Editing Book of Mormon (section)

=== Early Mormonism ===
[[File:1841 Book of Mormon open to title page.jpg|alt=A photograph of the 1841 First European (London) edition of the Book of Mormon. It is open to its title page. The edges of the page are colored red.|thumb|233x233px|An 1841 copy of the Book of Mormon]]
Adherents of the early Latter Day Saint movement frequently read the Book of Mormon as a corroboration of and supplement to the Bible, persuaded by its resemblance to the [[King James Version]]'s form and language. For these early readers, the Book of Mormon confirmed the Bible's scriptural veracity and resolved then-contemporary theological controversies the Bible did not seem to adequately address, such as the appropriate mode of baptism, the role of prayer, and the nature of the Christian atonement.{{Sfn|Maffly-Kipp|2008|pp=xx–xxi}} Early church administrative design also drew inspiration from the Book of Mormon. Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith, respectively, used the depiction of the Christian church in the Book of Mormon as a template for their ''Articles of the Church'' and ''Articles and Covenants of the Church''.<ref name="Johnson-2018">{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Janiece |date=2018 |title=Becoming a People of the Books: Toward an Understanding of Early Mormon Converts and the New Word of the Lord |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1614&context=jbms |url-status=live |journal=[[Journal of Book of Mormon Studies]] |volume=27 |pages=1–43 |jstor=10.5406/jbookmormstud2.27.2018.0001 |s2cid=254309156 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707035255/https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1614&context=jbms |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |via=BYU ScholarsArchive}}</ref>

The Book of Mormon was also significant in the early movement as a sign, proving Joseph Smith's claimed prophetic calling, signalling the "restoration of all things", and ending what was believed to have been an apostasy from true Christianity.{{Sfn|Givens|2002|p=64}}<ref name="Maxwell-1992">{{Cite book |last=Maxwell |first=Cory H. |title=[[Encyclopedia of Mormonism]] |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan Publishing]] |year=1992 |isbn=0028796055 |editor-last=Ludlow |editor-first=Daniel H. |pages=1218–1219 |chapter=Restoration of All Things |chapter-url=https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Restoration_of_All_Things}}</ref> Early Latter Day Saints tended to interpret the Book of Mormon through a [[Millenarianism|millenarian]] lens and consequently believed the book portended Christ's imminent [[Second Coming]].{{sfn|Givens|2002|pp=69–71}}  And during the movement's first years, observers identified converts with the new scripture they propounded, nicknaming them "Mormons".{{Sfn|Howe|2007|p=315}}

Early Mormons also cultivated their own individual relationships with the Book of Mormon. Reading the book became an ordinary habit for some, and some would reference passages by page number in correspondence with friends and family. Historian Janiece Johnson explains that early converts' "depth of Book of Mormon usage is illustrated most thoroughly through intertextuality—the pervasive echoes, allusions, and expansions on the Book of Mormon text that appear in the early converts' own writings." Early Latter Day Saints alluded to Book of Mormon narratives, incorporated Book of Mormon turns of phrase into their writing styles, and even gave their children Book of Mormon names.<ref name="Johnson-2018" />

==== Joseph Smith ====
Like many other early adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement, Smith referenced Book of Mormon scriptures in his preaching relatively infrequently and cited the Bible more often.<ref name="Underwood-1984" /> In 1832, Smith dictated a [[Revelation in Mormonism|revelation]] that condemned the "whole church" for treating the Book of Mormon lightly, although even after doing so Smith still referenced the Book of Mormon less often than the Bible.<ref name="Underwood-1984">{{Cite journal |last=Underwood |first=Grant |date=Fall 1984 |title=Book of Mormon Usage in Early LDS Theology |url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/book-of-mormon-usage-in-early-lds-theology/ |url-status=live |journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought]] |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=36–74 |doi=10.2307/45227937 |jstor=45227937 |s2cid=254397416 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005144623/https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V17N03_37.pdf |archive-date=October 5, 2021|doi-access=free }}</ref> Nevertheless, in 1841 Joseph Smith characterized the Book of Mormon as "the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of [the] religion".<ref>{{cite book|last=Millet|first=Robert L.|url=https://rsc.byu.edu/book/living-book-mormon-abiding-its-precepts|title=Living the Book of Mormon: Abiding by Its Precepts|publisher=[[Religious Studies Center]], [[Brigham Young University]]|year=2007|isbn=978-1-59038-799-3|editor1-last=Strathearn|editor1-first=Gaye|place=Provo, UT|pages=55–71|chapter=The Most Correct Book: Joseph Smith's Appraisal|author-link=Robert L. Millet|editor2-last=Swift|editor2-first=Charles|chapter-url=https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/living-book-mormon/most-correct-book-joseph-smiths-appraisal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427200002/https://rsc.byu.edu/living-book-mormon-abiding-its-precepts/most-correct-book-joseph-smiths-appraisal|archive-date=April 27, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> Although Smith quoted the book infrequently, he accepted the Book of Mormon narrative world as his own.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bushman|first=Richard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=laAdRnr759gC|title=Believing History: Latter-day Saint Essays|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|year=2004|editor-last=Neilson|editor-first=Reid L. |pages=65–78|language=English|chapter=The Book of Mormon in Early Mormon History|isbn=9780231130073|author-link=Richard Bushman|editor-last2=Woodworth|editor-first2=Jed}}</ref>