G. Scott | September 7, 2008
1 Nephi 10 opens with talk of his ministry:
And now I, Nephi, proceed to give an account upon these plates of my proceedings, and my reign and ministry; wherefore, to proceed with mine account, I must speak somewhat of the things of my father, and also of my brethren.
“Ministry” is an odd word. It has [...]
G. Scott | July 11, 2008
Hugh Nibley wrote an article in which he described an “assignment” professors at Brigham Young University like to give students who are taking the required course on the Book of Mormon.
Since Joseph Smith was younger than most of you and not nearly so experienced or well-educated as [...]
G. Scott | July 6, 2008
Chapter seven opens with Lehi commanding Nephi to “again return unto the land of Jerusalem, and bring down Ishmael and his family into the wilderness.” And I’m stumped — who is Ishmael? This is the first mention of him in the book.
There are two Ishmaels in the Bible. The first, and most famous, is of [...]
G. Scott | June 25, 2008
The church I grew up in — the Worldwide Church of God — taught what we were told is a unique view of church history. The true gospel had been perverted soon after Jesus’ death and all the Christianity we see around us is false Christianity. They explained it similarly to this:
Following the death of [...]
G. Scott | June 20, 2008
When the boys return, with Laban’s servent Zoram, they find that Sariah, their mother, has been complaining about Lehi’s decision to drop everything and run to the wilderness. But what the description is odd:
For [Sariah] had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that [...]
G. Scott | June 12, 2008
There is a lot of effort — all mental, though — trying to legitimize the Book of Mormon. It should be physical effort, in the form of archeology, but that pesky angel took the plates with him.
If we could just get a look at the plates, I’m sure we could do all kinds of analysis [...]
G. Scott | June 8, 2008
God comes to Lehi, Nephi’s father, in a dream and tells him to take his family to the wilderness. He doesn’t really give a reason, and Lehi complies: “he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it [...]
G. Scott | May 25, 2008
The Book of Mormon opens with something called “The First Book of Nephi.” I sit down to begin reading, and I feel I’m reading Tolkien: I’m wondering when all these names will be explained. People? Places? Creatures? If only Gandolf were here to explain.
Nephi is, obviously enough, the author, and he begins his book by [...]
G. Scott | May 4, 2008
We ended the last installment with Smith passed out in a field, which leads to obvious questions: Was Smith mentally ill? Did he have hallucinations?
A quick search shows suggests several possibilities.
That he was bipolar:
Joseph Smith’s life reads like the DSM IV-TR criteria for manic episodes of bipolar disorder.
Risk Taking - he took so many risks [...]
G. Scott | April 18, 2008
After an asterisked break, Smith’s testimony continues:
Again, he told me, that when I got those plates of which he had spoken—for the time that they should be obtained was not yet fulfilled—I should not show them to any person; neither the breastplate with the Urim and Thummim; only to those to whom I should be [...]