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The voice of thunder
In 1 Nephi 17, Nephi has a long interaction with his brothers relating to them the history of their forefathers, while simultaneously setting up a parallel to their own story. He wraps up his discourse with some serious accusations, but also testifies of God’s great power, of which he at the end of the chapters…
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The curse of “slippery” treasures and early Genesis themes
Image: Moroni Buries the Plates. Artwork by Katie Payne If you read this blog on a regular basis, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that both Stisa and I believe that key themes in the early Genesis accounts are vital to understanding the worldview of the Book of Mormon writers. It follows logically that…
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The sword of justice and the arms of mercy
There are some notable chapters in the Book of Mormon that contain a discourse on justice and mercy, like Alma 34 and Alma 42. The fine balance between the two and the two concepts as devine attributes are easily subject to theological discourse. In the Book of Mormon, a metaphor seems to be coupled with…
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Nephi’s interlude on the word and the seed
I like to try to get into the heads of the Book of Mormon authors and I would love to know more details about how they approached the whole undertaking of engraving the plates. I am quite sure that it was not a spontaneous process. Rather, a meticulously planned effort with many notes. One thing…
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The importance of developing a symbolic worldview
This post is adapted from an answer I gave to a question about the significance of the rainbow in the story of Noah. Question: [R]egarding the meaning behind the covenant God made with Noah with the rainbow. Part of this promise is that God would never flood the entire earth again. Does anyone have any…
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Nephi’s “dry ground”/”wither” wordplay; plus some interesting connections between 1 Nephi 17 and Moses 1
As I was researching creation-covenant themes in Helaman, I found an interesting example of probable Hebrew wordplay in Nephi’s words to his brothers as they build the ship in Bountiful. 1 Nephi 17 is a complex chapter, with all kinds of interesting literary devices on display. Nephi makes numerous direct and indirect references to Moses,…
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Dividing animals and the Red Sea – tying together the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants – Part 3
Link to part 1 Link to part 2 Tying together the accounts in Genesis 15 (God’s covenant with Abraham) and Exodus 14 (dividing the Red Sea, but also what seems to be a re-enactment of the Abrahamic covenant), we have seen the following key terms as common elements in the two accounts Night In the…
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Tying together Creation-Covenant themes about division – part 2
In part 1 of this series we took a look at how the creation account and the story of Cain and Abel offer rich, contrasting symbolism which can help us understand God’s working with His people. In this post, we’ll explore specific examples in the Book of Mormon. The most important takeaway lesson for me…
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Dividing animals and the Red Sea – tying together the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants – Part 2
Link to part 1 In part 1 we saw how the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants are linked by their covenant tokens of dividing animals (Genesis 15) and water (Exodus 14). Furthermore, we consider the following key terms that both accounts share: Pass through (Hebr. ‘abar’) Much of part 1 focused on the division. It creates…
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Tying together Creation-Covenant themes about division – part 1
Accounts of the successes and failings of a covenant people are enhanced when viewed through the lens of the creation account and understood as re-enactments of creation itself.