When Facing Doom, There is Room for Opportunities

Posted on by nathanwritesstuff

Paul prophesied that “in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1). Especially in our current pandemic experience, it feels like those perilous times are already here. At times like today, it is important to remember that with every prophecy of doom there is room for opportunity; opportunities to bring salvation to you, me, and others. While “the whole earth shall be in commotion” (D&C 45:26); and “many hearts shall fail” (D&C 45:26), we should “sanctify the Lord God in [our] hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh [us] a reason of the hope that is in [us] (1 Peter 3:15). Hope is always in short supply, when fear barks out its demands. 

Sustained anxiety and fear have a powerful effect on the human psyche. The continued commotion caused by sensationalized media from news outlets and social media feeds can blind people to the truth. “[T]here are many yet on the earth…who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men…who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it” (D&C 123:12). In this age, we can easily confuse truth with information and be “ever learning,” but “never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). Being inundated with data is not the same thing as having “[our] whole bodies [being] filled with light” (D&C 88:67). What I am suggesting today is for you and me to find our light. If we have “misplaced” it under a bushel (see Matt.5:15), then let’s get it back, and rush out into the darkness to those who feel alone on an island of isolation surrounded by a sea of fear.

One need only to crack open the scriptures to feel that heavenly light chase away the darkness. Elder Boyd K. Packer taught that “[t]he scriptures hold the keys to spiritual protection…they offer hope.”[1] Sharing this hope through the scriptures can open up the “windows of heaven” (Malachi 3:10) to those “walking in darkness at noon-day” (D&C 95:6). The Book of Mormon is particularly relevant to our chaotic circumstances. As pointed out by the church scholar Grant Hardy, Mormon spends most of the Book of Mormon’s space on times of conflict.[2] It is informative to note that it is in those same times of conflict in the Book of Mormon that there are so many narratives about miracles. Mormon and the other narrators in the Book of Mormon knew our day, they knew we needed to know how to find miracles within the most dysfunctional times of our lives. Somehow, the Book of Mormon creatively blends stringent didacticism and literary artistry into a piercing message of hope in the face of the tragedy of its own narrative—the entire destruction of its own people. It is a miracle in its own right that we can read this heart-rending narrative and come away healed, full of hope, and rejoicing because of the Savior. I know the Savior, because of the Book of Mormon. He is real and I love him.  

It was during the years of continuous warfare between the Nephites and Lamanites that the sons of Mosiah convert thousands of their mortal enemies to Christ. This once bloodthirsty people, have such a mighty change in their hearts that they end up burying their weapons of war as well as “the weapons of their rebellion, that they did not fight against God any more” (Alma 23:7). They make an oath never again to take up arms against another soul—an oath they never break. Their conversion was so thorough that despite all the trials that continuously materialized on their covenant path,[3] they “never did fall away” (Alma 23:6). Such is the power of a Christ taken seriously. Christ was not an abstract concept to these converts. He visited them. They were “washed bright through the blood of the Son” (Alma 24:13). They came to know personally that “[God] love[d] [their] souls” (Alma 24:14). I often use the following pleading from their king as a spiritual ruler to measure my own devotion to the Savior:

What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy. (Alma 22:15)

And then this same king prays:

O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee, and that I may be raised from the dead, and be saved at the last day. (Alma 22:18)

When was the last time I prayed with such fervor? Am I willing to change, to give up the me of today in order to follow God? I love Alma’s question to the people of Zarahemla, “if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love…can ye feel so now?” (Alma 5:26). If quarantine has caused you to distance yourself not only from others, but from God, “now is the time and the day of your salvation” (Alma 34:31). “Draw near unto [him] and [he] will draw near unto you” (D&C 88: 63). We are at our closest to God when we are on our knees. We don’t even need to don a mask before we “call on his name,” he will “converse with [us]” anyway (Alma 12:30).  

It is in a population of defiant dissidents that Alma and his group of missionaries rescue a group of humble converts for Christ. For these converts, “their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word” (Alma 32:6). Our current quarantine has likewise humbled many and prepared us for the word. The word is Christ. And we have no idea how many people our words about Christ could change. His redemption is “immediate[…]” (Alma 34:31) and life altering. Although the converts from Alma’s party at this time were limited, their effect was lasting. 

In a dark prison 40 years later, a man recites their words to a cowering crowd, who asked “what shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?” He responds:

You must repent, and cry…even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you. (Helaman 5:41) 

As a result of this dialogue and the ensuing miracles that followed, the “more part of the Lamanites were convinced” and “did lay down their weapons of war” (Helaman 5:50-51). On top of this, the Lamanites “did yield up unto the Nephites the lands of their possessions” (Helaman 5:52). Church scholar Michael Perry points out that this recovery of territory was something that years of war could not bring about (compare with Helaman 4:18-19).[4] This is the power of the word, which “had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else” (Alma 31:5). Like Alma, we “should try the virtue of the word of God” (Alma 31:5) in our own lives and share this power with others.  

As it was with them, so it is with us. Under our despairing circumstances, living in a world prophesied to be the end of days with commotion, contention, persecution, disasters, diseases, and the worst of human behavior, we can expect to see most clearly the tender mercies of the Lord. And even more, we can expect to be the instruments of his tender mercies delivered to others! Serving the Lord has never been comfortable, but sometimes God needs to discomfort us so we will bring comfort to the comfortless. We can be emboldened to “cheerfully do all things that lie in our power…with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (D&C 123:17). Let’s let the Lord into our lives to lead us to reach out to someone today and every day his voice comes to us. If we listen, he will call us on his errand. I know this. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Endnotes:

[1] Elder Boyd K. Packer, “The Key to Spiritual Protection,” October 2013: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/10/the-key-to-spiritual-protection?lang=yap

[2] Grant Hardy, Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 107-108.

[3] “My dear brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ invites us to take the covenant path back home to our Heavenly Parents and be with those we love. He invites us to ‘come, follow me.’” President Nelson described it this way in his talk: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/04/46nelson?lang=eng

[4] Michael F. Perry, “Supremacy of the Word: Alma’s Mission to the Zoramites and the Conversion of the Lamanites,” in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, v. 24 (2015), 135-136. 

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The Interpreter Published “Joseph Knew First: Moses, The Egyptian Son”

Posted on by nathanwritesstuff

The Interpreter published my article “Joseph Knew First: Moses, The Egyptian Son” on their website on the 10th of May, 2018 (https://www.mormoninterpreter.com/joseph-knew-first-moses-the-egyptian-son/). Here is the origin story for the article:

Origin

The idea behind this article came from two unique events. First, I took an Egyptian history class from Dr. John Gee, who inspired me to start learning hieroglyphs (unfortunately, I never was motivated enough to get very far). Second, I attended a fireside by Dr. Royal Skousen, who spoke about the Book of Mormon critical text project. The idea that struck a chord with me was Dr. Skousen’s emphasis on a collaborative effort (collaborating with all sorts of people, even students) to identify apparent errors in the text of the current Book of Mormon. I was so jazzed that I went straight home to the Book of Mormon on a mission to look for apparent errors.

That next week as I was reading in 2 Nephi 3:17, I noticed something odd in the phrase “I will raise up a Moses.” The indefinite article “a” before Moses seemed an odd insertion there. I immediately thought that this might be evidence of the original Egyptian language of the Book of Mormon coming through the English translation, a vestige of an original Egyptian pun on the name of Moses and it’s meaning of  thougchild. I thought of this possible error being a remnant of the translation process based on Dr. Gee’s article, “La Trahison des Clercs.”

It was thrilling to contact Dr. Skousen and have a summary of our correspondence published in the addenda material of the Analysis of Textual Variants of the Book of Mormon Part Six available in https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/atv/p6/. (see page 553 of 627.) I also started a paper discussing this odd phrase, but I got stuck on the approach of trying to prove that parts of 2  Nephi 3 may have originally been in Egyptian. I was, and still am, woefully unqualified to do this type of study, so the paper languished for years (I started it in 2005). Egyptian was only one of a handful of problems with this original approach. Needless to say, I didn’t come up with another approach until 2016, which turned into the current paper published by The Interpreter.

 

“I Will Heal Him”: How the Small Plates Healed the Book of Mormon after the Loss of its First 116 Manuscript Pages

Posted on by nathanwritesstuff

Gaye Strathearn and Jacob Moody’s article “Christ’s Interpretation of Isaiah 52’s ‘My Servant’ in 3 Nephi” takes us back to Christ’s prophesied post-resurrection appearance to the Nephites in the Americas. It is in this setting that they present a unique insight into Christ’s usage of Isaiah’s words to prophecy about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. This review summarizes the crux of their article and submits an alternate fulfillment to the prophecies pointed out in their work regarding the Book of Mormon. Strathearn and Moody use the following language to introduce the core of their paper:

…when Christ came to the Americas, he spent a significant portion of his sermon on the second day focused on Isaiah’s teachings. He quoted a substantial portion of chapter 52, although in a rearranged order, and all of chapter 54. What is stunning about this rendition is that Jesus did not include Isaiah 53 in his sermon, even though his audience would probably have expected it. Instead he includes a chapter discussing the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. It is the purpose of this paper to argue that the discussion on the Book of Mormon was not a digression from his teachings from the Isaianic texts, but rather was Jesus’ interpretation of the servant passage in Isaiah 52:13-15, which he had just quoted in 3 Nephi 20:43-45.

Stathearn and Moody explain that the servant passage in Christ’s sermon comes from a series of four Servant Songs or poems beginning in Isaiah Chapter 41 (42:1-7;49:1-6;50:4-9;52:13-53:12). They point out that historically many have interpreted this servant to refer to multiple referents, collective Israel, specific prophets both ancient and modern, or Christ. These passages are familiar to many modern Bible readers and would have been familiar to the Nephites. The uniqueness of Strathearn and Moody’s analysis lies in their discussion of how Christ innovatively removed a servant passage from its familiar Isaianic context, (Isaiah 52:13-15) poetically stitched it into His sermon on the future gathering of Israel, added a unique servant prophecy (3 Nephi 21:10), and reinterpreted the servant as a prophetic personification of the Book of Mormon.

Strathearn and Moody show how general thematic elements, specific textual cues, and even chiastic structures in Christ’s sermon focus on the Book of Mormon suggesting that the servant passages in Christ’s sermon should also be read as references to the Book of Mormon. In support of this, they explain that Christ is not using the servant theme to refer to Himself because of the future tenses He employed to explain the servant prophecy of 3 Nephi 20:43-45 (see the use of shall in verse 46). They also discount Joseph Smith as the servant by discussing how the material especially in 3 Nephi chapter 21 is more plainly a discussion of the Book of Mormon. Below are the two passages related to the prophecies of the servant in Christ’s sermon:

Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. As many were astonished at thee—his visage was so marred, more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men—so shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him, for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. (3 Nephi 20:43-45; see also Isaiah 52:13-15)

But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil. (3 Nephi 21:10)

Strathearn and Moody discuss a possible fulfillment of these prophecies in 3 Nephi by explaining how the Book of Mormon has been marred by critics both past and present. Even Mark Twain’s infamous “chloroform in print” quote makes its way into the discussion. These critics could definitely be said to have marred the reputation of the Book of Mormon; however, there is an alternate and more specific fulfillment to be found for these prophecies signaled by the text itself. In the prophecy in 3 Nephi 21: 10, Christ declared, “I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.” Strathearn and Moody noted that this phrase also appears in Doctrine and Covenants 10:43, but this shared wording between 3 Nephi 21:10 and D&C 10:43 is more than coincidence. It is a textual link connecting a prophecy (3 Nephi 21:10) and its specific fulfillment (D&C 10:43) in the loss of the first 116 manuscript pages of the Book of Mormon.

In D&C section 10, the Lord reveals to Joseph Smith the cunning plan of the devil to destroy the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. According to section 10, Satan had orchestrated the loss of the first 116 pages, which caused the loss of Joseph’s gift to translate the Book of Mormon (see D&C 10:1-2,6-7). Additionally, the Lord explained to Joseph that he had prepared the small plates thousands of years ahead of time in order to replace some of the content that would be lost due to the loss of the 116 pages.

A Wise Purpose for the Small Plates

Doctrine and Covenants sections 10 and 3 are the Lord’s words to Joseph upon the loss of the first 116 manuscript pages of the Book of Mormon. Joseph had lent the manuscript pages to Martin Harris after Martin had repeatedly asked the prophet to permit him to show his family the work that he had been transcribing and funding for the last few months. One can only imagine the shame and terror Joseph Smith felt when he discovered that the first 116 manuscript pages of his translation of the Book of Mormon were lost. He probably thought that it was over, all the visions and blessings promised during the multiple angelic visitations for the last few years, the establishment of God’s kingdom on the earth again, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon—all gone [1]. It would have appeared that Satan’s cunning plan to stop the Book of Mormon from coming to light had succeeded. Providentially, God had foreseen this event and had made preparations to counter it thousands of years before 1828. The Lord told Joseph, “The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught” (D&C 3: 1).

The Lord told Joseph that the loss of the 116 pages was part of a cunning plan of the adversary to trick Joseph into retranslating this first section of the book. Then Satan could have his book bandits produce an altered copy of the 116 manuscript pages to prove Joseph was a charlatan. For this reason, God revealed to Joseph Smith in the Doctrine and Covenants 10 that it was “in [His] wisdom” that Joseph should not retranslate the same record from which the 116 manuscript pages came, but should translate from the plates of Nephi instead (see verses 30, 38-42). In verse 38, the Lord reassured Joseph that “an account of the things [Joseph had]  written, which [had] gone out of [his] hands, [were] engraven upon the plates of Nephi” or upon what Jacob called the “small plates” (see Jacob 1:1).

Due to the small plates the loss was not total; however, the loss of the 116 manuscript pages marred the Book of Mormon leaving a jagged rift in the first part of the record. The insertion of the small plates directly over the missing first section of the translated Book of Mormon covered this fissure like a textual bandage. The small plates healed the Lord’s servant (the Book of Mormon), which had been marred by Satan’s attack. In this way, Christ’s prophesy to the Nephite people was fulfilled wherein He said, “the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil” (3 Nephi 21:10).

Throughout the Book of Mormon, God’s wisdom becomes a textual trail marker via the phrase wise purpose. The repetition of this phrase guides the reader to discover the intent for the small plates—to allow God’s wisdom to ultimately triumph over Satan’s cunning through its use as a replacement for the the loss of the Book of Mormon’s first 116 pages. Nephite prophet-historians claimed that the decisions to create, preserve, and include the small plates in the final Nephite record was for a wise purpose, a purpose otherwise unknown to them. Remarkably, the small plates would play a defining part in showing how “[His] wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.”

1 Nephi 9 and 19

According to Jack Welch, Nephi made the first set of plates, the large plates, “after his arrival in the New World. On these plates he recorded the book of Lehi and the secular affairs of his people” [2]. After Nephi had left the land of first inheritance and moved to the land of Nephi, the Lord commanded him to make a new set of plates and begin to write a new record with a different purpose than the records he was already keeping (between 588-570 BC) [3]. Jacob called this record the small plates.  These plates were to be spiritually focused, “an account…of the ministry” of the prophets as opposed to the “account of the reign of the Kings” that was upon the other plates, or large plates (see 1 Nephi 9:3-4). This additional set of plates and the subsequent labor to engrave much of the same material already engraved on the large plates only highlights Nephi’s obedient nature. Nephi characteristically states simply “the Lord hath commanded me to make these plates for a wise purpose in him, which purpose I know not” (1 Nephi 9: 5).

God taught Joseph some 2300 years later what this wise purpose was including the fact that the accounts written in the small plates contained “greater views upon [His] gospel”. These greater views may be connected with the commandments Nephi received when making the record. Nephi wrote that he “received a commandment that the ministry and the prophecies, the more plain and precious parts of them, should be written upon these plates.” Many modern readers might agree with Nephi that his small plates are precious. Truly, the spiritual teachings written by these first authors constituted some of the sweetest spiritual sermons contained in the Book of Mormon. Had these teachings only been found in the large plates, they would have been lost. Regrettably, while some interesting information like Lehi’s genealogy and a more detailed account of their wanderings in the wilderness did not make the spiritual threshold to be included on the small plates and were subsequently lost with the 116 pages, according to Kent Brown, the “material quoted or summarized from Lehi’s records contains some of the most powerful doctrine and far-reaching prophecies in the entire Book of Mormon” [4].

Alma 37

Approximately 500 years after Nephi made the small plates (approximately 73 BC), Alma spoke of the importance to preserve all the records (including the small plates) [5]. He commanded his son Helaman saying, “keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them; for it is a wise purpose that they are kept” (Alma 37: 2). After sharing some of what Alma believed were reasons for keeping the records, Alma admits that he does not know all the purposes for preserving the records, “it may suffice if I only say they are preserved for a wise purpose, which purpose is known unto God” (Alma 37: 12).

Speaking of the divine preservation of the plates of brass, as well as “all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ,” Alma explained that “the Lord God doth work by means to bring about His great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls” (Alma 37: 5, 7). Although only partly known to Alma, the preservation of the small plates of Nephi would play a large role in bringing about God’s purposes to save many souls.

Alma’s anxiety over keeping the records was warranted seeing how the Lamanites historically wanted to destroy the records of the Nephites, not just the Nephites themselves (see Enos 1: 13-14, 20). Consequently, by Mormon’s time the various plates were deposited in the earth (see Mormon 2: 17; 6: 6), no doubt to protect them against evil designs to steal and destroy them. From personal experience, Alma knew the importance of keeping records safe from destruction. As a missionary he was taken captive and made to witness the burning of his converts and the records these martyrs had (see Alma 14).

Despite the many threats posed against the plates, the Lord told Joseph that He had promised the Nephites that their records would go out to all people (see D&C 10: 46-52). Because of God’s wisdom and the great diligence of His servants in keeping the records safe from destruction, Mormon was able to find the small plates among all the other records and attach them to his abridgment of the large plates.

Words of Mormon

Mormon providentially found the small plates among the records entrusted to him some 400 years after Alma made his comment about preserving the records and inserted them unedited with his own abridgment on the gold plates (about 385 AD). Alma and all the other prophets had kept their obligation to keep the records sacred and complete. Mormon not only found the small plates, but found them to be “choice unto [him]” (Words of Mormon 1: 6).

God’s wisdom is seen once again in Mormon’s decision to include Nephi’s small plates in his final record. Although Mormon found pleasure in the small plates, he also states that his reasons for including the plates into his final account were ultimately beyond him. He wrote, “I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come” (Words of Mormon 1: 7).

Additionally, God’s wisdom, in general, is seen in prophecies of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and also specifically in its arrival in the hands of each individual. Mormon wrote that “[the Book of Mormon] shall come forth according to the commandment of the Lord, when [He] shall see fit, in [His] wisdom” (Mormon 5: 13). In the last exhortation of the Book of Mormon penned by Moroni, each reader passes this phrase, “when ye shall read these things (the Book of Mormon), if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them” (Moroni 10: 3), and may wonder if God had provided this individual opportunity to him or her for a wise purpose that only He knows.

One thing is clear about the Book of Mormon, its authors and its translator, all saw themselves acting out God’s will according to His wisdom. They confess that they did not know exactly why they wrote what they did, anymore than perhaps why readers thousands of years later almost coincidentally come upon verses that impact them in such poignant ways. According to the Book of Mormon, in both cases, it can be attributed to the Lord’s wisdom.

Conclusion

Strathearn and Moody identified Christ’s innovative personification of the Book of Mormon as Isaiah’s prophesied servant and identified His use of these prophecies to foretell the Book of Mormon’s future opposition. This review concurs with this identification, but argues that the specific fulfillment to these prophecies was the loss of the 116 manuscript pages. This loss damaged the Book of Mormon; fortunately, God inspired his servants to create, preserve, and pass on the small plates, so that this record could bandage the Book of Mormon.

Although these ancient prophet-authors were likely unaware of the specific reason why the small plates were so important to God’s purposes, they trusted that God was working through them for the benefit of His people. Mormon stated “the Lord knoweth all things which are to come” (Words of Mormon 1: 7). This is a fitting statement seeing how God’s foresight allowed him to inspire Nephi to make and write the small plates 2300 years before they would play their pivotal role as yet another way the Lord’s wisdom would trump the cunning of the devil [6].

Interestingly, the textual bandage of the small plates did not completely cover up the hole left by the loss of the first part of the large plates’ narrative. Ironically, the resulting ragged edges, which remain uncovered can be seen as added support to the veracity of the underlying source materials (the plates) and the theory of multiple authors and editors for the Book of Mormon [7]. Given the limited time in which Joseph Smith had to translate the Book of Mormon, John Welch argues that the textual consistency within the Book of Mormon itself support the claim that Joseph Smith was not the author [8]. Additionally, the empty allusions made by authors of the Book of Mormon to content in the missing material of the large plates creates a virtual ghost text that would have been a difficult feat for a hurried uneducated author like Joseph Smith was [9].

The link between the prophecy in 3 Nephi 21: 10 extolling the future showdown between God’s wisdom and Satan’s cunning in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the explanation of the prophecy’s fulfillment in D&C 10, and the trail of textual connections that point to the working of God’s wise purposes throughout the narrative of the Book of Mormon all support the claim that the Book of Mormon is an authentic ancient record. Although the claim for the validity of the Book of Mormon as an ancient record inspired by God is becoming more solid via faithful scholarship, the truthfulness of its message is still a matter of faith. This truth is only found in the manner God has established, that is, via revelation to the faithful prayers of the humble.

End Notes

[1] Lucy Mack Smith, the mother of the prophet, related the sad account of the loss of the 116 manuscript pages in The History of Joseph Smith-by His Mother, revised by George A. Smith and Elias Smith (Utah: Covenant Communications, Inc. [2000]), 123-130. Lucy recorded that upon hearing the news regarding the loss of the 116 pages, Joseph cried out “All is lost! All is lost!” (p. 126) and she noted that “it now appeared that all which we has so fondly anticipated, and which had been the source of so much secret gratification, had in a moment fled, and fled forever” (p. 127). A fair approach to Martin Harris and his role in the transciption and publishing of the Book of Mormon, see Susan Easton Black and Larry C. Porter, “For the Sum of Three Thousand Dollars,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14.2 (2005), 8-9. For some oringal accounts from Joseph Smith on this event, see History, circa Summer 1832, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed 1 June 2013, http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/history-circa-summer-1832 or History, circa 1841, fair copy, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed 1 June 2013, http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/history-circa-1841-fair-copy

[2] John W. Welch, “When Did Nephi Write the Small Plates?” FARMS Update in Insights (March 1999): 2.

[3] See Welch, “When Did Nephi Write the Small Plates?”, 2. According to 1 Nephi 19, it was only after Nephi had already “engraven the record of [his] father, and also [their] journeyings in the wilderness, and the prophecies of [his] father; and also many of [his] own prophecies”, did the Lord command Nephi to make the small plates.

[4] S. Kent Brown, “Nephi’s Use of Lehi’s Record” in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon: Insights you may have missed before, ed. John L. Sorenseon and Melvin J. Thorpe (Utah: Deseret Book Company [1991]), 11. http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1111&index=2

[5] God’s wisdom has yet to play out fully in the realm of sacred records. The use of God’s “wisdom” is not wholly confined to the instances I have cited above, but also includes verses, which talk about records yet to be revealed. According to Nephi’s record, there was a portion of the Nephite record that was not to be translated by Joseph Smith, it was to be sealed up “until [the Lord] sh[ould] see fit in [his] own wisdom to reveal all things unto the children of men” (2 Nephi 27: 22; italics added for emphasis).

[6] Another example of how God’s wisdom trumped the cunning of the devil is evidenced in Satan’s attempt to frustrate God’s plan by tricking Eve into partaking of the fruit of life. In Moses 4: 6 we find that Satan “sought also to beguile Eve…he sought to destroy the world”. However,  “[Satan] knew not the mind of God” (Moses 4: 6), for the Lord had already provided a way to eliminate the effects of the fall by anointing a savior in the preexistence. For this reason, Lehi could talk to his son Jacob about the fall and testify that “all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things” (2 Nephi 2: 24).

[7] John Tvedtnes points out that in the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon the book of Mosiah lacked a preface and had no title therefore the “first part of Mormon’s abridgement of Mosiah’s record, including the colophon, was evidently on the 116 pages lost by Martin Harris.” See “Colophons in the Book of Mormon,” in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon: Insights you may have missed before, ed. John L. Sorenseon and Melvin J. Thorpe (Utah: Deseret Book Company [1991]), 33. This missing first part of the book of Mosiah is part of this jagged edge not fully covered by the insertion of the small plates.

[8] According to John W. Welch and Tim Rathbone, Joseph Smith had sixty-five to seventy-five days to translate the Book of Mormon, which would have given him a translation rate of seven to eight pages a day see “How Long Did It Take to Translate the Book of Mormon” accessed on 4 June 2013, http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=71&chapid=767. Considering all the complexity and consistency inherent in the Book of Mormon, to write it in this amount of time would have been an extremely difficult feat for an educated genius much less an uneducated farm boy. Welch points this out in his “Textual Consistency” accessed on 15 June 2013, http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=71&chapid=771

[9] Here are two examples of such passages: John Tvedtnes noted that Alma 3:14-17 quotes a passage from Nephi, which does not appear in the small plates and there fore “must have been on the 116 pages”. See Tvedtnes “Covering Up the Black Hole in the Book of Mormon in FARMS Review, volume 3, issue 1, pages 188-230, accessed on 15 June 2013, http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/review/?vol=3&num=1&id=71; and Amulek provides his ancestry in Alma 10:2-3 noting that Lehi was a descendent of Manasseh, which was a fact that was purposefully not mentioned in the small plates, but was recorded in the large plates (see 1 Nephi 6:1-2).

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Act of Faith-Ammon and the Struggle at Sebus

Posted on by nathanwritesstuff

If you have grown up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, there are a few select stories from the Book of Mormon that you will know. You just will. The story of Ammon and his literally disarming conflict at the waters of Sebus is one of them. This story’s adventure is so dramatic, it is easy to overlook the lesson on faith that Mormon, the main editor for the Book of Mormon, is highlighting with this story.

The Nephite missionary Ammon went with his brothers to preach to their enemies, the Lamanites. Ammon’s first assignment from the Lamanite King Lamoni was to watch the sheep with some other servants. Unbeknownst to Ammon, this task was going to be anything but an idyllic shepherding scene from a romance painting. As they are out shepherding, another group of Lamanites scatter the sheep. Ammon is quickly made aware that losing sheep was an offense punishable by death. The difference in the reaction of the servants and Ammon is so contrasting that it is almost comical.

“Now the servants of the king began to murmur, saying: Now the king will slay us, as he has our brethren because their flocks were scattered by the wickedness of these men. And they began to weep exceedingly, saying: Behold, our flocks are scattered already. Now they wept because of the fear of being slain…” (Alma 17:28-29).

I have never been in a situation where I could be put to death for something I have done, so I can only imagine reacting similarly. Fear is a powerful force and it is contagious, but for some reason Ammon is not only immune to their traumatic terror, he seems to be emboldened by it. His reaction is unexpected, to say the least.

“Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words” (Alma 17:29).

Ammon goes on to rally the other servants to gather the sheep again. When the raiders return, Ammon unhesitatingly contends with them and miraculously overcomes them in a armed conflict resulting in an armful of severed arms and some casualties from a sling. This act initiates a series of events culminating in the miraculous conversion of thousands of Lamanites. Somewhere in between the action adventure and the forcefulness of the protagonist’s larger-than-life character, Mormon is trying to teach us something.

Likely concerned that the reader could get the wrong message and simply believe that Ammon innately was just a brave person or did not feel fear, Mormon includes the reaction of King Lamoni to this dramatic event. After the king hears how Ammon took on a dozen armed combatants single handedly, he concludes that Ammon is more than human. Lest readers also come to a similar conclusion, Mormon supplies Ammon’s own words to refute this, “I am a man” (Alma 18:17, 34); just a man. Mormon later offers an explanation from Ammon, “I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things” (Alma 26:12).

Faith is supposed to be the focus here, not Ammon. It is important to ask on what Ammon was basing his faith? If faith is a “hope for things which are not seen”, we should ask what were the promises Ammon was hoping would come true? Mormon inserted these promises within the narrative, so that this story could teach us about an active, revelation-based faith.

Promise one:

After Ammon and his brothers informed their father Mosiah regarding their intention to go to preach to the Lamanites, Mosiah inquired of the Lord and received this revelation:

“And the Lord said unto Mosiah: Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will deliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites” (Mosiah 28:7).

When Ammon went to confront the raiding party of Lamanites, he did so, believing that he would be delivered by the Lord. This promise is not specific enough; however, to guarantee that he would not be harmed though. This scenario could have played out very differently for Ammon. Instead, Ammon could have been brutally beaten up, almost killed, and left for dead. The servants then, might have delivered the severely injured Ammon to the king with an account of his bravery and dedication to the king’s service. The king, impressed by Ammon’s commitment and moved with pity by his plight, might have been humbled to the point of curiosity. This could have become Ammon’s opportunity to preach the word to a prepared king. Either of these scenarios might have worked as an act of faith and could have led to the miraculous conversion of the Lamanites.

Mormon, our action-adventure tour guide, does not inform the reader, what Ammon knew. Instead, Mormon reminds the reader of this first promise through a comment on what the marauders did not know (see Alma 17:35). Of course, simply the promise that he would be “deliver[ed]…out of the hands of the Lamanites” does not explain Ammon’s extreme reaction to the scattering of the flock, when “his heart was swollen within him with joy”. This response is also beyond mere enthusiastic optimism, this is the response of someone whose hopes are about to be realized. This kind of intense satisfaction might be expected from someone who has just won a gold medal in the Olympics or a lottery jackpot.

Mormon inserts more information into the narration in the form of another promise as a way to assist the reader understand Ammon’s motivation.

Promise two:

Upon entering the land of the Lamanites, the missionary party prayed and received this revelation:

“Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.” (Alma 17:11)

Due to this revelation, Ammon was looking for adversity to strike. He knew that right behind the trial would be an opportunity to accomplish his heart’s desire, salvation for his brethren the Lamanites. This was a cause he was willing to give his life for, a cause he had faith would succeed. He had promises from God. He had faith based on revelation. Mormon cleverly contrasts Ammon’s faith with the other two groups of Lamanites: the raiding party who did not know about the promises, were not afraid, but should have been; and the servants who also did not know about the promises, were afraid, but did not need to be.

If we are not constantly seeking revelation, a trial may catch us unprepared as well, and we will either fear unnecessarily or act too confidently. Like Ammon, our faith is a key for unlocking miracles, but our trials generally provide the torque necessary to turn the key. Because Ammon acted on faith, the atonement enabled him to act beyond his natural powers. This additional power is defined as “grace” in the Bible Dictionary, and it is a tender mercy accessible because of Christ’s atonement. Faith precedes the miracle, but is also a miracle itself, because both are driven by atoning power. Christ is the object of our faith and its source.

Mormon uses the story of Ammon and others to define what an active faith could be. Ammon proactively sought revelation, received promises from God, very specific promises without specific details, and he acted on them. Active faith begins with seeking first the will of God. We approach him in prayer continually to ask him to reveal his will to us. We seek out personal revelation in daily scripture study. As he reveals his will to us, and we act upon his words. His revealed will to us becomes “the substance of things hoped for” by our faith (Hebrews 11:1). His revealed direction in our lives is the promises we will have faith in; it is the context to an active faith.

Ammon’s active faith led to this act of faith, and his trust in revelation revealed a miracle. The Book of Mormon encourages us again and again to do the same.

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Voices from the Dust: Part One

Posted on by nathanwritesstuff

When the Book of Mormon came to light in the early 1800’s, literally from out of the earth, it fulfilled poetic prophecy that it would be a voice from the dust (see Isaiah 29:4) [1]. The Book of Mormon is actually a record of many unique voices crying as one that Jesus is the Christ. As a receptacle of a legion of voices, the Book of Mormon is an intimate book.

Recently I was on a work trip. On one of my calls home, my daughter answered my wife’s cell phone, I quickly greeted her by name. She quizzically replied, “how did you know it was me?” I said simply, “I know your voice.” Our family relationships are personal and intimate. We know each other in ways no one else will know us.

When I say the Book of Mormon is an intimate book, I mean it is intimate like how we are intimate with our families. When you read it, you can clearly see that it is meant to be intimate and personal.

In the opening chapter, Nephi, the first author, in our extent Book of Mormon, tells us his name, what language he is using, how he is writing his record, when his story takes place, and why he is writing. All the major authors and editors are also personal [2]. They are aware of a future audience that in some cases they have seen in vision. They write to you and me. Hearing a personal voice is a unique situation for a reader of an ancient text. It is something that should be appreciated in the Book of Mormon.

Because each of the Book of Mormon authors and editors are so personal, they are easily discernible and individualized. In fact, in certain cases, they are so unique, their singular voices appear to scream out at us from the pages of the Book of Mormon. For example, you can quickly differentiate a new tone when you move from Nephi to his younger brother Jacob [3], who is one of my favorite authors in the Book of Mormon.

John S. Tanner has explained some of the unique qualities of Jacob’s voice. In his recorded speeches, Jacob is “intimate, vivid, vulnerable. He used words about feelings—like anxiety, grieve, and tender—more frequently than any other Book of Mormon writer. For example, half the book’s references to anxiety occur in Jacob, and over two-thirds of the references to grieve and tender (or their derivatives), as well as shame, are Jacob’s. He is the only person to have used delicate, contempt, and lonesome. Likewise, he is the only Book of Mormon author to have employed wound in reference to emotions; and he never used it, as everyone else did to describe a physical injury. Similarly, Jacob used pierce or its variants frequently (four of the ten instances in the Book of Mormon), and he used it exclusively in a spiritual sense.”[4]

Jacob is an emotive wordsmith. Consider “the concrete words in the phrase: ‘Instead of feasting upon the pleasing words of God [they] have daggers placed to pierce their souls and wound their delicate minds’” (Jacob 2:9). Or consider, “The sobbing of their hearts ascend up to God…Many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds” (2:35)[5]. Jacob’s singular sayings are so significant they are echoed by later voices of the Book of Mormon[6]. Jacob’s willingness to be vulnerable with his feelings allows us to develop a personal connection with him.

As intimate a speaker as Jacob must have been, he is not the only Book of Mormon author who is personal with the reader. Mormon, who is often the detached editor, also has moments of personal engagement with the reader, where his singular sentimentalities whisper around the ink to us. For example in Mosiah chapter 18, as Mormon describes a critical moment in the history of the Nephite people, he mentions the name Mormon no less than 12 times. Here is verse 30 as an example:

“And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon; yea, the place of Mormon, the waters of Mormon, the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever.” (Mosiah 18:30)

This seemingly excessive repetition of the name Mormon is not an error; it is an individual, personal, and even desperate attempt on Mormon’s part to reach out thousands of years to tell the reader, “I was a real person. This is the origin of my name”. Mormon who knew of the impending destruction of his own people, also knew that his record would be preserved for another people far into the future. In the same way that this sacred place called Mormon could have been so significant that a family would name their son Mormon some 500 years later (Mormon 1:5), so too can the words of the Book of Mormon affect the lives of modern readers with similar poignancy.

Not only is the Book of Mormon intimate in the way it is written, but it is intimate in how it describes Christ and his infinite atonement. In fact, the popular Mormon term “infinite atonement” is first found in the Book of Mormon, coined by the prophet-poet Jacob (2 Nephi 9:7). The Book of Mormon doesn’t just describe Christ to you, you discover Him with the authors. You are there as the first prophets in the Book of Mormon pray to God and are shown Christ and learn of His atonement.

In the opening chapter, you discover Christ with Lehi, the first Book of Mormon prophet, as “the One descending out of the midst of heaven” (1 Nephi 1: 9). Lehi sorrows as he sees in vision the future destruction of Jerusalem, but he also sees the mercy of God, Christ’s atonement. And Lehi’s “soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled” (1 Nephi 1: 15). You are a fly on the wall when Nephi, Lehi’s son, has a vision of Jesus, his birth, his ministry, his suffering, and death (see 1 Nephi 11).

Originally, Christ is referenced only as the Messiah, the anointed one in Hebrew, in the beginning of the Book of Mormon (600 years before Christ). As a reader, you are a covert witness when Jacob discovers another name for the Messiah, because he shares this moment with us. He writes “it must needs be expedient that Christ-for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name-should come among the Jews” (2 Nephi 10: 3). I remember as a youth coming upon this sacred scene for the first time and sharing this moment with Jacob. From this moment onward, the Book of Mormon authors talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ, preach of Christ, prophesy of Christ “that [their] children may know to what source they may look to for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25: 26).

Some of these moments with Christ are so personal, you feel like an intruder of sorts loudly crashing through a jungle of a narrative before coming upon a private scene. Even if we are a “mood apart” from the intimate scenes frequently painted in the Book of Mormon [7], our mood can be linked to the text by an additional personal voice. The spirit’s voice creates the farthest reaching link to the intimacy of Christ’s love portrayed in the Book of Mormon. Despite all the textual evidence that begs the reader to adopt the idea that the Book of Mormon is an authentic ancient record, it is the voice of the Spirit that orchestrates the union of the book’s individual voices to testify of its own authenticity in the heart of the reader. It is the spirit’s singularly personal voice that witnesses to each individual of all truth.

Notes:

[1] This phraseology from Isaiah 29:4 is also found in 2 Nephi 26:15; 2 Nephi 27: 13; 2 Nephi 33:10; Mormon 8:26.

[2] There is a lot of literature that talks about the voices of the Book of Mormon, but one of my favorite books about this is Grant Hardy’s Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2010).

[3] For an interesting comparison of Nephi and Jacob, see Marilyn Arnold, “Unlocking the Sacred Text”, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 8.1, 1999, p. 52 or click here.

[4] John S. Tanner, “Jacob and His Descendants as Authors,” in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company, 1991), p.59 or click here.

[5] Tanner, p. 59.

[6] see John Hilton III, “Jacob’s Textual Legacy”, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture, 22. 2 (2013), p. 52-65 or click here.

[7] The phrase “mood apart” is from a Robert Frost poem not surprisingly entitled, “A Mood Apart” in The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems, Complete and Unabridged, Edward Conner Lathem, Ed. (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1969), p. 385.

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This is a semi-academic post; it does not document the extent of what is known on this subject nor explicate ideas previously unknown. For the real scholarship work being done on the Book of Mormon, please check out the publications of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship or click here. There are many groups engaged in scholarly research on the Book of Mormon, I am just partial to this group. I also like the Interpreter, click here.