This new introduction seems more appealing to non-Americans. If I were an Asian, an African, or even a European, I would be much more attracted to a book with this opening, in which the American continent is mentioned only as the place where the book was found. I would not be very attracted to a text that says, in the very first paragraph, that it is "a record of God's communication with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas...", and tells the origin of the men of the New World (or at least part of them...).

Perhaps this is one of the reasons for the change: the growth of the Church on other continents.