If I could ask them one question about
the Church’s Book of Mormon, Come Follow Me, Lesson 34
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For Aug 24-30, 2020
Helaman 7-12
If I wanted to encourage thought and try to understand devout believers better, I might ask:
“Do you think God actually causes natural disasters?”
Things to consider:
- We learn that Nephi was given power that whatever curse or disaster he pronounced on the people would happen by the power of God (Helaman 10:6-10).
- Then we’re told that Nephi asked the Lord to “let there be a famine in the land,” to help the people to repent. And of course the destruction of the people “became sore by famine” (Helaman 11:4-6).
- Consider what this famine would do. Who would suffer as a result of this famine pronounced by Nephi? It reminds me of God’s command to Saul to destroy the Amalekites, ordering him to “slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass” (1 Samuel 15:3). The God of the Nephites at the time was the God of the Old Testament, so I guess it’s congruent in that way.
- But, doesn’t the belief that God’s power causes such horrific destruction of human life and dignity lead to thinking like the following statement from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, KS, regarding the tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed about 1/4 million men, women, and children in 2004?
It is now widely reported that at least 5,000 Swedes are dead as a result of the tsunamis which ravaged Thailand and the other lush resorts of that region, and thousands more are unaccounted for. … Scarcely a family in Sweden has been untouched by the devastation. Bible preachers say, THANK GOD for it all! We pray for all 20,000 Swedes in the tsunami’s wake to be declared dead”
(“Free to Hate: An American Church Rejoices in Swedish Tsunami Victims”).
- Understanding that God is supposed to be the same yesterday, today, and always; is this power given to modern-day prophets? If so, what calamities have they called down on the children of men? Knowing that such calamities do not discriminate between the innocent and perpetrators of evil, how would you feel if the innocent, including your child, were among those suffering horrible trauma from such a disaster?
- Understanding that God is supposed to be the same yesterday, today, and always, is the God you worship the God of the Book of Mormon?
Other observations about this lesson’s reading:
- The word “everlasting” is used to qualify misery, and the apparently ambiguous or misleading term “endless” is used to describe wo (Helaman 7:16).
- It refers to the Exodus, but the consensus is that the Exodus never happened. And, doesn’t this undermine the credibility of Nephi in this case (Helaman 8:11-12)?
- Another group falls to the earth because of astonishment (Helaman 9:4).
- Swords seem anachronistic (Helaman 10:18 and Helaman 11:14).
- More unnecessary and redundant language seems unlikely for a record engraved on metal plates (Helaman 11:10-16).
- About 600 years after the Lehites leave Jerusalem, it refers to a certain number of “real descendants of the Lamanites,” so lack of DNA evidence is a challenge (Helaman 11:24).
- The amazing flip-flopping Nephites … again (Helaman 11:27-29, 34-36).
- The prosperity gospel is quite clearly laid out as being at least in part about riches in temporal blessings, and notice the dark, flip side of the prosperity gospel (Helaman 12:1-3).
- It asserts that God is great by listing off many of His super powers, so why doesn’t He grow some amputated limbs back (Helaman 12:8-19)?
If you could ask believers questions about the scriptures for this lesson, what would you ask?
Have fun studying!
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