Nephi next saw the oceans that separated the gentiles from
the Lamanites. The angel said to Nephi, “Behold
the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren” (1 Nephi 13:11).
Nephi saw a gentile cross the ocean and come to the
Lamanites in the promised land. Since at
least 1879, when Orson Pratt’s references in the Book of Mormon identified this
gentile as Columbus.[1] Today, there are scholars who question this interpretation. For example, Stephen Smoot writes:
I urge caution with …
identification of Columbus as the Gentile spoken of in 1 Nephi 13:12. Although
this idea has most certainly been a prevalent interpretation among Latter-day
Saints, it is speculative and cannot be classed as evidence for the Book of
Mormon. Ash [author of the book being reviewed] does give some intriguing
details about Columbus's own conviction that he was being led by divine forces
in his explorations, and he mentions the famous mariner's Libro de las
profecías (p. 95). There are, however, risks in constructing an
argument based on a fundamental uncertainty.[2]
Nephi also saw other gentiles, escaping captivity, and
coming to the new world. Lehi taught his
family that the Lord “will bring other
nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from
them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and
smitten” (2 Nephi 1:11). John
Tvedtnes makes this observation about these verses.
“[M]ost Latter-day Saints likely
see the fulfillment of prophecies by Lehi and Nephi in the arrival of European
explorers and settlers to the territory covered by the United States of
America. Therefore, Columbus, the Pilgrim fathers, and others are often understood
to be the subjects of those ancient prophecies, despite the fact that Columbus
never set foot in North America and that the Massachusetts Pilgrims were but a
fraction of the many people from different parts of Europe who settled North,
Central, and South America. Even those passages often thought to refer to the
oppression of Native Americans by the U.S. government and its people could
refer to other parts of the New World (see, for example, 1 Nephi 13:14, 30—31;
22:7—8; 2 Nephi 1:11). Native Americans were persecuted and driven out of their
lands throughout the Americas, and persecution continued into the twentieth
century in places such as Mexico, Brazil, and Chile. The United States of
America was neither the only nation that confined these natives to reservations
nor the only New World nation that broke its ties to its European rulers. So
while some of those prophecies may include the United States, this is not the
only possible meaning.[3]
The “Spirit of the
Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land
for their inheritance” (1 Nephi 13:15).
Mormon would write much the same sentiment. “And
behold, the Lord hath reserved their blessings, which they might have received
in the land, for the Gentiles who shall possess the land” (Mormon 5:19).
Nephi saw that the gentiles “were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people
before they were slain” (1 Nephi 13:15).
We can contrast this to the description Nephi gave of the Lamanites
after the separation. “And he had caused the cursing to come upon
them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts
against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were
white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing
unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them”
(2 Nephi 5:21).
Mormon would write that, after Christ’s visit to the
Nephites, they “did wax strong, and did
multiply exceedingly fast, and became an exceedingly fair and delightsome
people” (4 Nephi 1:10). Moroni2
would add, “O then ye unbelieving, turn ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the
Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair,
and white, having been cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and
last day” (Mormon 9:6).
These scriptures have been used to show the Book of Mormon
is racist, which is clearly not true.
John E. Clark responds to this charge.
True, the Book of Mormon describes
the Gentiles as "white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my
people before they were slain" (1 Nephi 13:15). Use of this language is
not offensive, but to attribute these attributes solely to the immigrants of
England, France, Holland, Germany, Sweden, and Ireland is another matter. One
gets the distinct impression that Curtis has never seen a Spaniard nor looked
up any pictures. They are fairer than he or I. But surely the term
"gentile" goes beyond relative evaluations of the whiteness of one's
skin or the beauty of one's visage.[4]
The gentiles who came to this land did so to flee their
captivity.
Nephi then saw war between the gentiles and “their mother Gentiles.” “[T]he the power of God was with them, and
also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against
them to battle. And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out of
captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other
nations” (1 Nephi 13:18-19).
This scripture has traditionally been interpreted to refer
to the American revolution. Richard
Bushman gives an alternate interpretation.
By American standards, this is a
strangely distorted account. There is no indictment of the king or parliament,
no talk of American rights or liberty, nothing of the corruptions of the
ministry, and most significant, no description of despots or heroes. In fact,
there is no reference to American resistance. The "mother Gentiles"
are the only warriors. God, not General Washington or the American army, delivers
the colonies.
The meaning of the narrative opens
itself to the reader only after he lays aside his American preconceptions about
the Revolution and recognizes that the dramatic structure in Nephi's account is
fundamentally different from the familiar one in Independence Day orations. The
point of the narrative is that Americans escaped from captivity. They did not
resist, they fled. The British were defeated because the wrath of God was upon
them. The virtue of the Americans was that they "did humble themselves
before the Lord" (1 Nephi 13:16). The moral is that "the Gentiles
that had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the
hands of all other nations." The theme is deliverance, not resistance.[5]
[1] Columbus:
By Faith or Reason? Grant R. Hardy, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute,
accessed February 23, 2013.
[2] The
Faith and Reason of Michael R. Ash, Stephen O. Smoot, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed February 23, 2013.
[3][3]
Reinventing
the Book of Mormon, John A. Tvedtnes, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed February 23, 2013.
[4] The
Final Battle for Cumorah, John E. Clark, Provo, Utah: Maxwell
Institute, accessed February 23, 2013.
[5] The
Book of Mormon and the American Revolution, Richard L. Bushman, Provo,
Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed February 23, 2013.
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