LDS Church Announces Release Of Updated English-Language Version Of Scriptures In Digital Format; Most Changes Are In The Study Aids

On February 28th, 2013, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the release of an updated English-language version of its scriptures, often referred to as the Standard Works and consisting of the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Online and mobile versions of the new edition are available now at scriptures.lds.org. Annotations that readers have made in their Gospel Library accounts will automatically transfer to the new digital scriptures. This will be followed by the release of updated print editions in August 2013. All this represents the culmination of eight years of work; read a history of the LDS scriptures HERE. The changes are discussed on this video (if this video auto-starts, I'll pull it):



A bulletized 12-page summary of changes is available HERE. The summary from the first page is cross-published below:

● The quality of the font and typeface has been improved for clearer reading.

● More than 99 percent of the corrections are in the study aids (chapter summaries, footnotes, Topical Guide, Bible Dictionary, and triple combination index).

● Some minor typographical errors in spelling and punctuation in the text have been corrected to ensure fidelity to the earliest manuscripts and editions.

● Errors in cross-references, dated information, or misquoted text have been corrected in the footnotes, Topical Guide, Bible Dictionary, and triple combination index.

● In the Book of Mormon, all scripture text that is part of the translation from the plates has been placed in roman typeface. Only study helps, such as chapter headings, remain in italics.

● The style and format of titles have been standardized throughout the scriptures.

● The introductions, tables of contents, and abbreviations pages have been standardized.

● The style and language of the chapter summaries has been standardized through out the scriptures.

The remaining 11 pages contain a list of specific word/phrase changes and their locations. The Joseph Smith Papers website gives a list of changes to the Doctrine & Covenants section headings. And if that's not enough, there's a side-by-side comparison between the old and the new Doctrine & Covenants HERE.

Generating considerable commentary in the LDS Bloggernacle are the new introductions to Official Declaration 1 (1890 revelation indefinitely suspending plural marriage) and Official Declaration 2 (1978 revelation extending Priesthood membership to all worthy males). Added new introductions and historical background to both Official Declarations, and placed them in an italic typeface to indicate that they are study helps. Bloggernacle venues discussing these changes include Junior Ganymede and Millennial Star and Feast Upon The Word. The consensus is that the changes in the incorporation of the Official Declarations and in the Book of Abraham are the most significant; Joe Spencer noted that "an implicit recognition that there’s no obvious relationship between the Book of Abraham and the Joseph Smith Papyri has been worked into the introduction to the Pearl of Great Price".

By Common Consent has gone ape with four different posts on the changes, albeit one post discussing each major change. A Latter-Day Voice weighs in with enthusiasm, and we have more guarded optimism from New Zealand on KiwiMormon, where Gina Colvin is skeptical of the statement “Church records offer no clear insights into the origins of this practice”. However, New Zealanders are subjected to much more official anti-racist propaganda than we are in the USA, so her skepticism may be understandable.

Mainstream media stories were published by KSL Channel 5 and the Salt Lake Tribune.

Why The LDS Church Uses The King James Version Instead Of The Joseph Smith Translation (Inspired Version) Of The Bible

Many people are curious as to why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chooses to use the King James Version of the Bible instead of the Joseph Smith Translation (JST), alternately known as the Inspired Version. After all, the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) has used the JST since its inception.

I also was curious as to whether or not there was an official explanation. And I found a reference in the April 1977 edition of the New Era magazine, a faith-promoting Church magazine oriented towards teens and younger adults. Here is the applicable part of the guidance:

Perhaps the principal reason why the Church has not published or officially adopted the new translation is that the Prophet Joseph Smith was unable to attend to an authorized publication of it before his death. The Church records show that the Prophet wanted to publish the translation and was in the process of preparing the manuscript for that purpose at the time of his death but was hindered by persecution and lack of finances. As recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord indicated that He wished to have it published. (See D&C 124:89.) It is also very probable that the Prophet would have made some additional corrections had he lived longer.

However, at the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the manuscripts and documents pertaining to the translation were retained by Emma Smith, the Prophet’s widow, who would not give them to the Quorum of the Twelve although Elder Willard Richards, apparently acting on behalf of President Young, requested the new translation of her. Consequently, when the Church moved to the Salt Lake Valley, it did so without the new translation of the Bible.

Subsequently, the Reorganized church (RLDS) was organized in Illinois, and in 1866 Sister Emma Smith gave the manuscripts into the custody of that church. In 1867 the RLDS published the first edition of the translation and obtained a copyright for it. The RLDS church still has the original manuscripts and the copyright and is therefore the sole publisher.

Since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has had neither the original manuscripts nor the copyright, it would have been quite difficult, if not impossible, for the Church to publish the translation, even if it had wanted to. In Nauvoo in 1845, Dr. John M. Bernhisel made a partial copy from the original, and the Church has this in its offices in Salt Lake City, but it contains less than half of the corrections and is not suitable for publication.

Because the translation was published by the RLDS church, some questions have existed as to whether it had been published accurately. However, research in the past few years with the original manuscripts has indicated that the Inspired Version of the Bible, published by the RLDS church, is an accurate representation of the sense of the original manuscripts prepared by Joseph Smith and his scribes.

This explanation is still representative of "official" opinion in 2009, although since that time, we now much more explicitly proclaim the equality of the Bible in value to the other standard works, which include the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. This was necessitated to resolve the confusion resultant from our Eighth Article of Faith, which proclaims, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God". Many believe the qualifier confers second-class citizenship upon the Bible, that we consider the Bible to be of inferior value.

This, of course, is not true. The statement "so far as it is translated correctly" is merely an explanatory clause acknowledging our belief that the Bible has errors, and is not a conditional clause suggesting inferiority in value. This is similar to the attitude strict Constitutional constructionists hold towards the "militia clause" in the Second Amendment, in which the militia clause is merely an explanatory clause rather than a conditional clause requiring militia membership in order to bear arms.

The LDS edition of the King James Version of the Bible is identical to the normal King James Version, except that it has cross-references to other LDS standard works. Some excerpts from the JST are included in the newest LDS edition of the King James Version. Expert LDS blogger Jeff Lindsay also presents Q & A about LDS usage of scriptures HERE.

Additional information about the Joseph Smith Translation can be found in Wikipedia. The online version of the JST can be found HERE.