Actually, Joseph Smith did make some changes in the Book of Mormon after the original publication. There were a number of places were people were reading in unintended meanings. So, Joseph made the changes to clear up this confusion. I can't remember the exact verse right now, but a classic example of one of these changes was a place where he substituted the word "light" for "white". White was used in the verse to signify purity. However, some were using that verse to support the ideas of racial superiority. That's not how the verse was meant. So, Joseph changed the word to light. This preserved the meaning while removing the potential for abuse. Unfortunately, most of these changes didn't initially make it into printed copies of the Book of Mormon. They were slated to be included in an edition of the book that was to be printed in the Church's printing shop in Independence, Missouri, after they got finished printing the Book of Commandments (a selection of the revelations that Joseph Smith had received). As I understand it, they had the printing plates made and ready to go. However, before they could finish Book of Commandments, mobs destroyed the press, type, plates, and even the building. So, they had to have the Saints in Europe send back copies of their printing plates for the Book of Mormon. These plates lacked the revision that Joseph had made. In the ensuing persecutions these revisions got put on the back burner and the manuscripts containing them were forgotten until the 1970's when they were rediscovered. These revisions were a major part of the revisions that went into the 1979 edition of the Book of Mormon. That edition also corrected a number of printing errors that crept in and got perpetuated over the 150 year since the first edition was printed.

Some additional research has lead me here: http://www.lds-mormon.com/transltn.shtml It turns out that the Urim and the Thummim talked about in the Bible was never used to translate the current version of the Book of Mormon. It seems Joseph Smith used a "seer stone", placed it in a hat, stuck his face in the hat and then recieved "revelation" from god as to what English words to write. A lot of the time, the "gold plates" were not even in Joseph Smith's site when he was translating! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LDS members told me that the Book of Mormon was the most correct book ever written. They also tell me that when Joseph Smith translated the plates, he did so with great care under the direction of Heavenly Father himself using the Urim and the Thummim. He even dictated character by character to his scribe as he translated. His scribe even read the character back to Joseph Smith so as to make sure that the translation was truly correct. It seems that there would be no need for any corrections.

Examples are 1 Nephi 11:21; 19:20; 20:1 and Alma 29:4. Compare these with the original Book of Mormon. There have been 3,913 changes made to the Book of Mormon since the original 1830 edition. There are 9 versions of the First Vision. They significantly contradict each other on major issues. The last official version was published in Times and Seasons 20 years after the First Vision and contains information which was not in any contemporaneous diaries. This information should have been in numerous contemporaneous diaries due to its significance. "This study will show that there have been thousands of changes in the Book of Mormon and that Joseph Fielding Smith is the one who is not telling the truth. As to his statement that the man who printed the first edition was unfriendly and allowed errors to creep into the book, the famous Mormon Historian B. H. Roberts has already stated that the first edition of the Book of Mormon was "singularly free from typographical errors" and that the printer could not be blamed for the many mistakes that are found in the Book of Mormon" According to Joseph Smith's testimony there should not have been any reason to make changes in the Book of Mormon. He stated that when he and the witnesses went out to pray concerning it, a voice spoke from heaven telling them that the translation of the Book of Mormon was correct. 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 ... " What at first appears, as evidence for the Book of Mormon becomes evidence against it.” http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/3913intro.htm

He changed "The Book" several times according to various sources. I was raised in a strict Mormon home from birth to about 26 yro. I'm not sure what to make of it all. Sometimes I think JS had some kind of Schizo-Affective disorder with Grandiose Religious Preoccupation. (Maybe "snake oil"?) I have alot of misgivings about organized religions. Thx for letting me share. :)

SHORT ANSWER: Yes. He did so once in 1840. LONG ANSWER: The changes in the 1840 edition of the Book of Mormon as noted by LDS Apologist Jeff Lindsay were as follows: "1840: 2,000 copies; published for Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith (by Shepard and Stearns, Cincinnati, Ohio), Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith compared the printed text with the original manuscript and discovered a number of errors made in copying the printer's manuscript from the original. Thus the 1840 edition restores some of the readings of the original manuscript." http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_changes.shtml However, over the years there have been approximately 3.913 changes to The Book of Mormon by LDS Church leaders. You can see them for yourself by using the "1830 Book of Mormon Comparison Machine" http://www.mazeministry.com/machine/index.htm Or, just read about them via these links: http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/3913intro.htm http://www.frontiernet.net/~bcmmin/bmchg.htm http://www.mormoninformation.com/changes.htm CHANGES TO OTHER LDS SCRIPTURE: You might ALSO be interested to know that Doctrine & Covenants (originally titled, "The Book of Commandments") was also rewritten in 1835 which resulted in some REAL problems for Smith later. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Commandments http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_and_Covenants Here ares links that show the changes between "The Book of Commandments" and "Doctrine & Covenants": http://www.2think.org/hundredsheep/boc/boc_main.shtml http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_and_Covenants http://www.saintswithouthalos.com/s/_d&c.phtml And here are some period quotes from Latter Day Saints who were Church Leaders when these changes occurred: “The revelations in the Book of Commandments up to June, 1829, were given through the ‘stone,’ through which the Book of Mormon was translated.” - David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, An Address to All Believers in Christ, 1887, p. 53 “[The] revelations ... were printed in the Book of Commandments correctly... just exactly as they were arranged by Brother Joseph and the others. And when the Book of Commandments was printed, Joseph and the church received it as being printed correctly.” - David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, An Address to all Believers in Christ, p. 56 “After the translation of the Book of Mormon was finished, early in the spring of 1830, before April 6th, Joseph gave the stone to Oliver Cowdery and told me as well as the rest that he was through with it, and he did not use the stone anymore. He said he was through the work God had given him the gift to perform, except to preach the gospel.” - David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, An Address to all Believers in Christ, p. 32 “Is it possible that the minds of men can be so blinded as to believe that God would give these revelations – command them to print them in His Book of Commandments – and then afterwards command them to change and add to them some words which change the meaning entirely? As if God had changed his mind entirely after giving his word? Is it possible that man who pretends to any spirituality would believe that God would work in such a manner?” - David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, Saint's Herald, Feb. 5, 1887 “When it became generally known that these important changes had been made in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, many of the brethren objected seriously to it, but they did not want to say much for the sake of peace, as it was Brother Joseph and the leaders who did it. The majority of the members – poor weak souls – thought that anything Brother Joseph would do, must be all right; so in their blindness of heart, trusting in an arm of flesh, they looked over it and were led into error.” - David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, An Address to all Believers in Christ, p. 61 “You have changed the revelations to support the error of high priests. You have changed the revelations to support the error of a President of the high priesthood, high counselors, etc. you have altered the revelations to support you in going beyond the plain teachings of Christ in the new covenant part of the Book of Mormon.... You who are now living did not change them, but you who strive to defend these things, are as guilty in the sight of God as those who did change them.” - David Whitmer, one of the Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon, An Address to all Believers in Christ, p. 49 “In 1835 in Kirtland another committee was appointed to fix up the revelations for print again... I was often in Joseph’s office, and know positively that some of the revelations were so altered, mutilated and changed that a good scholar would scarcely know them. In one revelation I counted 20 alterations! Hence, who can depend on them? I cannot. I will not.... All your trouble arises from your taking that mutilated and altered Doctrine and Covenants.” - Apostle William E. McLellin, Saint's Herald, v. 17, pp. 556-557 And finally here's a contemporary quote: “In 1835 the Doctrine and Covenants began a policy of retroactive editing by reversing previous meanings, adding concepts and whole paragraphs to the texts of previously published revelations. The official alteration of pre-1835 revelations is the more fundamental context for the later pattern of editing in the History of the Church.” - D. Michael Quinn, “On Being a Mormon Historian (and Its Aftermath)” And, finally, and most recently Joseph Smith's "Lectures on Faith" was removed from Doctrine & Covenants in 1921. You can read about that change via these links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lectures_on_Faith http://www.concernedchristians.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=42&func=view&id=78365&catid=3