{"id":40455,"date":"2020-06-08T06:30:51","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T11:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=40455"},"modified":"2020-06-07T23:35:14","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T04:35:14","slug":"brief-theological-introduction-to-second-nephi-a-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2020\/06\/brief-theological-introduction-to-second-nephi-a-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: 2nd Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"

I think one of the most repeated refrains I see in comment threads in the bloggernacle is that our Church meetings generally lack the vibrancy and ability to deeply engage with the scriptures and ideas in ways that can stimulate interest and growth.\u00a0 As Terryl L. Givens put it in a recent interview, \u201cone of the main reasons we\u2019re losing people is that we\u2019re boring them to death.\u201d[1]<\/a>\u00a0 The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship is one organization that is working to provide resources that provide thought-provoking discussions, deep thought, and spiritual growth to members of the Church.\u00a0 One of their most ambitious projects this year has been the production of a series of short books discussing the Book of Mormon\u2014the Brief Theological Introductions to the Book of Mormon <\/em>series.\u00a0 I recently finished Terryl Givens\u2019s 2nd Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction<\/a><\/em>, and really enjoyed the experience of reading it.<\/p>\n

I suspect that the purpose of the series is partly two-fold\u2014to excite people about the richness of our scriptural cannon and to introduce the work of some of the great minds at the Institute\u2019s disposal to a broader audience. (Though certainly not all of those great minds\u2014I was disappointed to realize that Philip Barlow would not, in fact, be giving us a 467 page discussion of Amaleki\u2019s 18 verses, for example.)[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Terryl Givens is certainly a heavy-weight hitter in that category, having published significant volumes about both the Book of Mormon (By the Hand of Mormon<\/em> and The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction<\/em>) and Latter-day Saint Theology (Wrestling the Angel<\/em>, Feeding the Flock<\/em>, etc.).\u00a0 In fact, in one publication of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology, he was called \u201cthe most prolific, best known, and, perhaps, most important Mormon theologian writing today.\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0 That is high praise, but has a fair amount of truth to it.<\/p>\n

This book is a small, quick read and rather than going through the text of Second Nephi comprehensively, it addresses major issues brought up in 2 Nephi in four main chapters.\u00a0 The introduction focuses on the idea that Nephi split his book into two parts, diving them at the point where it is announced that Jerusalem has fallen.\u00a0 Givens uses this as the setup to say that the \u201ctasks that Nephi launches in his second book\u201d are that he \u201chas to clarify and reaffirm to his people their place within covenantal history, after the cataclysm of Jerusalem\u2019s fall. And he must teach the full meaning of a covenant. \u2026 He has to bring together the covenant\u2019s ancient roots and its future fulfillment, centering and orienting that covenant around the person of Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 The first chapter follows up on this by discussing the Everlasting Covenant, putting the Abrahamic Covenant into the context of being an expression of a covenant made between God and humankind in the premortal existence that is \u201cthe master framework that encompasses the entire gospel.\u201d\u00a0 The second chapter discusses how the Abrahamic covenant continued to apply to Lehi\u2019s family even though they were no longer living in the Levant land promised to Abraham, developing the idea of a \u201cmovable land of promise\u201d and that \u201cZion is not dependent on place,\u201d as also demonstrated in history of the modern Church.[4]<\/a>\u00a0 Thus, the first two chapters focus on the first of Nephi\u2019s goal, the reaffirmation of Lehi\u2019s people (and ours) within covenantal history.<\/p>\n

The other two chapters are oriented around Jesus Christ and the Gospel as articulated in 2nd<\/sup> Nephi.\u00a0 The third chapter discusses the Christocentric nature of the text, particularly addressing the issue of foreknowledge about the Christ among the Nephites hundreds of years before his birth (pre-Christian Christians).\u00a0 The fourth and final chapter dwells on important \u201cpoints of theological clarity and correction [that] emerge\u201d through Nephi\u2019s efforts to discuss the covenant and affirm Jesus as the Christ.\u00a0 These points are: \u201cthe fall as fortunate, the principal of opposition, teachings on atonement, the centrality of agency, and the doctrine of Christ.\u201d\u00a0 This last chapter was, perhaps, the most interesting part for me, as it laid the groundwork for some interesting discussion about atonement and Jesus the Christ as \u201cour present Hope and Healer.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

The style and content of the book resembles previous works by Givens (though I’ll hasten to point out, that\u2019s not a bad thing).\u00a0 For example, his discussions of the Everlasting Covenant and baptism are similar to what is found in Feeding the Flock<\/em>. \u00a0His discussion of pre-Christian Christians resembles the discussion of the same topic in The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction<\/em>. \u00a0<\/em>His discussion of agency and atonement has a fair amount in common with what he discusses in both his essay in the Oxford Handbook of Mormonism <\/em>and the book co-written with his wife Fiona, The Christ Who Heals<\/em>.\u00a0 The book also follows Givens\u2019s established style of turning to the revelations, writings, sermons, and experiences of Joseph Smith to flesh out his ideas and using other Western thinkers and theologians as foils to compare them against. \u00a0While the discussion is rooted in 2 Nephi throughout, much of it is handled as 2 Nephi illuminated though the broader lens of the Restoration.<\/p>\n

One area of the book that I felt could have been strengthened was the discussion of Isaiah in 2 Nephi.\u00a0 In one interview, Givens expressed that he hoped \u201cto at least provide a pretty good explanation of why Nephi puts such emphasis on Isaiah and how we might more willingly embrace the challenge of trying to make Isaiah relevant to ourselves in our situation today.\u201d[6]<\/a>\u00a0 He does make that effort on at least two occasions in the book, indicating that Nephi quotes Isaiah to his family to reaffirm that \u201cthey had not been abandoned by God and that their people would be brought back into God\u2019s fold.\u201d\u00a0 He follows this statement with a list of themes in the Isaiah texts of 2 Nephi that support that goal.\u00a0 Later, while talking about feasting on the word, Givens discusses how Nephi appropriates Isaiah, working \u201cto adapt Isaiah\u2019s words to his people\u2019s particular predicament \u2026 repurposing them to fit a people and place Isaiah may never have had in mind.\u201d[7]<\/a>\u00a0 There was, however, very little discussion of what Isaiah may have had in mind when the text was written (Assyria, for example, isn\u2019t a word in the book).\u00a0 A discussion of that original context could have been used to strengthen the discussion of how Nephi adapts Isaiah.\u00a0 Givens also does little to grapple with contemporary scholarship about Isaiah.\u00a0 For example, rather than addressing issues of what parts of Isaiah are truly Messianic when viewed in context, Givens simply states that: \u201cContemporary biblical scholarship may dispute the extent to which Isaiah\u2019s prophecies are Messianic; however, Nephi explicitly invokes Isaiah because \u2018he verily saw my Redeemer\u2019 and \u2018my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ.\u2019\u201d [8]<\/a>\u00a0 Saying it that way felt a bit blithe when compared to, say, Joseph Spencer\u2019s discussion of the issue in The Vision of All<\/em>.\u00a0 Thus, I think my only real complaint about the book was that there wasn\u2019t more investment in discussing Isaiah\u2019s place in Second Nephi.<\/p>\n

I recognize, however, that the book is intended to be brief, touching on topics enough to show new ways to read the text and sharing interesting thoughts to chew on while studying the text for ourselves.\u00a0 Terryl Givens\u2019s book hits the mark on those accounts.\u00a0 The prose throughout the book is beautiful and the discussion is stimulating and interesting.\u00a0 I feel like the discussion of the Atonement is the centerpiece of the book and that it goes beyond some of ways that Terryl Givens has approached the topic before.\u00a0 There was a greater emphasis on the idea of the Atonement of Jesus Christ being an at-one-ment or reconciliation with God. \u00a0As Givens writes, \u201cThe word atonement should not serve primarily as a description of heroic sacrifice\u2014but as description of the product, the outcome, of that sacrifice. Atonement is not a legal term referencing reparation or ransom or payment for sin \u2026 it refers to a mode of being that the sacrifice is meant to accomplish.\u201d\u00a0 There is also greater emphasis on the importance of being grateful for the resurrection provided through Jesus Christ\u2019s sacrifice.\u00a0 For example, after quoting Jacob\u2019s rhapsody of praise about the greatness of God in providing the resurrection (2 Nephi 9:8-13), Givens remarks that: \u201cThe atonement addresses sin as well as death; but\u2014as we might expect in a text that was not filtered through a traditional Christian lens\u2014abundant life, not forgiveness, is the focus\u201d in Second Nephi.[9]<\/a>\u00a0 There is a lot of rich discussion about atonement in the book\u2014more than I can or should cover in a brief review, but that discussion is a huge part of what makes the book a gem.<\/p>\n

So, in brief, I recommend picking up a copy of Terryl Givens\u2019s 2nd Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s a quick read and well worth the time and (the very affordable) cost.\u00a0 It does a lot of great contextualizing of Second Nephi and drawing out the richness of the theology presented by Lehi, Nephi, and Jacob in the second book of the Book of Mormon and making that theology and their experiences relevant to a Latter-day Saint audience.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Footnotes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> \u201cBriefly Second Nephi, with Terryl Givens\u201d MIPodcast <\/em>#99, https:\/\/mi.byu.edu\/mip-bti-givens\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> \u201cAnnouncing our new \u2018Briefer Theological Introductions\u2019 (April Fool\u2019s Day), 1 April 2020, The Maxwell Institute, https:\/\/mi.byu.edu\/briefer-theological-intros-april-1\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Carrie McLachlan, James McLachlan, Loyd Isao Ericson, \u201cEditor\u2019s Introduction,\u201d Element: The Journal of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology<\/em>, 7:1 (Spring 2018).<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Givens, Terryl. 2nd Nephi (A Brief Theological Introduction) . The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Givens, Terryl. 2nd Nephi (A Brief Theological Introduction) . The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> \u201cBriefly Second Nephi, with Terryl Givens\u201d MIPodcast <\/em>#99.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Givens, Terryl. 2nd Nephi (A Brief Theological Introduction) . The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Kindle Edition<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Givens, Terryl. 2nd Nephi (A Brief Theological Introduction) . The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Kindle Edition<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Givens, Terryl. 2nd Nephi (A Brief Theological Introduction) . The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think one of the most repeated refrains I see in comment threads in the bloggernacle is that our Church meetings generally lack the vibrancy and ability to deeply engage with the scriptures and ideas in ways that can stimulate interest and growth.\u00a0 As Terryl L. Givens put it in a recent interview, \u201cone of the main reasons we\u2019re losing people is that we\u2019re boring them to death.\u201d[1]\u00a0 The Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship is one organization that is working to provide resources that provide thought-provoking discussions, deep thought, and spiritual growth to members of the Church.\u00a0 One of their most ambitious projects this year has been the production of a series of short books discussing the Book of Mormon\u2014the Brief Theological Introductions to the Book of Mormon series.\u00a0 I recently finished Terryl Givens\u2019s 2nd Nephi: A Brief Theological Introduction, and really enjoyed the experience of reading it. I suspect that the purpose of the series is partly two-fold\u2014to excite people about the richness of our scriptural cannon and to introduce the work of some of the great minds at the Institute\u2019s disposal to a broader audience. (Though certainly not all of those great minds\u2014I was disappointed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10397,"featured_media":40458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-of-mormon","category-book-reviews"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Givens.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40455"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40466,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40455\/revisions\/40466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}