Historical/Textual: Mormon describes the people of Nephi in the twenty-second year of the birth of the Messiah (see verse 7 below) as completely converted. From Mormon’s perspective of a religious history, this is a required historical statement. The foundational promise is that the Nephites would be protected by God if they were righteous. Mormon has just shown that the people have been protected, and therefore they were righteous. While it is possible that this is exactly what happened, it is more likely that this is Mormon’s idealized view of the Nephite society. Certainly there would be no statistics in Mormon’s sources that could record a degree of righteousness and the statistical extent of such righteousness.
Seen from the purely skeptical view of a modern historian, this statement could have had no accurate textual basis from which Mormon could cite the fact. Certainly from Mormon’s perspective nearly four hundred years later there is nothing that would remain that could indicate the completely righteousness of the people at this time.
It is certain that it is possible that Mormon could have had a spiritual witness as to the righteousness of the people, and that possibility should not be discounted. However, this current faithfulness will fail in only seven years. It is hard to imagine that the conversion of the entire population could have been as complete and sincere as Mormon paints it, and then fall to pieces only seven years later (see beginning 3 Nephi 6:10). From that purely skeptical historical view, the best explanation of this particular verse is that Mormon is not writing a history that follows modern rules of evidence, but rather a sacred and spiritual history. In this spiritual history, it was absolutely true that the salvation of the people came from the hand of God, and that it required the righteousness of the people. The way Mormon is writing his narrative, this had to have been a true statement.
For modern history, however, the events only seven years later strongly suggest that the seeds of those ultimate divisions are present in the current Nephite society. While the euphoria of victory unites the people, and likely provides the visual appearance of unity, in fact the rifts were still there. They were simply buried by necessity, and would flower when “watered” by prosperity.
“Therefore They Did Forsake All Their Sins and Their Abominations”
Historical/Textual: Mormon describes the people of Nephi in the twenty-second year of the birth of the Messiah (see verse 7 below) as completely converted. From Mormon’s perspective of a religious history, this is a required historical statement. The foundational promise is that the Nephites would be protected by God if they were righteous. Mormon has just shown that the people have been protected, and therefore they were righteous. While it is possible that this is exactly what happened, it is more likely that this is Mormon’s idealized view of the Nephite society. Certainly there would be no statistics in Mormon’s sources that could record a degree of righteousness and the statistical extent of such righteousness.
Seen from the purely skeptical view of a modern historian, this statement could have had no accurate textual basis from which Mormon could cite the fact. Certainly from Mormon’s perspective nearly four hundred years later there is nothing that would remain that could indicate the completely righteousness of the people at this time.
It is certain that it is possible that Mormon could have had a spiritual witness as to the righteousness of the people, and that possibility should not be discounted. However, this current faithfulness will fail in only seven years. It is hard to imagine that the conversion of the entire population could have been as complete and sincere as Mormon paints it, and then fall to pieces only seven years later (see beginning 3 Nephi 6:10). From that purely skeptical historical view, the best explanation of this particular verse is that Mormon is not writing a history that follows modern rules of evidence, but rather a sacred and spiritual history. In this spiritual history, it was absolutely true that the salvation of the people came from the hand of God, and that it required the righteousness of the people. The way Mormon is writing his narrative, this had to have been a true statement.
For modern history, however, the events only seven years later strongly suggest that the seeds of those ultimate divisions are present in the current Nephite society. While the euphoria of victory unites the people, and likely provides the visual appearance of unity, in fact the rifts were still there. They were simply buried by necessity, and would flower when “watered” by prosperity.