Review of Covenant of Christ, A Modern English Version of the Book of Mormon (Restoration Scriptures Foundation, 2024). 525 pages. $26.95 (hardback), $21.36 (paperback).
This edition of the Book of Mormon has been produced through the restoration church commonly called the Snufferites, after their prophet, Denver Snuffer. It is a serious edition of the Book of Mormon that intends to make the text more accessible by modernizing the language. The introduction to the text lays out the directives behind this version of the text. One of the most important was that the meaning of the text not be changed as the language was updated. To assist with this intent, the editors consulted Royal Skousen’s The Earliest Text, as well as the publications of the Printer’s and Original Manuscripts from the Joseph Smith Papers Project.
Although the editors consulted those sources, they clearly followed the changes Joseph Smith made after the 1830 publication. I checked two easy references. 1 Nephi 11:18 has “the Mother of the Son of God” following the 1837 change rather than the original/printer’s manuscripts’ “mother of God.” Similarly, 2 Nephi 30:6 has the 1840 change to “pure and delightsome” rather than the original/printer’s manuscripts “white and delightsome.”
The major changes come from the removal of the archaic verb endings as well as all of the thees, thous, etc. Other changes have removed most, if not all, of the “and it came to pass” statements. Even though they removed those, they left the “and now” statements. Personally, I see those as structurally relevant and thus removing some important information.
The chapters are given according to the pre-1879 changes Orson Pratt made. Nevertheless, the current LDS chapter and verse numbers are indicated. As another personal note, I find that it makes a significant reading difference when the text is read with the original chapters. Less helpful is their reformatting of the text into paragraphs. The edition provides paragraph numbers, but I prefer Grant Hardy’s paragraphing to what I find in this edition.
To give an indication of how this edition reads, here is the beginning of 1 Nephi with which most Book of Mormon readers will be familiar:
I Nephi was born to excellent parents. As a consequence, my father taught me from all his knowledge. I’ve experienced many hardships during my life, while at the same time I’ve been greatly blessed by the Lord. I gained great understanding of God’s goodness and mysteries. Therefore I’m making a record of the important events of my life. I’m writing in my father’s language, which consists of Jewish knowledge written using Egyptian script. I know the record I’m making is true, written in my own hand, and based on what I know and experienced.
The declaration that Nephi wrote in Hebrew with Egyptian script is made explicit and represents a common reading of the text. However, this does show that in the process of changing some of the language, interpretations can be added that might not be recognized as a change.
Another familiar verse is Moroni 10:4. In this rendition:
When you consider these things, I would urge you to ask God the Eternal Father in the name of Christ: Aren’t these things true? And if you ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, He’ll reveal the truth of it to you by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost, you can know the truth of all things.
This edition includes the testimonies of the three and eight witnesses. It also includes the “testimony of the first witnesses,” Emma Smith and Mary Whitmer. There is a section listing ordinances, giving language of the ordinances of baptism and the sacrament according to the Book of Mormon. There is a glossary of terms and a page addressed “To the First Nations,” gives a modern address for the purpose of the Book of Mormon perhaps similar to Mormon’s final address (Mormon 7).
Although the language has been modernized, I did not find that it felt like the text had been simplified. It still feels like the Book of Mormon I am used to. As for whether I might recommend this version beyond its curiosity value, I think that it might be useful for readers who struggle with the King James style of the Latter-day Saint canonized versions. While some of the introductory and additional material leans into the Snufferite movement, the text itself appears to attempt to be authentic to the Book of Mormon Joseph translated.
Here is another item to note with the “Snufferite” editions of the Book of Mormon: in some places they have materially changed the Book of Mormon’s text, including its meaning, in ways foreign to anything Joseph Smith did. Snuffer claims in the preface to his version of the Book of Mormon that these changes were received through direct revelation. In the preface to the Covenant of Christ volume, he claims he was told in revelation not to change the meaning to the Book of Mormon — but does not mention the passages he has already changed.
I have found the following examples:
Alma 34:34: “Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.”
This is how Snuffer changed it (Alma 16:37 in his edition): “Ye cannot say when ye are brought to that awful crisis that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this, ***for the same spirit you hearken to obey while living in the flesh shall, upon your death, have the same power to influence you to hearken unto that spirit in the next life.***”
Ether 3:9 (Joseph’s translation): “And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this?”
Snuffer’s alteration: “And the Lord said unto him, Because of thy faith, thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood. ***And none of those now living have come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast, for were it not so, ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou more than this?***”
Ether 3:15 (Joseph’s translation): “And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.”
Snuffer’s change: “***And to none of those now living whom I created have I appeared, for none have believed in me as thou hast.*** Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.”
3 Nephi 3 Nephi 19:35 (Joseph’s translation): “And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying he came again to the disciples, and said unto them: So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief.”
Snuffer’s alteration: “And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying, he came again to the disciples and said unto them, So great faith **as yours** have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore, I could not show unto them so great miracles because of their unbelief.
3 Nephi 15:23 (Joseph’s translation): “And they understood me not that I said they shall hear my voice; and they understood me not that the Gentiles should not at any time hear my voice—that I should not manifest myself unto them save it were by the Holy Ghost.”
Suffer’s change: “And they understood me not, that I said, They shall hear my voice, and they understood me not that the gentiles should not at **that** time hear my voice, that I should not manifest myself unto them save it were by the holy ghost.”
You can see some of these do not affect the meaning of the text greatly, but others (such as the brother of Jared’s vision) do change the meaning of the Book of Mormon drastically. All of these changes are reflected in the Covenant of Christ volume (albeit without the KJV-esque language, as noted by Gardner).
This is something that readers should also be made aware of when dealing with this volume that a future, more in depth review (if such is in the works) might note as well.
Spencer, thank you for that. You obviously spent more time with it than I did. Your notes on changes brings up another fascinating question that I don’t know how we might answer. The kinds of changes you note do make small alterations in the reading, but they are alterations which appear to try to make easier some difficult readings. That is very much of what we see in Joseph’s changes in in the Bible (when we are dealing with verses, not whole prophetic chapter additions, of course). I am not attempting to equate Snuffer’s claim to prophethood is the same as Joseph’s, simply noting that the type of change is similar to the way Joseph revised the Bible. I suppose a question to ask is whether the changes adversely affect meaning. Change yes, but diminish or explain?
I offer no solution to the question, only the observation.