4 Nephi 1

(December 8, 2014)

                Two quick thoughts on this chapter.  The first was a recurring thought on the impossible ages of Amos.  I had heard that the simplest solution to this was multiple men named Amos – I cannot remember at this point but I don’t recall having found this persuasive.  But this time, I find it very persuasive.  I was thinking about it, and I realized that if Mormon had not seen one particular reference in his materials (the death of one Amos and the handing over of the records to his son, for instance) then Mormon’s record would have been put down the way that it was.  The fact that an ancient historian would miss the death of one person in an abridgment of centuries of history compressed into a few pages is not unreasonable by any stretch.

                The second thought I had was on the disciples of Christ.  The people had been falling away for centuries, the Lamanites were abroad in the land, the old oaths were being administered.  There was certainly a great deal of evil going on.  And yet, it wasn’t until the Church itself began to go astray that the disciples began to sorrow for the sins of the world.  This sorrow comes very, very late in the process.  I have to think that tells us something, but I am not confident I know exactly what.