1 Nephi 5-7

(July 8, 2014)

                My mind, as I read through these chapters, got stuck on the Brass Plates for a while.  Who originally engraved them?  And, more to the point, why were they continuing to be engraved?  The fact that they had a portion of the prophesies of Jeremiah is not a problem, because by this point Jeremiah had only written about 40% of his prophesies.  But the question is, who was the person with access to the Brass Plates who put that on them?

                These are the sorts of issues that can scramble a testimony if we look at it the wrong way.  If we choose to look at this as a problem, we can talk ourselves out of a testimony very quickly.  But the proper way to approach these issues is with the starting point of what the Lord has revealed to us.  In my case, the Lord has shown me that the Book of Mormon is true.  Knowing that, it then becomes a puzzle and a piece of interest rather than a stumbling block.  Was the record kept by priests, and only controlled by Laban because of his position?  Was Laban himself somehow associated or contained within the religious hierarchy?

                These questions, though, just show how essential it is to have the spiritual testimony rather than a logical testimony.  A logical testimony is good, and feels very comfortable, but a spiritual testimony is necessary to work out our salvation.