Episode 24: Mormon 1 – 6
Ben and Shiloh move into discussing the destruction of the Nephite nation and of Mormon’s graphic description of their final extinction. What can we learn about who Mormon is, his life, and his experiences in these chapters that go into framing and contextualizing the rest of the Book of Mormon? Ben observes that Mormon 2 is basically describing the “Anti-Beatitudes,” as Mormon witnesses the depravity, pride, and wickedness of his people. Mormon leaves evidences for us that he’s trying to recreate Captain Moroni’s defense of the Nephites, but Mormon soon realizes that too many elements in his own society and civilization are missing to be successful even to Captain Moroni’s time. Even in Mormon’s commentary of detailing the end of his people, we can also learn how to see God as kind, benevolent, and always proactively running towards us to reconcile, heal, and protect us. Mormon observes that the “day of grace” had passed by the Nephites, but while the wicked may observe their state as divine abandonment – this was not God abandoning them. The Nephites exhibit the unrepentant lives of God’s children who willfully reject seeing God’s glory as he has always been: full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers (Alma 9:26). Therein is the real tragedy of the Nephite destruction.
