Hey, I'm back, finally finished with the Book of Mormon! This is going to be a quick intro--this post is about the books of Alma, Helaman, 3 Nephi, 4 Nephi, Mormon, Ether, and Moroni. There! Done!
My first few notes on Alma are quotes: "The law could have no power on any man for his belief" Alma 1:17.
"Now there was a strict law among the people of the church, that there should not any man, belonging to the church, arise and persecute those that did not belong to the church, and that there should be no persecution among themselves" Alma 1:21. From what I understand, Mormons are pretty calm towards everybody.
There are a lot of timing problems and things I don't understand. Now, this was originally recording in the mid eighteen-sixties--so of course the author knows about Jesus Christ. Of course, the Old Testament didn't know who Jesus was, so it basically says "someone will come". Now, there's a possibility that when this was or was not dictated, that's what it was given as, and Joseph Smith just replaced it with Jesus... But it's a weak argument and this is, what I consider to be a fatal flaw in giving the religion credibility. I know that seems cruel, but when folks born one hundred years before Jesus are saying you have to wash your lineaments in Jesus's blood... Well, you know. Can't cleanse it through his blood if he hasn't shed it yet! Even if it's a metaphor, it's still incredibly bothersome.
There's also the implication that, at eighty-three BC (the Mormons date big events in their books, which is very nice), it was known that Jesus would be born of Mary. It's probably because of my own upbringing, but I find the fact that this was known by anyone (and so early!) to be ridiculous. Mary didn't even know what was going to happen. Nobody else did. It seems unfair to spread the specific word to some and not all...
"He cannot walk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round" Alma 7:20. I think that the word choice is interesting--he literally cannot walk in crooked paths, cannot leave his words, or go to the left (left was considered to be evil for--actually, in some Catholic schools children are still taught to write with their rights if they're a lefty)... Knowing me, you should not be surprised that I thought of A Clockwork Orange--the point of the novel and movie is really the question of what makes a man good (or evil). Alex's choice to act evilly is eliminated--but does that really make him good? His free will has been eliminated so he can't choose... Well, I think you know what I'm getting at. (And in that case, saying his path is eternally round is appropriate!) A few chapters later we are told that he cannot deny his word--unfortunately, since Mormons, when referring to God, don't capitalize he or him, this may just be pronoun trouble--Jesus may not be able to deny God's word, not his own. (I suppose that that's most likely.)
"Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death. The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt" Alma 11:42-43. I thought the bit about the body being brought back perfectly and all of that was the most interesting bit. I also think it's a little cruel to make a person remember everything... I hope you get to forget a lot of it afterwards. It would be pretty unbearable.
"This mortal life is a probationary state" Alma 12.
Later the garden of Eden is discussed, and it says that the redemption plan was "laid from the foundation of the world" Alma 12:25. This is not a new idea, but it is a disappointing and curious one. I mean, why write that fall into the very fabric of existence? At that, it's kind of like, "What's the point at all then, if you're just dooming them from the start?", you know? That always really bothers me.
"And now we only wait to hear the joyful news declared unto us by the mouths of angels" Alma 13:25.
Alma was also apparently in possession of the same healing powers as Christ, 81 years before. Again, this bothers me, most likely only because of my upbringing. One example of Alma healing is Alma helping a lame man to walk again. But that's kind of one of the things that made Jesus so special, right? I mean obviously there's the whole son of God thing, but I figured that's where his ability came from so, despite my unsure feelings towards Jesus/what he was/might have been, it just bothers me that Alma is doing the same thing like it's nothing.
And here's another one! At seventy-three BC: "And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come" Alma 46:15. Maybe I'm being close-minded, stupid, or skeptical--but come on! Christianity was started after Jesus. It was named after him. This is literally gibberish to me.
"And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe--that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power" Alma 57:26. I just thought that to use taught as the word was interesting.
I also think the use of the word should is interesting.
Here starts the notes on the next book, Helaman--Lucifer is referred to as the "author of sin" (Helaman 6) and used interchangeably with Satan and presumably the devil in chapter six on...
Those who are fooled by him begin to form their own secret groups and gangs: "And it came to pass that they did have their signs, yea, their secret signs, and their secret words" Helaman 6:22. As my bro Ken Kesey would say: "You're either on the bus or you're off the bus!"
I don't understand this passage at all--obviously it's God talking to the people, Nephi to be specific, but... "Behold, I give unto you power, that whosoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven; and thus ye shall have power among the people" Helaman 10:7.
"Behold [God] hath put it into my heart to say unto this people that the sword of justice hangeth over this people" Helaman 12:5.
"He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you" Helaman 14:31. My note on this was that this was very Karmic.
My last note is about the Nephites and the Lamanites. Jesus has, presumably, just been born (the date is one BC) and they get mad that the saviour isn't being born among them. At first I was like, he hasn't even done anything yet! Jeez! But then again, these people apparently knew all about Jesus one hundred, two hundred years prior, so yeah. I guess I'd be pretty annoyed too. "Thanks for sending the saviour among them and not us--no, I don't even want him to visit. I don't even care. I didn't even want to be saved anyways!" Yeaaaah.
Next note starts in on Nephi: "And behold, that great city Moroni have I caused to be sunk in the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof to be drowned" 3 Nephi 9:4. First of all, it should be absolutely no surprise that I wrote "ATLANTIS?" next to this line. Secondly, the 'I' speaking--yeah, that's Jesus. Actually, this seems like it would be another huge problem for Mormons, as they use the regular Bible too--and Jesus is basically a hippie in the Bible. He's probably the last guy in the Bible you'd say would take down a city, even if it's 34 BC (so, probably only a few months at most before he was crucified) and is a little stressed because he knows what's coming. That was kind of weird; it felt more like the crazy storytelling in the book of Revelations than anything else. And if we are to assume that there was a regular Jesus even if he was not the son of God--he couldn't sink a whole city. This is definitely some over-the-top storytelling here.
Jesus also says, after he is the son of God, that he created the heaven and earth. I'm going to say whatever to this because I have no idea how the Trinity actually works.
"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them" 3 Nephi 14:17-20.
Later Jesus says this to the people: "Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you" 3 Nephi 17:6. I don't even...
Jesus again: "And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses' name then it be Moses' church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel" 3 Nephi 27:8. Makes sense, and it would explain Christianity's differences in the actual names themselves except for the reasons I've been complaining about for several paragraphs.
No notes on the fourth book of Nephi.
The next book is the actual book of Mormon. My first note (my only note, actually) is on this passage: And they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits, but they did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives" Mormon 2:14. My first note is on how this parallels the story of Job--Job's wife suggests to him that he curse God and die. And--a comparison to Isherwood's A Single Man: "Then to the mirror. What it sees there isn't so much a face as the expression of a predicament. Here's what it has done to itself, here's the mess it has somehow managed to get itself into during its fifty-eight years; expressed in terms of a dull, harassed stare, a coarsened nose, a mouth dragged down by the corners into a grimace as if at the sourness of its own toxins, cheeks sagging from their anchors of muscle, a throat hanging limp in tiny wrinkled folds. The harassed look is that of a desperately tired swimmer or runner; yet there is no question of stopping. The creature we are watching will struggle on and on until it drops. Not because it is heroic. It can imagine no alternative" (10). George in the book isn't necessarily suicidal, of course--he can "imagine no alternative", but he isn't particularly interested in life either.
The book of Moroni describes elders naming priests and the purpose of baptism... Apparently baptizing children is considered bad as well, not because they haven't chosen, but because they're already "alive in Christ" Moroni 8. I'm not sure if I quite understand that; I'm just going to go ahead and say that it's because it's believed that little kids aren't really responsible for themselves, or don't understand baptism or atonement or any of that yet. I think that's what is being said... (Moroni 8:10-15.)
The book of Moroni--the whole Book of Mormon, remember--ends with a bid of farewell, and the promise that when he meets the reader it will be before "the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead" Moroni 10:34. What does that even mean? Wasn't that a cowboy movie?
That's my last comment on Moroni. I have to admit that by this point I was losing interest badly, so close to the end. Although... At least it didn't end like the New Testament. As fun as the book of Revelations is...
Well! That's it. I finally completed this. (My poor wrists...) I should also mention that there's a handy little index in the back of the book, though I won't be going through it. Sorry.
The Book of Mormon. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: United States of America, 2010.
Isherwood, Christopher. A Single Man. University of Minnesota Press: Minnesota, 2001.
Okay... Yep. Next post will be on Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, which will probably occur in about a week or so, most likely.
Showing posts with label The Book of Mormon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Book of Mormon. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
The Book of Mormon: 1 Nephi-Mosiah
(Note: This post includes the first two books of Nephi, the books of Jacob, Enos, Jarom, Omni, the Words of Mormon and the book of Mosiah, obviously.)
So, I came into possession of this through my World Religions class. First of all, Mormons are nice. Like really nice. Like if you were having a bad day you would call your Mormon friend up and they would make life all better again. Second of all, that class was made up of--not exactly dummkopfs, but they might as well have been zombies. I was pretty much the only one talking, seriously. So the three Mormon representatives--teenagers, Mormons have this really cool custom of taking a year or two off for mission work--loved me, and gave me a copy of the book to take. So that was cool. Anyways, I dug the friendliness and professionalism and all of that. If you put a gun to my head and told me I had to pick a religion learned about in that class and convert to it, I would definitely be a Mormon. The only big problem I have is that using contraceptives might as well be one of the seven deadly sins. You're supposed to "be fruitful and multiply"--that would not work for me. Nope.
So! Here we go. This is going to be a long post, I'm sure, but let's start with the introduction, I guess... So the story goes that this book was found inscribed on tablets. The tablet's words were copied down, as the time wasn't quite ripe for the tablets to be revealed to the world. The books are a kind of revamped version of the old and new testaments. So... Let's go! On with 1 Nephi!
So Nephi's father was a prophet that everybody thought was mad--he also claimed Jerusalem would fall and all of that. This is probably a good time to mention that I read this about three weeks ago. I guess my point for marking this was the parallels with the Bible... Maybe.
Oh yeah, so they leave the city and flee to wilderness, pretty much like Moses and his people leaving Egypt. You know, people "murmur against" him, are punished, keep on murmuring against, don't learn, except sometimes, eventually go off the beaten track... And so on. So... Yeah.
"Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief" 1 Nephi 4:13.
Oh and they too have the commandments and the laws and Leviticus in their possession. They go ahead and mention that. Just an interesting note, since I don't actually have a sense of time or proportion.
God is also, again, referred to as the "God of Israel" 1 Nephi 5:9. Again, a note I think is interesting that probably no-one else would.
Oh, a response to those people rebelling against Nephi's father: "How is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath done for us...?" 1 Nephi 7:11. He actually goes on to list great things that God did help them achieve, but. I just thought it was interesting wording or what have you. Something about it struck me.
This too: "How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?" 1 Nephi 7:9.
I notice that in 1 Nephi 10, God, when referred to as 'he', isn't capitalized. That's pretty intriguing...
Then 'he' is referring to a regular man: "For he that diligently seeketh shall find" (which can continue to) "and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them" 1 Nephi 10:19.
Nephi's father sees a mysterious tree in 1 Nephi 11, and an angel asks Nephi if he understands what the tree was. My note was just "the cross?" because the cross Jesus was put on is sometimes referred to as a tree.
Also, in most traditional versions of the crucifixion story, Judas hangs himself after he realizes what he has done. In Nephi's vision, he sees Jesus getting crucified, and then the "multitudes of the earth" rallying against the twelve apostles. So... Did Judas not kill himself? Did he repent? Are you... Are you allowed to repent after doing that sort of thing? I mean, I know it was necessary for Jesus to be resurrected and all, but still...
There's the repetition of the line so often occurring in the Bible: "The last shall be first, and the first shall be last" 1 Nephi 13:42.
Nephi also sees a vision that is like John's vision written in revelations of the false, poison church: "And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell--yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it" 1 Nephi 14:3. Again. Good wording. Good way of bluntly getting the point across.
Also, they flash forward to a time when the name of God will become a "hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations" 1 Nephi 19:14. Of course, I thought of Ulysses, when Stephen Daedalus says that God is like a shout in the street.
The first book of Nephi is ended with the promise that it is not just Nephi and his father proclaiming the God of Israel--others have been taught and have seen God in the same manner.
My first note on 2 Nephi is more for a particular word than anything else. You know, the phrase is God will smite thee, but it use the word 'smitten'. Now it makes sense--obviously there's the same root and same meaning--smite means being struck with the hand or hit with a hard blow. Smitten means the same thing, but it can also mean that someone is very much in love. I just thought it was interesting, especially in how appropriate it is (and a little odd that smite doesn't have that same definition).
Remember how in the Old Testament hell--or an equivalent to hell--is Sheol? If not, Sheol is all dark and nasty, unpleasant and so on. The darkness is like a blanket, and you may be able to hear other people crying out but you can't reach them or answer them (although that last bit doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but...) Anyways, this book characterizes hell as just being sleep--"the sleep of hell" 2 Nephi 1:13. That's interesting, the idea that you're not being tortured but you're just... not... there. I guess that would make it more of a purgatory than a hell then, though... Anyways, here's the full thing: "O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men; that they are carried away captive down to the gulf of misery and woe. Awake! And arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all earth. But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have behold his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love" 2 Nephi 1:13-15. Okay... So reason number one why I marked it: Matisyahu's debut album is "Shake off the Dust... Arise". Reason two is that it says that you can't return from the grave. But you have a second life, so wouldn't that count...? Unless if it means you can't return to the earth. Yeeeeeep.
Again, later: "Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyselves from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion" 2 Nephi 8:25.
"Prepare your souls for that glorious day when justice shall be administered unto the righteous, even the day of judgment, that ye may not shrink with awful fear" 2 Nephi 9:46. /"'There are just some kind of men who--who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one'"--Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird.
"Seek the Lord, not peeping wizards" 2 Nephi 18. The phrase "peeping wizards" is the funniest thing ever. Let's move on!
Chapter eighteen also mentions the priest Uriah. If I'm not mistaken, that is also the name of one of the archangels.
"Hell from beneath thy feet is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee" 2 Nephi 24:9. I believe this is a reference to the final days when the dead will rise and walk the earth and so on.
So onto the next book, Jacob... My first note has to do with Jacob warning the people of Nephi against "fornication and lasciviousness" Jacob 3:12. That seems strange to me because of the be fruitful and multiply bit. I mean--you're supposed to procreate like crazy. Like I said, birth control in any form is looked down upon. And obviously to get babies you've got to have sex. (I almost said 'make'. Make sex?) Maybe it just means bestiality and pedophilia and stuff? (And since this would be Old Testament time, this would probably include homosexuality too.) That's my best guess, anyway.
"And now I, Jacob, am led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I perceive by the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation" Jacob 4:15. I'm going to go ahead and say this refers to the crucifixion of Jesus. If that's the case, then that oft-repeated New Testament quote about the stone that was rejected being the cornerstone of faith makes a lot more sense now.
Hmm, those appear to be the only notes I've got on Jacob, and I didn't mark anything for Enos, Jarom, Omni, or The Words of Mormon. Sooo... On to the Book of Mosiah!
"Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just--But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. For behold, are we not all beggars?" Mosiah 4:17-19. This is pretty much the exact opposite of Grecian/Roman/probably other ancient civilizations that I don't know about beliefs too--if you had a beggar or a leper or someone suffering in general, the gods were punishing them, and if you helped them, you ran the risk of pissing the gods off and making them torture you too. Yeeep. I also just really like that last line too.
"And I would that ye should remember, that whosoever among you borroweth of his neighbor should return the thing that he doth borroweth, according as he doth agree, or else thou shalt commit sin; and perhaps thou shalt cause thy neighbor to commit sin also" Mosiah 4:28. I LOVE this! One, it may supposed to be serious--in fact there is no may about it--but it seems like there's a bit of humour happening at the end there, along with the truism. Two, it is true. Three, I like the fact that it's being said that sometimes sinning isn't all one fellow's part--that there can be (and often is) a reason...
Oh, here's one thing that really, really bothered me: "And again: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me" Mosiah 13:13. It's not that God 'says' that he's a jealous God. He does it often enough in the Old Testament. What bothers me is that in the old Testament, there is the line which follows: "Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents; only for their own crimes may persons be put to death" Deuteronomy 24:16. I know that says put to death, but I took it to mean that they may not be punished for each other's sins either--I mean, by saying that he'll take it out on the latter generations... Well, he's not really saying death, but still... It could be potentially worse than death. I just don't like this bit with what I convinced myself was said, I guess. And saying it will come on to latter generations that the sinner probably won't even know isn't going to make them stop. They'll just be like, oh... I won't get in trouble for it then? Sweet! Guess I'll just keep on doing what I'm doing. Awesome. I mean, if they do live to see the suffering, they'll feel guilty then (probably), and regret it, but that would be what's known as locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen.
"Unrighteous kings lead their people into sin" Mosiah 29.
So those are all of my notes! I had some more, but again, it's been a while since I picked this up so I didn't remember why pages were noted, or how my scrawled-in notes related to what I thought they related to. So, I'm going to get started on the second half (Alma-Moroni, about 320 pages) but there's going to be some in-between, especially since I've also just finished Fight Club, and I've decided to take a lot of my other books down off the 'classics' self for review. Most of them are pretty short--actually the ones that are coming down for review are the two Hermann Hesse books. But yeah. They're both pretty short.
MLA Citation Information: The Book of Mormon. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: United States of America, 2010.
Ohhh, plus I'm going to be in Cape Cod for a few days in a week. I know, I know, I won't update for a whole week, eeee.
Answer to last post's cryptic song lyrics: Congratulations by MGMT
This post's cryptic song lyrics: You're the son of his majesty, remember how it used to be, in the light of the day it's easy to see--Now it's nighttime, you had to leave
So, I came into possession of this through my World Religions class. First of all, Mormons are nice. Like really nice. Like if you were having a bad day you would call your Mormon friend up and they would make life all better again. Second of all, that class was made up of--not exactly dummkopfs, but they might as well have been zombies. I was pretty much the only one talking, seriously. So the three Mormon representatives--teenagers, Mormons have this really cool custom of taking a year or two off for mission work--loved me, and gave me a copy of the book to take. So that was cool. Anyways, I dug the friendliness and professionalism and all of that. If you put a gun to my head and told me I had to pick a religion learned about in that class and convert to it, I would definitely be a Mormon. The only big problem I have is that using contraceptives might as well be one of the seven deadly sins. You're supposed to "be fruitful and multiply"--that would not work for me. Nope.
So! Here we go. This is going to be a long post, I'm sure, but let's start with the introduction, I guess... So the story goes that this book was found inscribed on tablets. The tablet's words were copied down, as the time wasn't quite ripe for the tablets to be revealed to the world. The books are a kind of revamped version of the old and new testaments. So... Let's go! On with 1 Nephi!
So Nephi's father was a prophet that everybody thought was mad--he also claimed Jerusalem would fall and all of that. This is probably a good time to mention that I read this about three weeks ago. I guess my point for marking this was the parallels with the Bible... Maybe.
Oh yeah, so they leave the city and flee to wilderness, pretty much like Moses and his people leaving Egypt. You know, people "murmur against" him, are punished, keep on murmuring against, don't learn, except sometimes, eventually go off the beaten track... And so on. So... Yeah.
"Behold the Lord slayeth the wicked to bring forth his righteous purposes. It is better that one man perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief" 1 Nephi 4:13.
Oh and they too have the commandments and the laws and Leviticus in their possession. They go ahead and mention that. Just an interesting note, since I don't actually have a sense of time or proportion.
God is also, again, referred to as the "God of Israel" 1 Nephi 5:9. Again, a note I think is interesting that probably no-one else would.
Oh, a response to those people rebelling against Nephi's father: "How is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath done for us...?" 1 Nephi 7:11. He actually goes on to list great things that God did help them achieve, but. I just thought it was interesting wording or what have you. Something about it struck me.
This too: "How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?" 1 Nephi 7:9.
I notice that in 1 Nephi 10, God, when referred to as 'he', isn't capitalized. That's pretty intriguing...
Then 'he' is referring to a regular man: "For he that diligently seeketh shall find" (which can continue to) "and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them" 1 Nephi 10:19.
Nephi's father sees a mysterious tree in 1 Nephi 11, and an angel asks Nephi if he understands what the tree was. My note was just "the cross?" because the cross Jesus was put on is sometimes referred to as a tree.
Also, in most traditional versions of the crucifixion story, Judas hangs himself after he realizes what he has done. In Nephi's vision, he sees Jesus getting crucified, and then the "multitudes of the earth" rallying against the twelve apostles. So... Did Judas not kill himself? Did he repent? Are you... Are you allowed to repent after doing that sort of thing? I mean, I know it was necessary for Jesus to be resurrected and all, but still...
There's the repetition of the line so often occurring in the Bible: "The last shall be first, and the first shall be last" 1 Nephi 13:42.
Nephi also sees a vision that is like John's vision written in revelations of the false, poison church: "And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell--yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it" 1 Nephi 14:3. Again. Good wording. Good way of bluntly getting the point across.
Also, they flash forward to a time when the name of God will become a "hiss and a byword, and be hated among all nations" 1 Nephi 19:14. Of course, I thought of Ulysses, when Stephen Daedalus says that God is like a shout in the street.
The first book of Nephi is ended with the promise that it is not just Nephi and his father proclaiming the God of Israel--others have been taught and have seen God in the same manner.
My first note on 2 Nephi is more for a particular word than anything else. You know, the phrase is God will smite thee, but it use the word 'smitten'. Now it makes sense--obviously there's the same root and same meaning--smite means being struck with the hand or hit with a hard blow. Smitten means the same thing, but it can also mean that someone is very much in love. I just thought it was interesting, especially in how appropriate it is (and a little odd that smite doesn't have that same definition).
Remember how in the Old Testament hell--or an equivalent to hell--is Sheol? If not, Sheol is all dark and nasty, unpleasant and so on. The darkness is like a blanket, and you may be able to hear other people crying out but you can't reach them or answer them (although that last bit doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but...) Anyways, this book characterizes hell as just being sleep--"the sleep of hell" 2 Nephi 1:13. That's interesting, the idea that you're not being tortured but you're just... not... there. I guess that would make it more of a purgatory than a hell then, though... Anyways, here's the full thing: "O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men; that they are carried away captive down to the gulf of misery and woe. Awake! And arise from the dust, and hear the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs ye must soon lay down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveler can return; a few more days and I go the way of all earth. But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have behold his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love" 2 Nephi 1:13-15. Okay... So reason number one why I marked it: Matisyahu's debut album is "Shake off the Dust... Arise". Reason two is that it says that you can't return from the grave. But you have a second life, so wouldn't that count...? Unless if it means you can't return to the earth. Yeeeeeep.
Again, later: "Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyselves from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion" 2 Nephi 8:25.
"Prepare your souls for that glorious day when justice shall be administered unto the righteous, even the day of judgment, that ye may not shrink with awful fear" 2 Nephi 9:46. /"'There are just some kind of men who--who're so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one'"--Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird.
"Seek the Lord, not peeping wizards" 2 Nephi 18. The phrase "peeping wizards" is the funniest thing ever. Let's move on!
Chapter eighteen also mentions the priest Uriah. If I'm not mistaken, that is also the name of one of the archangels.
"Hell from beneath thy feet is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee" 2 Nephi 24:9. I believe this is a reference to the final days when the dead will rise and walk the earth and so on.
So onto the next book, Jacob... My first note has to do with Jacob warning the people of Nephi against "fornication and lasciviousness" Jacob 3:12. That seems strange to me because of the be fruitful and multiply bit. I mean--you're supposed to procreate like crazy. Like I said, birth control in any form is looked down upon. And obviously to get babies you've got to have sex. (I almost said 'make'. Make sex?) Maybe it just means bestiality and pedophilia and stuff? (And since this would be Old Testament time, this would probably include homosexuality too.) That's my best guess, anyway.
"And now I, Jacob, am led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I perceive by the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation" Jacob 4:15. I'm going to go ahead and say this refers to the crucifixion of Jesus. If that's the case, then that oft-repeated New Testament quote about the stone that was rejected being the cornerstone of faith makes a lot more sense now.
Hmm, those appear to be the only notes I've got on Jacob, and I didn't mark anything for Enos, Jarom, Omni, or The Words of Mormon. Sooo... On to the Book of Mosiah!
"Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just--But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. For behold, are we not all beggars?" Mosiah 4:17-19. This is pretty much the exact opposite of Grecian/Roman/probably other ancient civilizations that I don't know about beliefs too--if you had a beggar or a leper or someone suffering in general, the gods were punishing them, and if you helped them, you ran the risk of pissing the gods off and making them torture you too. Yeeep. I also just really like that last line too.
"And I would that ye should remember, that whosoever among you borroweth of his neighbor should return the thing that he doth borroweth, according as he doth agree, or else thou shalt commit sin; and perhaps thou shalt cause thy neighbor to commit sin also" Mosiah 4:28. I LOVE this! One, it may supposed to be serious--in fact there is no may about it--but it seems like there's a bit of humour happening at the end there, along with the truism. Two, it is true. Three, I like the fact that it's being said that sometimes sinning isn't all one fellow's part--that there can be (and often is) a reason...
Oh, here's one thing that really, really bothered me: "And again: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me" Mosiah 13:13. It's not that God 'says' that he's a jealous God. He does it often enough in the Old Testament. What bothers me is that in the old Testament, there is the line which follows: "Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents; only for their own crimes may persons be put to death" Deuteronomy 24:16. I know that says put to death, but I took it to mean that they may not be punished for each other's sins either--I mean, by saying that he'll take it out on the latter generations... Well, he's not really saying death, but still... It could be potentially worse than death. I just don't like this bit with what I convinced myself was said, I guess. And saying it will come on to latter generations that the sinner probably won't even know isn't going to make them stop. They'll just be like, oh... I won't get in trouble for it then? Sweet! Guess I'll just keep on doing what I'm doing. Awesome. I mean, if they do live to see the suffering, they'll feel guilty then (probably), and regret it, but that would be what's known as locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen.
"Unrighteous kings lead their people into sin" Mosiah 29.
So those are all of my notes! I had some more, but again, it's been a while since I picked this up so I didn't remember why pages were noted, or how my scrawled-in notes related to what I thought they related to. So, I'm going to get started on the second half (Alma-Moroni, about 320 pages) but there's going to be some in-between, especially since I've also just finished Fight Club, and I've decided to take a lot of my other books down off the 'classics' self for review. Most of them are pretty short--actually the ones that are coming down for review are the two Hermann Hesse books. But yeah. They're both pretty short.
MLA Citation Information: The Book of Mormon. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: United States of America, 2010.
Ohhh, plus I'm going to be in Cape Cod for a few days in a week. I know, I know, I won't update for a whole week, eeee.
Answer to last post's cryptic song lyrics: Congratulations by MGMT
This post's cryptic song lyrics: You're the son of his majesty, remember how it used to be, in the light of the day it's easy to see--Now it's nighttime, you had to leave
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