2 Ne 25:9-27:35
From Feast upon the Word (http://feastupontheword.org). Copyright, Feast upon the Word.
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Lexical notes
Verse 23
- After. At the time this was translated, the most common meaning of "after" (verse 23) was, as it is now, "subsequent in time to." However, that is not its only meaning. The 1828 Webster's dictionary notes that "to follow after, in scripture, is to pursue, or imitate; to serve, or worship" and gives two scriptural examples (Romans 8:5 and Isaiah 11:3) of where "after" means "according to the direction and influence of."
Exegesis
Verse 23: After and prevenient grace
If the word after here is taken in the temporal sense, this verse suggests a view that would contradict the doctrine of prevenient grace (that grace is offered prior to any act of human will). However, an alternate meaning of after (see lexcial note above and related links below) could be read here in a way that implies our works are simply insufficient to save us, so it is by grace that we are saved. This reading would not contradict a notion of prevenient grace.
Related links
Verse 23
- Faith, grace, and works.
- See Eph 2:8-10 for discussion of faith, grace, and works.
- See User:RobertC/Grace for discussion of prevenient grace in LDS thought and scriptures.
- Prevenient grace article from Wikipedia.
- Ostler's book. See pp. 220-223 in Blake Ostler's Exploring Mormon Thought: The Problem's of Theism and the Love of God (ISBN 1589580958). Ostler argues that the Mormon view is consistent with prevenient grace and that after in verse 23 should be be taken in a temporal sense.
- After = "despite"? See this quote by T. Allen Lambert for a possible reason to interpret after to mean despite (based on a claim that Joseph Smith translated it this way into French).
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