Studying the Book of Mormon 9

11 January

Studying the Book of Mormon 9 

Fourth Nephi

 Highlighting the Writings of Nephi, Amos, Amos, Jr., Ammaron, and Mormon

 My purpose this week is to show the basic facts of this book in addition to asking the Mormon people a few questions to mull over in their own private times.  Most of the verses in this book are so ridiculous that it’s hard to believe people are actually comforted or encouraged by God when they read through it.

 4th Nephi has 49 verses

 Verses with the phrase “And it Came to Pass”: 20

 4 Nephi 1:1; “And it came to pass that the thirty and fourth year passed away, and also the thirty and fifth, and behold the disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ in all the lands round about…

 1:1, 2, 4, 10, 13, 14, 15, 19, 21, 22, 27, 35, 36, 38, 40, 42, 45, 46, 47, 48

 Verses describing years that have passed: 19

 4 Nephi 1:6; “And thus did the thirty and eighth year pass away, and also the thirty and ninth, and forty and first, and the forty and second, yea, even until forty and nine years had passed away, and also the fifty and first, and the fifty and second; yea, and even until fifty and nine years had passed away.

 1:1, 2, 4, 6, 14, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 34, 35, 36, 40, 41, 44, 45, 47, 48

 Verses with grammar problems:  8

 4 Nephi 1:27; “…they did deny the more parts of his gospel…

 1:6, 22, 25, 27, 34, 40, 42, 48

 Verses with No Contentions/Peace:  6

 4 Nephi 1:2; “…and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another.

 1:2, 4, 13, 15, 18, 20

 Verses with partial sentences/phrases from the Bible: 3

 4 Nephi 1:3; “And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.

 1:1, 3 (3x), 30

 See Acts 2:38, 44; Acts 4:32; Galatians 3:28; Hebrews 6:4

Questions for 4th Nephi

 If there were multiple authors of this book, why is the writing style of each so much alike?

 Why do they make the same grammatical errors?

 Why is the phrase “and it came to pass” used so much?  What purpose does it serve in “scripture”?

 If these folks are engraving their message upon plates of brass, why do they have so much time on their hands and materials to write long drawn out verses of how much time had passed?  Is it because there’s nothing else to write about?

 Is it possible for God to make grammatical errors?

 Fourth Nephi is a short little book emphasizing the lives of the Nephites and Lamanites living in peaceful times and then walking away from their god.

 This is exactly the opposite of what Jesus tells us in the Bible.  John 14:23 says He will come to tarry with us and make His abode with us.

 The most remarkable items of interest are:

 Every single person became a believer (vs. 2).  Really?  Again, the stories in the Book of Mormon are bigger and better than the Bible.

 In verse ten, Nephi tells us the Nephites did “wax strong and did multiply exceedingly fast and became an exceedingly fair and delightsome people”.

 Exceedingly is used exceedingly too much, don’t you think?

 Why did they become white when they believed God?

 If you’re a person of color and a member of the LDS Church, how do these types of verses make you feel about God?

 I have to tell you, when I was Mormon and read this stuff it made me feel less than a dog.  I was convinced God was less than pleased with me and my coloring was proof of his disdain.

 Ten verses later some of the people would revolt, and decide to become Lamanites (up to this time it was peaceful living and there were no more “ites” – vs. 17).

 Truth: real believers don’t revolt against God.

 Mormon also reports that people had multiplied exceedingly and became “rich because of their prosperity in Christ” (vs. 23).

 Moral to this story?  It seems that God only likes rich white people who have lots and lots of kids.  For the life of me, I saw absolutely nothing in this “work” that would provide hope for a Mormon or give a continued reason for faith in God.

 I can’t figure out what this story has to do with God.  If you do, let me know!

 A little over the halfway point in this story the Lamanites threw the Nephites into prisons which were “rent in twain”; Nephites were also thrown into furnaces of fire where they didn’t get burned and dens with wild beasts where the disciples of Jesus played with them “as a child with a lamb” (vs. 32-33).

 By the time this book ends, Amos had died and his brother Ammaron was keeping the records of Nephi.  People everywhere were living in sin, except of course, a few righteous Nephites.

 It’s 321 AD.

 And finally, why were these people using Greek and Latin words in addition to lifting phrases from the KJV while living in Mesoamerica speaking “Reformed Egyptian”?

 Why did the translation come out in Jacobean English which wasn’t part of the American English language used during the early nineteenth century?

 Confused yet?  That’s exactly where the LDS Church wants for their followers to be.

 I just returned from my niece Felicia’s funeral in Utah this week.  At that funeral the bishop quoted from the Book of Mormon, telling those of us in the audience that someday we’d all “return to our Heavenly Father” to become like him.  No one in the audience was placated, in fact my other niece Angie (Felicia’s sister), sobbed aloud at the end of his short talk.

 That scenario is what I think of when reading through these empty passages in Joseph Smith’s literary endeavors.  There is nothing of substance to any of this.

 Pray with us won’t you?  These dear people need our compassion and our ongoing desire to see them come to the real Jesus.

With Love in Christ; Michelle Grim

1 Cor. 1:18

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