible. The word bible comes from the greek ta biblia, meaning the books. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of mormon. Why do italic translator words from the kjv bible appear in. Joseph smiths inspired revisions to the king james bible. Do kjv only advocates realize that the most powerful and irrefutable evidence that neither were translated under inspiration, is the very first edition with all their thousands of errors. The situation with the book of mormon is likely analogous. The dependence of the book of mormon on the king james version, however, goes deeper than a mere affectation of style.
Kjv translation errors our understanding of the hebrew language today is much more advanced than it was in the 1600s when king james authorized an english translation of the bible. The errors in the king james bible kindle edition by ruckman, dr. Below is the modern map of the area of smiths youth. For the first 150 years of mormonisms existence, everyone thought it was a story about a people who left the middle east and came to south or central america, and who fought wars clear up into new york state where. Oct, 2017 when king james translators were translating the kjv bible between 1604 and 1611, they would occasionally put in their own words into the text to make the english more readable. Is the king james version of the bible the most accurate. Finally, the mormon church leaders became so embarrassed about the grammar that they decided to abandon the idea that god gave joseph smith the english that is found in the.
Nowhere am i told that the king james bible is the best or only holy bible. False, because of mistakes in book of mormon, doctrines and covenants, and the pearl of great price. However, nowhere in the bible am i told that only one translation of it is the correct one. Joseph smith nor the nephites lived in jacobean england. Fairmormons response to presence of 1769 kjv errors in book of mormon. Not only is almas rendering different from the kjv, its also different from matthews version. The church of jesus christ of latterday saints uses the king james version of the bible, as it considers it most accurate version available in english. The book of mormon and the king james bible wikipedia. Some 27,000 words from the king james bible are found in the book of mormon. A good translation, but nothing more this text article by jeff smelser. The errors in the king james bible kindle edition by.
Book of mormontranslation errors from the kjv fairmormon. So one of the talking points in the ces letter, which i have seen quoted in this sub as well, is that there are 1769 kjv bible edition errors unique to only that edition present in the book of mormon. 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. Sometimes the translators italic words appear in the book of mormon verses and sometimes. Not only is almas rendering different from the kjv, its also different from matth. Why i do not think the king james bible is the best. Errors which are unique to the 1769 edition that joseph smith owned. The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of. Absolutely thorough explanation of so called errors in the king james bible. Kjv translation errors as found in the book of mormon.
This book is tremendously educational yet very fascinating to read. The king james translators did a marvelous job with the materials they had. Generally, we find that when the king james version commits a translation error, the book of mormon usually follows. The christian bible is divided into the old and new testaments. Debunking fairmormon letter to a ces director book of.
Smith copied vast quantities of the bible into the book of mormon, and the bible that he used was the king james version. That said, the bible verses embedded in the book of mormon do show a clear reliance on the 1769 king james version of the bible and not on the 1611 version. Smith copied the kjv blindly, not showing awareness of translation problems and. The original 1830 edition, book of mormon had s of errors. Aug 15, 2018 is the king james version of the bible the most accurate translation. It started coming to light that parts of the book of mormon contradicted the bible. The book of mormon does not include the italicized word her, which is. The english bible lied to you interfaith now medium. The book of mormon is the most correct of any book on this earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to god by abiding by its precepts, than any other book.
Below is a partial listing of king james version kjv bible translation errors. Do the errors exclusively found in the 1769 king james bible. In several cases, the book of mormon follows king james version translation errors. What are 1769 king james version edition errors doing in the book of mormon.
The verses in question are given first and then what is the correct or better translation. Church members believe that the book of mormon is more correct than the bible because the bible was the result of a multiplegeneration translation process and the book of mormon was not. But why would the lord use faulty texts in the book of mormon if it was the most correct. Since joseph smith used no paper notes, scripts or other texts, whatever he produced in the book of mormon came from god. Peter s download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Kjv does not take the word for rock and accidentally translate. Somehow the divine process guiding josephs translation of the book of mormon didnt prevent him from making identical translation errors. For many people, the king james version was the bible, to the point that god is still. Dec 19, 2018 yes, and we can only speculate as to why.
The king james version of the bible and the book of mormon. According to chronology found in the book of mormon, king benjamin should have been dead at this time. Erasmus had a corrupt, incomplete text of revelation to work from, and hence this book has many errors in the kjv. Ces letter misquotes ces letter gives an incorrect quote of what words are italicized in the bible verse, misquoting the text. Thus, mosiah 14 had to have been copied from the king james bible. And the book of mormon just happens to omit this word. The word her is actually italicized in the kjv bible, and ces letter pretends like its part of the original text. Ergo, the book of mormon could not be based on plates buried in 421 a. The book of mormon has the structure of a translation from the hebrew language. Thus the bible is not just a single book, but is a divine library. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, some claim that it shouldnt contain these translational errors. The book of mormon is supposed to be a history of real people living in a real place. It is very likely that the king james bible may have been used as a model for the translation of the book of mormon, but the authorship of the book is attributed to the man mormon, who is reported to have compiled the book around 400 a. What are the errors in the king james version bible.
The king james version of the bible is, in all likelihood, the most successful of all the english translations. In short, he read from the stone as he translated the texts. Are there errors from the 1769 king james version of the. Joseph used a rock in a hat for the book of mormon dictation but may have also used the 1769 kjv edition bible and possibly other sources in aiding in producing the book of mormon. The book of mormon and the king james version secular web. For example, no, the book of mormon does not contain unique errors from the king james version bible. However, the book of mormon is not written in elizabethan english, except for the copies of the twenty chapters of isaiah that are found in the book. The book of mormon and the king james bible red door church. Joseph smiths other writings, such as his history and diary, reflect the modern english era of his day. He and oliver cowdery later purchased a bible, which suggests given josephs straitened financial situation that he did not already own one. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. The holy bible is the collection of writings that contain the records of divine revelation and the dealings of god with his chosen people, the tribes of israel.
The king james version contains certain translation and textual errors which will facilitate a global transition from the true gospel of jesus christ to the false gospel of the antichrist. 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. 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. Mormonism and the biblejoseph smith translationrelationship. The kjv has been relentlessly attacked for 2 simple reasonsfor money and so scholars can become. Are there errors from the 1769 king james version of the bible. Although few in number, the king james version does. Sometimes the quotation is explicit, as in the second book of nephi, which contains 18 quoted chapters of the book of isaiah other significant connections between the two books include book of mormon words and phrases that only appear in.
Bom is translated, were engraved by two prophethistorians, mormon and his son moroni. Joseph smith worked on a translation of the bible, and his work is listed in the footnotes of the page for certain verses. When we study the book of mormon, our understanding of the doctrines in the bible is clarified. 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. Do the errors exclusively found in the 1769 king james. Kjv isaiah, bom 2nd nephi, correct translation, kjv bom translation. Sperry, of the brigham young university, made the following comment concerning this change. The joseph smith translation is josephs supposedly inspired revision of the king james bible. The king james bible and the joseph smith translation. But if the book of mormon was first written between 600 b.
He quotes king james translation errors again and again. Tvedtness analysis and evidence was highly ambiguous, substantially incomplete, strained, or simply in error. A reader without access to the original manuscripts could then never be sure if a difference between the dss translation and the king james or any other translation represented a true difference in the dss text, or simply the choice of the dss translators to improve existing translations. If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, why would it contain translational errors that exist in the king james bible. It is also true that the king james version contains some textual errors. This chapter will explore the relationship between the king james bible and the joseph smith translation. 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. In short, there can be very little doubt that the king james version inspired large sections of the book of mormon. Do the errors exclusively found in the 1769 king james bible being the same exact errors found in the book of mormon damage the credibility of the book of mormons authenticity. When considering the the data, skousen proposes that, instead of joseph or oliver looking at a bible which is now definitively confirmed by the manuscript evidence and the unequivocal statements of witnesses to the translation to the book of mormon, that god was simply able to provide the page of text from the king james bible to josephs. Fairmormon acknowledges the evidence of 1769 kjv errors and 17th century kjv italics in the book of mormon and the weakness of relying on the argument that the witnesses never reported that a bible or any other book was present during the translation, by conceding below that it is entirely possible that joseph had access to a bible.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the errors in the king james bible. After he wrote the book of mormon joseph smith the founder of the lds church had a problem. 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. Joseph smith proclaimed that the problem was that errors had been introduced into the bible and he undertook to make a new. What is more, the bom quotes sections of the kjv which scholars now know to contain errors. No, the book of mormon does not contain unique errors from the king james version bible. Why is the book of mormon written in king james english. In some cases, entire passages are duplicated in the book of mormon.
Third, it is noteworthy that the original book of mormon chapter divisions of the isaiah quotations follow a larger thematic grouping, not the interruptive chapter system found in the king james bible. While joseph smith described the book of mormon as a translation of text written on golden plates, smith had not. The errors in the king james bible ruckman, peter s on. The dependence of the book of mormon on the king james version, however. Aug 17, 2011 the joseph smith translation is josephs supposedly inspired revision of the king james bible. At red door church weve been taking a look at the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds. In response, apologists sometimes claim that the book of mormon does not transmit translation errors, mainly focusing on the highly subjective nature of translating. Why do italic translator words from the kjv bible appear. His translation of matthew is contained in an appendix.
Also notice how the apologists blame you for taking director to mean director. Mormon s believe joseph smiths english translation of the book of mormon from the nephi plates was done under inspiration. There is evidence that the biblical passages cited in the book of mormon were translated from hebrew, not copied from the king james bible. It seems reasonable to assume that if smith was a prophet of god and was translating the book of mormon under divine inspiration, he would have known about the errors found in the king james version, and would have corrected them for when passages from the king james version appeared in the book of mormon.
The book of mormon contains many linguistic similarities to the king james bible kjv. Robert plummer answers in honest answers episode 73 resource links. Further research will show that the book of mormon relies on a specific version of the new testament, namely the king james version. Ive researched kjv errors a bit, but i havent been able to find specifically any errors that are specific to that edition of the king james. Along the way, weve noticed that joseph smith quotes directly from the king james bible kjv or paraphrases it in a handful of places in the book of mormon which was allegedly revealed to him by the angel moroni. Volumes have been written on its distinctive and rhythmic style, and it is still regarded as a triumph of modern english literature. It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon.
If the book of mormon is an accurate translation, some claim that it shouldnt contain. In the case of the book of mormon, which contains copious quotes from the new testament, the implication is that the book actually originated after the formation of the christian scriptures. What are these 17th century italicized words doing in the book of mormon. Two translation errors unique to the king james bible were the plurals. Much of what makes the kjv recognizable, and even iconic, is its external expression, such as its words, grammar, organization, and the way it is presented on the printed page. There is no verse that tells me how god will preserve his word, so. Many in the world refer to the book of mormon as the mormon bible.
Book of mormon difficulties, contradictions and explanations. The book of mormon, doctrines and covenants, the pearl of great price. Sometimes the quotation is explicit, as in the second book of nephi, which contains 18 quoted chapters of the book of isaiah. If the book of mormon was translated by the power of god, it is reasonable to assume.
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