Book of Mormon: Unities

The Book of Mormon > Unities

The purpose of this page is to explore how various parts of the Book of Mormon relate to each other and to identify concepts that are developed in stages over the course of the entire book. This page should remain short enough to read in about fifteen minutes.

Three temple speeches and faith

Faith appears to be generally (though not always) addressed in three broad ways.

• In First Nephi - Jacob, faith is typically a matter of just doing what you know to be right. The first speech in the Book of Mormon delivered at a temple occurs in Jacob 2-3 at the temple in the land of Nephi.

• In Mosiah - Helaman, faith is typically addressed in connection with conversion and a change of heart, which leads one to feel a desire to do right. Enos is more like this than like First Nephi. The second temple speech is given by king Benjamin at the temple in Zarahemla (Mosiah 2-5).

• In Ether - Moroni, faith is typically addressed in connection with hope and charity, and in the context of those who have already gone through a change of heart and are doing right, but can reach to a higher level of righteousness. The Sermon on the Mount in Third Nephi ties in with this when viewed not just as a temple speech, but as a temple ceremony. The third and last temple speech in the Book of Mormon is given by the Lord at the temple in Bountiful (3 Nephi 11-26).

Reliance on Christ for deliverance

• First Nephi begins with Nephi's statement that he will write because he has known the goodness of the Lord in times of affliction, the opening chapter introduces the rest of the book with the statement that he will show us that the Lord delivers those who come unto him, and in the middle of Lehi's vision expresses that the Lord will not allow those who come unto him to perish. The theme of First Nephi can betaken as: "The Lord does deliver those who come unto him."

• In Mosiah it is repeatedly stated that there is no other name given under heaven by which anyone can be saved except the name of Christ. The theme of Mosiah can be taken as: "Deliverance comes only through Christ."

• In Alma 1-44 several alternative theologies are addressed, each denying the need for an atonement. The theme of Alma 1-44 (the part before the "war chapters") can be taken as: "You do need to be delivered."

Monarchy, democracy, and secret combinations

• Mosiah teaches that governments sometimes abuse those to whom it is not accountable. In the opening division King Benjamin is presented as an ideal king. In the middle division Noah is presented as the exact opposite. In the closing division, king Mosiah II explains that an unaccountable monarchy would be great if all kings were as good as his father Benjamin, but since some kings are as bad as Noah, it is better for government to be accountable through voting or democracy.

• Alma 45-63 teaches that democratic governments also have a weakness. A democracy can become paralyzed when you and your neighbor disagree and the government is accountable to both of you. Mormon makes a point of explaning how dangerous it was for dissensions to arise in the context of a foreign war. And it is only after the king men are dealt with that the Nephites again begin to be victorious.

• Helaman and 3 Nephi 1-9 explains another threat to democracy, namely secret combinations. The Lord clearly explains that it is the secret combinations that have caused the downfall of the people.

• Ether cautions that transitioning from democracy to monarchy, or in other words giving up government accountability, will not automatically solve the problem of secret combinations. Ether recounts how secret combinations cause the destruction of monarchical Jaredite society not just once, but four times.

Prophetic devices

Most of the Book of Mormon was written in its final form by just four people: Nephi, Jacob, Mormon and Moroni. Each author appears to have a favorite mode for prophesying or teaching:

• Nephi tends to present prophecy in his boo by quoting and explaining the words of the prophet Isaiah.

• Jacob presents prophecy in his book by quoting and explaining the words of the prophet Zenos.

• Mormon employs Nephite history as his primary vehicle for teaching in Mosiah through Mormon.

• Moroni employs Jaredite history as his primary vehicle for teaching in Ether.

Much of what Nephi and Jacob quote from Isaiah and Zenos relates to the scattering and gathering of Israel. Much of what Mormon and Moroni write about Nephite and Jaredite society relates to the destruction of society when it becomes ripe in iniquity. Nephi's writing is much longer than Jacob's, just as Mormon's is much longer than Moroni's.

Mormon's writings in Mosiah-Mormon primarily track religious leaders and are often concerned with the conversion and salvation of individuals. Moroni's writing in Ether, in contrast, primarily tracks political leaders and is concerned only with the salvation or destruction of society as a whole.

There are also significant parallels between the writing of Nephi and Mormon. Nephi's quotations from Isaiah feature four main entities that all find their parallel in Moroni's account of Nephite history:

• Zion (Isaiah) and the church (Mormon) both represent the Lord's people;

• Babylon (Isaiah) and the proud who wear costly apparel (Mormon) both represent the worldly world and its attractions;

• Assyria (Isaiah) and the Lamanites (Mormon) both represent feared expansionist powers that poses a constant threat of destruction to the Lord's people; and

• Egypt (Isaiah) and the Nephite nation (Mormon) both represent a balancing power to which the Lord's people looks for protection.

So there is a great deal of similarity between Nephi and Mormon. Nephi quotes and explains Isaiah, who describes a two-polar world. Mormon illustrates what the two-polar world described by Isaiah looks like when applied to another time and place.

The book of Revelation recounts the history of the world in a series of seven thousand-year long seals (D&C 77:__). Nephi's record of his vision (1 Nephi 11-14) covers the time period from the late 4th seal to the end of the 6th seal. As his vision reached the beginning of the 7th seal, he was told not to write the remainder of his vision, and that this portion of the vision would instead be written by the apostle John in his book of Revelation (1 Ne 14:__). Sure enough, Revelation spends two verses each on the 1st-4th seals, 3 verses on the 5th seal, two chapters on the 6th seal, and the rest of the book on the 7th seal. Thus Nephi and John's visions can be read together as a pair.

The point with regard to the unity of the Book of Mormon is that it is precisely at this point when Nephi is told not to write about the 7th seal that he stops quoting his own prophecies and instead starts to quote the prophecies of Isaiah. The Lord told the Nephites to study Isaiah because he prophesied about all things, both past and present, and some parts are widely recognized as applying to the 7th seal and Millennium (perhaps with dual application). Nephi also says that, in order to understand Isaiah, one must be familiar with the world in which Isaiah lived (2 Ne 25:__) and the world to which his prophecy applies. And what Nephi does in 1 Nephi 11-14 is describe the world to which Isaiah's prophecy applies.

Mormon's account of Nephite history is similar. Of the thousand years of Nephite history (600 BC - 400 AD), most of the Book of Mormon dwells on the 200 years (200 BC - 33 AD) during which Nephite society most resembled the world today where the gospel is preached: democracy, separation of church and state, opportunities for advancement tied to education rather than family title, the dropping of international walls, and the rise of secret combinations. This looks like our world. It is followed by a massive destruction of the wicked at the Lord's appearance followed by centuries of Millennial-type peace, followed in turn by renewed wickedness for just a little season (D&C 29:45) and then the end of history. Mormon's account of Nephite history can thus be seen both as closely ties to Nephi's quotations from Isaiah and as a prophetic device in itself.

And Moroni tells us in his first farewell (Mormon 8-9) thathe would write the words of Isaiah if he could.

Resources

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Notes

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