Was the Book of Mormon written or organized in order? Like in 1 nephi it says “wherefore I did make plates of ore that I might engraven the record of my people “the way he talks about how he made records on “the plates” makes it sound like 1 Nephi wasn’t written on the brass plates, like it was written afterwards.
2 Responses to “Was the Book of Mormon written or organized in order? Like i…”
Bruno Paz
2011-07-04 05:57:53
Joseph Smith translated an ancient record engraven on metallic plates. This record is known today as the Book of Mormon.
Hi friend. Thanks for your question. It's excellent that you're reading the Book of Mormon. I should say, though, that that is not the impression I get when I read 1 Nephi. We live in an era when writing utilities are readily available. If we need a piece of paper or a pen, we just buy one without giving any thought to how it was fabricated. Same with the computer. However, in Nephi's case, the plates were not pre-fabricated. They had to be made by hand, no doubt a very difficult task. It is perhaps because of this difficulty that Nephi mentioned their creation explicitly.
Your question about how the Book of Mormon was compiled is an interesting one. The Book of Mormon covers 1,000 years of history, but the Book of Mormon is only a few hundred pages long. In the early 5th century AD, a prophet-historian named Mormon had the task of compiling the many records of the Nephite people into a single book, the Book of Mormon. He quoted some of the records outright. That's why 1 Nephi, for example, is written in the first person. For many of the records, however, he summarized and paraphrased the content in his own words. In the church we often say the Book of Mormon is an "abridgment" or "summary" if the larger Nephite record.
Richard
2011-08-01 14:02:30
Good eye, and you are correct too. I suggest you read the Introduction page found right after the Title Page to the Book of Mormon. Also if/as you read the Book of Mormon a few times, you will see 1 Nephi is a record of God commanding Lehi and his sons to go back and obtain the Brass Plates from Laban, descendant of Joseph who was sold into Egypt by his brothers.
1 nephi and the Book of Mormon are a record of a people separated from the Jews right before Jerusalem is destroyed around 600-500 BC, during the reign of Zedekiah (the same Zedekiah who is warned that he can prevent the destruction of Jerusalem by his following the counsel of the Lord's prophet Jeremiah, as recorded by Jeremiah and the other prophets of his day)
You are on the correct course of learning, read the introduction to the Book of Mormon, and begin to piece together how the Book of Mormon was written and compiled, by Mormon and his Son Moroni, as they abridged the writings of Nephi, Jacob and his sons, Benjamin, Mosiah, Alma, Helaman and his sons, then the inclusion the record made by Ether; who's fathers came from the Tower of Babel many years before the Book of Mormon was started.
Your question about how the Book of Mormon was compiled is an interesting one. The Book of Mormon covers 1,000 years of history, but the Book of Mormon is only a few hundred pages long. In the early 5th century AD, a prophet-historian named Mormon had the task of compiling the many records of the Nephite people into a single book, the Book of Mormon. He quoted some of the records outright. That's why 1 Nephi, for example, is written in the first person. For many of the records, however, he summarized and paraphrased the content in his own words. In the church we often say the Book of Mormon is an "abridgment" or "summary" if the larger Nephite record.
1 nephi and the Book of Mormon are a record of a people separated from the Jews right before Jerusalem is destroyed around 600-500 BC, during the reign of Zedekiah (the same Zedekiah who is warned that he can prevent the destruction of Jerusalem by his following the counsel of the Lord's prophet Jeremiah, as recorded by Jeremiah and the other prophets of his day)
You are on the correct course of learning, read the introduction to the Book of Mormon, and begin to piece together how the Book of Mormon was written and compiled, by Mormon and his Son Moroni, as they abridged the writings of Nephi, Jacob and his sons, Benjamin, Mosiah, Alma, Helaman and his sons, then the inclusion the record made by Ether; who's fathers came from the Tower of Babel many years before the Book of Mormon was started.