With comments by Jonathan Whitcomb

For 25 years, Dr. Royal Skousen has deeply studied the original manuscript and printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon. He is uniquely qualified to lead the research and has been called “the leading expert on the textual history of the Book of Mormon.”

I here summarize one point of the many points made in one of his three lectures (early 2013), the third lecture: “The Nature of the Original Text.” Quotations are generally taken from Skousen or from Professor Daniel C. Peterson or from the Book of Mormon. Please be aware: The following is only a tiny part of what was taught by Professor Skousen.

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Professor Royal Skousen, Brigham Young University

According to Wikipedia, Dr. Skousen “is a professor of linguistics and English at Brigham Young University (BYU), where he is editor of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project. . . . and the founder of the analogical modeling approach to language modeling.”

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Daniel C. Peterson, professor of Islamic Studies and Arabic, B.Y.U.

Introduction to Skousen’s third lecture, by Professor Peterson

“The central task of the Book of Mormon Critical Text Project has always been, to the extent possible, to restore the original English text of the Book of Mormon by scholarly means. . . . Professor Skousen has been the editor, the leader, of the project since its inception in 1988, which is to say that he’s devoted a quarter of a century to the effort. . . . In 2001, thirteen years into his work, he began to publish the results of his research in multiple massive volumes brought out by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (or FARMS).

“In 2009, Yale University Press published his edition of The Book of Mormon – The Earliest Text, a wonderful contribution that I would love to see in the home of every English-reading latter-day saint. And the work continues. . . .

“[He has insisted that the project must be independent]. Although he is a deeply-believing latter-day saint, he has maintained, successfully and from its very beginning, that the project must be run according to the most rigorous academic principles, without distorting allegiance to any particular party, sect, or ideology, that it be independent even of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Only thus can it [the Book of Mormon] have the credibility that it must have if it’s ultimately worthy of the keystone of our religion . . . ” [seven minute introduction by Professor Daniel C. Peterson]

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Third Lecture by Skousen: “The Nature of the Original Text” (very brief excerpt)

In Alma 39:18, the original word was probably “repair” instead of “retain.” Oliver Cowdery’s hand-written “r” was similar to “n” and that was part of the misunderstanding. In addition, drops of ink had fallen on the page, causing the “p” of “repair” to look like a “t”.

In other words, Joseph Smith was probably given the following during translation:

. . . turn to the Lord with all your mind, might, and strength; that ye lead away the hearts of no more to do wickedly; but rather return unto them, and acknowledge your faults and REPAIR that wrong which ye have done. [“repair” emphasized for this blog post]

The word used in pre-20th-century editions of the Book of Mormon was retain, but that word was removed in the early 20th century, for it appeared to make little sense. The present printed version is thus “acknowledge your faults and that wrong which ye have done,” which makes sense, although it now appears to be less than 100% in line with what was given to Joseph Smith. The word repair has been put back into this verse in The Book of Mormon – The Earliest Text.

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Royal Skousen (lecture “The Nature of the Original Text”)

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No Significant Alterations in the Book of Mormon

Comparing the original version to the 1986 edition reveals that the critics’ declarations about “thousands” of changes are misleading.

“Changes in the Book of Mormon”

Of the more than 1,000 changes made in the Book of Mormon in the 1837 (by Joseph  Smith and Oliver Cowdrey), many were grammatical. In Third Nephi, an example is  “Our Father which art . . .” being revised to “Our Father who art . . .”

Book of Mormon Textual Analysis

Lecture by Dr. Royal Skousen in 2013

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