Corporate Salvation
I think its really hard for moderns to grasp how much the Book of Mormon is concerned with corporate salvation as a group, not individual salvation. Though this changes throughout the book, and may be one reason the Lord told them up front that corporately their effort was going to fail. Even so, the famous promises in the Book of Mormon about keeping the commandments and prospering are corporate commandments and corporate promises. Lehi’s original dream was about part of his family not willing to be led by him to the tree.
Weird thought of the day: because we do not have an ancient world view, do we mistake the extent to which the Book of Mormon is a satisfying read as a revenge plot? We tend to see the narrative arc as “eventually the Nephites are all destroyed.” If we extend it a little bit, we end on a hopeful note, “eventually the Nephites are all destroyed, but their record comes forth and creates the modern church.” But the actual arc as portrayed by the Book of Mormon prophets ends with, “and then the Great and Spacious Building is thrust into the pit it dug for the Saints.”
Filed under: We transcend your bourgeois categories | No Tag
Zen
February 16, 2024
I have been a bit absent and pre-occupied lately, but this post has been on my mind.
That said, I really think Jonah gets a bad rap. He understood perfectly well, and wanted to make perfectly clear how the Lord looks at these things.
Oftentimes, I look at the modern world and feel like Lot in Sodom & Gomorrah. It is a wicked place we should just flee. But perhaps we should feel more like Nephi and Zarahemla. A wicked place that the Lord still has plans for, and will redeem.
Not that I am suggesting the multitude of prophecies concerning destruction will not come to pass. But in the midst of such destructions, we should not be like Jonah. Because both North and South America will be Zion.
And of course, Isaiah has a great deal to say about our Salvation as a Nation (ch. 1-38-ish), and not only as Individuals (ch. 40-54).