Stephen, that is beautiful - and deeply profound. Thank you.

Ray — I liked this, we talked about it in Sunday School today.

I will note that in the actual battle, the results are on par with similar historical examples. Heavily armored troops catch lightly armored and engaged troops from the rear, inflicting greatly disproportionate casualties and sometimes taking no casualties in return is something with historical precedents.

But the we don’t hear about the king again after he led his people out to apply non-violence in the conflict. And the Nephites encourage them to flee to safety and give them a place to live, they don’t stay where they were and expect to be preserved.

Sometimes all we can hope for is for God to bring us home.

#3 (Valoel) - The tithing verses of Malachi are ones I might have discussed in a different post. That one always bugs me. Fire insurance is one thing (and I’m not sold completely on that as it is stated sometimes in isolation), but finanical insurance is quite another. I feel I have gained tremendously by paying tithing, but I also have experienced extended unemployment twice and lost pretty much everything in the process. Having access to the Church’s assistance is wonderful (and a direct blessing of faithful contributions over the years), but misquoting those verses makes me twitch just a bit.

Excellent post. Every Mormon should read the scriptures critically and come their own determination of meaning. Isn’t this how we “liken the scriptures unto [our]selves?

Unfortunately, Mormon society places such emphasis on “following the brethren” that we think it’s enough to just be content with agreeing with what they say about the scriptures, rather than studying it out in our own minds.

JfQ, I think that’s one reason why it is important to parse even a little more carefully when dealing with the Book of Mormon - that we explicitly DON’T have other linguistic tools to use and can rely ONLY on the words themselves as **primary text**. Even the words of modern propehts are secondary text - important and insightful, but subject to assumption, nonetheless.

Whether one believes in the translation of a literal, historical record (as I do) or an inspired fiction revelation, all we can do is analyze what actually is written and consider why that particular word or phrase or narrative was included - when it is stated that not 1/100th part actually was recorded. So, I parse.

With the Book of Mormon I think parsing can become more specious. After all, in order to reconcile anachronisms, we are told the Book of Mormon represents more of a revelatory process than a literal translation. So what cultural context can we look to for information? What is ancient and what is new? What original language source have we to reference? Can we rely on language norms of Joseph Smith’s day to inform interpretation? How about Protestant, Restorationist or Second Great Awakening religious macro and microcultures? Do we strictly have to rely on internal evidences for support? How about comments of LDS authorities or scholars through the years? How do we know on which basis to trust which?

So I admire and applaud your parsing nature, Ray. Reflecting on what denotative or connotative inflections, say, words like “taught” or “told” could really mean may help us find individual application, deeper insight, creative new perspectives, or thoughtful alternatives. Even given that spiritual meaningfulness is a shared commonality between most traditional Christians and LDS believers toward what they consider is Holy Writ, how do we best weigh accuracy or merit of varied Book of Mormon interpretations that may be drawn from the text?

Malachi never really says what the blessings will be. I felt devastated in the past when I tried to pay a full orthodox 10% tithe and shortly thereafter (around 9-11) lost my job and all my tangible possessions due to lack of replacement work. Why didn’t it work like divine unemployment insurance for me? I’m not saying I was not blessed for paying tithing. I just didn’t get what I expected, which was money.

I wish I had the discipline to do such close reading as this on a regular basis. Posts like this are definitely one reason why I hang out here.