And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon many waters. (1 Nephi 13:13)
When we think of the Pilgrims and the settlers at Jamestown, we don't usually think of them coming out of captivity, but in fact they were. With Gutenberg's invention of movable type, the Bible was more readily available to the common man. When men could read for themselves, they sought the reformation of the Universal Church which, indeed, held men captive because they had to receive the gospel in a language not their own, interpreted by other men who were often likewise misled.
Courageous men gave their lives to translate the Bible from Latin, Greek, and Hebrew into English. Two who were thus martyred were John Wycliffe and William Tyndale. Wycliffe is considered the father of the English Bible. He felt that people could not be held accountable before God until they understood the gospel in their own tongue just as the Israelites and the Apostles heard the gospel in their own language. He was martyred in 1384.
William Tyndale took his translation a step further. Instead of translating from Latin to English, he went back to the source, translating the Old Testament from Hebrew and the New Testament from Greek. He is often quoted that his Bible would make the gospel so clear that even a boy who drives the plough will know the scriptures better than the clergy of the establish church. Three hundred years after his death a farm boy did read.
Tyndale's Bible became the template for what we know as the King James Version 100 years later. It was from the Book of James in this Bible that a fourteen year old boy who drove a plough read the verse: If any of you lack wisdom, ask of God. Joseph took this apostle at his word and asked God. He had a remarkable vision as had Nephi and was called to restore the Church in 1830.
Nephi saw multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise . . . . Beginning with the Spanish, then French, Dutch, and English, those who came brought with them their Bibles both to worship and to proselytize. All too often their conversion efforts were done by force and were devastating to the native peoples of this land. Nephi wrote: I beheld the wrath of Good, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten. (1 Nephi 13: 14) This, of course, does not justify the treatment of the indigenous people in any form. God did not authorize such cruelty. The Lamanites had just departed so far from the American Covenant that they had no blessing. Even Columbus, who felt led by the Spirit to take the gospel to the natives, was uncharitable to those people. Even knowing that, we have to understand the role these men, however flawed they were, in preparing the land for the restoration.
God did not forget this branch of Israel and, though the Gentiles prevailed, the Lord still protected Israel. He said to Nephi: God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed, which are among they brethren. Neither will he suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy. . . thy seed. (1Nephi 13:30, 31)
Nephi saw multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise . . . . Beginning with the Spanish, then French, Dutch, and English, those who came brought with them their Bibles both to worship and to proselytize. All too often their conversion efforts were done by force and were devastating to the native peoples of this land. Nephi wrote: I beheld the wrath of Good, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten. (1 Nephi 13: 14) This, of course, does not justify the treatment of the indigenous people in any form. God did not authorize such cruelty. The Lamanites had just departed so far from the American Covenant that they had no blessing. Even Columbus, who felt led by the Spirit to take the gospel to the natives, was uncharitable to those people. Even knowing that, we have to understand the role these men, however flawed they were, in preparing the land for the restoration.
God did not forget this branch of Israel and, though the Gentiles prevailed, the Lord still protected Israel. He said to Nephi: God will not suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy the mixture of thy seed, which are among they brethren. Neither will he suffer that the Gentiles will utterly destroy. . . thy seed. (1Nephi 13:30, 31)
I began today's discussion with the process of translation of the Old and New Testaments. It was that book of which Nephi said: I beheld a book, and it was carried forth among them . . . It proceedeth out of the mouth of a Jew. . . (1 Nephi 13: 20, 23) The Bible, from which many plain and precious truths had been removed, was still a powerful tool for the recovering of Israel. The Book contains the covenants of the Lord which he hath made unto the House of Israel. . . and prophecies of the holy prophets. (1 Nephi 13: 23)
A Latter-day Apostle once said: Imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. (Jeffery R. Holland) There is such a tendency today for people to go looking for flaws in people, living or dead. That justifies them in their own minds to ignore any good those people do or did. Like the Jews whom Jacob said looked beyond the mark, they have rewritten history to demonize the very man and women who prepared this nation for the restoration of the gospel. They not only throw the baby out with the bath water, they spread their vitriol through the media to convince others that this is not a Christian nation founded on Christian principles. As Covenant Keepers, we must counter these falsehoods wherever we find them.
©January 2020, Dr. Kathleen Rawlings
Buntin Danielson
No comments:
Post a Comment