I was led
to read Ether 12 this morning and paid particular attention to Moroni’s
interlude on faith amongst his account of the Brother of Jared’s experience
with the Lord.
I actually
sorrowed for this man as I read his lament over the Nephite’s inadequacy in
writing because of their ‘awkwardness of hands’ (v 24). Having just dealt with the
written account of the Brother of Jared, Moroni felt even worse, for the words
of the Brother of Jared were ‘overpowering of man to read them’ (v 24)…..something
he felt the rest of the writers of the golden plates lacked.
Moroni
worried that the Gentiles will mock the Book of Mormon because of this lack of
skill (v 25). I have always considered Moroni’s interlude on faith and
abridgement of the Jaredite story as one of the gems of the Book of Mormon, if
not the greatest gem.
Imagine my
surprise when, immediately after reading Moroni’s account, I went to Hugh
Nibley’s book, “An Approach to the Book of Mormon” with the intent to read a
broader view of the Jaredites and came across something that left my mouth
gaping:
“Nothing in
the Book of Mormon has elicited louder whoops and howls of derision than the
account in the second and third chapters of the book of Ether of the ships of
the Jaredites…..” Hugh Nibley then went
on to list some critics who basically left me speechless:
“According
to J.C. Bennett, the illumination by shining stones, was the “climax” of all of
Joseph Smith’s indiscretions, in which he “used his utmost endeavours to see
how far he could impose on the gullibility of mankind. It would be useless to
make further comments to prove the absurdities of this extraordinary book”.
“In 1855 T.
Taylder declared this story to be nothing less than “a libel on the wisdom of
God”. “It seems impossible”, another investigator wrote, “for sensible men to
credit such trash”. “My soul is filled
with disgust at this monstrous absurdity”, cried the Reverend C. Fenwick Ward
as he perused the pages of Ether, “that I dare not trust myself to comment upon
it”.
Fawn M.
Brodie claimed that “Joseph Smith wrote the book of Ether as a sort of
afterthought to cover up the scientific blunders and inaccuracies of the rest
of the Book of Mormon which were causing him disturbing doubts and misgivings”.
-
Hugh
Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon, p 340,341
Brother
Nibley quoted all the sources of these criticisms and I honestly wondered how
he could stomach reading such books.
Brother
Nibley also quoted many ancient sources that have since come to light comparing
the Brother of Jared’s stones to that of Noah who also had a stone for light in
the ark and many other ancient practices with likewise stones. He pointed out
that none of these ancient sources would have been available to Joseph Smith in
his time or to the critics of his day. And
the critics of our day wouldn’t bother searching them.
I sorrowed
even more for Moroni and his efforts to bring the Book of Mormon to the light
of day but was comforted by the Lord’s advice to him:
“Fools
mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they
shall take no advantage of your weakness.”
(Ether 12:26)
I thought
of all the people I know who have turned their backs on the Church and those
who have discounted and rejected the Book of Mormon and I hoped that the
Saviour’s mercy will be sufficient…..
I am
astounded that anyone could read the Book of Mormon and not be affected by the
spirit of it. Once again, I am reminded of: “My sheep hear my voice” (John
10:27). If you believe, you are that
sheep…..I am comforted knowing many who are.
(Art: Brother of Jared by Emily Pugmire)
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