The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently updated The Book of Mormon app, making its introductory material more user-friendly.
The updates modified the Book of Mormon's introduction in the app, and added context to the witness statements and the testimony of Joseph Smith.
First published in 1981 with subsequent minor updates in 2003 and 2006, the rewritten introduction was reduced from 561 words to 235 words for the app.
John Hilton III, a BYU professor of ancient scripture said he loves the new “inviting and modern language,” and believes it is “more reader friendly.”
“God is your Heavenly Father. He loves you, and there is so much He wants to teach you. He wants you to understand the purpose of your life. He wants to guide you back to His presence. Part of His plan for doing all that was to make this book available to you,” reads the updated introduction.
In discussing the reason for the change, Hilton quoted part of 2 Nephi 31:3, “I glory in plainness.”
“The whole point of reading the scriptures is to connect us to Jesus Christ. The reality is that for some people, the language of the Book of Mormon is going to be really hard to understand,” Hilton said. “I really believe that as we help people understand what the Book of Mormon is about, that just makes people more likely to want to read the Book of Mormon.”
Barbara Morgan Gardner, a professor of Church history and doctrine agreed with Hilton, explaining she is most excited for those who are not members of the Church and for international Church members.
“That's always been important to me, so any time I see something is simplified but still doctrinally very sound and secure, I'm happy for that as well,” she said. "So my mind went immediately to interfaith and international.”
Other updates included moving the testimony of Joseph Smith, previously found near the beginning of the Book of Mormon app, to the appendix. Once a written testimony from Joseph Smith, the update explains who he is and what he did.
“Through Joseph, the Lord restored The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, His true Church, to the earth,” reads the testimony in the app.
Steven C. Harper, a historian of Joseph Smith and professor of Church history and doctrine at BYU, noted that the testimony references the New American Standard Bible, as opposed to the King James Version of the Bible used by the general membership of the Church.
“My opinion is that it’s important to keep up with language over time,” he said. “The King James Bible is written in Elizabethan English and it’s increasingly difficult for modern English speakers to understand.”
Harper explained that using modern translations of the Bible that align with the English-speaking world could assist with missionary work.
“My guess is that it’s a simple way to translate, to keep up, to be able to speak the language of the people who we’re trying to communicate with,” Harper said.
The witness statements also received written context in the app, explaining who and what the role of the witnesses were.
“The eleven signed statements, as follows, testifying to what they had seen. These have been included since in the various editions of the Book of Mormon,” the section reads in the app.
Harper pointed out that the recently finished Joseph Smith Papers project is quoted throughout the updated sections, explaining that these sources have been “checked and double checked and are closest to the original recording of the knowledge.”
“It’s not necessarily new stuff that wasn’t there before, it’s better versions of the same stuff,” he said.
With these written updates to the app came new tools to enhance scripture study.
Hilton explained there is easier access to Book of Mormon videos, “nice illustrations” set into the text, sections split up into events and improved voice overs that can lead to “more time in the scriptures which leads to revelation.”
Gardner said she feels the additions can help younger members of the Church gain a “bedrock understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
“I love that you can go through an event, especially with my children as we've looked at that. We'll say, let's just read an event today, and it’s fun for them.”
Regardless of any updates to the app, Gardner hopes people can gain a “doctrinally sound” perspective of the Book of Mormon.
“It can be an on-ramp to their own personal study," Gardner said. "I think anything that we can do to help people get deeper into the Book of Mormon and the doctrine of the gospel itself is fantastic.”
The Book of Mormon app will continue to receive regular updates to make scripture study more meaningful and sharing the gospel easier.