Jacob 1 - That We Might Persuade Them to Come Unto Christ I'm taking an online economics class right now, which prompted me to think of the definition of economics in the context of the scriptures. Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources. In the case of Nephi and his successor Jacob, the plates upon which they engraved their record was a scarce resource. They were costly to make and difficult to engrave, and instilling a tradition of passing them through generations was surely cumbersome. Recognizing the great importance of spiritual things and the challenge of maintaining records, Nephi instructed Jacob to prioritize religious instruction saying, " if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people" (Jacob 1:4). This priority was not only reflecte...
2 Nephi 31 - My Soul Delighteth in Plainness I wonder how many people would agree with the statement "God's work is simple and clear." I think for most people God is mystifying, and his nature incomprehensible. But Nephi said, " my soul delighteth in plainness" and testified, "f or after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men" (2 Nephi 31:2). This assertion made me curious to know the ways in which God works in a "plain" manner. Definitions of "plain" include the ideas of being simple or ordinary in character, without pretense, and clear and unequivocal. This reminds me of something Sister Linda Burton said while I was interpreting for a leadership training conference in Taiwan. She stressed that as a general authority she was called to teach general principles. I extended this statement to mean that general authorities are called to teach and testify core doctrine, not necessarily to answer the most chal...