What we read about in the Book of Mormon is the Nephite Disease and - PDF document

What we read about in the Book of Mormon is the ‘Nephite Disease’ – and we have it! . . . We can be most grateful, therefore, regardless of how sick others may be, that God in the Book of Mormon has diagnosed our sickness for our special benefit, and prescribed a cure for us. . . . Plainly it is meant for us, as it reminds us many times; it is the story of what happened to the Nephites–and we are the Nephites: ‘. . . It must needs be that the riches of the earth are mine to give; but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old.’ (D.&C. 38&39) There it is in a nutshell: it is the fate of the Nephites, not of the Lamanites, Greeks, or Chinese, that concerns us; and that doom was brought on them by pride which in turn was engendered by the riches of the earth. – Hugh Nibley, Since Cumuorah , pp. 390-391.

Elder Wilford Woodruff addressed a conference in Logan, Utah, on 22 August 1863. Speaking directly to the youth in attendance, he declared: “‘Now, my young friends, I wish you to remember these scenes you are witnessing. . . . The day will come, after your fathers, and these prophets and apostles are dead, you will have the privilege of going into the towers of a glorious Temple built unto the name of the Most High. . . You will say: that was before New York was destroyed by an earthquake; it was before Boston was swept into the sea, by the sea heaving itself beyond its bounds; it was before Albany was destroyed by fire; yea, at that time you will remember the scenes of this day. Treasure them up and forget them not.’ President Young followed and said: ‘What Brother Woodruff has said is revelation and will be fulfilled.” – Lundwall, Temples of the Most High , pp. 105-106

Equity and justice are chief among the laws that rule the kingdom of heaven. Describing the coming of Christ, Alma prophesied, saying: “Not many days hence the Son of God shall come in his glory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grade, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers (Alma 9:26). Among the Lord’s people, equality and justice must always prevail. All who are or who can be called Saints must learn to live in a state of equality one with another. Describing such a state, the Lord spoke to our generation, saying, “In your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld. (D&C 70:14). “For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things” (D&C 78:6). – Joseph Fielding McConkie & Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon , pp. 25-26.

The scriptures teach that sin induces a sickness of the spirit that is often linked to physical pains and discomforts (see, for example, the experience of Zeezrom in Alma 15:3, 5). Elder Boyd K. Packer spoke of this link between the sin-induced spiritual sicknesses and the physical body: “There is another part of us, not so tangible, but quite as real as our physical body. This intangible part of us is described as mind, emotion, intellect, temperament, and many other things. Very seldom is it described as spiritual. But there is a spirit in man; to ignore it is to ignore reality. There are spiritual disorders, too, and spiritual diseases that can cause intense suffering. The body and the spirit of man are bound together. Often, very often, which there are disorders, it is very difficult to tell which is which.” ( That All May Be Edified , pp. 63 - 64) The savior’s statement to the remnant Nephites and Lamanites is not merely symbolic but also literal. Through faith in Him and repentance, sick, sin- ridden souls ar healed by they Great Physician as much so as bodies were in the cleansing of lepers. – Joseph Fielding McConkie & Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon , p. 41.

In declaring that the law of Moses is fulfilled. . . the Savior was not rescinding the eternal law of sacrifice but rather was declaring that the specific practice or instructional methodology employed earlier was no longer in effect. From the days of Adam to Moses and from Moses to Jesus Christ, animal sacrifices were used to symbolically point toward the future atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ (see Jacob 4:5). Abinadi spoke of such sacrificial rites and the accompanying carnal codes as “types of things to come” (Mosiah 13:31). Inasmuch as the Savior had already shed his blood and drunk of the “bitter cup” in Gethsemane and on Golgotha and had broken the bands of death in coming forth form the garden tomb, a new day had now dawned that required new symbolism, a new type of sacrifice, and new instruction in the eternal meaning of the covenant of sacrifice. – Joseph Fielding McConkie & Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon , p. 44.

The practice of sacrifice that was fulfilled in Christ was one of rites and rituals, whereas the new practice commanded of the Lord involved inner attitudes that would bring about outward obedience to commandments and ordinances. Just as the sacrifices of animals were to symbolize the shedding of the blood of Christ and to focus the faith of the people on the Messiah, so must our obedience stemming from a sacrifice of a of a broken heart and contrite spirit be centered solely on Christ. What then is a “broken heart and a contrite spirit” that is to be our “living sacrfice” to the Lord? It is, as Paul taught, a “godly sorrow” which “worketh repentance unto salvation” (2 Corinthians 7:10). It is much more than just a repentant attitude; it includes a recognition of total dependence upon the Lord for salvation and a willing submission to him and his laws (see Mosiah 3:19). Lamoni’s father characterized this sacrifice with his desire to come to know God when he declared, “I will give away all my sins to know thee” (Alma 22:18). Offering a sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit requires “giving away our sins” through faith in Christ, sincere and complete repentance, obedience to the Lord’s commands, and pressing forward with a “steadfastness in Christ” (2 Nephi 31:20; see also D&C 59:8, 97:8). – Joseph Fielding McConkie & Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon , pp. 44-45.