The Content:
Alma
43
Verses
2-3
2
Now we shall say no more concerning their preaching, except that they
preached the word, and the truth, according to the spirit of prophecy
and revelation; and they preached after the holy order of God by
which they were called.
3
And now I return to an account of the wars between the Nephites and
the Lamanites, in the eighteenth year of the reign of the judges.
The Comments:
I
read this, and wondered why in the world Mormon (who abridged this
section) would leave the spiritual/eternal preachings, and go to the
physical war. Aren't the scriptures supposed to be about our
spiritual salvation? Bringing us home to our Heavenly Father, and
all that? So why is there this huge section about the wars between
the Nephites and the Lamanites here in the middle of the Book
of Mormon?
Confession
time—I've always loved the war chapters. Maybe it's because I like
action in my stories. So I'm okay with Mormon going into the war
chapters like he does. But when I read these two verses, my mind
caught hold of this idea, and I decided to go a little crazy (because
I do that sometimes) and really delve into this section of Alma. Why
did Mormon put it in here? How can it help us in our day with all of
the stuff that the world is throwing at us?
Here
are a few ideas I came up with when I started.
Why
the war chapters?
-We
might need to know physical war strategies
-We
can always do as the scriptures say, and liken the wars to ourselves
today
-To
show the physical hardships of war
-To
show consequences of iniquity (for those who sin as well as for those
who get caught in the crossfire)
-To
help us understand the validity of war (when it is “right”)
-To
help us understand what war is really like
-Church
vs State
As
I've gone through the war chapters, verse by verse, I have come
across all of the above. I'm sure there's much, much more. And
that's why I'm here.
I
hope that this blog will be a place where the curious as well as the
skeptical can come to gain a fresh perspective on the war chapters
and how they can apply to us today. Because they do apply to us
today, more then the lot of us can ever comprehend, is my guess.
I
welcome comments, but please keep them kind. Don't let this blog
become a war zone, because we're all here to help one another through
life, not to make others angry.
So
what do you think? Why did Mormon take the time to abridge this huge
chunk of Alma and put it in the Book of Mormon? Why not just stick
with the spiritual stuff?
I love hearing the strategies. The people then were protecting themselves from invading armies. Satan's armies are so much more beguiling. The way SO Moroni gathered everyone together so the Nephites would have strength in numbers was great. I also like the way they built towers, lookouts, dug ditches, and made their forces impenetrable is the same way we should protect ourselves from him, as well. It has taught my family that Satan will try more than one way to get into their minds and hearts, but if we protect ourselves on multiple levels, we will be more prepared.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing the strategies. The people then were protecting themselves from invading armies. Satan's armies are so much more beguiling. The way SO Moroni gathered everyone together so the Nephites would have strength in numbers was great. I also like the way they built towers, lookouts, dug ditches, and made their forces impenetrable is the same way we should protect ourselves from him, as well. It has taught my family that Satan will try more than one way to get into their minds and hearts, but if we protect ourselves on multiple levels, we will be more prepared.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Rochelle! We're going to get to all of that good stuff. :)
ReplyDeleteWe just finished these chapters, so all of this is fresh in my mind. Such a great topic of discussion!
ReplyDeleteMormon was a historian. He had read so much, and seen so much in his lifetime. I truly believe that having studied the histories of all of these different people, he couldn't help but see a recurring theme. And this is why he shared some of this frame of time with us. To show us a little of what his lifetime was spent witnessing. But I think he chose to spend more time recording the stories of the wars of Moroni and Helaman because they were such good men. I'm sure he could tell volumes about the wars during his lifetime, but they weren't the same. The faith wasn't there, the people were bloodthirsty. The point isn't to just recount incidents of war, but to take the experiences of righteous men in the midst of trial and learn from them how to navigate through our own challenges ( or avoid them all together ).
I also feel he was inspired by the Holy Ghost to include these, because we can relate so much of life to these stories, like Rochelle said.
These stories really are just as spiritual as the others, it's just spiritual in a different way...does that make sense?
Man, I could talk about this all day:)
I'm totally with you, Cathy!
ReplyDelete