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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

Joseph Smith, Mormon studies, languages, prophet-editor

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

History

Abstract

I focused my research on an effort to better understand Joseph Smith’s process of revelation, in light of the many revisions that he later made to his own revelations. I decided that my primary source material would be the revelations that Joseph recorded between 1828 and 1831. The goal of my research was to compare variant texts of each revelation, tracking the revisions that were made to each text. My hypothesis was that, by using historical context and by critically analyzing patterns of revision that reoccurred in many revelations, it would be possible to classify the revisions into categories. I found that while such a classification proved to be difficult, it was possible. I concluded that each of Joseph’s revisions either clarifies meaning or changes it. I further subdivided revisions that clarify a revelation into three subcategories: grammatical corrections, changes of wording for aesthetic purposes, and clarification of ambiguous points. I also subdivided revisions that change meaning: some were additions of new subject matter, others were updates of Church policy, and a few removed subject matter.

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