Chapter 8
Tempests, earthquakes,
fires, whirlwinds, and physical upheavals attest the crucifixion of Christ—Many
people are destroyed—Darkness covers the land for three days—Those who remain
bemoan their fate. About A.D. 33–34.
We are in the thirty-fourth year after the birth of Christ. Nephite
civilization was in bad shape. Society has become groups of tribes. Each tribe
places their interests before the interests of the others. The devil reigns. Prophets
and those who called the people to repentance have been killed.
Mormon begins this portion of his record testifying to its
truth. He tells us Nephi was a just man. “[H]e truly did many miracles in the
name of Jesus…”
He also testifies “we know our record to be true…” Who is
the “we”? At the time Mormon is abridging the record, there are few righteous
people. Are they the “we” to whom Mormon refers? As the Book of Mormon was
written for us today, the “we” could very well be those of us who are reading
the Book of Mormon, we who have a testimony of the truthfulness of the Book.
Samuel the Lamanite had prophesied of the events that would
occur when the Savior was crucified. People began to look for those signs.
“But behold, as I said unto you
concerning another sign, a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall
suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you;
and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of
this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of
three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead…
“And he said unto me that while the
thunder and the lightning lasted, and the tempest, that these things should be,
and that darkness should cover the face of the whole earth for the space of
three days” (Helaman 14: 20, 27).
The Nephites being the Nephites, doubts and disputes among
them developed. They disagreed about whether or not the signs had been given.
The Savior was crucified on the fourth day of the first
month in the thirty-fourth year. We know this because disaster struck the
Nephites.
Occurrences in
North America at Christ’s Death (3 Nephi 8)
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Event
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Reference
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Great storm.
Great and terrible winds and thunder.
Sharp lightnings.
City of Zarahemla took fire.
City of Moroni sunk into the sea.
Earth carried upon the city of Moroni and a great mountain
raised up in its place.
Great and terrible destruction land southward.
More destruction occurred in the land northward.
Notable cities were sunk, buried, and destroyed by earthquakes
Some cities remained but suffered great damage and death.
People carried away by whirlwinds
The entire face of the earth was deformed.
Rocks broken up; cracks and seams appeared across the face
of the land.
There was darkness so thick fires couldn’t be lit and not
light seen.
Darkness lasted three days.
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3 Nephi 8:5
And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the
first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such
an one as never had been known in all the land.
3 Nephi 8:6
And there was also a great and terrible
tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it
did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder.
3 Nephi 8:7
And there were exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never
had been known in all the land.
3 Nephi 8:8
3 Nephi 8:9
3 Nephi 8:10
3 Nephi 8:11
3 Nephi 8:12-13
But behold, there was a more great and terrible
destruction in the land northward; for behold, the whole face of the land was
changed, because of the tempest and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings and
the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth;
3 Nephi 8:14
3 Nephi 8:15
3 Nephi 8:16
3 Nephi 8:17
And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed,
because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the
quaking of the earth.
3 Nephi 8:18
3 Nephi 8:21
3 Nephi 8:23
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“Archaeological work done in the last 15 years has yielded
considerable insight into what happened in or about the Tuxtla Mountains of
southern Veracruz state, Mexico, an area often considered a key part of the
lands where the Book of Mormon story was played out. In John L. Sorenson’s
correlation of the internal and external geographies, this area would have seen
three notable events: (1) settlement of the general area by people mentioned in
the Jaredite account (Ether 9:3) and their eventual climactic destruction
(Ether 14:26–15:32), (2) major effects of the great natural disasters at the
time of the Savior’s crucifixion (3 Nephi 8),2 and (3) the ultimate destruction
of the Nephite people (Mormon 6:5–15).
“Three scientific studies present the most important
findings by recent researchers. Twenty years ago James E. Chase published an
intriguing paper titled ‘The Sky Is Falling: The San Martin Tuxtla Volcanic
Eruption and Its Effects on the Olmec at Tres Zapotes, Veracruz.’ The second is
a paper with the intriguing title ‘When Day Turned to Night: Volcanism and the
Archaeological Record from the Tuxtla Mountains, Southern Veracruz, Mexico.’
The third source comprises several papers in a compilation on the archaeology
of the Mexican Gulf Coast. Between the three it is possible to see similarities
between the historical patterns visible in the Nephite record on the one hand
and in the archaeological record (as reconstructed so far) on the other.”[1]
Benjamin Jordan writes an excellent article looking at
archeological and geological evidence for the events occurring at the death of
the Savior. He concludes, “The benefit from this study remains: there is
evidence for volcanic eruptions during the time period described in 3 Nephi 8.
In the end, it is up to the reader to decide how much this evidence strengthens
the argument for a volcanic origin of the great destruction.”[2]
It comes as no surprise the people were shocked and dazed at
the destruction. In part of the land,
people cried, “O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and
then would our brethren have been spared, and they would not have been burned
in that great city Zarahemla” (3 Nephi 8:24).
“And in another place they were heard to cry and mourn,
saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and had not
killed and stoned the prophets, and cast them out; then would our mothers and
our fair daughters, and our children have been spared, and not have been buried
up in that great city Moronihah. And thus were the howlings of the people great
and terrible” (3 Nephi 8:25).
[2] Volcanic
Destruction in the Book of Mormon: Possible Evidence from Ice Cores,
Benjamin R. Jordan, Journal of Book of
Mormon Studies 12/1 (2003): 87.
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