« Current stuff... | Main | The Hazards of Religious Education »
Humor in the Book of Mormon
Picking up from an idea at Mormanity, discussing humor in the Book of Mormon.
Jeff's example from Omni is good, and I know a guy who finds the 'And my father lived in a tent' scripture from 1 Nephi hilarious everytime he reads it, but here's my vote for most humorous scripture in the Book of Mormon (It's subtle, but it's there...):
Mosiah 12:1 "AND it came to pass that after the space of two years that Abinadi came among them in disguise, that they knew him not, and began to prophesy among them, saying: Thus has the Lord commanded me, saying—Abinadi, go and prophesy unto this my people..."
Here we have Abinadi preaching in disguise because he doesn't want people to know who he is (they threatened to kill him last time, of course). Then, what's the first thing he says? "The Lord commanded me, saying--Abinadi..." Whoops, so much for the disguise...
June 25, 2004 in Religion | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/864644
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Humor in the Book of Mormon:
Comments
I too have always laughed at this verse in the past. When teaching this lesson this year in Sunday School, I found this logical explanation in Brant Gardiner's Book of Mormon commentary:
"When Abinadi comes among the people he comes in disguise, and then appears to blow his cover by announcing his name. Why the disguise if he were to openly state his name? The answer is verse 11:29. Without the disguise Abinadi could not have come among them because he would have been killed as he entered the community. We learn from this that Abinidi has been outside the community for the space of two years, but would still be known and still hunted for his life. Whether or not Abinadi understood the personal martyrdom that awaited him, the Lord's purpose required that Abinadi go before Noah's court. To accomplish that, Abinadi had to survive long enough to be in a public place where he could both preach and call attention to himself. In such a public place, the people who might have killed him upon sight would now defer to the officials of the government, and Abinadi would be take before Noah. That audience before Noah was the true purpose of his mission. Coming in disguise got him to the point where he could be given over to the authorities and brought to confront Noah and his priests directly."
http://frontpage2000.nmia.com/~nahualli/commentary.htm
Posted by: dp | Jun 25, 2004 4:55:16 PM
That IS a verse that elicits a chuckle. It was fun to read your commentary, so thanks. I really enjoy your blog, btw.
Posted by: danithew | Jun 28, 2004 9:43:52 AM
