Talking Scripture

10:54 – Commentary on pride.

54:55 – Helping settle some issues with plural marriage in church history.

We discuss Jacob’s warnings about pride. Jacob teaches that the first step in pride is to see that we have more than others, then to make assumptions that we are better, then to persecute. We examine the antidotes to pride. Jacob teaches that immoral behavior breaks hearts. This article by John S. Tanner illustrates the descriptive words that Jacob uses to warn his people demonstrating that Jacob was a man who “lived close to his emotions and knew how to express those emotions.”

Brant A. Gardner gives historical examples of how the Nephites could fit into an Ancient American setting based on the issues faced in Jacob 2. Some of his analysis can be read here. In the last half of the podcast we have a deep discussion on the practice of plural marriage in the 19th century. We do some myth busting on some of the rumors associated with this practice. For the slides that cover much of what we discuss, go here. To read the Gospel Topics essay on plural marriage, go here.

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The Doctrine of Christ is outlined: 1. Have faith in Jesus Christ 2. Repent of your sins 3. Be baptized, covenanting with God to follow Him 4. Receive the Holy Ghost 5. Endure to the end.

For the rest of the story about Lydia Knight and her experience with an angel, go here. For some of the material shared about angels, see here.

Some of the verses that we go through are as follows: 3 Nephi 27.13-21, D&C 138.32-34, D&C 20.27-29, D&C 39.6, Alma 7.15, Alma 27.4.

For access to the slides that cover the much of the material in this podcast, go here.

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In this podcast we take a closer look at Nephi’s instruction at the conclusion of his insertion of Isaiah’s writings from the Brass Plates. Nephi spends most of his time in these chapters addressing the problems that the Gentiles face in the last days. For the slides that accompany this podcast, go here. For a closer look at how Nephi used the word church, go here.

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In this podcast we examine the Isaiah passages that Nephi inserts into the small plates. Why is Nephi putting this material in the Book of Mormon? Why would these passages have meaning to him? What does it mean to liken the words of Isaiah? (See 1 Nephi 19.23-24; 1 Nephi 22.8; 2 Nephi 6.5; 2 Nephi 11.2, 8.) We examine some of the political issues that Isaiah dealt with in his time period and then work to illustrate how these circumstances are similar to the Saints today. To see show notes for this podcast, go here. To see some great slides with some of the pictures and maps we talk about, go here. To read Elder McConkie’s Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah, go here. For a short 8 minute video on Isaiah 6, go here.

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In this podcast we see how Jacob taught his people about the Savior in the context of the Fall Festival, with temple related themes associated with Kingship, gathering, and the eventual victory over the greatest enemy of all: death. Bryce really breaks down some great application for modern readers, helping us see how Jacob’s words have relevance in our lives, especially when we face the loss of a loved one. Mike gets into some of the symbolism of Isaiah in 2 Nephi 7-8. The ways of life and death are discussed. For more detail on the Fall Festival, listen to episode 34. For more detail on the text of 2 Nephi 10.3 where Jacob identifies the name “Christ” for the first time, go here. To read John Thompson’s paper on Jacob’s speech in 2 Nephi 6-10 and how it relates to the Autumn Festival, go here. On the personification of Death and Hell in 2 Nephi 9, go here. To access the chart “The Ways of Life and Death” relating to Jacob’s sermon in 2 Nephi 9, go here. For the slides that have much of what we discussed in the podcast, go here.

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In this podcast we examine how Nephi constructs his overall narrative in 2 Nephi. We also tackle some of the points Nephi made in 1 Nephi 22 regarding the difficulties ahead for the humble followers of Christ. After this, we launch into the account of Lehi’s blessings to his posterity in 2 Nephi 1-4. We conclude with the temple context associated with the division between Nephi and Laman/Lemuel as these two groups experience a traumatic separation. For the chart on the Fall of Adam and Eve regarding its relationship to agency, go here. For more on the name of God in the Old Testament, and how it relates to his “power to create,” go here. For the story relating to 2 Nephi 4 and the “degree of difficulty” go here. For a great scholarly assessment of the Psalm of Nephi in 2 Nephi 4.15-35, go here. For an analysis of the difficult text (2 Nephi 5.21) that we discuss in this podcast, go here and here.

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In this short episode, we examine the background to Isaiah 48-49 which is quoted in 1 Nephi 20-21. These chapters are rooted in First Israelite Temple theology and the Feast of Tabernacles. Understanding this background helps readers to see what Isaiah is doing in these chapters (as well as all of Deutero-Isaiah!) and why Nephi includes them as part of his construction of sacred scripture. To see more on the Fall Festival, go here. To see the slides I used to teach 1 Nephi 20-21 outlining these two important chapters of Isaiah, go here.

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This text covers many of the struggles Nephi faced while trying to get his family to the promised land. We read of his trials and how he and his brothers respond to them. One of the lessons of 1 Nephi is that how you respond to your trials will shape your character. Our attitude during afflictions can bring us closer to God. In this podcast we will look more closely at Nephi’s response to these trials, as well as analyze the text to see how Nephi is constructing this narrative, shaping his history into scripture for us today. We will see how God used “rods” to afflict and to instruct Laman and Lemuel, analyzing how each successive rod came with increased force as Laman and Lemuel became more and more hardened.

For the overall show notes, go here. You can read more on the First Temple Israelite Drama here. We talked a bit about kingship and the items associated with Israelite temples, notably the items in the ark of the covenant in the first temple. Please note that this short paper is a work in progress and will be updated as we move forward. For more on the Nephite ark and the items that would have been equivalencies, go here. For some good questions to use to facilitate a good discussion that relate with 1 Nephi 16, go here. With so much to cover, we did not cover everything we wanted to touch on in the podcast. One item we didn’t cover was the part where Nephi mentions the family having to eat raw meat. You can read more about that here. We also did not cover the importance of Nahom in the narrative and how it is one geographical marker that validates the authenticity of the record. For a great video that explains this, go here.

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Once Nephi sees the tree, he realizes that this is the only thing that will make us happy. Every thing else is just an imitation. The show notes for this episode can be found here.

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Why is the vision of the Tree of Life in the Book of Mormon? How will Nephi use this vision throughout the rest of his writings? What are the 5 major images of 1 Nephi 8 and what role do they play in the text? For another way to view the tree, go here. For more on the highly symbolic nature of the vision, as well as more detailed show notes of how it relates to the First Temple, see here.

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