07 August 2012

2 Nephi 31-33: Nephi makes an end of his prophesying and proposes a simple test

Well, we've finally made it to the end of 2 Nephi, where Nephi makes an end of his prophesying.
And now I, Nephi, make an end of my prophesying. 2 Nephi 31:1
And Nephi is quite proud of what he's written; it suffices him, since he has spoken plainly according to the plainness of his prophesying.
The things which I have written sufficeth me ... I shall speak unto you plainly, according to the plainness of my prophesying. 31:2
For his soul delights and glories in plainness.
For my soul delighteth in plainness ... I glory in plainness.  31:3, 33:6
And though he'd like to say more, he can't, because the Spirit stopped his utterance, leaving him to mourn because of the unbelief of people who just plain don't care about plainness.
And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief ... for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be. 32:7
But Nephi has written what he's written and he thinks it's of great worth.
I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth. 33.3
And you'll agree with him about that, unless you're controlled by the devil.
No man will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the devil. 33:5
So if you believe in Christ, you'll believe in Nephi's words, because they are the words of Christ and Christ gave them to Nephi (550 years before Jesus was born).
If ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me. 33:10
If you doubt that, here's a simple test: Ask Christ to show you that Nephi's words are Christ's words.
And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye -- for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words. 33:11
That'll work, guaranteed. 

Or it better, anyway. Because if it doesn't, God will condemn you to hell on the last day.
And you that will not partake of the goodness of God, and respect the words of the Jews, and also my words, and the words which shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the Lamb of God, behold, I bid you an everlasting farewell, for these words shall condemn you at the last day. 33:14
Good luck on the test.

4 comments:

TWF said...

Well, I bid Nephi an everlasting farewell as well. :-)

There's nothing that quite says "I'm telling the truth" like a threat of eternal damnation for not believing.

Stephen said...

I, Nehpets, declare it a marvelous work and a wonder that thou hast been able to finish that chapter. It seemeth me that Mark Twain was righteous when he did call the Book of Mor(m)on "Chloroform in Print".
Here endeth the revelation. I, Nehpets, will see thee at the testing center.
Steve Weeks

Unknown said...

On my mission I'd use these chapters to tell Catholics and Evangelicals that were stuck in their ways: "Look, if you believe in Christ, you'll believe in the Book of Mormon, and if you don't, you'll be damned at judgment." Yeah, I was an asshole. People gave me the time of day to listen to my message and I just kept on bugging them until I could either baptize them or condemn them.

Now it seems to me that the Book of Mormon author(s) were beating around the bush at this point. "Should we throw in a couple verses of condemnation?"
"No, no, we need to have Nephi confirm over and over that what we've written is very plain. I mean, what we've written so far is obviously really dry and boring, so we'll have to get the readers to think PLAIN is GOOD. Right, okay."
"Come on, come on, Oliver! I really want to throw in those verses about eternal damnation!! On with it already!"

RJ said...

So you conveniently left out the details and your "comments" about the gate of salvation. Completely skipping any sort of commentary about it. Even though it was written for you to read as plain as word can be...and I'm here struggling to figure out how or if I can make it thru that gate...I'd give anything to make it through that gate man. Wake up..