Introduction
This website responds to criticisms and allegations raised by the CES Letter.
What is the CES Letter?
The CES Letter is a collection of criticisms aimed at weakening faith in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). It presents selective information, uses partial truths, and leaves out important context to misrepresent historical events and doctrine, creating an impression of the church as misleading or untrustworthy.
The document is essentially a catalog of claims challenging the Church’s truthfulness, with many arguments dating back decades and, in some cases, even centuries.
Example criticism #1
In its first section, the CES Letter mentions that "" have been made to the Book of Mormon, with no further explanation. On its face, this claim is alarming given that the Book of Mormon is the keystone of the LDS religion. How could a divinely inspired text undergo so many alterations and still be considered reliable scripture?
Let's explore what the CES Letter fails to mention:
The vast majority of Book of Mormon changes relate to punctuation, spelling, and grammar
The Original Manuscript had almost no punctuation and a myriad of spelling errors, typical of oral dictation. See it for yourself.
For example, 17 "changes" are found when comparing 1 Nephi 1:1 in the Printer's Manuscript to the corresponding verse in the modern edition:
"I Nephi haveing been born of goodly parents therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father & haveing seen many afflictions in the cours of my days nevertheless haveing been highly favored of the Lord in all my days yea haveing had a great knowledg of the goodness & the mysteries of God therefore I make a record of my procedings in my days"
I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days.
The LDS Church has made available to the public, in their surviving entirety, photographs and transcripts of the Original Manuscript and Printer's Manuscript. Readers are encouraged to see and compare for themselves.
Phrase and wording changes include:
"in a valley beside a river of water"
"in a valley by the side of a river of water"
"a strong and a mighty man"
"a strong and mighty man"
"our Father which art in heaven"
"our Father who art in heaven"
The most significant changes include:
"the mother of God"
"the mother of the Son of God"
"a white and a delightsome people"
"a pure and a delightsome people"
"the Son of the Only Begotten of the Father"
"the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father"
That's it, folks. No doctrinal changes, no storyline shifts, no coverups. See a detailed analysis of changes here.
Ironically, the CES Letter has this criticism completely backwards. What's actually impressive is how few changes were made. The original manuscript of 270,000 words was written over the course of 60 days. Aside from punctuation/spelling/grammar, it was nearly a perfect first draft with no revisions common to works of similar length or complexity.
This kind of "100,000 changes" shock claim is intended to catch the reader off guard, to chink at their faith. They are left to assume the worst, when in reality, the Book of Mormon we have today is nearly identical to the first and final draft of the original translated text. That, in itself, should cause one to pause and wonder.
Example criticism #2
In its second section, the CES Letter
Why is it called "CES Letter"?
Who wrote the CES Letter?
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