Anyone ever been bothered by Nephi?

[fusnik11]

Some thoughts on the butchering of Laban, recapturing of the plates, etc...

First a few questions:

Why would Nephi go back to retrieve the old law contained in the brass plates?

Why would he be told to murder a man?

Why would he subsequently lie, fool and threaten a person, and in doing so convert another?

Why does he continuously boast of himself?

Why does he worship his father in all things?

Could it be that Nephi is a symbolism of us?

Laban and Nephi IMO are representations of us. Both individuals miss the point of life and think they are doing what is right, when in reality they both are wrong.

Laban represents the old us, the Law of Moses us. The keepers of old records, old plates, and guards them with his life. Nephi represents the new us the post Jesus' law us. By cutting off the head of Laban, we, as Nephi, think we are destroying the Law of Moses us. We take the word of God, aka the sword, and cut off the head of our old selves hoping we are removing our old person. What we, and Nephi fail to realize is that, even though we remove the old self, we revert back to our inner Laban. We fool the people with whom surround ourselves with, we revert back to guarding 'old' records and we follow the flesh of another, instead of becoming one with Christ. All while convincing ourselves that we are doing what the Lord wants us to do.

Just a few musings. Have missed the community. Take care.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Whoa! Look who's back in town.

[il Padrino Ute]

It used to bother me that you'd have to drive through the middle of the town while on I-15, but ever since they moved the freeway to go around it, it's be ok.

[ute4ever]

Why would Nephi go back to retrieve the old law contained in the brass plates?
It was not requisite that man should live the higher law until after the earthly mission of Jesus Christ. Thus the old law was the only law, and without it, they likely would have dwindled in unbelief as the Mulekites when they were without scriptural guidance.

Why would he be told to murder a man?
Circumstantially, it was the only way to obtain the plates, therefore making it necessary. The Old Testament is full of similar examples, where prophets and the righteous smote others in the name of the Lord, to further his purpose.

Why would he subsequently lie, fool and threaten a person, and in doing so convert another?
For the same reason Abraham lied about Sarah not being his wife, or Christ instructing Peter to lie three times before the crock crows: because it saved his life, and he still had had an earthly mission to perform.

Why does he continuously boast of himself?
Like Alma, he was not boasting of his own strength, but rather what he is able to accomplish with the Lord at his side, in hopes his sign-seeking brethren would better understand.

Why does he worship his father in all things?
He was honoring his father as a prophet and a leader, he who understood the gospel and taught him in righteousness. Similar to our honoring Joseph Smith.

Could it be that Nephi is a symbolism of us? ...convincing ourselves that we are doing what the Lord wants us to do.
Absolutely. Prophets are infallible and are prone to screwing up. There were times when Joseph Smith was not worthy to translate because he had the spirit of contention. And Jonah sat and sulked because God decided to honor the repentant people over his prophecies. And so on.

Nephi, like other prophets and like all of us, revert to the old Laban at times and then must repent to a state in harmony with Christ. For a person not to have occasional Laban-esque tendencies would mean they were Christlike and perfect, and no man can be so while in the flesh.

[RockyBalboa]

In short....no.

[Sleeping in EQ]

Originally Posted by fusnik11

Some thoughts on the butchering of Laban, recapturing of the plates, etc...

First a few questions:

Why would Nephi go back to retrieve the old law contained in the brass plates?

Why would he be told to murder a man?

Why would he subsequently lie, fool and threaten a person, and in doing so convert another?

Why does he continuously boast of himself?

Why does he worship his father in all things?

Could it be that Nephi is a symbolism of us?

Laban and Nephi IMO are representations of us. Both individuals miss the point of life and think they are doing what is right, when in reality they both are wrong.

Laban represents the old us, the Law of Moses us. The keepers of old records, old plates, and guards them with his life. Nephi represents the new us the post Jesus' law us. By cutting off the head of Laban, we, as Nephi, think we are destroying the Law of Moses us. We take the word of God, aka the sword, and cut off the head of our old selves hoping we are removing our old person. What we, and Nephi fail to realize is that, even though we remove the old self, we revert back to our inner Laban. We fool the people with whom surround ourselves with, we revert back to guarding 'old' records and we follow the flesh of another, instead of becoming one with Christ. All while convincing ourselves that we are doing what the Lord wants us to do.

Just a few musings. Have missed the community. Take care.

Hi fus. Welcome back. I had a Professor at the Y who taught ethics courses go into the whole Nephi-Laban thing. I'll see if I can dig up what she said about it.

[Brian]

I agree that this is an important parable about missing the point.
This parable has so many interesting angles. Here is one of many.
If the plates are seen as the word of god (jesus), nephi and the boys try 3 things.
1- Intellectually obtain Jesus. Reason with the keeper of the word. Doesn't work. the keeper runs them off.
2- Purchase Jesus. Be it by works, obedience, etc. Doesn't work, the keeper runs them off.
3- Kill Laban. This finally works. Only by killing the inner Laban, the natural man, and killing him by removing the head (the old way of thinking) can Jesus be obtained.

Originally Posted by fusnik11

Some thoughts on the butchering of Laban, recapturing of the plates, etc...

First a few questions:

Why would Nephi go back to retrieve the old law contained in the brass plates?

Why would he be told to murder a man?

Why would he subsequently lie, fool and threaten a person, and in doing so convert another?

Why does he continuously boast of himself?

Why does he worship his father in all things?

Could it be that Nephi is a symbolism of us?

Laban and Nephi IMO are representations of us. Both individuals miss the point of life and think they are doing what is right, when in reality they both are wrong.

Laban represents the old us, the Law of Moses us. The keepers of old records, old plates, and guards them with his life. Nephi represents the new us the post Jesus' law us. By cutting off the head of Laban, we, as Nephi, think we are destroying the Law of Moses us. We take the word of God, aka the sword, and cut off the head of our old selves hoping we are removing our old person. What we, and Nephi fail to realize is that, even though we remove the old self, we revert back to our inner Laban. We fool the people with whom surround ourselves with, we revert back to guarding 'old' records and we follow the flesh of another, instead of becoming one with Christ. All while convincing ourselves that we are doing what the Lord wants us to do.

Just a few musings. Have missed the community. Take care.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by Sleeping in EQ

Hi fus. Welcome back. I had a Professor at the Y who taught ethics courses go into the whole Nephi-Laban thing. I'll see if I can dig up what she said about it.

Nephi's personality is a bit, self-righteous at times.

He cuts off a drunken man's head, he lectures his older brothers and even teaches his father. He kinda reminds me of how Neal A. Maxwell described his Scottish mother. At her funeral, he commented how she may have gotten an A for doing the right thing, but a B for diplomacy. Somebody corrected him stating, "Make that a C."

That's how I perceive Nephi. He may have been correct ultimately in his decisions, but his diplomacy was seriously lacking. But since he was the one to record his thoughts, naturally, he didn't record his thoughts in any manner pejorative of his actions.

[Brian]

Originally Posted by Archaea

Nephi's personality is a bit, self-righteous at times.

He cuts off a drunken man's head, he lectures his older brothers and even teaches his father. He kinda reminds me of how Neal A. Maxwell described his Scottish mother. At her funeral, he commented how she may have gotten an A for doing the right thing, but a B for diplomacy. Somebody corrected him stating, "Make that a C."

That's how I perceive Nephi. He may have been correct ultimately in his decisions, but his diplomacy was seriously lacking. But since he was the one to record his thoughts, naturally, he didn't record his thoughts in any manner pejorative of his actions.

yes, and the wo is me bit in 2Ne 4 speaks to his condition. He wasn't a happy man. It didn't seem like he had found rest in Christ, and least at that point.
This is a parable about missing the point.

[Indy Coug]

Originally Posted by fusnik11

Some thoughts on the butchering of Laban, recapturing of the plates, etc...

First a few questions:

Why would Nephi go back to retrieve the old law contained in the brass plates?

ETC

The explanations for virtually all of your questions are provided in the scriptures, often by Nephi himself. After a long hibernation, this is the best you can come up with?