1 Nephi 13:28, Book of Mormon

Sources

• 1 Nephi 13:28, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (opens in a new tab)

Objections & responses

1 Nephi 13 attributes the loss to “the great and abominable church,” which LDS readers today usually take as a general apostate influence. Saying Joseph Smith blamed careless or corrupt transmission is a different claim.

Correct, and the two should be kept apart. The verse’s own attribution is to the great and abominable church, and LDS interpretation of that phrase ranges from a specific institution to a general apostate influence. Smith’s statement about ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests comes from his teachings, not from 1 Nephi. Both describe a loss that predates every surviving manuscript, which is the claim the Reliability of Scripture case and this claim answer.

Appears under 1 claim in this case

• The claim that “plain and precious things” were removed from the Bible has no manuscript support: the New Testament text is well preserved, and the Joseph Smith Translation’s changes match no known copy.