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Title Page

Book of Mormon Introduction

1st Nephi

Heading: The heading to1st Nephi, written by Nephi states, “An account of Lehi and his wife Sariah, and his four sons, being called, (beginning at the eldest) Laman, Lemuel, Sam, and Nephi.” Oops, Joseph forgot about Nephi’s sisters and doesn’t mention them during the family’s journey in the wilderness or on the ship. Nephi’s sisters are mentioned when the family separates after reaching the promised land. Note that they couldn’t have been born on the ship or after they reach land because Lehi and Sariah were too old then. Nephi’s sisters go with Nephi’s group when they separate. See 2 Nephi 5:6. “Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all those who would go with me…” This is a patriarchal young man’s self centered adventure story. Of course the sisters would be an afterthought.

1 Nephi 1 – Joseph Smith wasn’t always imaginative with assigning names. He might have created Nephi to be the base for Nephite, and Nephite is an alteration of neophyte. The 1828 Webster’s dictionary for neophyte defines it as 1)  A new convert or proselyte; a name given by the early Christians to such heathens as had recently embraced the Christian faith, and were considered as regenerated by baptism. 2) A novice; one newly admitted to the order of priest, 3) A tyro; a beginner in learning.

1 Nephi 2:20

2 Nephi 1:6 “There shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.” Most LDS in the United States are republicans and the majority of LDS republicans who are prejudiced against immigrants disagree with this verse. Both this verse and those who are prejudiced against undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers are wrong. Of course not everyone who comes to the Americas or to the United States was brought by the hand of the Lord. This verse is easily demonstrated to be false. However, the Christian thing to do is to welcome the immigrants and foreigners who do come and are seeking a better life. Unfortunately, most Mormons in 2025 have overlooked Biblical and Christian teachings on that point. They lack discernment and buy the lie that those who seek refuge and asylum are the worst in society. This was also the viewpoint of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah.

Alma 36: If/then prosperity gospel. The doctrines in the Book of Mormon don’t really leave room for good people to not prosper. If people obey the commandments they shall prosper in the land. In contrast to the prosperity gospel, Jesus said that the sun shines and the rain descends on both the wicked and the righteous (Matt 5:45). Keeping the commandments does not guarantee that someone will prosper in the land. An if/then prosperity gospel emerges from a simplistic binary theology that does not allow for complexity, diversity, and agency.

Ship building Nephi

3 Ne 12:26 “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence until thou hast paid the uttermost senine. And while ye are in prison can ye pay even one senine? Verily, verily, I say unto you, Nay.” A senine (a day’s wages for a judge) is not the smallest unit of Nephite currency. If Jesus were adapting his sermon on the mount to the Nephites, he would have used the smallest unit of Nephite currency which was the leah equivalent to 1/8th a senine of gold or senum of silver. Also, to me, senine and senum have a similar sort of lyrical ring if one were making up pairwise words. An example that comes to mind is curlom and cumom which are unspecified useful work animals. The author liked creating pairwise words. A few other examples of naming pairs include Nephi and Lehi, Laman and Lemuel, Mathoni and Mathonihah (putting a ‘hah’ after everything seemed popular), Zenos and Zenock (Z names were also popular).

2 Ne 25:19 “For according to the words of the prophets, the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem; and according to the words of the prophets, and also the word of the angel of God, his name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Christ is Greek word that Nephi would not have known. It is a title that means the anointed one. It is synonymous with the Hebrew word Messiah. It is not Jesus’ name, but is a title. The concept of Christ being a name rather than a title is a western tradition that developed centuries after Jesus. People in first-century Judea did not use family surnames or last names in the modern way. Jesus was known by His hometown (Jesus of Nazareth) or His father’s name (son of Joseph). In a sense, the name of the church should have been called the Church of Jesus of Nazareth of Latter-day Saints, or the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints.

ship building brother of Jared