Keywords
Book of Mormon, Nephi, Nephite history
Abstract
Noel B. Reynolds noted: “Of course [The Book of Mormon] is a witness for Christ and his teachings. But in addition, it provides reasons why we should believe that the tradition of the Nephites was just and correct. The two messages of the book are tied together in such a way that whoever accepts the teachings of Christ accepts that Nephi was a legitimate ruler, and vice versa.”237 Politics, science, and religion were interrelated belief systems that were difficult to separate in antiquity.238 The Book of Mormon — the product of an author reared, trained, and immersed in such a society — is no exception. It is for this reason that when Nephi declares that “these [small] plates are for the more part of the ministry” (1 Nephi 9:4), the text he provides tells both a religious and political history. For Nephi, politics and religion merged into “the more part of the ministry.”
Recommended Citation
Gardner, Brant
(2020)
"Chapter 9: Nephi Writing,"
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship: Vol. 35, Article 13.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/interpreter/vol35/iss1/13
