A Tale Of Two Books with John Larsen | Ep. 1780

A Tale of Two Books: Secret Edits and the Question of Institutional Transparency

When Rex Lee's What Do Mormons Believe? was published in 1993, few readers could have known that subsequent printings would contain significant textual alterations, changes that appeared nowhere in publication notices and bore no editor's mark acknowledging revision. The discovery of these undisclosed edits raises a fundamental question about how religious institutions manage doctrinal messaging and whether the standard publishing practices that apply to the rest of the world are consistently applied within the Church's own imprint.

According to recent discussion on the Mormon Stories Podcast, scholar and researcher John Larsen has documented multiple instances where What Do Mormons Believe? and another major LDS text were edited between printings without any public acknowledgment of the changes. What makes this case particularly significant is not that revisions occurred, academic and religious texts are revised regularly, but rather that these alterations appear to have bypassed conventional publishing transparency standards.

Understanding the Publishing Standard

To appreciate why these edits matter, it helps to understand how the publishing industry works. When substantive changes are made to a book's text, publishers typically issue a new edition and clearly label it as such. The difference between an "edition" and a "printing" is crucial: multiple printings of the same edition contain identical text, while a new edition indicates that the author or an authorized editor has made material revisions.

According to publishing standards codified in the American Heritage Dictionary and industry practice, changes to factual content, doctrinal positions, or significant passages warrant edition designation. This practice serves multiple audiences: collectors can identify the textual version they own; academics can cite sources with precision; and readers know whether they're encountering original authorial intent or revised material.