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| The cover I grew up with |
Yesterday we were reading scriptures as a family. 6:00am. Because that’s what we do. But we started late, the dog was pestering, and it was cold. The FOMLs were especially tired and mumbled their way through their verses when it was their turn. It was one of those mornings where you wonder if it is really worth it, or are we just checking off another item on the checklist. (I’m sure this NEVER happens to your family – just mine)
We were reading in Alma 11, which is the first part of the story of Zeezrom. Alma had already met Amulek in the city of Ammonihah with the help of some divine match-making, and were preaching to the people. It was a rough place to teach and the lawyers in town enjoyed stirring the pot so that they could get more business. –Insert favorite lawyer joke here. If you don’t have one, visit this site: http://www.lawyer-jokes.us/. (Just trying to be helpful.)
One of the best and brightest lawyers, Zeezrom, decided to take on Alma and Amulek. Oh, just in case: It isn’t Zee-zrom, it is pronounced Zee-eh-zrom. (Again, just trying to be helpful.) So, Zeezrom starts quizzing Amulek to try and trip him up. He asks a lot of questions, and then thinks he has caught Amulek contradicting himself. Yippee! He quickly points this out to the crowd, as related by Alma:
Now Zeezrom said unto the people: See that ye remember these things; for he said there is but one God; yet he saith that the Son of God shall come, but he shall not save his people—as though he had authority to command God. (Alma 11:35)
Basically, Zeezrom’s line of attack focused on two key parts:
1) Amulek was teaching there was one God, but also claiming there was more than one God.
2) Amulek was preaching that God did not have power to save.
Granted Zeezrom had to really parse the words and make some reaches to come up with those two points, but that was the line of attack that he decided to run with.
Back to yesterday – as we were sitting there in our morning stupor, a thought hit me:
Zeezrom’s lines of attack were the EXACT same attacks being used against the church TODAY. Whenever anyone goes after the church as not being “Christian” they trot out the same stuff:
1) Mormons are poly-theistic becasue they believe God and Jesus are two separate beings.
2) Mormons don’t accept that Christ is powerful enough is sufficient to save everyone. We haven’t been “saved”.
Now maybe this parallel is old news to you – but to me this was a brand new connection, and the connection was given to me by the Spirit. Why? Because I was where I was supposed to be, doing what I was supposed to be doing. Simple. So to answer my own question: Yes, it is worth it.
As you already know, Alma and Amulek successfully countered Zeezrom with testimony and by preaching truth. Sure, it landed them in jail, but their escape was very cool and dramatic. Zeezrom got his due punishment, but ended up repenting. Happy ending for Zeezrom!
So there you have it. The more things change, the more they stay the same. (Except I am glad that we don’t have to keep track of ontis, senums, senines, and limnahs.)
—-
For more on this story, read Alma 11-15 (link)
For previous, more in depth posts about the “Mormon’s aren’t Christian” ridiculousness, please look at these earlier posts:
http://middle-agedmormonman.blogspot.com/2011/11/thanks-but-ill-stick-with-color.html
http://middle-agedmormonman.blogspot.com/2011/10/re-work-of-word.html
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(silent admiration of your insights)
I liked your insight, MMM. When I get inspiration like that (far too seldom for my taste), the impressions stay with me for a long time. So cool.
I don’t think I would have connected Zeezrom’s arguments with today’s, even if we were not still in Jacob….
I didn’t know that either. I’m glad Anonymous shared it. While the accuracy of the pronunciations is not important, uniformity and agreement is. If the Church stamped its approval on the pronunciation guide, that’s good enough for me. Incidentally, it’s funny how the names are pronounced in other languages. In German, Abinadi is pronounced Ah Bin ‘Nahdee. I always liked that one.
The pronunciation guide was not given to us by Joseph Smith. If you’re interested in its history, go to http://www.lds.org/ensign/1996/07/i-have-a-question?lang=eng.
Interesting – I did not know that.
I love this. One of my “peeves” if you will, is when people discuss the BoM and say “and even members of the church __insert comment here___”
No, no, no! The Book of Mormon isn’t written JUST for our day (of course it is) but it’s written for MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH. When Nephi wrote the vision of the tree of life on the plates, he was describing fully-fledged, baptised members of the church (as well as the world at large; I think the allegory can go both ways) who partake of the fruits of the gospel and then fall away. Who live in the great and spacious building. Who purposely choose diverse paths…. etc.
Thanks! I love making connections in the Book of Mormon between then and now. It’s exciting!
Thank you! Insight gained because of being obedient. How often does that happen? A lot!!!
It is great to see the parallels. The Book of Mormon was truly written for us in this day!
When I come in contact with other Christians who hold onto such prejudices, it makes me sad because of all the good we could do together if only other Christians would accept us and our Christianity.
But then, they might actually join the Church once they open up to the Holy Ghost that much. 🙂
mCat: there’s a pronunciation guide at the back of the Book of Mormon for those weird names: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/pronunciation?lang=eng
And for some reason, I didn’t think “Gospel Doctrine” when you wrote that GD abreviation! 🙂
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who has to repent of reading the “gospel doctrine” abbreviation wrong.
I love the exchange, and it does prove that we are not polytheistic but that there is ONE GOD —
Alma 11
26 And Zeezrom said unto him: Thou sayest there is a true and living God?
27 And Amulek said: Yea, there is a true and living God.
28 Now Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God?
29 And he answered, No.
* * *
38 Now Zeezrom saith again unto him: Is the Son of God the very Eternal Father?
39 And Amulek said unto him: Yes, he is the very Eternal Fathernof heaven and earth, and all things which in them are: he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last;
40 And he shall come into the world to redeem his people; and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his name; and these are they that shall have eternal life,and salvation cometh to none else.
* * *
44 . . . and shall be brought and arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God . . . .
Last year I “read” the Book of Mormon start to finish by listening to the audio on my way to and from work every day. I understood some of the stories better listening than I had really reading in the past. I also learned lots of pronunciations!! (I know, there’s that whole pronunciation guide in the front, but who really flips back to that? Don’t we just charge ahead with our reading?) As usual, another fantastic post!
I, too, love the story of Zeezrom because it’s so “TODAY.” You can find parallels in everyday headlines. That’s why the Book of Mormon is for us in our time. And thanks for the correct pronunciation of his name. People look at me like I’m some kind of know-it-all snob when I say zeeEZrom. Very often we stumble over unfamiliar names in the Book of Mormon–Jacob and Enos aren’t that hard–simply because we haven’t looked in the pronunciation guide at the back of the book, but Joseph Smith made it easy for us. When I first discovered it, I did a “well, duh” forehead smack.
Whenever I make those connections it is just further testimony for me that The Book of Mormon was written for us today.
FANTASTIC! The story of Zeezrom is one of my absolute favorites and I hadn’t caught this part of it either. As I taught Gospel Doctrine a couple days ago, I read the quote from the lesson manual, “God, with his infinite foreknowledge, so molded the Book of Mormon that we might see the error and know how to combat false educational, political, religious, and philosophical concepts of our time,” (quote by Pres. Benson on p45 of teacher’s manual). I asked the class for specific examples of situations in the Book of Mormon in which the same thing is happening today and, by following the way the prophets handled it then, we can know how to handle it now. You just gave a stellar example of this. THANK YOU!
The more that I read the Book of Mormon the more that I am ASTONISHED at what a perfect mirror it is for our day. Amazing. It’s all there…we just need to study it. All the truth we need to make our way through life.
Zee EH Zrom? huh…..who knew. I shall now go forward and correctly pronounce his name. It will make me look so smart in GD class.
And I do happen to love this where the EDUCATED lawyers try to trip him up and he BAM! roasts them.
Thanks for the scriptures this morning, I did miss my reading, so I’m gonna go ahead and chalk this up for today instead of my usual verse “and they dwelt in a tent” for when I don’t get my scriptures actually read.
Off to make a note in Alma….we’re only in Jacob so far this time around. Thanks! I’ve read Alma a hundred times and never caught that….