Christianity 101, BoM Style 2

Christianity 101, BoM Style 2 January 10, 2012

Another little doorway into Christianity lies, I think, in the second of the three enumerated purposes of the BoM and particularly in the phrase I have underlined:

that [the remnant of the House of Israel] may know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever

As I was looking into this, I discovered something interesting:  in many web citations this particular purpose is completely missing or truncated, as you see here:

http://www.jefflindsay.com/BOMIntro.shtml#2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon

I think that the underlined phrase is quite important because it points up the difference between a religious covenant and a contract.

Both contracts and religious covenants are agreements between two parties.  The difference is this:  contracts may be rendered void if one or both parties fail to fulfill their part of the agreement.  This means that when one of the parties defaults, the relationship is ended.  Religious covenants, on the other hand, are created and lived in a larger context, one of forgiveness and repentance.  This means that when one of the parties fails to meet an obligation, the relationship does not end.  Instead, both parties may reevaluate the situation and opt to extend the relationship under the same, similar, or new conditions.

And that is why, when someone properly learns about the covenants of the Lord, they also learn that they are not cast off forever.  God’s love is remarkable.

Mogs


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