Alma 36-38 - Letters to Helaman and Shiblon

This section of the Book of Mormon contains some of the most personal writing in the entire work. Only the letters of Mormon to his son Moroni evoke a stronger sense of love and poignancy. Also contained in this passage is THE chiasmus of the entire Book of Mormon, Alma 36.

These are not letters dashed off in a moment. They are instead, works of literary art Alma spent hours crafting. His intent wasn’t to write something beautiful and instructive, though they are. He wrote them to bare the most powerful witness he could to the reality of Jesus Christ and the events surrounding his conversion. While you can read them quickly in a few minutes and get something out of them. If you spend time pondering this passage and getting lost in the artistic beauty of the work, you’ll learn so much more.

To delve further into the literary artistry is beyond the time and space I can take here. If you’re interested here are a couple of links to much more detailed examinations of the chiasmus: Chiasmus in Alma 36, A Masterpiece: Alma 36

Also in this passage, Alma retells his conversion to his sons Helaman and Shiblon. He also hands over to Helaman custody of the plates, including instructions about what not to say of the Jaredite record. Contained in it is one of my favorite scriptures, Alma 37:37

“Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings,
and He will direct thee for good.

     Yea, when thou liest down at night,
    lie down unto the Lord,

        that He may watch over you in your sleep.

    And when thou risest in the morning,
    let thy heart be full of thanks unto God.

And if ye always do these things,
ye shall be lifted up at the last day.”

A quick word to the observant, the punctuation here is not what is found in the current printing of the book, but what exists in Royal Skousen’s work, “The Book of Mormon: The Earliest Text.” I’ve presented it pretty much as it appears in that work, though I’ve marked the parallels with the indentations to make them easier to see. I did it so you can see Alma's use of parallelism to enhance the meaning of the passage. As you compare each level against its counterpart, you'll get a deeper meaning of what Alma is trying to say. This is just a taste of the literary artistry in this passage. Reading Skousen's version will increase your appreciation for the Book of Mormon and show in a compelling way, this is not the work of an Upstate New York farmer of 1829.

Mosiah 1 - Compelling Proof for the Book of Mormon

I’m glad Joseph Smith hadn’t translated this chapter before the 116 page manuscript was lost. It contains an event no one in North America knew off in 1829. I’m speaking of Mosiah 2’s “coronation” ceremony. In other words, Benjamin’s benedictory address and a ritual act of succession wherein he hands the kingdom to his son, Mosiah.

In his book “An Approach to the Book of Mormon,” Hugh Nibley asserts this one passage is the most convincing set of evidence which had yet been brought forth to show the Book of Mormon’s authenticity as an ancient work. He said no one knew of or identified the pattern of this ceremony of succession until the 1920’s. How then could Joseph write about something with such unerring accuracy a century earlier? Dumb luck? I think not.

Nibley identifies the event as a “Grand Assembly” held, often at the beginning of a new year or a new age, in which a major change was announced to the people. He goes on to cite 36 elements in this narrative which are the typical attributes of such an event. I won’t list them all here. But you can find the material in Chapter 33 in that book. He said all of the traits in this passage which identify such a ceremony have been found in the Old World. None of them in the Book of Mormon exist only in it too.

In the end, despite the weight of evidence for its authenticity, archeological evidence will never prove it. At most, it will show the culture in which these events take place is plausible. Additionally, there will never be archeological proof of the truthfulness of the doctrines it contains. That comes only from God.

While a story can teach, a true story telling the same theme can inspire. Such is the role of the historicity and plausible archeological authenticity of the Book of Mormon.

2 Nephi 3-6 - The Separation

The concentrated presentation of great doctrines continues through this section of the narrative. It starts with Lehi reciting the prophecies of Joseph, Son of Jacob, of the coming of a Moses and of a future Joseph who would restore the Gospel and do a great work among the people. This also contains Nephi’s lamentation and praise of God known as the “Psalm of Nephi.” It ends with more recitation of Isaiah by Nephi's brother, Jacob.

There is a lot to cover here. But as I’m not writing to discuss the content so much as my thoughts about it, I’ll write what impresses me.

Remember, Joseph Smith translated this passage last. By the time he got to it, not counting the lost Book of Lehi, nearly 90 percent of the work was done. I can’t speculate on the Book of Lehi’s contents other than to say it was probably much more of a historical narrative with lessons drawn from what happened… Just like what we have from Mosiah forward. So what happens here? Joseph reads/translates the prophecy about a future Joseph, named after his father who would be the instrument of God to bless a future people.

A review… God unfolds things to us not all at once, but in bite-sized pieces so we can assimilate and process them. When He unloads a lot of information, you run the risk of having Nephi’s experience when he saw the future destruction of his people… it was devastating. So, in His mercy, God gives things to us in smaller amounts.

Such is what happened here with Joseph. He’d been told to this point, that his name would be had for good and evil. Now, he sees that not only is he bringing forth scripture, he’s going to do a lot more. He realizes his life mission is already set and that through him God is going to restore the authority and organization needed to carry the message in the Book of Mormon to the world. I wonder what conversations he had with Emma as they talked about these things?

1 Nephi's Chiastic Structure

If you don't already know what a chiasmus is, I'll give this short description. It's a Hebrew literary art form using repetition combined with parallelism. Envision if you will a stair case which goes up to an apex and then back down to the ground floor. There are an equal number of steps going up and down.

This is a visual representation of the structure. Now, instead of steps you have a phrase or short passage which contains a meaning. The repetition comes into play with each step and its mirror on the other side saying a similar thing or the same thing using different words. The parallelism comes because they sequence of the sayings is reversed so each list of expressions is a mirror. They lead to and enhance the apex, the highest step which doesn't repeat.

With this in mind, this is the chiastic structure of 1 Nephi
a. Chapter 1 - Lehi has a dream and he warns the Jews.
  b.  Chapter 2 - Lehi flees Jerusalem for the Promised Land
    c.  Chapters 3-5 - Nephi miraculously gets the plates
      d.  Chapter 7 - Ishmael joins the group along with his family
        e.  Chapter 8 - The vision of the Tree of Life
          f.  Chapter 10 - The Prophecy of the coming of the Lamb of God to the Jews
            g. Chapter 11 - The Spirit of God testifies of the coming of Jesus Christ
          f.  Chapter 12 - Prophecy of Jesus appearance to Nephi's descendants in the New World
        e.  Chapter 15 - The interpretation of the vision of the Tree of Life
      d.  Chapter 16 - The marriages of Ishmael's daughters to Lehi's sons and Zoram
    c.  Chapter 17 - Nephi miraculously builds a boat
  b.  Chapter 18 - Lehi's group, now led by Nephi leave the Old World for the Promised Land
a. Chapters 19-22 - Nephi warns the Jews of the latter days of the destruction of Satan's followers

And all this was thought up by a 22 year old farm boy from upstate New York who could barely read, a minister and a school teacher who culled all this from the bible, a history book and a novel. Ah... right.

The truth of it is this: It's less of a leap to believe it was revealed by God than to think they dreamt all this up. You have to keep in mind, once Joseph started translating, it was just him, the scribe, the plates (under a linen), the stone or stones and the hat. They did it in a room where others often stood by and watched. Hours on end, day after day they did this. So, if there really were years of preparation... he still had to memorize all of this so he could recite it to the translator. Keep in mind there were people in the room who never joined the church, yet they said the same thing about what happened.

Emma never outed her husband even though she had cause to do so. The Whitmers, who were eye witness to the effort never renounced or denounced the process. Ockham's Razor (the simplest explanation is often the correct one) demands accepting the translation of the Book of Mormon by the power of God as fact. Nothing else is even plausible. Which is why critics twist themselves and their logic into pretzels to try and explain it away as something man-made. It can't be done.

Joseph Smith, Cosmology and Revelation

The cosmology of Joseph Smith stands as one of the great evidences of his prophetic and visionary insights into the nature of God and the universe which He created for us. The universe described in Moses fits surprisingly well with what astrophysicists are observing today. Yet it was ridiculed by Joseph's critics when they were revealed.

Consider the following:

The scope and size of the universe: Moses 1:34, 37-38 “Worlds without number have I created… the heavens they are many and can not be numbered unto man, but they are numbered to me for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass away… another shall come and there is no end to my works…”

Based upon data from the Kepler Observatory, scientists now conclude every star has at least one planet and most have more. Based upon the Hubble Deep Field, the Hubble Deep Field South and the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, the number of galaxies in the universe is estimated to be two hundred billion. And in each of them on average, a hundred billion stars. There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand in all the beaches on the Earth combined. And virtually all have had or do have planets. Think of that the next time you scoop up a handful. The number is ming-bogglingly large.

Not a bad “guess” for an upstate New York farmer of 1830.

The most profound statement of all these writings: “This is my work and my glory…” they were made for us.

3 Nephi 7 - Overthrow of the Nephite Government

Pop quiz: who destroyed the Nephite government three years before the sign of Jesus' death?

It's not the Gadiantons. At this time in the Nephite history, there weren't any as they'd all been executed or converted six years earlier. The correct answer is lawyers, lower judges and their friends destroyed the government.

Today's equivalents are politicians, senior government officials, the Judiciary (have to put the lawyers somewhere), and their cronies, family and friends. It should be no surprise then, to a student of the Book of Mormon, who is changing the government in radical ways that take away our rights, and liberties. I'll bet you're surprised. Not.

It's one of those not so subtle proofs showing the content of the Book of Mormon is far beyond something an 1829 farm boy, school teacher or minister could ever dream up. Its insights into our day are so prescient, the contents of this chapter ought to be alarming.

Someone once said history repeats itself and if you don't learn from the past, you'll get the full brunt of its lessons the hard way. Actually, history rhymes. But the themes and lessons are no less dangerous or painful to endure when they come. It's fortunate we have the warning of 3 Nephi 7 because it gives us time to prepare.

3 Nephi 2-3 Gidgidoni

In these two chapters we have the run up to what I call, "The Great Siege." In it the Nephites and righteous Lamanites gather into the center of their lands to outlast the Gadiantions. I'll talk about that in my next post, for now there are a few interesting tidbits I want to mention.

One that jumped out at me is Mormon's commentary on the Nephite Chief Captain, Gidgidoni. Did you know it's only recently that this name has been found by archeologists in the Old World? It's recently been seen inscribed on Neo-Assyrian cuneiform tablets. These were the people who carried the Northern Kingdom of Israel into captivity. The empire ceased to exist about 607 BCE. Do you think maybe refugees from its collapse may have ended up in the Southern Kingdom by or about the time Mulek and company left? And do you think, maybe, just maybe the name came to the New World that way?

It makes me wonder how Joseph Smith knew nearly two hundred years ago it was an authentic, time period appropriate name? Then again, the critics will tell you it was probably Sidney Rigdon who knew it, since he was after all a "much smarter person." Whatever... My point is: NO ONE in Upstate New York in 1829 knew of it. So was it just a lucky guess? I think not.

The other interesting thing about him is his resume, he was a prophet before he was made commander of the Nephite armies. What strikes me about this is it shows Alma the Elder and his progeny weren't the Nephites' only religious voices. While they were part of the Nephite aristocracy, they weren't all of it. I think it's interesting Mormon had to point this out to the reader. It indicates that in his day, that was not the case. It's another evidence that in the Nephite and Lamanite culture, there was an aristocracy wherein religious, political and military power were often combined in one person and that it was "normal" for them.

Not once, does Mormon ever comment on how odd that was according to our way of thinking. In fact, in an essay Orson Scott Card wrote about the challenges of writing a fictional "history" that claims to be authentic, Card observes most authors will point out the differences from what is normal to explain it to the reader to prove to the reader, "these people are different." Mormon did it with the comment about prophets being appointed military commanders when the people were righteous. To him, that was a significant enough difference from the norm that he needed to explain it. The BIG difference for us is the aristocratic nature of their society, yet on that sense, Mormon is silent. If Joseph had made it up, he would have commented on that, but you NEVER see anything about that in the book.

It's another subtle evidence the Book of Mormon is what it claims to be, the abridged history of an ancient culture that existed here in the Americas.

NOTE: Sorry about the earlier mix up on the book's name. This should have been, and now is about 3 Nephi, not Helaman.

Helaman Chapter 5 - The Voice of God

Helaman Chapter five is so loaded with information you will miss if you aren't paying attention when you read it. The casual reader will typically notice the promise in verse 12 and the impressive feat where the converted Lamanites and Nephite dissenters give back to the Nephites the lands they'd taken from them in v52. Those are impressive in their own right, but how many notice the detailed description of God's voice? Or the geography lesson? How many see the great power of listening to the Spirit, and how that gives one the ability to speak with God's power and authority even to the convincing of those with murderous intent? How many notice they traveled freely through the Lamanite controlled Nephite lands including Zarahemla and surrounding areas? How many noticed they travelled into a far north country to preach to both Nephites and Lamanites? (Heartlanders rejoice?!)

These hints show the culture of the Lamanites and Nephites is far more extensive and complicated than we typically think. It is another evidence to me that it is not the fabrication of a farm boy or even one assisted by a school teacher and a preacher.

Many critics allege the Book of Mormon was the brain child of more than one person, but consider this thought experiement: The television show, I Love Lucy, was the result of many talented and smart people. It was a popular show in its day. The cultural comments it makes however place it in 1950's America. It could exist at no other time because the values it holds up as humorous are insulting today. It reeks of the culture of the day in which it was created. Virtually every work of fiction is similarly "fingerprinted" by the prevailing culture known to the authors.

In this light, the Nephite and Lamanite cultures in the Book of Mormon, should show fingerprints of 1820 America. But where was the aristocracy that held both political and religious power in Joseph's day? Where did people freely travel into even enemy held lands? While I'll grant there are common values such as the love of liberty in the book but those are by design. In my opinion, inspiriation guided Mormon to reveal those aspects of his society which we would understand as he compiled the stories that became our Book of Mormon. But the things he leaves in the footnotes and sidebars reveal a culture that is alien to ours. Had he put those elements in, we would not have recognized it nor identify with it as we do today. It truly was, written for our day.

Well, I'm rambling, but such are the adventures contained in Helaman Chapter five.

Helaman 1: Cultural Observations

Helaman chapter one at first glance is the rather unremarkable telling of yet another war precipitated by dissident Nephites who stir up the Lamanites and persuade them to go kill those nasty, evil Nephites. In fact, the main event in this chapter is the rise of THE secret combination which becomes the Gadiantons and one Kishkumen who murders the legally elected governor, Pahoran.

But tucked into the narrative is one of the little comments Mormon inserts which show, the Nephite and Lamanite cultures are nothing like 1820 United States. (Yes, there will be a touch of apologist in this blog: deal with it.)

In particular is a little nugget I've never noticed before which is hidden in verse 13:

"And now behold, Pacumeni was appointed, according to the voice of the people, to be chief judge and a governor over the people, to reign in the stead of his brother Pahoran; and it was according to his right...."

He had a right to be chief governor? Really? That's amazing! Back in Mosiah 26, when King Mosiah sets up judges to rule the country who are appointed by the voice of the people you get the idea these are elections like we have today where "anyone" with the money and backing can run for the office. A closer read of the scriptures, show this isn't really the case with the Nephites and this little verse, hammers the idea home that there was a ruling class, an aristocracy if you will, which controlled not only the government but the religion too.

Think about it. There was no "Quorum of Apostles" in which leadership was based upon a seniority system as we have today. Instead the role of High Priest went from father to son for many generations, right down to the coming of Christ in fact. I'm not discounting the personal righteousness of these leaders, merely making the observation that they lived in a different culture and time and God, in His matchless wisdom and grace, worked within it to lead, bless and teach His children.

But, I digress...

Can you imagine anyone in Upstate New York shortly after the War of 1812, with grandparents who fought in the War for Independence and steeped in the tradition of unalienable rights and a democratically elected Republic to come up with a culture where it's okay to have the political and religious leadership be a right belonging to an aristocracy? I can't. Nevertheless, there it is, hiding all these years in plain sight.

The point of all this is the Lamanite and Nephite cultures were far different from ours and presented with a richness of detail an uneducated farm boy would likely think of or even consider including in a story.

There's more in this chapter to talk about, but that's for another time.

Enjoy the day!