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==Criticism== | ==Criticism== | ||
Critics charge that the story of Nephi being told by God to slay Laban (found in 1 Nephi 4꞉5-18) is problematic because
The Book of Mormon provides abundant textual evidence which puts these issues to rest.
Nephi did not receive the command to kill Laban in a vacuum. It was not his first experience with God. Prior to being sent back to Jerusalem for the brass plates, Nephi had experiences with God:
Nephi began his "spiritual journey" by having his heart softened by the Lord by the Holy Ghost. This then leads to a more direct experience with the Lord:
Nephi here has more than the "Holy Ghost." He has the Lord "speaking" to him, which seems to be something more direct than the Holy Ghost. Nephi has actually heard the divine voice speaking to Him.
Nephi and his brothers twice attempt to recover the plates. In both cases, Laban attempts to murder them. (See: Nephi and Laban: Legal issues.) The brothers hide in a cave, and Laman and Lemuel begin to beat Nephi and Sam with a rod:
Critics charge that this could be a devil appearing as "an angel of light" to mislead Nephi. The critics, however, overlook the contents of the angel's message: he has told Laman and Lemuel that Nephi will rule over them, which is something that God has already told Nephi privately. Since Satan does not know the mind of God (Moses 4꞉6), a demonic messenger would be unaware of the Lord's previous message to Nephi.
The divine messenger's words would also be accompanied by the spirit of the Lord, with which Nephi also already has experience. Thus, his spiritual witnesses form an interlocking, mutually reinforcing witness. Satan cannot counterfeit the influence of the Holy Ghost, nor can he access the mind of God to mimic the Lord's message to Nephi, unless the critics wish us to conclude that Satan can "eavesdrop" on God's conversations with others.
Nephi has been told by the angel that he is to go back to Jerusalem, and that the Lord will "deliver Laban into your hands" (1 Nephi 2꞉29). Thus, the idea that the Lord will cause Laban's death has already been mentioned by a divine messenger, as discussed above.
Nephi finds the drunken Laban, "[a]nd it came to pass that I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban" (1 Nephi 4꞉10). Nephi's reaction is interesting: "but I said in my heart: Never at any time have I shed the blood of man" (1 Nephi 4꞉10, emphasis added).
Nephi is not speaking aloud—one cannot, therefore, conclude that the voice of "the spirit" was, in fact, an evil power giving him commands. LDS theology holds that Satan cannot know the thoughts of mortal hearts, save if mortals express those thoughts through words and actions.[1] Nephi thus replies to the voice in his mind, and gets a reply to his concern—clear evidence that it is not an evil spirit with whom he is conversing, since an evil spirit would have no access to his inner thoughts, as God or the Holy Spirit would.
A secularist critic at this point might insist that Nephi is merely listening to himself in his head—he is delusional or psychotic. This position would be a possibility, were it not for the fact that Nephi has already seen an angel, whose divine credentials are clear. And, Nephi has not seen this being alone—his three brothers have also seen, including Laman and Lemuel, who are not inclined to do more to recover the plates. Thus, Nephi can be confident that the angel is no delusion, and the angel has both reinforced what God told him earlier, and given him a command to go back and find Laban.
After Nephi's initial mental refusal to kill Laban, the Spirit speaks to him twice more, and provides Nephi's mind with thoughts and reasons to obey the Lord:
The Spirit again repeats the angel's message, and Nephi then realizes that this commandment ties into something which the Lord told him earlier:
Any witness alone might be questionable—but, the interlocking witnesses available to Nephi give him ample reason for confidence. No other explanation matches all the data, except that the angel and the voice of the Spirit both spoke from a divine source.
(This analysis presumes, of course, that the Book of Mormon is true history, and not fiction—but, the critics cannot dismiss it as fiction, or insist that its lessons should be disregarded simply because of Laban episode, since the narrative permits only one conclusion: the command to slay Laban was from a divine source.)
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