My life has been full of ambiguity lately. Law School will do that to you. Not really knowing how you will do, not knowing how you compare to others, it's full of ambiguity. But this isn't the ambiguity that has driven me to step away from my studying for finals to come and journal/blog.
That ambiguity is spiritual ambiguity. The confluence of what I read this morning in my scriptures with the Law Journal article I read by Bruce Hafen (coincidentally titled "Ambiguity") has driven me to do a little self exploration through the written word.
I read Ether 8 today and the ONE verse that stood out was:
19 For the Lord worketh not in secret combinations, neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath forbidden it, from the beginning of man.
This stood out a couple of times. I chose to ignore it because it kept making me think that Nephi was mistaken in what he thought was instruction from Heavenly Father to kill Laban. It occured to me that it might be the example in the Book of Mormon of a righteous man who was fooled by Satan.
Today as I was reading a law jounal article titled "Ambiguity", the following statement was made by Elder Hafen:
These are the type of things that might break a person's testimony. How can the book of Mormon in say in one chapter that Nephi was instructed to kill, and in another chapter say that "in all things hath forbidden it"? These are the opportunities though, to STRENGTHEN my testimony because I will search, ponder, and pray on this and I will receive my answer from the Lord.
I am grateful for these testimony strengthening opportunities, and I say this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
That ambiguity is spiritual ambiguity. The confluence of what I read this morning in my scriptures with the Law Journal article I read by Bruce Hafen (coincidentally titled "Ambiguity") has driven me to do a little self exploration through the written word.
I read Ether 8 today and the ONE verse that stood out was:
19 For the Lord worketh not in secret combinations, neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath forbidden it, from the beginning of man.
This stood out a couple of times. I chose to ignore it because it kept making me think that Nephi was mistaken in what he thought was instruction from Heavenly Father to kill Laban. It occured to me that it might be the example in the Book of Mormon of a righteous man who was fooled by Satan.
Today as I was reading a law jounal article titled "Ambiguity", the following statement was made by Elder Hafen:
"But sooner or later, many Church members do run into at least some forms of ambiguity. Our basic doctrines are clear, potent, and unambiguous. But we can encounter some uncertainty even in studying the scriptures. Consider, for example, when Nephi took Laban’s life in order to obtain the brass plates. That exceptional case is not easy to interpret we realize that some things about ourselves or others are not what we expected.until the reader realizes that God Himself, who gave the original commandment not to kill, was also the source of Nephi’s instructions."
These are the type of things that might break a person's testimony. How can the book of Mormon in say in one chapter that Nephi was instructed to kill, and in another chapter say that "in all things hath forbidden it"? These are the opportunities though, to STRENGTHEN my testimony because I will search, ponder, and pray on this and I will receive my answer from the Lord.
I am grateful for these testimony strengthening opportunities, and I say this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
