Fragments
Connections and Chaos in Mosiah
Since the first publication of the Book of Mormon we have come to the book of Mosiah after having read seven other books by Nephite writers. Yet it is the first book of the Book of Mormon that Joseph Smith read and his scribes heard. The books that precede Mosiah are from the small plates of Nephi and were inserted after the one-hundred and sixteen manuscript pages were lost—including the first part of the Book of Mosiah. As a result, Mosiah as we have it is a fragment of a book. But there is something appropriate about its fragmentary character, for it is the record of fragments of people: Nephites, Lamanites, Israelites, and Mulekites. A fragmentary book may be what is needed for those living in fragmented times.
Several of the stories in Mosiah are familiar to Latter-day Saints from a young age: the story of wicked King Noah’s encounter with Abinadi, the story of Alma’s conversion and preaching in the wilderness, and that of his son Alma’s conversion. These stories as well as the important teachings of the book explain why it is one of the three books of the Book of Mormon most cited in general conference. In spite of those stories, though, the book as a whole can be challenging for a first-timer to read: it begins in the middle of the story rather than at the beginning; much of the book consists of a series of embedded flashbacks; and in the end, rather than a strong narrative conclusion to Mosiah, we are given a series of footnotes about what happened after the conversions of Alma and the sons of Mosiah.
But the purpose of the fragmented book of Mosiah is the same as the purpose of the Book of Mormon as a whole, as described on what we refer to as the title page: to show the Lamanites (whoever they may be today) what great things the Father has done for their forefathers so that “they may know the covenants of the Lord, [and, which is the same thing] that they are not cast off forever.” Further, the book is meant to convince all, Jew and Gentile, “that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.”
With that in mind, my book Mosiah: A Brief Theological Introduction focuses its attention on Mosiah 4 and Mosiah 1:1-5. Of course, that doesn’t mean that other parts of Mosiah aren’t at least equally theologically interesting. It isn’t difficult to imagine another book on Mosiah with different foci. In fact, even within those passages the book looks at only five themes, a chapter devoted to each: First, the book considers the question of why Mosiah has the particular narrative structure that it has: it begins with Benjamin and then looks backward to events that happened earlier. This odd structure in Mosiah allows its editor to highlight that a good society is founded on the conversion of its people rather than on the kind of government they have. Second, I looked closely at the question of what we learn from seeing the book’s comparison of good and bad kings. Arguably, the book of Mosiah is not a tract about good government, but about the inability of politics to save society, and the necessity of relying on the Atonement.
The third asks what King Benjamin could possibly mean when he says that receiving a remission of their sins should have brought his people to “a sense of [their] nothingness.” For Benjamin, nothingness probably meant “formlessness,” in other words being more chaotic than not. The people should have learned that, prior to their repentance and accepting covenant with God, they were in a state of relative chaos because they were not in a proper relation to the Creator of all things. Entry into the covenant creates a new being, one who is not only literally but also spiritually a child of God, a person who is now truly in the form of God rather than without that form. Fourth, I explore what King Benjamin means when he asks “Are we not all beggars?” To me, the purpose of the question is to cause us to think about the effects of having a remission of sin. Specifically, Benjamin uses a practical discussion of how we should deal with the beggar as a type of how God deals with us: the practices of everyday life should be informed by our relationship with God—giving to those in need as we, in need, have received.
Mosiah: A Brief Theological Introduction concludes by taking up the enigmatic passage in Mosiah 5:1-5. Some have taken those verses to be a Trinitarian description of the Father and the Son, but I believe that they are not. Looking closely at the grammar of the passage, I argue that the verses teach that God, the God who is both Father and Son (in other words, Christ) will come down among his people to redeem them. That teaching is central to understanding how Abinadi’s teaching at the beginning of Mosiah 5 is connected to his interpretation of the passage from Isaiah that the priests of Noah have asked about. Abinadi wants his listeners to understand the magnitude and inconceivability of Christ’s condescension. It is seemingly impossible, yet Isaiah preaches it and preaches that it is a joyous thing. Those who hear Abinadi must understand that the God they claim to worship, the same God who gave them the Ten Commandments, will come to earth as a mortal, suffer, and die so that his people can be redeemed. To understand Abinadi’s teaching about how the Messiah is both Father and Son is to appreciate Isaiah’s message of joy: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings” (Mosiah 12:21).
James Faulconer is a retired professor of philosophy and Senior Maxwell researcher at Brigham Young University. With a background in contemporary European philosophy, Faulconer’s present focus is on Latter-day Saint theologies, especially the theology of careful scripture reading. Faulconer is the author of “Mosiah: A Brief Theological Introduction.” His recent publications include “Can God Truly Forget My Sins?” BYU Studies 63.1 (2024); “Latter-day Saint Liturgy: The Administration of the Body and Blood of Jesus,” Religions 12.6 (2021); Thinking Otherwise: Theological Explorations of Joseph Smith’s Revelations (Maxwell 2020).
Art by Brian Kershisnik.
These essays appear in Theological Insights from the Book of Mormon, a Wayfare series that pairs the 2024 Come, Follow Me curriculum with authors of the Maxwell Institute’s Brief Theological Introductions to the Book of Mormon series.
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