Come Follow Me 2025

I will be following along with the 2025 Come Follow Me program and sharing any thoughts I have in dedicated posts.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

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Without the Mormon Lens: 1 - Introduction

"I don't think Joseph Smith was a prophet" Tears that I had been holding back finally broke free as I said the words I never thought I would say. The fear, the anger, the betrayal. The emotions that countless people who have lost their faith had felt, were rushing through me. I collapsed to the floor as this great realization washed over me. I had lost my faith. It was gone. I don't feel that it is important to share the events that led to my faith crisis, and honestly they are hard to explain. Like most people who leave the church, there were a number of issues that had piled up over the years. Items that were stacked on my shelf of concerns eventually became too much for the shelf to handle. It broke, and with it, my world shattered. The grief was overwhelming. I had known nothing but Mormonism for my entire life, and the loss was the feeling of losing a loved one. An ...

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Without the Mormon Lens: 12 - Attempt to Buy the Brass Plates

Let's just pick up right where we left off , as Nephi and his brothers attempt to buy the plates from Laban. The Book of Mormon, pg 11 ~~~~~ The Book of Mormon ~~~~~ "And it came to pass that we went in unto Laban, and desired him that he would give unto us the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass, for which we would give unto him our gold, and our silver, and all our precious things." "And it came to pass that when Laban saw our property, and that it was exceeding great, he did lust after it , insomuch that he thrust us out, and sent his servants to slay us, that he might obtain our property. And it came to pass that we did flee before the servants of Laban, and we were obliged to leave behind our property, and it fell into the hands of Laban." (pg 11) ~~~~~~~~~~ If we look for a similar story related to Joshua, we find the account of Achan, who stole the silver, and gold, and precious...

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Without the Mormon Lens: 13 - The Head of Laban

The Book of Mormon, pg 12 ~~~~~ The Book of Mormon~~~~~ " Now when I had spoken these words, they were yet wroth, and still did continue to murmur; Nevertheless they did follow me up until we came without the walls of Jerusalem. (pg 12) ~~~~~~~~~~ We now find Nephi and his brothers outside of the walls of Jerusalem as they return a third time to retrieve the plates from Laban. We can see some similarities to the Book of Joshua as Joshua leads the Isrealites from city to city as they claim their inheritance. This final encounter with Laban is the final colmination of Nephi's effort to preserve their family's records. Much like the Book of Joshua is the finale of the Isrealites claiming their lands. As we have seen with previous events, the Killing of Laban will be a conglomerate of multiple events across the Old Testament. ~~~~~ The Old Testament~~~~~ 1 And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither be thou ...

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Without the Mormon Lens: 5.1- Consider the Preface

I was working on typing up my analysis sorrounding the story of Nephi retrieving the brass plates from Laban; When something occured to me... I had completely forgotten to address one crucial idea. Why did the story of the Book of Mormon start in Jerusalem? Unbelievable. I'm kicking myself a bit. So I'm taking a moment to go back write this as post number 5.1, as it should have been discussed after the concept of re-contextualization and before touching First Nephi. Oh well. Live and learn. Remember that Nephi's family needs to eventually end up in the Americas to establish themselves as the ancestors to the Native Americans. This wasn't a claim unique to the Book of Mormon. Ever since the discovery of the New World, many people speculated about where its inhabitants came from. It was a commonly held belief that the Native Americans were a lost tribe of Israel. Which is likely wh...

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Without the Mormon Lens: 9 - Lucy's Dream

At this point in our reading, we can clearly see that the inspiration for the story itself is largely pulled from events in the Bible. Lehi seems to embody the experiences in Jerusalem that reflect that of Jeremiah. And the exodus of his family from Jerusalem seems to reflect that of the Israelites fleeing Egypt. As we continue reading through page 8, we can see the influence continue as Lehi again takes actions that reflect the bible. The Book of Mormon, pg 8 ~~~~~ The Book of Mormon~~~~~ "And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and he made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God." ( pg 8 ) ~~~~~~~~~~ It should come as no surprise, that this is exactly what Moses did after escaping their enemies and providing the Isrealites with food and water. ~~~~~The Old Testament ~~~~~~ 15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: (Exodus 17:...

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Without the Mormon Lens: 8 - The Exodus Begins

As we continue on to the next page, we see the world that Smith is building begin to grow. Lehi's role as a parallel to the prophet Jeremiah becomes even more defined. The Book of Mormon, pg 7 ~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~ "Therefore, I would that ye should know that after the Lord had shewn marvellous things unto my father Lehi, yea, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, behold he went forth among the people and began to prophesy and to declare unto them concerning the things which he had both seen and heard. " (pg 7) ~~~~~The Old Testament ~~~~~~ 7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord . ( Jeremiah 26:7 ) ~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~~ "And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness and their abominations; and he testified that the things which h...

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Without the Mormon Lens: 11 - The First Return to Jerusalem

We have now reached possibly one of the most significant stories in the Book of Mormon. The turning point of the entire book. Nephi and his brothers are going to be tasked with returning to Jerusalem to retrieve the brass plates from Laban. Keep in mind, that Lehi and his family are a retelling of the Israelites. Lehi is Moses, Nephi is Joshua, Laman, Lemuel and Sam are the composite of the rest of the Israelites. I believe that this story is one of the most critical to understand, as it is one of the most memorable, and controversial events in the Book of Mormon. It also serves as a major turning point in our story as it sets us up to be able to step away from the Old Testament and toward the parallels in New World. Lets pick up where we left off, with Nephi returning from his vision. He was just told that he will be guiding his people to the promised land. His father Lehi, will send him and his broth...

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Without the Mormon Lens: 14 - Zoram

It's been a few weeks since my last post, and I apologize. Life got crazy for a minute there and I had to put this project on the back burner. Let's just jump right back in to where we were. Nephi had just killed Laban and is about to attempt to finally retrieve the plates. We are going to focus this post on Zoram, the servant of Laban. The Book of Mormon, pg 13 ~~~~~The Book of Mormon~~~~~ "And again -- I knew that the Lord had delivered Laban into my hands, for this cause: that I might obtain the records according to his commandments. Therefore I did obey the voice of the spirit, and took Laban by the hair of the head, and I smote off his head with his own sword." "And after that I had smitten off his head with his own sword, I took the garments of Laban and put them upon mine own body; yea, even every whit; and I did gird on his armour about my loins. " (pg 13) ~~~~~~~~~~ This type of language sorrounding 'girding' the armor is found several tim...

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Without the Mormon Lens: 3 - And it Came to Pass

As I discussed in my previous post, my theory is that the Book of Mormon is a psuedo-biblical historical fiction . I believe that it is a work which was influenced by other writings in this genre and the history of America. In order to explore this concept a little more, we need to first understand how widespread these types of works were in the United States. And in order to do that, we need to first go to London, where psuedo-biblicia first captured the public's attention. In 1740, Robert Dodsley published a book telling the history of the Kings of England in a biblical style, or "the manner of The Jewish Historians." It was published in multiple editions and spread quickly to the United States. Cover page from the 1821 edition The book quickly gained notoriety for its unique approach to retelling English history. It was designed to mock the grandiosity and style of biblical texts while recoun...

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Without the Mormon Lens: 10 - Be Strong and of a Good Courage

I'm sure you're wondering when Columbus and other American influences are going to come into play, because so far we have only really referenced the Bible. I promise we will see that soon, at this point however, we are still only a few pages in, and Smith is still laying the Biblical foundations of the text. We will continue to see these Biblical parallels for a few pages, but I promise the build up is worth it. I'd rather continue taking this slow and while being as granular as possible. No rush, we'll get there. This post will be one of my shortest as I want to focus on this re-introduction of Nephi before his story takes off. As Nephi wraps up his focus on Lehi, the Biblical parallels begin to shift as well. As Nephi describes his experience, we will see the influence of the biblical prophet Joshua take precedence in the story. Stories of Joshua himself are present in several books in the Old...

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