askandanswer

It's not too late! I'm happy to help out for such a noble cause.

If that's where the choosing takes place I think I'd rather be unchosen. I suspect the furnace consumes more than it saves. 1 Nephi 20 Book of Mormon Israel has been chosen in the furnace of affliction I can't help wondering how things might have been different if God had chosen a people who were meek, submissive, easy to be entreated, like a little child. This seems to be an odd choice. 1 Nephi 20:3–4 Book of Mormon 4 And I did it because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; Is God competing with idols here? 1 Nephi 20:5 Book of Mormon And I have even from the beginning declared to thee; before it came to pass I showed them thee; and I showed them for fear lest thou shouldst say—Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them. Judging by the behaviour of the Israelites, perhaps the refinement was insufficient. 1 Nephi 20:10 Book of Mormon 10 For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. There is considerable room to question this statement. I'm thinking of Amos 3:7. Surely the Lord God shall do but He revealeth His secrets unto His servants, the prophets. First, He has secrets, and then He only reveals them, in a very private and exclusive manner to a very small group of people. The first vision was not a public event - only one person saw it. Furthermore, there were things that were revealed to Joseph, and many other prophets, that they were commanded not to reveal to the world. Those things were spoken in secret. 16 I have not spoken in asecret; thy righteousness as the waves of the sea. Every wave I have ever seen, every single one, breaks apart shortly after its formation. Maybe that is a good description of Israelite righteousness. 8 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments—then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea. Mon, 18 Sept 2023 Rivers are certainly very peaceful to sit by and watch but they are a hostile environment where people die and they are totally unstable and completely unsupportive I've known some parents whose offspring is like a pebble, or gravel, in your shoe. 1 Nephi 20:19 Book of Mormon 19 Thy seed also had been as the sand; the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.

If Nephi knew where he was going surely he would not have gone to Florida.

What are the primary ways and means by which you progress in the gospel and increase in faith, knowledge, wisdom and strength? Are the improvement in faith, knowledge, wisdom and strength that you gain from overcoming trials and challenges in any way different from the faith, knowledge, wisdom and strength that you gain from the other ways in which increase in these things?

The wicked hardly take the truth. 1 Nephi 16 Book of Mormon The wicked take the truth to be hard This sounds like a much better guide than what Brigham Young had when looking for the Great Salt Lake valley. 1 Nephi 16 Book of Mormon —The Liahona guides their course in the wilderness This is a very public way for the Lord to communicate, markedly different from the more customary approach of giving inspiration or guidance to one person, usually a man. 1 Nephi 16 Book of Mormon Messages from the Lord are written on the Liahona from time to time It seems as though they were willing to have Nephi be their teacher, but not their leader. I'm not sure if I would be on speaking terms with my brothers if they had tried to kill me. 1 Nephi 16:1 Book of Mormon 1 And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had made an end of speaking to my brethren, We are all guilty of something 1 Nephi 16:2 Book of Mormon 2 the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, There is little evidence here of the material prosperity that is so frequently promised to those who are obedient and righteous. 1 Nephi 16:6 Book of Mormon 6 Now, all these things were said and done as my father dwelt in a tent

Putin has an army of trolls waiting to do his bidding, just waiting for the word to start sending messages by the millions aimed at influencing opinions. They've had three years to learn from the last election. I wasn't talking about Putin winning the war, I was talking about him avoiding defeat. Trump could probably arrange a safe place for Putin to live in peaceful retirement in return for a cessation of hostilities, similar to what the US did with former President Marcos in the Philippines in the 1980's. Or maybe even just lifting the sanctions might be enough. Or pressuring allies not to be so generous with their aid to Ukraine. There's a growing body of speculation here, and probably in the US, that Putin's main strategy at the moment is stretching out the war until Trump is elected in the expectation that a Trump victory will be of major benefit to Putin.

If I was contemplating how to vote in the 2024 election my intentions would be influenced by the idea that there has never been a closer alignment between Trump and Putin's interests. Both want more than anything else what the other is best placed to give. No one more than Putin can help Trump win the 2024 election and no one more than Trump can help Putin avoid defeat in Ukraine. That sounds like a great opportunity for a deal to be done.

I've always thought that it's creation was arranged by God but I haven't found any evidence to suggest any particular answer. I'm curious as to what light others might shed on the origins of the word liahona.

If it is just to divide the wicked from the righteous, it follows that it would be unjust for them to remain together. And yet this is the situation we see in most of mortality. 1 Nephi 15 speaks of the justice of God in dividing the wicked from the righteous. The account we have from Nephi or Lehi's words is easy enough to understand. Either there were many things which Lehi spoke with Nephi has not given an account of, or Nephi wrote Lehi's words in a way that makes them easy to understand. I guess the fact that Nephi's understandings had been enhanced by the vision he received would help a lot to explain why his words are easy to understand. His bretheren had not received any such explanatory vision. 1 Nephi 15:3 Book of Mormon 3 For he truly spake many great things unto them, which were hard to be understood Nephi had just been given a marvellous vision and had prolonged interaction with an angel and the effect is to leave him feeling overcome because of his afflictions? That sound strange. And the reason for his feeling overcome is because he had seen the end, 1,000 years hence, of a group of people, some of whom had descended from him? That also seems strange, I can't imagine feeling too upset at the demise of a group of people with whom I had such little connection a thousand years into the future. 1 Nephi 15:5 Book of Mormon 5 And it came to pass that I was overcome because of my afflictions, This reminds me of 1 Nephi 1:7 and of how Lehi also appeared to be quite physically tired, or overcome, as a result of the visionary experience that he had. This is also consistent with Joseph Smith's comments about Oliver Cowdery after they both received in vision section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Visions, literally, seem to be tiring things. 1 Nephi 15:6 Book of Mormon 6 And it came to pass that after I had received strength I think this is the best question nephi could have asked, even though he probably already knew the answer. 1 Nephi 15:8 Book of Mormon 8 And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? Their failure to inquire significantly increases the likelihood that the Lord will make no such thing known to them. 1 Nephi 15:9 Book of Mormon 9 And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us. Nephi is feeling down because he has just seen in vision that his people will perish and here he is telling his brethren that they will perish. And we have good reason to believe, from their refusal to take of the fruit in Lehi's dream, that they did perish. So the founders of the Lamanite race perished but their people did not. And the founder of the Nephites did not perish, but his people did. 1 Nephi 15:10 Book of Mormon 10 Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts? Its verses like this - and there are many - why I get slightly annoyed at those who deny the possibility of knowing everything about God and His works and who take refuge behind scriptures such as Isaiah 55:9 1 Nephi 15:11 Book of Mormon 11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you. I read a post the other day on third hour inquiring why it was an olive tree and not something else that the house of Israel had been likened to. Mikbone pointed out how bad a natural olive tastes, and the extensive preparation that needs to be done before an olive is made to taste nice. I wonder if that applies to the house of Israel - how they need to go through a lot before they emerge as good people? 1 Nephi 15:12 Book of Mormon 12 Behold, I say unto you, that the house of Israel was compared unto an olive tree, Nephi seems to speak in value-neutral terms here about having been broken off from the house of Israel, ie, there is nothing to indicate in these words that he thinks it is a good thing or a bad thing that they have been broken off. This is is contrast to the remarks of his brother as written in Jacob 7:26. 1 Nephi 15:12 Book of Mormon 12 Behold, I say unto you, that the house of Israel was compared unto an olive tree, by the Spirit of the Lord which was in our father; and behold are we not broken off from the house of Israel, and are we not a branch of the house of Israel?

Yes, I was just noting that both Alma 49:22 and 1st Nephi 14:3 make reference to ditches filled with bodies

I made it as far as verse 7 today I'm guessing that despite the footnotes, that this reference to stumbling blocks refers to the loss of plain and precious parts of the bible. 1 Nephi 14:1 Book of Mormon 1 And it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word, and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks Is Nephi only talking about/to one group of Gentiles here - those that will end up upon the promised land? 1 Nephi 14:2 Book of Mormon 2 And harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father; yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land forever; they shall be no more brought down into captivity; and the house of Israel shall no more be confounded. This reminds me a little of Alma 49:22 1 Nephi 14:3 Book of Mormon 3 yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the Lamb of God; not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end. I can't think of any major religious organisation, Christian or not that meets these two criteria of a) having been founded by the devil and b) for the purpose of leading away the souls of men down to hell. This idea that there is such a church seems contrary to the teachings of Moroni 7: 12 - 14 1 Nephi 14:3 Book of Mormon3 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 Is repentance sufficient to save a soul from perishing? 1 Nephi 14:5 Book of Mormon 5 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying: Thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel; and thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish. The angel continues to limit his remarks to the Gentiles. 1 Nephi 14:6 Book of Mormon 6 Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God. This sounds like there are only two outcomes - peace and life eternal or being brought down into captivity and destruction, both temporally and spiritually. 1 Nephi 14:7 Book of Mormon 7 For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other—either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken

I'm not well known for my design and architectural skills so I have to ask - is this before or after the fall of the building?

I think that a more recent understanding of LDS beliefs on some of these topics can be obtained from the Encyclopaedia of Mormonism. See. for example https://eom.byu.edu/index.php?title=Columbus,_Christopher https://eom.byu.edu/index.php?title=Catholicism_and_Mormonism https://eom.byu.edu/index.php?title=Christians_and_Christianity

I have never been able to reconcile 1 Nephi 3:7 with Doctrine and Covenants 124: 49 1 Nephi 3:7 7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no bcommandments unto the children of men, save he shall cprepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them. Doctrine and Covenants 124:49 49 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings. I also cannot see how Adam and Eve could have kept both of the commandments not to eat of the fruit and to go forth and multiply. Was a way prepared for them to accomplish both of these things? Perhaps a youthful and enthusiastic naivete of Nephi is the best explanation?

Given that Laman and Lemuel contributed so little to the achievement of the outcome, and perhaps even detracted from the outcome being achieved, its a little odd that they were included in the retrieval party. I guess this is further evidence that God was at least as equally interested in character development than the accomplishment of the task.

Problem: we don’t have the information contained on the brass plates Possible solutions: Reveal again the required knowledge contained on the plates directly to Lehi. God has done something similar with Jeremiah when the scriptures were burnt. Receiving this information as a direct revelation from God might have resulted in an improved quality of information compared with what was already on the plates Decrease the need for obtaining the plates held by Laban by arranging for the same information to contained on another set of plates that they would later find in their new country, in a similar way that the people of Mosiah later found the plates of the Jaredites Prompt Zoram to take the plates from Laban and bring them to Lehi Get a set of plates from someone else who had a similar or identical copy and who might have been more willing to sell them in exchange for Lehi’s worldly good Provide Lehi with a copy of the required information in the same way that he was provided with a Liahona. Arrange for Laban, at the first attempt, to be laying drunk, alone and unconscious at night, somewhere outside the gates of the city, in a manner similar to what happened God did not use any of these methods. Instead, He sent Lehi’s sons back to get the plates. Sometimes, only sometimes, we can get a better understanding of what was done and how it was done by considering why other ways of accomplishing the same objective were not chosen. Choice sometimes reveal the character, or the motives, of the person, and maybe of the Being, making the choice, although this method of increasing our understanding generally requires far more information than what is typically available.

It seems God doesn't want me to study the scriptures today. When I try to go to the Doctrine and Covenants, I get Please try again later. Status Code: 403 I guess I could always get my hard copy from the lounge room but its such a long way from here.

I think that on this occasion, if God had been primarily concerned with the accomplishment of the task, He would have provided them with the means to accomplish the task. Instead, He sent them back to Jerusalem with nothing, no plan, and no resources. The fact that He sent them back with nothing, thereby further increasing their reliance on Him for a way to accomplish the task, suggests that on this occasion God was perhaps at least as equally concerned with the personal/spiritual development of those doing the task

Laban's behavior in chapter 3 - theft, attempted murder and public drunkenness - seem to be at odds with his position in religious society. Perhaps the fact that a man who behaved like that and who had a senior position in a religious organisation gives an insight into, or leads to a conclusion about, the condition of the religious organisation at the time. Such a conclusion gains support from the number of prophets that the Lord sent to preach to/warn that society at that time.

I get the impression you're reluctant to do anything against the (k)law?

Well I must confess, my opinions on kimchi are pretty worthless - I've never actually tried it Every now and then I see a place that sells it but apart from a mild curiosity, I've never felt a strong desire to try it. Maybe one of these days I should, although where I'm living now, I'm not sure where I could find any

Non-conversion is often the outcome of a thoughtful process. Conversion is usually an outcome of a spiritual process.

I note the monks have a similar dress sense as the Ku Klux Klan

My method of study at the moment is to read and then stop to take notes. Here are my notes for today. I plan on doing about half an hour a day. I’ve been able to do more than that today because its Saturday. It will be difficult to do this much during the week. Today I got about half way through the title page. I realise that this means that I will not keep pace with the planned schedule. I’ll deal with that by jumping from wherever I am at the end of the week to the start of the reading for the following week. This font is quotes from the Book of Mormon, this text are my thoughts, written without the slightest aid at all from anything even remotely resembling a fountain pen (whatever that is). Notes from the title page also of the Lamanites I think it might be going a bit too far to say that this is an abridgement of the record of the Lamanites. The Lamanites do get mentioned and discussed, but they are not the main focus. If this can be considered as an abridgement of the record of the Lamanites, it would suggest that the record keepers were not fully compliant with the divine instructions that led to the records being created. I can see how this could be interpreted as a record to the Lamanites but it is not as easy to see how it could be considered a record of the Lamanites. Perhaps it might be more accurate to say that this is an abridgement of the Nephite's record of aspects of Lamanite history, or something like that because as far as I know, the only original content from a Lamanite is the preaching of Samuel. Written by way of commandment, and also by the spirit of prophecy and of revelation This raises questions about the number and the type/quality of revelation that guided the abridgement of the records. On the one hand, it could take a great many revelations to accurately/properly decide what to include and what to exclude from 1,000 years worth of records. On the other hand, maybe God and the Holy Ghost just gave some general guidelines every now and then as to how to go about the task. Perhaps a reasonable comparison might be the number and quality of revelations that Joseph Smith received while establishing the church. Many of them are quite detailed and specific, and could not be fairly described as general guidelines. These commandments and the spirit of prophecy and revelation also raise questions about whether Moroni was mostly an author, an editor, or a voice to the dictates of the Spirit in much the same way that Joseph and his scribes were. We know from other examples that when God has found an effective technique, He likes to reuse it, and perhaps this is what He did with Joseph Smith after trying it out with Moroni. However, there are sufficient variations from this idea of God reusing the same technique to make this an unreliable guide for explaining God’s behaviour and decisions. Written and sealed up, and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed What became the Bible was effectively sealed and hidden from most of the world, but it was definitely not hid up unto the Lord. Interestingly, there is a fair bit of overlap in the periods that the gold plates and the origins of the Bible were effectively sealed up from all or most people. To come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation thereof When we look at how the Bible came forth, over a much longer period of time, perhaps we could say the same thing - that it was by the gift and power of God. On the other hand, perhaps it would make for an interesting case study to see how God's close involvement with the coming forth of one set of scripture led to a much faster coming forth of that scripture, compared with the much slower, more gradual coming forth of another set of scripture for which there is less evidence of God's involvement. Sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, In most instances, I would have some ethical concerns about concealing the word of God and trying hard to make sure it would be unavailable, but when God says to do that, then it becomes ok. We can see from the effectiveness and efficiency with which the sacred writings of the early Christians were destroyed that God had good reason to be concerned about the safety and protection of the gold plates. The interpretation thereof by the gift of God. Does this also apply to the interpretations provided by,or confirmed by, Professor Anthon and Doctor Mitchell? the people of Jared, This is interesting. I'm guessing that it was Jared who provided leadership for the people and Jared's brother who provided the spiritual leadership but they came to be called the people of Jared and not the people of Mahonri Moriancumer. Perhaps part of the reason why they became known as the people of Jared is that the reign of the Jaredite kings started with one of the sons of Jared. Its interesting that the people came to be associated with the person who was probably their temporal, rather than their spiritual leader.