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Annotations |
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Chapter 13
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1 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me,
saying: Look! And I looked and beheld many nations and kingdoms.
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2 And the angel said unto me: What beholdest thou? And I said:
I behold many nations and kingdoms.
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3 And he said unto me: These are the nations and kingdoms
of the Gentiles.
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4 And it came to pass that I saw among the nations of the
Gentiles the formation of a great church.
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5 And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a
church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the
saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them
with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity.
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6 And it came to pass that I beheld this great and
abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was the founder of it.
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1 Ne 13:6-8
For many decades LDS apostles and prophets taught that this abominable church
was the Catholic Church. Seems at least some of these leaders have repented
of this conclusion as Elder Oaks states:
“This great and abominable church must be something far more pervasive and
widespread than a single “church,” as we understand that term today. It must
be any philosophy or organization that opposes belief in God”
(Stand as Witnesses of God).
Of course, Elder Oaks goes even further to quote 1 John 4:3:
“And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh
is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist.”
Since there are about five billion non-Christians in the world, there are
quite a few anti-Christs if that’s how an anti-Christ is defined.
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7 And I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and
scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I
saw many harlots.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:6-8 above
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8 And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold,
and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen,
and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and
abominable church.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:6-8 above
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9 And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the
saints of God, and bring them down into captivity.
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10 And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many
waters; and they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren.
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Many apologists claim that the prior teaching of the
apostles and prophets and of the D&C that the Book of Mormon indicates
Native Americans were for the most part literal descendants of Lehi is based
on faulty assumptions. But this verse tells us the gentiles (those not of the
house of Israel) were separated from the seed of Nephi’s brothers. That
couldn’t be true if many gentiles were also in the Americas before Europeans arrived.
(See also 2 Ne 1:9)
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11 And it came to pass that the angel said unto me: Behold
the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren.
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Instead of the wrath of God, wasn’t it bigotry and
colonial imperialism that scattered and slaughtered Native Americans?
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12 And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles,
who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I
beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and
he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren,
who were in the promised land.
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The Church has declared unequivocally that this man among
the Gentiles whom the Spirit wrought upon was Christopher Columbus (Book of
Mormon Student Manual for Religion 121-122 copyrighted 2009, pp. 27-28).
Considering the brutality that Columbus himself would inflict and that his
explorations would unleash, what might we conclude about a God that inspires
such things?
I have referred elsewhere to colonial imperialism and
cultural colonialism in reference to other verses in the Book of Mormon, but
something about this reference to Columbus seems more aptly described as
manifest destiny. Please refer to “Response to Manifest Destiny –
Taught at Brigham Young University Education Week” to see what I mean (Response to Manifest Destiny).
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13 And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that
it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon
the many waters.
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14 And it came to pass that I beheld many multitudes of
the Gentiles upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that
it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the
Gentiles and were smitten.
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So God exercises his wrath on the Lamanites more than
1,000 years after their wickedness in destroying the Nephites?
But, if verse 14 were true, then are we not to conclude that this genocide
and abuse committed by those of European descent was condoned by God?
Instead of the wrath of God, wasn’t it bigotry and colonial imperialism that
scattered and slaughtered Native Americans?
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15 And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon
the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance;
and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like
unto my people before they were slain.
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16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles
who had gone forth out of captivity did humble themselves before the Lord;
and the power of the Lord was with them.
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17 And I beheld that their mother Gentiles were gathered
together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle against them.
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18 And I beheld that the power of God was with them, and
also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together
against them to battle.
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19 And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone
out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all
other nations.
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20 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that they did
prosper in the land; and I beheld a book, and it was carried forth among
them.
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1 Ne 13:20-29
Thoughts below are from piotrkaplanstwo at exMormon Reddit.
These verses go into great detail about the Bible being brought to the
Gentiles from the hands of the Jews, claiming they were “plain and precious”,
until the “Great and Abominable Church” took those parts away.
This is an extremely naive explanation of the errancy of the Bible. In the
actual process of it coming forth parts were written decades or centuries
after the events occurred, so they were inaccurate from the start. We now
believe certain biblical figures did not even exist, and major events never
happened. We can corroborate the stories with the records of other
civilizations to learn this. For instance, the Exodus—no mention of it in
Egyptian records. To boil this all down to “The Bible was pure, and then the ‘Great
and Abominable Church’ changed it” is an oversimplification.
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21 And the angel said unto me: Knowest thou the meaning of
the book?
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:20-29 above
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22 And I said unto him: I know not.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:20-29 above
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23 And he said: Behold it proceedeth out of the mouth of a
Jew. And I, Nephi, beheld it; and he said unto me: The book that thou
beholdest is a record of the Jews, which contains the covenants of the Lord,
which he hath made unto the house of Israel; and it also containeth many of
the prophecies of the holy prophets; and it is a record like unto the engravings
which are upon the plates of brass, save there are not so many; nevertheless,
they contain the covenants of the Lord, which he hath made unto the house of
Israel; wherefore, they are of great worth unto the Gentiles.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:20-29 above
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24 And the angel of the Lord said unto me: Thou hast
beheld that the book proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew; and when it
proceeded forth from the mouth of a Jew it contained the fulness of the
gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record; and they bear
record according to the truth which is in the Lamb of God.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:20-29 above
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25 Wherefore, these things go forth from the Jews in
purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:20-29 above
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26 And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the
formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above
all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the
Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of
the Lord have they taken away.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:20-29 above
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27 And all this have they done that they might pervert the
right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts
of the children of men.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:20-29 above
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28 Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone
forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are
many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of
the Lamb of God.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:20-29 above
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29 And after these plain and precious things were taken
away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth
forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters
which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of
captivity, thou seest—because of the many plain and precious things which
have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of
the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of
God—because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the
Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath
great power over them.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:20-29 above
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30 Nevertheless, thou beholdest that the Gentiles who have
gone forth out of captivity, and have been lifted up by the power of God
above all other nations, upon the face of the land which is choice above all
other lands, which is the land that the Lord God hath covenanted with thy
father that his seed should have for the land of their inheritance;
wherefore, thou seest that the Lord God will not suffer that the Gentiles
will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed, which are among thy brethren.
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1 Ne 13:30-31
So the seed of Nephi and of Nephi’s brothers are not
destroyed. Who are they then? Genetically, culturally, anthropologically,
linguistically, etc. we see no evidence of Lamanites or Nephites.
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31 Neither will he suffer that the Gentiles shall
destroy the seed of thy brethren.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:30-31 above
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32 Neither will the Lord God suffer that the Gentiles
shall forever remain in that awful state of blindness, which thou beholdest
they are in, because of the plain and most precious parts of the gospel of
the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, whose formation
thou hast seen.
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33 Wherefore saith the Lamb of God: I will be merciful
unto the Gentiles, unto the visiting of the remnant of the house of Israel in
great judgment.
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34 And it came to pass that the angel of the Lord spake
unto me, saying: Behold, saith the Lamb of God, after I have visited the
remnant of the house of Israel—and this remnant of whom I speak is the seed
of thy father—wherefore, after I have visited them in judgment, and smitten
them by the hand of the Gentiles, and after the Gentiles do stumble
exceedingly, because of the most plain and precious parts of the gospel of
the Lamb which have been kept back by that abominable church, which is the
mother of harlots, saith the Lamb—I will be merciful unto the Gentiles in
that day, insomuch that I will bring forth unto them, in mine own power, much
of my gospel, which shall be plain and precious, saith the Lamb.
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35 For, behold, saith the Lamb: I will manifest myself
unto thy seed, that they shall write many things which I shall minister unto
them, which shall be plain and precious; and after thy seed shall be
destroyed, and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren,
behold, these things shall be hid up, to come forth unto the Gentiles, by the
gift and power of the Lamb.
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36 And in them shall be written my gospel, saith the Lamb,
and my rock and my salvation.
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37 And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my
Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy
Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last
day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso
shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the
mountains shall they be.
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38 And it came to pass that I beheld the remnant of the
seed of my brethren, and also the book of the Lamb of God, which had
proceeded forth from the mouth of the Jew, that it came forth from the
Gentiles unto the remnant of the seed of my brethren.
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1 Ne 13:38-39
I don’t see this convincing gentiles, Jews, or Lehites that LDS scripture is
true, at least not to any significant portion of the population—ever. Maybe
it will happen, but I don’t see it.
As of 16 Mar 2018
Church members in USA: 6,592,195
Population in USA: 327,000,000
or, only 2.0%
(for most recent numbers: Church Newsroom and U.S. Census Bureau).
According to the Pew Research Center, only 1.6% in the USA claim affiliation
with the Church. Also keep in mind that the portion of members worldwide is
much lower than this.
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39 And after it had come forth unto them I beheld other
books, which came forth by the power of the Lamb, from the Gentiles unto
them, unto the convincing of the Gentiles and the remnant of the seed of my
brethren, and also the Jews who were scattered upon all the face of the
earth, that the records of the prophets and of the twelve apostles of the
Lamb are true.
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Annotation for 1 Ne 13:38-39 above
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40 And the angel spake unto me, saying: These last
records, which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth
of the first, which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make
known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and
shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God
is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all
men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved.
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41 And they must come according to the words which shall
be established by the mouth of the Lamb; and the words of the Lamb shall be
made known in the records of thy seed, as well as in the records of the
twelve apostles of the Lamb; wherefore they both shall be established in one;
for there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth.
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42 And the time cometh that he shall manifest himself unto
all nations, both unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles; and after he has
manifested himself unto the Jews and also unto the Gentiles, then he shall
manifest himself unto the Gentiles and also unto the Jews, and the last shall
be first, and the first shall be last.
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