War in the Book of Mormon Brian L. Steed

Mormon’s metaphor uses armed conflict to teach all of us how to return to stand clean before the judgement bar of Jesus Christ (Mormon 3:20-22). That metaphor emphasizes three key parts: preparation, covenants, and unity. This episode discusses each of those parts as a conclusion and then goes on to draw spiritual concluding lessons from Mormon’s three great armed conflict sermons: the Battle of Manti, the Amalickiahite War, and the Gadianton Robber War. The episode ends with my gratitude to all the listeners, Bill Welch for his musical contributions, and Sheri Steed for her unfailing support.

This penultimate episode is a summary of the major military lessons from the previous 47 episodes of this podcast series.

Mormon returned to command the Nephite armies as the fifth and final war raged on. Facing defeat, he invited the Lamanite king to a final battle at the Hill Cumorah. There, in what may have been the largest battle in the history of the western hemisphere, the Nephite state was destroyed for the third and final time. This episode includes Mormon’s final lament and also some key lessons from his most detailed battle of his own experience.

Mormon commanded during four different wars. This episode discusses the first three of those wars. Mormon does not give us much detail as he wanted to emphasize the positive and successful approach to God demonstrated by people like Alma, Moroni, and Lachoneus and not the inevitability of defeat and destruction for those who reject God, which was what the people of his day did. Even with the limited details there is value in understanding what happened and what that can teach us about preparation, covenants, and unity.

Mormon begins his personal story with the return of war after an absence of nearly 300 years. This episode addresses six areas that are unique to Mormon’s time and experience and that can inform each of us about our world and how to better exist in it.

Mormon places two extremes in immediate juxtaposition in the Book of Mormon. In the previous episode, I discussed the Consolidated Settlement – a period of unique and nearly complete physical, organizational, and social unity. In this episode we discuss the collapse of that unity, the near perfect unity resulting from the instruction of Jesus Christ, and the gradual and consistent decline and loss of that unity.