Sunday, January 6, 2008

Nephi Defines the Purpose of the Record (1 Nephi 6)

Listen now!At this point, Nephi pauses in his retelling of his family's journey into the wilderness to clarify that he is not writing on the plates to tell a full, secular history of everything that happened to every person in great detail. Rather, he states:
4 For the fulness of mine intent is that I may apersuade men to bcome unto the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.
5 Wherefore, the things which are apleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world.
Therefore, people who encounter the Book of Mormon for the first time should not be surprised that it lacks details that they would normally expect from the Bible or from some secularized history. Nephi makes it very clear that is not his purpose. He even goes further to tell his descendants who would inherit the plates and write on them "that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men."

As you read, look for anything that is not of worth to the children of men. You won't find it.

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