{"id":98445,"date":"2023-01-28T12:09:49","date_gmt":"2023-01-28T19:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=98445"},"modified":"2023-01-28T12:09:49","modified_gmt":"2023-01-28T19:09:49","slug":"assyria-and-the-great-church-of-nephis-vision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/01\/assyria-and-the-great-church-of-nephis-vision.html","title":{"rendered":"“Assyria and the \u201cGreat Church\u201d of Nephi\u2019s Vision”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
President Russell M. Nelson and his counselors in the First Presidency, President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring. Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are President M. Russell Ballard, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Elder David A. Bednar, Elder Quentin L. Cook, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Elder Neil L. Andersen, Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Elder Gary E. Stevenson, Elder Dale G. Renlund, Elder Gerrit W. Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares. This iconic photograph was taken in the Visitor Center on the grounds of the Rome Italy Temple.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a bit late in announcing the two articles below, which went up on Friday on the website of the Interpreter Foundation.\u00a0 I was otherwise occupied:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAssyria and the \u201cGreat Church\u201d of Nephi\u2019s Vision,\u201d<\/a> written by Todd Uriona<\/a><\/p>\n

Abstract:<\/strong>\u00a0The Book of Mormon begins at a\u00a0pivotal point in Israelite history and in the history of the ancient Near East more broadly. With the fall of Assyria and the power vacuum that grew out of Assyria\u2019s demise, questions of sovereignty were of paramount concern. It was at that time that Lehi led his family into the wilderness after witnessing the impending destruction of Jerusalem in vision. Nephi, \u201cdesir[ing] to know the things that his father had seen\u201d (1\u00a0Nephi 11:1), describes his own vision, where he saw the coming of the \u201cSon of God\u201d (1\u00a0Nephi 11:7), the destruction of his own people, and the \u201cformation of a\u00a0great church\u201d (1\u00a0Nephi 13:4) that would \u201cdestroy the saints of God\u201d (1\u00a0Nephi 13:9). These elements, along with others in Nephi\u2019s vision, seem to reflect the underlying insecurity of the time concerning divinely appointed sovereignty and the right to rule. Because of the deeply personal nature of Nephi\u2019s vision and its pressing relevance, we might expect it to contain elements that represent the cultural and social realities of his time. When we approach Nephi\u2019s vision in this way, surprising parallels can be found between the \u201cgreat church\u201d of his vision and the Assyrian Empire. These parallels help provide a\u00a0new context for viewing Nephi\u2019s vision that can heighten our awareness of the loving kindness the \u201cSon of God\u201d displays as the universal sovereign.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cInterpreting\u00a0Interpreter<\/em>: An Assyrian \u201cGreat Church\u201d\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

This post is a summary of the article \u201cAssyria and the \u201cGreat Church\u201d of Nephi\u2019s Vision<\/a>\u201d by Todd Uriona in Volume 55 of\u00a0Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship<\/em>. An introduction to the Interpreting\u00a0Interpreter<\/em>\u00a0series is available at\u00a0https:\/\/interpreterfoundation.org\/interpreting-interpreter-on-abstracting-thought\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Takeaway:<\/em>\u00a0 Uriona posits that some elements of Nephi\u2019s vision were in part influenced by and a response to rhetoric of conquest and domination from the Assyrian Empire, with the fall of the Assyrian empire used as a template for the fall of the \u201cgreat church.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve lately encountered some very critical comments about the general leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> \u2014 nothing really new, but some of the same old same-old, mostly from secular types tending to the American political left \u2014 and it put me in mind of this piece, which first appeared just prior to the calling of Elders Gerrit W. Gong and Ulisses Soares to the Council of the Twelve back in 2018:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coincidentally, with LDS General Conference approaching and two vacancies to be filled in the Council of the Twelve, this first-century journalistic account of the calling of the first apostles has just surfaced:<\/p>\n

As we reported in this newspapyrus three months ago, the controversial preacher from Nazareth known as Rabbi Yeshua recently established his headquarters in the Galilean fishing town of Capernaum. \u00a0Now, in a further development, he has announced his choice of twelve leaders to head up a new religious organization intended to propagate his views.<\/span><\/p>\n

Response from critics to those chosen, however, has ranged from disappointment to mocking dismissal and even indignant anger.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018apostles,\u2019 as they\u2019re being called, are virtually all backwater Galileans like Yeshua himself,\u201d observed Caiphas of Jerusalem.\u00a0 \u201cHe missed a real opportunity with these choices.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s the diversity?\u201d asked Bar Kosiba, a prominent authority on new religious movements. \u00a0\u201cShouldn\u2019t these men, who are supposed to direct international missionary efforts for the Yeshua operation, look like their intended audience?\u00a0 This strikes me as an absolutely epic fail.\u00a0 At the very least, Yeshua\u2019s choices represent a striking lack of imagination on his part.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re supposed to \u2018go into all the world,\u2019\u201d remarks Caiphas, \u201cbut they have no language qualifications, and they\u2019re exactly the opposite of \u2018cosmopolitan.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if this is really supposed to be a worldwide religious movement,\u201d asked Bar Kosiba, \u201cwhy does the number of these so-called \u2018apostles\u2019 so obviously reflect the twelve tribes of Israel?\u00a0 For all its pretensions, we\u2019re seeing a very small-town Jewish mentality here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnderwhelming,\u201d agreed the noted wonderworker Simon Magus.\u00a0 \u201cAs the governing board of a movement with global aspirations and world-historical pretensions, this new body of leaders is undeniably, even painfully, provincial.\u00a0 It\u2019s not clear that any of them have ever even traveled more than a few miles from their native villages.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThe Yeshua movement,\u201d he added, \u201cbegan as an insignificant, provincial, rural Galilean sect, and it\u2019s obvious now that it will die precisely as it began.\u00a0 And almost certainly very soon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some observers commented positively on the choice of Judas Iscariot, who, as a Judean, represents the only non-Galilean among the new leadership.\u00a0 \u201cYeshua got the proportions exactly backwards,\u201d remarked Gaius Caligula Bacchus.\u00a0 \u201cIdeally, if he wasn\u2019t going to think beyond the horizons of Palestine, there should at least have been eleven Judases and only one Galilean.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Others have called attention to what they termed the \u201cinbreeding\u201d between the twelve chosen leaders.\u00a0 Simon Peter, who will apparently chair the group in the absence of Rabbi Yeshua, is the brother of Andrew\u2014and both of them are involved in the commercial fishing industry with the brothers James and John, principal figures in the dried-fish exporting firm Zebedee and Sons.\u00a0 Additionally, some reports suggest that James, the son of Alphaeus, may be the brother of Judas Thaddeus as well as of, perhaps, even Matthew (sometimes called Levi).\u00a0 And unconfirmed sources indicate that Simon the Zealot (aka Simon the Canaanite) could be a cousin of Yeshua himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t be more satisfied,\u201d quipped Marcus Twanius, \u201cif the entire<\/em> Zebedee family fishing outfit had officially endorsed Yeshua\u2019s claims!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems,\u201d says Bar Kosiba, \u201cthat these quite undistinguished men weren\u2019t chosen so much by \u2018revelation\u2019 as by \u2018relation.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the selection of Judas Iscariot has drawn praise from certain circles, that praise has not been unanimous, because both Judas and his fellow \u201capostle\u201d Simon the Zealot have long-standing reputations for political extremism.\u00a0 \u201cIf Yeshua wants his movement to prosper in a Roman world, under the Pax Romana,\u201d commented Pontius Pilate, \u201cthis was certainly an inauspicious beginning.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be monitoring the situation closely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreover, some observers predict disharmony for the new body, wondering how well the two anti-Roman agitators Judas Iscariot and Simon the Zealot will actually be able to work, over the long term, with Matthew (aka Levi), who has for years reportedly earned a comfortable but notorious living as a tax collector for the Romans and their client states.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are the women?\u201d demanded Calpurnia Livia.\u00a0 \u201cYeshua promises enormous power, not only to lead his movement but to heal all kinds of diseases and to expel demons.\u00a0 But he gives this supposed power only to males.\u00a0 Do women not count in his worldview?\u00a0 These appointments indicate what can only be described as a savage misogyny, a frank and unashamed contempt for women\u2014who, after all, constitute at least half of his disciples, if not a much, much higher proportion.\u00a0 Evidently, the Yeshua movement is going to be merely yet another religious boys club.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Others, notably Professor Dionysius Exiguus, call attention to the lack of theological training among the new leadership of what he derides as \u201cYeshua Inc.\u201d\u00a0 None of the \u201capostles,\u201d he points out, seems to have received any formal scribal or legal education.\u00a0 Instead, they appear to have been chosen for their business acumen. \u00a0With regard specifically to Peter, James, John, and Andrew, however, Dionysius remarks that running a commercial fishing venture is nothing like leading a religious movement.\u00a0 \u201cYou can\u2019t fish for men,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cAnd mending nets scarcely qualifies anybody to mend souls.\u00a0 Anyone expecting depth from this conspicuously shallow group of rustics would be better advised to search for it in the Sea of Galilee.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019m a bit late in announcing the two articles below, which went up on Friday on the website of the Interpreter Foundation.\u00a0 I was otherwise occupied: \u00a0 \u201cAssyria and the \u201cGreat Church\u201d of Nephi\u2019s Vision,\u201d written by Todd Uriona Abstract:\u00a0The Book of Mormon begins at a\u00a0pivotal point in Israelite history and in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n"Assyria and the \u201cGreat Church\u201d of Nephi\u2019s Vision"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I'm a bit late in announcing the two articles below, which went up on Friday on the website of the Interpreter Foundation.\u00a0 I was otherwise\" \/>\n<meta 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