1 Nephi 4
Our new Mormon neighbors, Elders Johnathon and Richard, have been receiving our letters in their mailbox, and we’ve been receiving theirs. (It’s because the word “Elder” resembles our last name.)
We continue to be on excellent terms with these missionaries. Elder Johnathon invited me to be his Facebook friend. Most of his photos are from high school, which he recently completed. He appears to have been a member of a highly successful dance team.
I’ve now read several chapters of the first book of Nephi. My favorite so far is chapter 4, in which Nephi decapitates Laban, who is lying drunkenly on the ground. Nephi then dresses in Laban’s garments, bluffs his way into Laban’s treasury, and carries away some brass plates upon which the Lord’s commandments are engraved. However, Nephi’s own brothers, Laman, Lemuel, and Sam, fail to recognize him because he is wearing Laban’s clothes.
The narrative is rapid and suspenseful, and one gets used to the linguistic quirks.
I’ve also learned, from the introduction to my “reader’s edition,” that these quirks are entirely attributable to Joseph Smith. Mormons regard his translations as fallible. In this respect, the Book of Mormon differs from, say, the Quran, whose every Arabic word is presumed to be Allah’s own.
When I first met Johnathon and Richard, I told them that although I’d be willing to read the Book of Mormon with them, I was unlikely to ever become a Latter-Day Saint, and I didn’t want to waste their time. “That’s all right,” Johnathon told me. “Our goal is for you to grow closer to Christ.”
I thought that was a pretty good answer.
We continue to be on excellent terms with these missionaries. Elder Johnathon invited me to be his Facebook friend. Most of his photos are from high school, which he recently completed. He appears to have been a member of a highly successful dance team.
I’ve now read several chapters of the first book of Nephi. My favorite so far is chapter 4, in which Nephi decapitates Laban, who is lying drunkenly on the ground. Nephi then dresses in Laban’s garments, bluffs his way into Laban’s treasury, and carries away some brass plates upon which the Lord’s commandments are engraved. However, Nephi’s own brothers, Laman, Lemuel, and Sam, fail to recognize him because he is wearing Laban’s clothes.
The narrative is rapid and suspenseful, and one gets used to the linguistic quirks.
I’ve also learned, from the introduction to my “reader’s edition,” that these quirks are entirely attributable to Joseph Smith. Mormons regard his translations as fallible. In this respect, the Book of Mormon differs from, say, the Quran, whose every Arabic word is presumed to be Allah’s own.
When I first met Johnathon and Richard, I told them that although I’d be willing to read the Book of Mormon with them, I was unlikely to ever become a Latter-Day Saint, and I didn’t want to waste their time. “That’s all right,” Johnathon told me. “Our goal is for you to grow closer to Christ.”
I thought that was a pretty good answer.