Is there anything in the Book of Mormon that puzzles you? Maybe we can figure it out together. I started this post to see if anyone wonders the same things I do.
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I will bite on this. I can think of two things that I have a hard time with. They are the Slaying/Murder of Laban and Captain Moroni and the title of liberty. oddly enough although I struggle withe them the acts actually strengthen my testimony in the BOM. Because both stories follow the foundation and reorganizing on ancient cultures. Because according to Girard, ancient cultures are founded and reorgainized on a founding murder. Laban is that murder for the Lehites, and Captain Moroni's title of liberty was a was or reorganizing civilization through violence. I think I can trace the destruction of the Nephites to this point in time.
Now with that said I struggle with the morality of the actions. Nephi's explanation of killing Laban is the same explanation that the Sanhedrin gives about killing Christ. The Biblical writers clearly show this to not be a good thing. So why would it be good for Nephi. I get around this because Nephi's vision of Christ and his mission comes much later so I can chalk this up to his lack of understanding of Christ at this point in time. But I struggle with the ethical idea, because today we call that murder.
Captain Moroni bother me because he goes to the people with the "tittle of liberty" and if they will not take up arms and fight for his cause, he kills them. That seems to me to not be liberty. It is as though he did not accept other ideas or dissent. That is troubling. Thus he uses this violence to re-organize the Nephi society. It is actually a very common technique in the ancient world, but one that I feel Christ preaches against. It is the same technique that got Christ killed.
Again these are areas that is struggle with as far as the morality aspect of the nephites, not necessarily with the truthfulness of the BOM itself.
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Captain Moroni bother me because he goes to the people with the "tittle of liberty" and if they will not take up arms and fight for his cause, he kills them. That seems to me to not be liberty. |
I've always wondered about the name "Mormon".
As I understand it:
The book is named after the prophet, the prophet, after the place. . . But, after whom or what was the place named? Who or what (and maybe why) was first named "Mormon"?
I guess it catches my interest because, I don't know why The Waters of Mormon were named that. I can't find any solid solid answer for this (before the place, The Waters of Mormon)
There is another speculative post I made about this, somewhere else on this site, ( I lost where it was )
There are many things that puzzle me. First the curse of the Lamanites, why dark skin? Why not another sign? I don't like the language of "white and delightsome" that later on was changed for "pure and delightsome.
Name: Andrew
Comments: I married a Mormon woman and promised to make a sincere try in becoming Mormon. So I read the Book of Mormon and prayed the prayer, but nothing happened.
I looked into it more and read it a couple of times and the thing that ended up puzzling me the most is this: There is no "Mormonism" in the book of Mormon. I was told it was the "fullness of the Gospel" and the "most correct book on earth" but it had none of the main Mormon teachings in it. No Aaronic priesthood, no Temple ceremonies, no plural gods and eternal progression, no baptism for the dead, no celestial kingdom, no eternal marriage, no "president" and councils for the church organization. It looked to me like that was all made up later. We ended up getting divorced and she married a Mormon guy later, maybe that's for the best because it made no sense to me.
Name: Paralegal
Comments: think of it this way:
Your car key has the fullness of your car. With your key, you can fully access all the functions of your car and enjoy the joys and benefits of it.
The Book of Mormon does contain the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You won't be able to find any of the latest doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Book of Mormon, because these came after the restoration [through] Joseph Smith. It's like trying to drive your car without getting in it first (using your key).