Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

Joseph Smith said something kind of funny when he taught, "You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half- that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The Savior says, 'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' Why do we need the Holy Ghost? Why did an all knowing and all loving God decide that we needed the Holy Ghost to help us get back to him? President Benson says  that "the most important thing in our lives is the Spirit." The Church  teaches that "the Holy Ghost works in perfect unity with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, fulfilling several roles to help us live righteously and receive the blessings of the gospel." The holy ghost is our comforter when we are sad, gives us peace when we are upset, teaches us when we ask, He bears "reco...

There’s some interesting things here in section 8. I know that Jesus is the master psychologist, but I have difficulty following the line of thinking here. The IM gives this background information: “Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery had received from God the gift to translate ancient records. From the beginning of their work together Joseph Smith translated and Oliver Cowdery acted as scribe. Oliver Cowdery desired to have a more active role in the translating process, and so the Prophet inquired of the Lord through the Urim and Thummim and received a revelation. The Prophet Joseph wrote: ‘Whilst continuing the work of translation, during the month of April, Oliver Cowdery became exceedingly anxious to have the power to translate bestowed upon him, and in relation to this desire the following revelations were obtained: (D&C 8-9).” There’s a couple of points here that I think are important, first is that I wonder if I was in Oliver Cowdery’s place if I would want to translate, I’m not...

Section 7 is pretty interesting. The IM comments “The future of the Apostle John, sometimes called ‘the Beloved’ or ‘the Revelator,’ is a mystery to the world. Confusion comes because of the statement in John 21:20-23. Referring to John and speaking to Peter, the Savior said: ‘If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple (John) should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, if I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?’ From this statement questions naturally arise: Did John die? If not, what is his status? If he did, why did Jesus make the statement? The issue has been debated for centuries among the various Christian denominations, with some scholars saying that he indeed died and was buried at Ephesus, while others believe he still walks the earth. A third school of thought states that even though he was buried at Ephesus, he is not really dead but simp...

I’ve been thinking about the concept of preaching repentance first, and there have been a few interesting insights. The first is that while reading the scriptures with my kids, we are to the part where Alma gives up the judgment seat and goes to preach the gospel to the people. The people in Zarahemla weren’t super interested in what he had to say, so his message was very simple. The chapter synopsis for Alma 5 says, “To gain salvation, men must repent and keep the commandments, be born again, cleanse their garments through the blood of Christ, be humble and strip themselves of pride and envy, and do the works of righteousness- the Good Shepherd calls his people- Those who do evil works are children of the devil- Alma testifies of the truth of his doctrine and commands men to repent- The names of the righteous will be written in the book of life.” These are very simple principles that he teaches, basically repentance, baptism, humility, and keeping the commandments. The people in Gideo...

6:3-10 - I have thought some about verse 2 today, I don't have a lot to say about it yet, but I'm working on it. Verse 3 is another iteration D&C 4:4 that I struggled with last week. I like verse 3 a little bit more, in that it's more straight forward for me. It says, "Behold, the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts, and he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God. Yea, whosoever will thrust in his sickle and reap, the same is called of God." When I read this, I didn't have any confusion about what or who is being saved and treasured up, the message is clear that preaching the gospel is salvation to your own soul,  no matter what the outcome is in the persuasion of others. The Lord continues, "therefore, if you will ask of me you shall receive; if you will knock it shall be opened unto you." The IM explains th...

So far we've dealt with Joseph Smith and Martin Harris, but now we are introduced to another main player in the game, Oliver Cowdery. The IM gives this historical background information: "In the winter of 1829 Oliver Cowdery taught school near the home of Joseph Smith Sr. It was the custom of the day for teachers to board in the homes of their pupils, and since the Smiths had children in Oliver's school, he came to stay with them. While there he heard stories about the Book of Mormon plates and asked Father Smith to tell him the details. Father Smith finally consented, and Oliver Cowdery became one of the few in whom the family confided the story. Lucy Mack Smith recorded the events that followed: 'Shortly after receiving this information, he (Oliver) told Mr. Smith that he was highly delighted with what he had heard, that he had been in a deep study upon the subject all day, and that it was impressed upon his mind, that he should yet have the privilege of writing for ...

The background information for this chapter is as follows: “After humbly repenting of his foolishness in losing the manuscript, Martin Harris still seemed troubled by a desire to have direct evidence of the existence of the plates. In March 1829 the Lord gave Joseph Smith section 5 of the Doctrine and Covenants. In that revelation, it is clear that Martin still wanted a ‘witness’ that Joseph had the plates, and verse 24 suggests that his specific desire was to actually see the plates. The Lord told Martin through Joseph that he could receive his desires by being faithful and humble so he would be called as one of the three special witnesses.” I guess it’s easy for me to sit here and say that Martin Harris should have been satisfied with what he had, and all that but I think that anyone could say the same thing about me in my situation, that I should be fine with everything. 5:1-10 - The Lord recognizes that this revelation is because “my servant Martin Harris has desired a witness at...

Again, here’s another short but exceptionally content heavy section. The IM gives the background as quoted by JS saying, “After I had obtained the above revelation (D&C 3), both the plates and the Urim and Thummim were taken from me again; but in a few days they were returned to me, when I inquired of the Lord, and the Lord said this unto me: (D&C 10). I did not, however, go immediately to translating, but went to laboring with my hands upon a small farm which I had purchased of my wife’s father, in order to provide for my family. In the month of February, 1829, my father came to visit us, at which time I received the following revelation for him: (D&C 4).” The IM continues by teaching, “Even though this revelation was given for the Prophet’s father, it is addressed to all people who would serve God. Elder Joseph Fielding Smith pointed out that while only seven verses long, ‘it contains sufficient counsel and instruction for a lifetime of study. No one has yet mastered it. ...

3:9-20 - The Lord is so merciful, after rebuking JS He reminds him “God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work.” I imagine myself as JS knowing that I screwed up, taking the rebuke from the Lord, the despair and hopelessness that I would feel, it’s kind of how I imagine that Adam and Eve felt when they had to face God after eating the forbidden fruit, the rebuke, the shame, the despair and hopelessness, the feeling of being lost forever. But again, God is merciful, and he gives them a Savior to save them and us, the lesson, then the forgiveness, the salvation, and the repentance. It’s a miracle, honestly, but if we think about it God already knows what we are going to do, so he’s already made provision for us to move past that and learn from it. And through the Atonement, Christ has already experienced our sins, he’s suffered for them, and he’s overcom...

TSection 3 is a "revelation given to Joseph Smith the Prophet... relating to the loss of 116 pages on manuscript from the first part of the Book of Mormon, which was called the 'Book of Lehi.' The Prophet had reluctantly allowed these pages to pass from his custody to that of Martin Harris, who had served for a brief period as scribe in the translation of the Book of Mormon." This is some serious business. The account of the Church History Manual (CHM from now on) Martin Harris "asked if he could take this manuscript home to show his wife and friends. He hoped this would convince Lucy that the work was legitimate and stop her opposition." Martin Harris took the pages back to Palmyra and lost them. The conversation between Martin Harris and Joseph Smith when it's finally revealed that he lost them is a really powerful event and you can almost feel the prophet's anguish of spirit. According to the CHM "Lucy Mack Smith, the Prophet's mother, re...