INCREASING WARS, WEAPONS, AND FORTIFIED CITIES

Warfare in the Book of Mormon:

 War Against Christianity

One thing I noticed yesterday when I listed the key topics of each of the writers of the small books was the mention of the increase in warfare and its changing nature. Each writer in the Book of Omni mentions this topic. Given that these books were short, sometimes only one verse long, the mention of war as a key topic leads me to believe that it was important and marked a fundamental change in the battle between good and evil.  

While there had been enmity between the Nephites and the Lamanites from the beginning, Omni, son of Enos, mentioned that the Lamanites began to attack the Nephites more frequently and with greater vengeance during his lifetime. As long as the Nephites kept the Covenant, they were protected in these attacks.  When they didn't, things went poorly for them.

By the time Jarom passed the records to his son, Omni, it seemed as if war had become a way of life.  The first thing Omni wrote was the he, himself, had fought with the sword to preserve . . . the Nephites from falling into the hands of their enemies, the Lamanites. (Omni 1:2) Because of this, Omni described himself as a wicked man who had not kept the Covenant as he ought to have done.

He went on to say that there had been some seasons of peace, but many seasons of serious war and bloodshed. (Omni 1:3)  Perhaps these writers were so consumed with war and self-preservation that they had neither the time nor the spirituality to write prophetically. This war between good and evil had begun in heaven before the foundation of the world and it continued to plague mankind  even up to today.

By the time his son, Amaron, wrote on the plates, the wars had become so horrific that the more wicked part of the Nephites were destroyed. (Omni 1: 5) Remember the terms of the Covenant with God were that He would protect them if they kept the commandments.  Omni admitted that he hadn't kept the commandments, even though he was a leader among people. 

God allows for defensive warfare which, apparently this was - at least in the beginning.  However,  by its very nature, warfare changes people.  Hundreds of veterans today suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, what our grandfathers called shell shock due to the dehumanizing effects of war.  Amaron's brother, Chemish, kept the records and didn't mention war, although I have little doubt that it had become, by then, a way of life. There were minimal records kept on the plates and no revelations nor prophecies in those years. (See Omni 1:

Abinadom, Chemish's son, wrote that he, like his uncle, had taken up the sword against the Lamanites (see Omni1: 10) and admitted to have taken the lives of many. . . 

Someone once said that war never changes, but something had changed.  The Nephites began to make a career of warfare.  They fortified their cities.  They developed industry for the making of weapons, sharp arrow, spears and javelins.  The Scholars at Book of Mormon Central have compiled evidence of this early warfare.  I invite you to listen to their ideas.  One of the facts is that description of warfare in the Book of Mormon have been studied by military experts and found to be consistently accurate in portraying warfare in Mesoamerica, increasing around 400 B.C.  

Early Book of Mormon Warfare

I have a testimony that Joseph Smith translated the Book from ancient records. Findings like this support that testimony in that the closest warfare in Joseph's day had been the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.  Nothing in his experience or family memory could have given him insights into this kind of warfare. As the modes of warfare changed in the Book of Mormon, so, too, did the styles of warfare in Mesoamerica change.  That is not a coincidence, but internal evidence of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

© March 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson