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Difference between revisions of "Detailed response to CES Letter, Scriptures"
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|claim=The author states, "The Lord commands Nephi to murder (decapitate) Laban for the brass plates. Never mind that Laban was drunk and defenseless. The argument that Laban would send his servants after Nephi and his brothers is ridiculous considering that the same God who had no problem lighting stones and taming swarms of bees (Ether 2-3) for the Brother of Jared can also preserve Nephi." | |claim=The author states, "The Lord commands Nephi to murder (decapitate) Laban for the brass plates. Never mind that Laban was drunk and defenseless. The argument that Laban would send his servants after Nephi and his brothers is ridiculous considering that the same God who had no problem lighting stones and taming swarms of bees (Ether 2-3) for the Brother of Jared can also preserve Nephi." | ||
|answer= | |answer= | ||
| + | {{Church answer | ||
| + | |link=http://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/09/i-have-a-question?lang=eng | ||
| + | |title=I Have a Question | ||
| + | |author=Jeffery R. Holland | ||
| + | |publication=Ensign | ||
| + | |date=September 1976 | ||
| + | |summary=It is wrong to assume that Nephi in any way wished to take Laban’s life. He was a young man, and despite a 600 B.C. world full of tensions and retaliations, he had never “shed the blood of man.” (1 Ne. 4:10.) Nothing in his life seems to have conditioned him for this task. In fact the commandments he had been taught from childhood declared, “Thou shalt not kill”; and he recoiled, initially refusing to obey the prompting of the Spirit. . . . | ||
| + | Laban, lying before Nephi in a drunken stupor, has not been guiltless in his dealings with Lehi’s family. In what little we know of the man, Laban has at least: (1) been unfaithful in keeping the commandments of God; (2) falsely accused Laman of robbery; (3) coveted Lehi’s property as a greedy, “lustful” man; (4) stolen that property outright; and (5) sought twice to kill Nephi and/or his brothers. He was, by the Holy Spirit’s own declaration, a “wicked” man delivered unto Nephi by the very hand of the Lord. | ||
| + | }} | ||
*{{antispeak|speaking for God}} | *{{antispeak|speaking for God}} | ||
*{{Incorrect}} The author claims that God did not act to "preserve Nephi". The Lord ''did'' preserve Nephi and his brothers from being killed by Laban....twice. | *{{Incorrect}} The author claims that God did not act to "preserve Nephi". The Lord ''did'' preserve Nephi and his brothers from being killed by Laban....twice. | ||
*God is not a magician who waves his wand and removes all obstacles. He expects us to do as much as we can. For example, God could have caused Laban to have had a heart attack, or cirrhosis of the liver, and died before Nephi got there, but that is simply not how God works. | *God is not a magician who waves his wand and removes all obstacles. He expects us to do as much as we can. For example, God could have caused Laban to have had a heart attack, or cirrhosis of the liver, and died before Nephi got there, but that is simply not how God works. | ||
*If Joseph were making the story up, then why not just have Nephi just find Laban already dead in the street? Nephi's account actually seems to have been written to deliberately provide all the proper legal justification for the act, according to ancient Israelite law. This may not appease the ethical concerns, but, the point is, how did Joseph Smith know ancient Israel law so well? This is evidence that it was written by someone familiar with the legal code of that time and place. | *If Joseph were making the story up, then why not just have Nephi just find Laban already dead in the street? Nephi's account actually seems to have been written to deliberately provide all the proper legal justification for the act, according to ancient Israelite law. This may not appease the ethical concerns, but, the point is, how did Joseph Smith know ancient Israel law so well? This is evidence that it was written by someone familiar with the legal code of that time and place. | ||
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|quote= | |quote= | ||
*Hugh Nibley recalled offers an interesting story about the way Middle Eastern culture would view this event which places it in a different context: | *Hugh Nibley recalled offers an interesting story about the way Middle Eastern culture would view this event which places it in a different context: | ||
Revision as of 10:21, 27 February 2014
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Response to "Scriptures Concerns & Questions"
| [[../Science Concerns & Questions|Science Concerns & Questions]] | A FAIR Analysis of:
[[../|Letter to a CES Director]] |
[[../Other Concerns & Questions|Other Concerns & Questions]] |
- Response to section: 1 Nephi 4
- Response to section: Exodus 12:12
- Response to section: Deuteronomy 21:18-21
- Response to section: Numbers 21:5-9
- Response to section: "I’m asked to believe in not only a part-time racist god and a part-time polygamous god but a part-time psychopathic schizophrenic one as well"
Response Section
1 Nephi 4
Exodus 12:12
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
Numbers 21:5-9
"I’m asked to believe in not only a part-time racist god and a part-time polygamous god but a part-time psychopathic schizophrenic one as well"
== Notes ==
- [note] Hugh W. Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon, 3rd edition, (Vol. 6 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by John W. Welch, (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company; Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1988), xii.