According to Barbara Fowler, to most English-speaking people, the use of a double negative, such as, “You cannot have no candy,” grates against the ears and conjures up images of a stern English teacher reproaching students with the axiom, “Two negatives equal a positive!”
However, that rule of language has not always existed. In Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar it is stated that “Two negatives in the same sentence do not neutralize each other but make the negation the more emphatic” (Kautzch 1909:483).
There are several instances in the Book of Mormon where a negative word which existed in the original or printer’s manuscript has been deleted or changed to a positive word. These examples would point to the Hebrew authorship of the book, as well as enrich meaning of these passages. One such instance is found in Ether 12:6. The second negative (in italics) was removed and has never been in print:
And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness, not until after the trial of your faith.
[Barbara Fowler, “Double Negatives in the Book of Mormon? Yes! Yes!,” in Recent Book of Mormon Developments, Vol. 2, p. 57]
“Dispute Not Because Ye See Not”
In Ether 12:6 we find Moroni’s counsel: “Dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” In the scriptures, faith assumes faith in Jesus Christ. (See Ether 12:18) This brings Catherine Thomas to comment, Why is it so important to have a trial--a period of proving--of one’s faith in Jesus Christ? Why is one more blessed for believing in Jesus without having seen him? Here we come to an essential spiritual fact: one key purpose of earth life is to develop faith, to learn to “walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) Moroni observed that people first had to have faith in Christ before he could show himself to them. But how can people have faith in that which they have not seen? Why should people believe in Christ more than in Buddha? Why should they believe in any God at all?
God can hold people responsible of faith in Christ for three reasons:
(1) Jesus Christ IS the Savior of all.
(2) God created people such that they could discern truth from error. Their existence and progression involve the divine substances of light, spirit, truth, intelligence, and glory. (D&C 93) This divinity underlies the nature of God and man. People may enlarge their portion of divinity until like Christ they obtain the fullness, at which point they too become gods. Another term for the divine element in mortals is “Spirit of Christ.” (Moroni 7:16; John 12:4)
(3) Faith implies a desire, a choosing to know. Many people have sensed spiritual truths but have not wanted to exert the effort leading to personal sanctification. Amulek said, “I knew … yet I would not know.” (Alma 10:6)
Here is the distinction between testimony-seeking and sign-seeking: the sign-seeker wants to keep his disobedient life and still have spiritual power. He wants to reap when he has not sown. The testimony-seeker wants to submit to God, repent, and live by the light that the Lord gives through the Holy Ghost.
When a messenger of God teaches the gospel by the Holy Spirit, that spirit bears witness to the truth. The listener is now responsible; shall he or she accept or reject the witness? We recall that God held Korihor responsible for his deception. Korihor confessed that he chose Satan’s lie because it was pleasing to his carnal mind. (Alma 30:53) When gospel truth has been revealed, deception is a choice; spiritual blindness is self-induced. (Alma 13:4)
If we have come to earth to develop this inner truth-discernment, then we understand why Jesus told his disciples that he must for their sakes go away. That is, if they were to develop this inner spiritual capacity independent of what they could see, spiritual realities had to be removed behind a veil. Moroni calls this spiritual organ of truth discernment the “eye of faith.” (Ether 12:19).
Faith progresses from one‘s having confidence in God to God’s having confidence in that person and permitting him or her to witness and even to administer divine power, as did Moses, Alma, Amulek, Nephi and Lehi, Ammon, the three Nephite disciples, and those--like the brother of Jared, whom Moroni described in Ether 12:19-21, whose inner spiritual capacity was so well-developed from obedience--who had obtained Christ’s word (or mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:16) to such a degree that they could, with their immanent oneness in Christ, compel his presence. We will learn before the end of chapter 12 in the book of Ether that Moroni himself was such a man. [Catherine Thomas, “A More Excellent Way,” in Studies in Scripture: Book of Mormon, Part 2, pp. 274-277]