1 Nephi 1 - Who is Nephi?

I rarely spend more than one entry on one chapter, but this is The Nephi we’re talking about. Without him and his commitment to do whatever the Lord commanded, we’d not have the Book of Mormon. So, he gets special attention with another entry.

There are several interesting traits about him in this chapter. One is, at that time and place in the world, almost all people were illiterate. Only those with means could afford to learn and take the time to write. It’s more evidence Lehi was a wealthy man, since it was a luxury to have the time to write and teach it to his sons. The small plates show the ability to write was handed down, father to son for many generations thereafter.

Nephi was also a metal smith. He made his own plates on which he wrote, his own tools to build the boat and weapons for his people. This is one of those “proofs” critics used to use to debunk the Book of Mormon but don't mention now because it shows its authentic. Until lately, metal smiths from this time were considered bottom-dwellers of the social order like common laborers. Yet, recent archeological discoveries in the Middle-East show they were regarded much like we do doctors and lawyers today. Imagine that! A perceived "flaw" is actually evidence of the narrative's internal consistency.

I have some bonus material I came across just this morning. In 2000, archeologists found a stone tablet, written about 100 BC, in Jordan containing writings about a messiah who would come, suffer, die and then rise again. It's non-canonical evidence a belief among Jews in a suffering messiah existed before He came. It's known as the “Gabriel Stone” because it also references an angel named “Gabriel.”

This find corroborates the Book of Mormon's pre-exilic belief in a Messiah. In the past, critics have said this notion is one of the proofs it’s a fraud, that it was just made up. I wonder, will they say the  same about the Gabriel Stone?