© 2024 The Interpreter Foundation. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
All content by The Interpreter Foundation, unless otherwise specified, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available here.
Interpreter Foundation is not owned, controlled by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All research and opinions provided on this site are the sole responsibility of their respective authors, and should not be interpreted as the opinions of the Board, nor as official statements of LDS doctrine, belief or practice.
Refreshing view. Thank you for articulately an opposite view on the Deuteronomist discussion.
I would like to point out that on the surface your premise seems to assume Nephi wants to be a leader – either like Moses or David. But I wonder how much of a leader Nephi or Moses wanted to be. Moses says, “would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets.” It seems Moses wished he was not the middle-man that he became. Also, Nephi said he was grieved that he had to tell his followers what to do. Was this because they didn’t listen to the spirit or because they constantly went to him for advice? Regardless, Nephi seems to try and excise himself from the equation and tells people the spirit or the words of Christ will tell people what to do. So that may be another way Moses and Nephi are similar.
I am sure you read Bowen’s “Their Anger Did Increase Against Me” where he states Nephi places himself as a Joseph-like figure. Of course Nephi links Joseph and Moses in the prophecy.
Well, I think that most authors who say Laman and Lemuel and Sharem and the Priests of Noah are Deuteronomists mean to say those people don’t want ongoing revelation- they just want fixed laws. Essentially they don’t actually want a relationship with God. When you say Nephi is a Deuteronomist you seem to mean that Nephi wants to have a relationship with God and will enter into a covenant to do so… for Nephi the point of the covenant or law is to get revelation and have an ongoing relationship. For Laman and Lemuel the point of the law is to obviate further discussion or relationship with God. So they are both “pro-law” or “Deuteronomists” but for completely different reasons. I will have to read more about Zion theology. What am I missing?
Would love your thoughts on what Nephi meant in 2 Ne 32:8. Any chance that he was expressing a similar sentiment as that expressed by Moses in Numbers 11:11-14? Seems like Nephi is trying to get us all to be prophets.