I only saw bits and pieces of the Women’s Session of General Conference tonight, but got a teaser of the theme last night from Elder Oaks’ visit to Claremont. The LDS Church has generally been very favorable to refugees and immigrants. There is good historical reason for this. As dramatized by video in the session today, LDS have institutional memory and family stories about the multiple times we too had to flee because of violence and death, leaving behind everything of... Read more
The previous lesson covered Jacob 1-4, and this one the lengthy allegory of the olive tree and its interpretation in chapters 5-6. This is understandable from a how-much-material-can-I-really-cover perspective, but there’s a way in which this division obscures important things. Let me give some background that leads in. The Bible did not originally have chapter or verse divisions, and of course, these non-existent breaks were not numbered. The Hebrew Bible, however, did have loose “paragraph” breaks, represented in the KJV with a paragraph marker, ❡.... Read more
Jacob marks a distinct and important break of sorts in the Book of Mormon. Why? Unlike Nephi, Jacob did not grow up in Jerusalem. Born in a wilderness, the first eight or so years of his life were spent… we don’t know. Maybe in captivity, maybe in the desert, definitely under duress and hardship. Point is, everything Jacob knows about Jews, Jerusalem, Hebrew, etc. he has learned from his family and whatever peoples they have encountered along the way. It’s a... Read more
These chapters are Nephi’s literary swan song, his winding down. He’s now in the position Lehi was in 2 Nephi 1-4, that is, old, preparing for his exit, and wanting to leave behind some words of guidance and distilled wisdom…. which makes for some interesting comparisons. Whereas Lehi spoke to his immediate children, Nephi speaks to his descendants and people. Notably, the closing arguments of Nephi’s life as the basics of the Gospel. He pleads with people to repent (31:11, 13, 17),... Read more
A friend recently asked for a list of books to read as an intro to the issues in Genesis 1-3 as well as the Moses and Abraham parallels. I focused on the former, because there’s not a whole lot dealing with the latter. I have a few chapters on it in my book, so I could write a separate post, if desired. When I taught my Institute class on Genesis a few years ago, I wrote a summary of each week. I... Read more
Not a lot of time today, so here’s a short post, on Nephi’s non-contextual application of the Isaiah chapters to his people. A note on 2 Nephi 26:29, wherein Nephi defines “priestcraft”- priestcrafts are that men 1) preach and 2) set themselves up for a light unto the world, that 3) they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion. Nephi’s translated definition dovetails well with Webster’s 1828, which says “The stratagems and frauds... Read more
Last week was insane, and I didn’t get a post up. Today I’m trying and failing to catch up, so my offering this week is meager. First, a PSA. Someone asked me a question about the Amazon support links I post at the bottom. They had clicked on it and gone to Amazon looking for a special tick box or option that said “Benjamin the Scribe,” because that’s how some of Amazon’s other programs work. I’m part of the Amazon Associates program,... Read more
It’s been a hectic week, I’m on the road without wifi, and Patheos did some upgrades this week causing some technical issues with my blog. I’ll try to correct/expand as possible. And first, Joseph Spencer’s book on typology and the Book of Mormon appears to finally be back in print. Good stuff, and relevant to today’s material as well as Nephi’s interpretive Isaiah material. Jacob is speaking by assignment on a topic from Nephi. (2Ne 6:4), which topic is Isaiah. Now,... Read more
A bit of news, connected to today’s lesson. (If you haven’t read the last one, you absolutely must for the proper background to this one.) One of my interests that happens to be both academic and pastoral involves the nature of scripture and inspiration. I’ll be presenting a paper April 8/9 at the Mormon Scholars in the Humanities Conference on “Science, Scripture, and Secularism: Rethinking Some Common Assumptions” which will verge into this territory. I see a spectrum of views about... Read more
Back in fall, I got interviewed about teaching early-morning Seminary. I even attended one morning, to get the lay of the land. I got very excited about shaping young minds, but I was also up front that they would probably hear from some parents. As long as they were fine with that, I was on board. I’d heard that they’d called someone else, but then a few weeks ago, received the formal call. A friend (jokingly?) said, “I’m frankly kind... Read more
Benjamin the Scribe
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