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< FAIR Study Aids | Gospel Doctrine | Book of Mormon
Lesson Two | A FAIR Analysis of:
Book of Mormon: Gospel Doctrine Teacher’s Manual |
Lesson Four |
Lesson 3: The Vision of the Tree of Life: off-site
Concept related to the lesson topic:
The religion of Israel was significantly reformed approximately 50 years before Lehi's ministry by King Josiah. Josiah cleared the temple of all the symbols of other divine figures besides Yahweh (Jehovah). One of the symbols that had a common presence in the temple before this reformation was an idealized carving of a tree on a wooden pole that represented the goddess "Asherah". Asherah was believed to be the consort or companion of Yahweh.
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Concept related to the lesson topic:
When Nephi asked his guide what the tree in his dream represented the answer was associated with "the mother of the Son of God" (1 Nephi 11:18) (See Daniel C. Peterson, "Nephi and His Asherah: A Note on 1 Nephi 11:8–23," in Mormons, Scripture, and the Ancient World: Studies in Honor of John L. Sorenson, edited by Davis Bitton, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1998). [191–243] direct off-site A shorter version of this article is also available in Daniel C. Peterson, "Nephi and His Asherah," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9/2 (2000). [16–25] link .) This may be connected the symbolism of Asherah.
Concept related to the lesson topic:
The symbol of Asherah, a pole carved in the shape of a tree, was a part of worship in Solomon's temple for almost 2/3 of the temple's existence.
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Concept related to the lesson topic:
1 Nephi 9:2-6 discusses how Nephi created two separate records, both of which he refers to as the "plates of Nephi". The two sets of plates differed in their size, the larger being a more secular account of Nephi's reign, and the smaller being a more spiritual account of Nephi's reign and ministry. The record we have in the Book of Mormon is the smaller of the two. [Brant Gardner, "Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon," vol. 1, Kofford Books, 2007, pp 185.]
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Common criticisms related to this lesson topic
Lehi's dream has some similarities to a dream that Joseph Smith Sr. (Joseph's father) had ~1815, as described by Lucy Mack Smith (Joseph's mother) in ~1844. It is claimed that Joseph used his father's dream as a template for inventing Lehi's dream.
Response
Because Lucy Smith described her husband's dream about 30 years after the fact, and because she described it 15 years after the publication of the Book of Mormon, it is more likely that her telling of her husband's dream was more influenced by Lehi's dream in the Book of Mormon, and not vice versa.
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Common criticisms related to this lesson topic
An ancient Mesoamerican "stela" (large stone carving), Izapa Stela 5, depicts a scene that many LDS have interpreted as a representation of Lehi's dream.
Response
As LDS scientists have learned more about Mesoamerican culture and artwork they have come to realize that Izapa Stela 5 is not a representation of Lehi's dream. Latter-day Saints should be discouraged from promoting the stela as evidence for the Book of Mormon.
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Common criticisms related to this lesson topic
Nephi speaks explicitly of a coming Messiah who will redeem mankind, including using the term "the Lamb of God" (1 Nephi 10:10). Some critics charge that this Christian belief did not exist among the Jews before Christ.
Response
Recent scholarship has shown that such beliefs did in fact exist.
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Concept related to the lesson topic:
he four groups of people described in Lehi's dream are comparable to the types of "seeds" in Christ's parable of the sower in Matthew 13.
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The Book of Mormon contains a number of literary structures called poetic parallelisms, chiasmus being the best known. While these are frequently used as evidence for the Book of Mormon’s authenticity, their real value is in helping shed light on the meaning and message in the text. The following passages contain examples of these structures from chapters being covered in this lesson. If you are planning on using any of these passages in your lesson, it may be worthwhile to check these structures to see if they help emphasize or focus attention on the message you hope to convey, or if they provide an alternative perspective you had not considered before which may enhance your lesson. For the sake of space, the references can only be listed here. To look at these structures, see Donald W. Perry, Poetic Parallelisms: The Complete Text Reformatted, which is graciously provided online for no charge (you have to go to the PDF file) by the Neal A. Maxwell Institute.
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