2nd Nephi 31-33: An Addendum to the Visions

2ND NEPHI 31-33: AN ADDENDUM TO THE VISIONS

      
          Nephi was very quick to point out that his father, while having a vision, was so preoccupied with other things that he failed to see the filthiness of the water.[1] However, Nephi is not as forthright with his own omission. As we will discuss below, Nephi tries to either correct an omission from the vision that he had originally written, or in the alternative, Nephi is prophetically adding to said vision. Either way, Nephi wants us to recall the vision he has written as he discusses his final thoughts towards the end of his record in 2 Nephi.

            By having us recall his earlier vision, and using explicit language, Nephi wants the reader to connect a symbol with the vision that is not in his account, nor in Lehi’s account. The symbol that Nephi adds to the vision is a gate.

John the Baptist

            Though Nephi is not clear on why he is adding to the vision, he is very explicit that he wants to add to the imagery previously describe in 1 Nephi 11-15. At the start of 2 Nephi 31 Nephi writes:

“Wherefore, I would that ye should remember that I have spoken unto you concerning that prophet which the Lord showed unto me, that should baptize the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world”[2]

The only time that Nephi ever mentions a prophet baptizing the Lamb of God is found in 1 Nephi 11:27. Thus, when Nephi commands us (however lightly) to remember when he spoke about the baptism of the Lamb of God, Nephi is drawing our attention/memory to focus on the vision that he previously had.

Lamb of God

            The title “Lamb of God” in Nephi’s writings is only found in Nephi’s vision in 1 Nephi 11-15, and the closing chapters of 2 Nephi. As discussed in another post[3], there are 63 references to “lamb” in Nephi’s writings. 57 references are found in Nephi’s vision in 1 Nephi 11-15, and refer to the “Lamb of God.” 4 references are found in the last 3 chapters of second Nephi beginning at 2 Nephi 31:4, and refer to the “Lamb of God.” Nephi will repeat this title in 2 Nephi 31:5, 6; 33:14 The other 2 references are found earlier in second Nephi and only refers to a lamb in the millennium.[4] By using a title that is only found in his earlier vision, Nephi is recalling our memories to reflect specifically on his vision.

It is clear from his reference to John the Baptist that Nephi wants to recall our attention to his vision. However, after he directs our focus to his vision, he then redirects our attention to Lehi’s vision.

            I think it is important to note that Lehi also taught about the the baptism of the “Lamb of God.”[5] However, his teaching was outside of the context of the vision found in 1 Nephi 8.

Strait and Narrow Path

            The phrase “strait and narrow” adds a peculiar twist to Nephi’s purpose. In 2 Nephi 31:9, Nephi writes about the baptism of the Lamb of God, “And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.” He later mentions the “strait and narrow path” two more times in the same chapter.[6]

The peculiar thing about Nephi’s reference to the “strait and narrow path” is that Nephi never actually uses the word “strait,” or the word “narrow” in his vision in 1 Nephi 11-15. The “strait and narrow path” is only found one time in Lehi’s vision.[7] The path did not play a prominent role in Nephi’s vision. It did, however, play a big role in Lehi’s vision.[8]

Nephi has one more reference to strait and narrow in his closing words, but it slightly tweaks the phrase “strait and narrow path.”[9]       Nephi refers to the gate as narrow, and the path strait.[10]

           

Follow

            Next, Nephi mentions that Lamb of God said unto the children of “Follow thou me.”[11] This is similar to Lehi’s vision, where he finds himself in a dark and dreary wilderness. In this state, a man in a white robe bade Lehi to “follow” him.[12]

Press Forward

            Nephi further links his closing words to Lehi’s vision by using the phrase “press forward.” Nephi uses this phrase twice in the last three chapters.[13]         In context, the phrase “press forward” comes after one is on the “strait and narrow path.” Once one is on the strait and narrow path, one should press forward. This is similar to Lehi’s vision where the people did “press forward” after they caught hold of the end of the rod of iron.[14]

It is clear that Nephi wanted us to read his final words in light of both his, and Lehi’s vision.[15] Why? I think it is pretty clear that one reason wanted us to read his final words in light of the visions is because he wanted to add an element/symbol that is not found in either of the visions- “the gate.”

The Gate

            Nephi introduces the gate immediately after talking about the baptism of the Lamb of God. He writes, “And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate.”[16] Notice how the gate enters into Nephi’s writings after he begins the transition to reference Lehi’s vision instead of his own. Quite literally the gate is placed in the middle of both his and Lehi’s vision in Second Nephi 31.

            Nephi also makes it clear that the strait and narrow path begins after one enters through the gate.[17] Once one travels through the gate and enters the strait and narrow path, then they press forward.[18] By associating the gate with both of the prior visions, Nephi wants us to read a gate into those visions. We will delve into the gate and its characteristics, as well as, its implications to specifically Lehi’s vision will be discussed in great detail later on. However, for now, it is important to note that Nephi wishes to include a gate, specifically in Lehi’s vision. This gate is at the entrance to the “strait and narrow path” found in 1 Nephi 8:20.

More interestingly, Nephi invokes his vision in the beginning, and then quickly transfers our attention to Lehi’s vision. This begs the question, Why? Nephi only devoted small portion of his writings to Lehi’s vision, compared to his own.[19] Nephi’s grandiose elaboration on his personal vision suggested that he viewed his experience and vision as more important to Lehi’s account.

However, towards the end of his life, he seems to think differently. Nephi’s vision was a group/historical manifestation, whereas Lehi’s vision is an individual/group journey. Lehi’s vision begins with one person, and concludes with groups of people travelling (or not) the path to the tree. Perhaps the aged Nephi sees the power of the personal journey to the tree. Perhaps Nephi wanted to correct, what he might have seen was a gaping hole in the journey- where were the covenants? To rectify this, Nephi either remembered a gate that was not noticed before in the visions, or he constructed the gate to modify the interpretation/application of the visions.

How does the gate change the way Lehi’s vision is applied? What does the gate say about the strait and narrow path? What does the gate say about the path that leads to the gate? How does the gate change our application of how we interact with the tree?[20]

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[1] 1 Nephi 15:27

[2] 2 Nephi 31:4; the “Lamb of God” phrase will be discussed later.

[3] see A Critical Link Between Worlds: Nephi and John

[4] 2 Nephi 30:12

[5] 1 Nephi 10:7-11

[6] 2 Nephi 31:18, 19

[7] 1 Nephi 8:20

[8] Though the phrase “strait and narrow” is only used once, Lehi’s vision references a path 5 times. 1 Nephi 8:20, 21, 22, 23, and 28

[9] 2 Nephi 33:9

[10] A more flushed out explanation of this implication will be explored in a post about the gate

[11] 2 Nephi 31:10

[12] 1 Nephi 8:6-7

[13] 2 Nephi 31:20. Both of the usages are found in this verse.

[14] 1 Nephi 8:24, 30. Lehi’s vision uses the phrase more than twice. The ways that they are used will be explored in a later paper

[15] There are other subtle references to Nephi’s vision, but because they require us to link different definitions with a symbol, I have chosen to leave them out

[16] 2 Nephi 31:9

[17] 2 Nephi 31:17

[18] 2 Nephi 31:20

[19] I haven’t done any measurements, but if you read 1 Nephi 8 and compare it to 1 Nephi 11-5 you can see for yourself

[20] Many of these ideas, and more, will be explored later in much greater detail.

A Critical Link Between Nephi and John

A CRITICAL LINK BETWEEN WORLDS[1]: NEPHI AND JOHN

Many people tie Nephi’s vision to the Revelation of John because of a passage in 1 Nephi. The passage reads, “And I, Nephi, heard and bear record, that the name of the apostle of the Lamb was John, according to the word of the angel.”[2] People also relate the two visions together because of the similarity between eschatological themes and the expansive cryptic world history presented. It also helps that the John’s Revelation deals primarily with eschatological and beyond themes, and this is what the angel told Nephi that John would write.[3]  While these themes do create a strong tie between Nephi and John’s visions, there are contextual similarities that weld them together.

The first welding link is the title “Lamb of God.” The Lamb of God is a common phrase amongst our modern day teachings.[4] We use it interchangeably for Christ, even if we are not speaking to the specific act/image that the title conjures. However, the scriptures use the name sparingly, and almost exclusively in two writings: Nephi and John the Revelator.

The second welding link is the phrase “white robe.” Even more specific is a man, or men in a white robe. It may be surprising that this phrase is not as common as one would think. Unlike, the title “Lamb of God,” the “white robe” is used exclusively in Nephi and John’s writings. We will look at the two welding links below.

Lamb of God

There are a total of 76 references to Lamb in the Book of Mormon, by my count.  57 of these are found in Nephi’s vision in 1 Nephi.  There are six more references to Christ as the Lamb in 2 Nephi, of which 5 are found in the last three chapters, which is a discourse intertwined with Nephi’s vision (the other use of lamb in 2 Nephi is a reference to an actual lamb, and the millennium).  The remaining 414 pages of the Book of Mormon have only 13 references to a lamb (3 of these references are to the actual animal and the millennium).

            Let’s redo the numbers.  Four references to a lamb are actually referencing a lamb, so we will toss them out of our numbers.  There are 72 references in the Book of Mormon then that the word lamb is used as a title for Christ.  Of these 72 references 62 of them are either directly involved in Nephi’s vision, or indirectly used by Nephi as such in 1 and 2 Nephi, and of those, 57 are found in the vision itself.  Why does this matter?  Well, it is not really important, it just helps us tie the vision to John’s vision even more.  This Lamb concept is not unique to Nephi’s vision, you see, John also has this concept and uses it frequently.

            Let’s take a look at the usage of Lamb in the Bible.  There are 105 references in the Bible to a lamb.  Most of these references are referring to an actual lamb (the animal) for sacrifice.  There are a couple whose reference is referring to Christ himself (we could make the argument that they all do, but because they do not explicitly say so, we will not), by my count there are around 10.  There are 28 references to lamb as a title for Christ, and significantly, they are all found in John’s writings.  26 are found in the book of Revelation, and the other two are found at the beginning of his gospel when he quotes John the Baptist.[5] 

In summary, there are 28 explicit references to the Savior as the Lamb in the Bible, and all of them are found in John’s writings. 62 out of the 72 references in the Book of Mormon are found in Nephi’s writings.  Though this will not link the two definitely as having seen the same, or similar vision, we can strongly infer from this that God wants us to connect the two writings together.

White Robe

In the scriptures, white robes are only associated with divine, heavenly messengers. Nephi, in his vision, saw a man in a white robe. “And I looked and beheld a man, and he was dressed in a white robe. And the angel said unto me: Behold one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”[6] Jesus Christ appeared to the Nephites clothed in a white robe.[7] When Moroni[8] appeared to Joseph Smith he was wearing a white robe. Joseph Smith points out that Moroni’s robe was “exceedingly white.”[9]

Interestingly, outside of the Book of Mormon (and BofM related people) the white robe is only found in Revelation.[10] “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.”[11] White robes were given to the Martyrs that were “slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.”[12]

Conclusion

            Though this evidence is not strong enough to permit us to link the two visions/writings together, the fact that the title “Lamb of God” and the phrase “white robe” are found almost exclusively in John’s and Nephi’s writings, strongly suggests that we can read the visions together. There are other similarities, like the usage of John the Baptist to tell the story[13], eschatological themes, expansive views, etc., that create an even stronger inference.

This does not mean that John’s interpretation is the same as Nephi’s. However, it’s possible to look at what John saw, and compare it to what Nephi saw. What did they see that was similar? In the paths that cross each other, are there any differences? Did John see something in the similar path that Nephi did not? and is there anything Nephi saw that John did not? Comparing the two visions can help us understand the relationship between the symbols presented, as well as expand our view/interpretation of the visions.

Quick note:

The Account of the Baptism of the Lamb of God

Both accounts refer to Christ as the “Lamb of God.”[14] Both accounts suggest that John baptized Christ.[15] Both accounts refer to the Holy Ghost descending upon Christ in the “form,” or “like” a dove.[16] Both accounts refer to the Lamb of God in conjunction with taking away the sin or sins of the world.[17]

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[1] Clearly a reference to a Zelda video game.

[2] 1 Nephi 14:27

[3] 1 Nephi 14:24-26

[4] The Church has produced a video entitled, “The Lamb of God.” There are many references to the tile in General conference talks (word search “Lamb of God” in conference talks). Children are taught it in primary (i.e., Lesson 19 from the Primary 6 manual).

[5] see D&C 93

[6] 1 Nephi 14:19

[7] 3 Nephi 11:8

[8] Or Nephi?

[9] Joseph Smith-History 1:31-32

[10] See also my little write-up about the title “Lamb of God.” This is a phrase that is almost unique to Nephi’s vision and Revelation.

[11] Rev. 7:13-15; cf. 7:9

[12] Rev. 6:11

[13] See, “The Account of the Baptism of the Lamb of God” below. 2 Nephi 31, John 1. See footnote #4

[14] 1 Nephi 11:27; 2 Nephi 31:4; John 1:29. NOTE: I will link 2 Nephi with Nephi’s vision in a later write-up.

[15] v. 29 says that Jesus was coming to John, presumably to be baptized. Though, it is not specifically mentioned.

[16] 1 Nephi 11:27; John 1:32

[17] 2 Nephi 31:4; John 1:29 

Who was the man in the "white robe" in Lehi's vision?

The Man in the White Robe

     I recently read 1 Nephi 8 again. In this reading the “man” in a “white robe” stood out more than it ever had. Who was the man in the white robe? Was he Christ? Was he an angel? Was he a devil? Was he something else? For whatever reason, I had an itch to find out if the text in the BofM supported an argument for who that man was. I believe the BofM supports the argument that the man in the white robe was Christ.

     In this quick doc. I’ll explore the different possibilities of who the man in white is, and why Christ is the most likely person. After we explore who the man in the white robe is, I will talk about some of the implications of what we can pull from the text with the understanding that the man is Christ.

“WHITE ROBE” USAGE IN THE SCRIPTURES

     In the scriptures, white robes are only associated with divine, heavenly messengers. Nephi, in his vision, saw a man in a white robe. “And I looked and beheld a man, and he was dressed in a white robe. And the angel said unto me: Behold one of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”[1] Jesus Christ appeared to the Nephites clothed in a white robe.[2] When Moroni[3] appeared to Joseph Smith he was wearing a white robe. Joseph Smith points out that Moroni’s robe was “exceedingly white.”[4]

     Interestingly, outside of the Book of Mormon (and BofM related people) the white robe is only found in Revelation.[5] “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.”[6] White robes were given to the Martyrs that were “slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.”[7]

     Because the description of “white robe” is only associated with heavenly messengers sent from God, we can more strongly infer that the man who appeared to Lehi in a white robe was divine, and not the devil disguised as an angel of light.[8]

1 NEPHI 8:4-11 (2013 edition of the Book of Mormon)

“for behold, methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary wilderness.

And it came to pass that I saw a man, and he was dressed in a white robe; and he came and stood before me.

And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him.

And it came to pass that as I followed him I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste.

And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies.

And it came to pass after I had prayed unto the Lord I beheld a large and spacious field.

And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.

And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.”

THEMES FROM 1 NEPHI 8:4-11

•              Lehi finds himself in darkness
•             While Lehi is in the darkness, a man in  a white robe appears
•       The man in the white robe stood before Lehi
•       The man in the white robe speaks to Lehi
•       The man in the white robe “bade”[9] Lehi to follow him
•       After Lehi followed the man in the white robe, the man in the white robe disappears[10],      and Lehi finds himself in darkness again
•       Lehi prays unto the Lord for mercy
•       After Lehi’s prayer, he sees a large and spacious field
•       After he sees the large and spacious field he sees a tree with fruit desirable to make one happy.
•        The fruit of the tree was white than any whiteness ever seen, and sweet than anything ever tasted

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1 NEPHI 11 AS A POSSIBILITY OF UNDERSTANDING WHO THE MAN IS:

     3 Nephi 11 allows us to draw parallels between the two texts. There are many similarities between both Lehi and Nephi’s visions. These similarities allow us to infer from the text that the man in the white robe that Lehi saw may be the same Spirit that Lehi saw. However, there are also many differences between the two, which weaken the argument that Nephi’s vision can be used as a text to discover the identity of the man in the white robe in Lehi’s vision. I’ve listed the similarities and the differences below:

Similarities between Lehi & Nephi’s vision:

1.      The Spirit of the Lord appears to Nephi[11]

2.      The Spirit speaks to Nephi[12]

3.      The Spirit commanded Nephi to do a physical action, “look”[13]

4.      After Nephi follows the Spirit’s command to look, the Spirit disappeared[14]

5.      Nephi sees the Jerusalem and other cities after the Spirit left[15]

6.      Nephi sees the interpretation of the tree that Lehi saw, and that it was desirable above all things and joyous to the soul[16]

7.      Nephi sees that the tree is desirable above all things and joyous to the soul

8.      Nephi sees that the tree is white which “did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.”[17]

Differences between Lehi & Nephi’s vision:

1.       Nephi never finds himself in darkness.
2.       Nephi refers to his messenger as “spirit”[18] instead of man. Nephi also makes very clear that this is not an earthly man.[19]
3.       Nephi does not describe the clothing that the Spirit was wearing.
4.       Nephi never says that the Spirit stood before him. Though, it appears that the Spirit possibly had this capability.[20]
5.       Nephi saw the tree while the Spirit was still in his presence[21]
6.       Nephi did not find himself in darkness when the Spirit disappeared
7.       Nephi does not pray when the Spirit disappears
8.       A second heavenly messenger appears after the Spirit leaves

     I think there are two facts that weaken the argument that the Spirit in Lehi’s vision is the man in Lehis vision: first, that Nephi probably wrote the two texts in a very close timeframe; and second, that Nephi uses the word “spirit” instead of “man.”

     The proximity of time between the reception of  the two visions suggests that if the two messengers in the respective visions were the same, they would be described in similar terms. If we argue that Nephi wrote the text contemporaneously with his life, the text suggests a close proximity in time between Lehi and Nephi’s visions.[22] If the Spirit in Nephi’s vision was the same as the man in Lehi’s vision, why wouldn’t Nephi describe him in a similar way? Did Nephi see something in his messenger that Lehi did not notice? It would seem likely that if these were the same messengers, considering the proximity of the time between the two visions, that Nephi would describe is messenger in a similar way. Nephi, however, does not describe his first messenger like the man in the white robe in Lehi’s vision.[23] Because Nephi uses a different description, it seems clear that Nephi is not linking the two messengers together, or that they are not the same messenger.

     It is even more improbable that the messenger in Lehi & Nephi’s vision is one in the same if Nephi carefully constructed this text 30 years later.[24] If Nephi carefully constructed this text with a purpose, then the fact that the two messengers are described with such great differences suggests that Nephi wants to separate the messengers.[25] Whatever motive Nephi may have in distinguishing the messengers is irrelevant to the issue at hand, because it is clear that Nephi wants us to know that the two messengers are different.

     Because the two messengers in Lehi and Nephi’s visions are described with almost irreconcilable differences, coupled with the other differences between the visions, it is hard to use 1 Nephi 11 to support the argument that the Man in the white robe is the “Spirit of the Lord.”

     If, we disregard the differences and only focus on the similarities, then we can argue that the man in the white robe is the “Spirit of the Lord.”[26] However, this fact does not help us very much in understanding who the man in the white robe is because the phrase “Spirit of the Lord” is ambiguous. The phrase “Spirit of the Lord” can refer to either the Holy Ghost, or the pre-mortal Christ.[27] Interpretations on this phrase strongly favor the possibility that the Spirit of the Lord is the Holy Ghost.[28] I have not undertaken a critical examination of the phrase “Spirit of the Lord” in the BofM, but another has, and has concluded that it references the Holy Ghost. [29]However, there is an argument that the Spirit is the pre-mortal Christ.[30] Because the text is ambiguous in this instance, if we assume that the man in the white robe is the Spirit of the Lord, then, we can infer that the man is either the Holy Ghost or Christ. This narrows it down to two people, but we are still left wondering whether the man is Christ or the Holy Ghost?

SOME POSSIBILITIES FOR WHO THIS MAN IS:

•       Holy Ghost- Not likely. See discussion in the 1 Nephi 11.
•       An apostle of the Lamb[31]-This is a possibility.  Like the man in Lehi’s vision, the apostle of the Lamb that was chosen to write the remainder of the dream was described as a “man, and he was dressed in a white robe.”[32] This seems to describe the man in Lehi’s dream exactly. The problem with this theory, however, is the same conundrum that we get from the Holy Ghost theory.[33] If the man was a spirit, wouldn’t Lehi have differentiated between a man and spirit like Nephi did?[34] Also, the apostle of the Lamb is only recording in Nephi’s vision, he is not actively showing or describing anything to anyone like the messenger in Lehi’s vision.
•       An Angel- This is a possibility. Nephi had an angel appear to him after the Spirit of the Lord disappeared.[35] There are many instances in the Book of Mormon where angels are messengers that direct people.[36] However, in none of these instances do they direct a vision, or dream, like they do in Lehi’s vision (with the exception of the angel in Nephi’s vision. However, the angel in Nephi’s vision doesn’t really work because he comes way too late in the vision.
•       The devil disguised as an angel of light. This is not a very unlikely candidate.[37]
•       Christ-This is the most likely candidate. See the discussions in 1 Nephi 11, 3 Nephi below

3 NEPHI AS A POSSIBILITY FOR UNDERSTANDING THAT THE MAN IS CHRIST:

     3 Nephi presents an argument that Christ is the most likely candidate for the man in the white robe. Below I will list out the similarities/differences between the texts, and then discuss some possible implications for reading Christ as the man in the white robe.

Similarites between 3 Nephi and 1 Nephi 8:4-11:

• ·         The people find themselves in darkness.[38]
• ·         While the people are in darkness, Jesus Christ appears to the people in a white robe.[39]
• ·         Jesus “stood in the midst” of the people.[40]
• ·         Jesus “spake” to the people.[41]
• ·         Jesus commands the people to arise and come unto him[42], He also sets forth doctrine and procedures and commands the disciples to follow it.[43]
• ·         After the people arise, touch Christ, and listen to His teachings, a cloud overshadows the people, the people are unable to see Christ because of the cloud, while the people were overshadowed Christ departs from them.[44] Christ also departed towards the end of the day, and it soon became physically dark.[45]
• ·         After Christ left the people, the disciples prayed unto the Father.[46] The disciples prayed for what they desired most, the Holy Ghost.[47]
• ·         After the disciples prayed, they went down to the waters and were baptized. These events occurred in sequential order after the disciples were baptized:[48]

o   The Holy Ghost filled the disciples

o   Fire encircled the disciples

o   Angels administered to the disciples

o   Finally, Christ appeared to the people.[49]

• ·         After Christ appeared to the people they were filled with “desire.”[50] Christ’s countenance shined upon the people and  the people became as “white as the countenance and garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon earth so white as the whiteness thereof.”[51]

(NOTE: We could take the parallels even further with 1 Nephi 8 and 3 Nephi, about the desire that the people experienced after they partook of the fruit/received countenance of Christ, but I’ll save that for a later study)

     While it is possible that the man in the white robe was Christ himself, there are some problems with it. Lehi refers to the man in the white robe simply, as a man. If the man in the white robe was the Lord, wouldn’t Lehi have known?[52] Further, after Lehi finds himself in the darkness again, he prays unto the Lord. Why would he refer to Christ as both a “man” and  then as “Lord” a couple of verses later?[53]

     There are other differences between to two passages of scripture, the most notable differences are the absence of fruit in 3 Nephi, and the absence of the explicit command to follow Christ. However, these do not weaken the argument that this text supports reading Christ as the man in the white robe. Unlike Nephi’s differences in descriptions, and omissions, these omissions can be inferred from the text. As cited above, Christ commands the people to do a physical action, he commands the people to do what he has done also. This is similar to the command to follow him.  Further, the fruit and be inferred from the above citations when Christ’s countenance shone on the people, and they became white like Christ. His countenance was the fruit, and the people’s reflection of his countenance was the partaking of the fruit.

     Even if inferring these omissions from the text were not allowed, and we admit that they were omitted, the similarities are too strong to break this argument down. The people are in darkness before Christ comes, Christ is described as wearing a white robe, he stood before people, he spoke, he made physical commands (stand and come to Him), the people were in darkness when he left, the people prayed after he left, the people saw/received new things, the people saw the tree, the people partook of the tree and and became an exceedingly white, white. Contextually, Mormon seems to suggest that the man in the white robe that Lehi saw was none other than Christ.

What are some of the inferences we can take if we read Christ into the text as the man in the white robe?

2ND NEPHI AS A POSSIBILITY FOR UNDERSTANDING THE MAN IS CHRIST

Nephi recalls our attention to his and his father’s vision. He specifically mentions that he saw the Lamb of God be baptized for the sins of the world.[54] Afterwards, he mentions that the Lamb of God said unto the children of men, “Follow thou me.”[55] Perhaps Nephi, himself, is trying to edge the readers to infer that the man in the white robe is Christ?[56]

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[1] 1 Nephi 14:19

[2] 3 Nephi 11:8

[3] Or Nephi?

[4] Joseph Smith-History 1:31-32

[5] See also my little write-up about the title “Lamb of God.” This is a phrase that is almost unique to Nephi’s vision and Revelation.

[6] Rev. 7:13-15; cf. 7:9

[7] Rev. 6:11

[8] I understand that Revelation is translated into English from another language. So, critically, it may not be exact, and that there could be other words, not translated “robe” or “white” that could have been. However, I am going off the belief, that God revealed specific words, a translation, that was closely associated with the language/wording in the KJV. Under this assumption, it is peculiar that there are only certain phrases that are found in Nephi’s vision and Revelation.

[9] I’m not going to place a big critical emphasis on this word, because it is primarily a small plates word. However, Mormon does use the word “bade” in 3 Nephi 17:19, in conjunction with asking the people to do a physical action, much like how Nephi use the word bade in conjunction with asking Lehi to do a physical action.

[10] I am definitely open to the possibility that the man in white does not disappear. However, if the man in white was still by Lehi when he was in the darkness, why didn’t Lehi implore the man I white for help?

[11] 1 Nephi 11:1.

[12] 1 Nephi 11:2.

[13] 1 Nephi 11:8.

[14] 1 Nephi 11:12.

[15] 1 Nephi 11:13.

[16] 1 Nephi 11:15-23.

[17] 1 Nephi 11:8.

[18] 1 Nephi 11:1.

[19] 1 Nephi 11:11- “for I spake unto him as a man speaketh; for I beheld that he was in the form of a man; yet nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another.” The fact that Nephi had to explain his communication to the Spirit of the Lord in this manner suggests that Nephi did not believe this person to be mortal, or earthly like a man.

[20] 1 Nephi 11:11.

[21] 3 Nephi 11:8

[22] There are not many events that occur between chapter 8 and 11, suggesting a close proximity of Lehi and Nephi’s visions.

[23] Nephi calls his messenger a Spirit, where Lehi calls his a man. Nephi does not describe his messenger’s clothing, where Lehi describes his messenger wearing a white robe.

[24] See, for example, Noel Reynolds article “The Political Dimension in Nephi’s Small Plates,” BYU Studies. Vol. 27, Iss. 4, 1987. http://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2465&context=byusq

[25] There could be many motives for this, and I don’t feel it’s necessary to explore the possibilities, because it will not greatly add or takeaway from this present study.

[26] The ‘S’ in spirit was capitalized in the 1981 edition (I believe), and I am just keeping it capitalized in these notes to keep uniformity with the 2013 edition. The capital S cannot be taken as proof that it is referring to Christ, especially because most interpretations suggest that the spirit of the Lord is the Holy Ghost (see discussion that will follow).

[27] cf. Ether 3 for a reference to the pre-mortal spirit of Christ.

[28] Hales, Receiving a Testimony of the Restored Gospel, October 2003; James Talmage, “The Holy Ghost, called also Spirit, and Spirit of the Lord, Spirit of God, Comforter, and Spirit of truth, is not tabernacle in a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of spirit; yet we know that the spirit has manifestd himself in the form of a man. (See 1 Nephi 11:11). . . That the Spirit of the Lord is capable of manifesting Himself in the form and figure of man, is indicated by the wonderful interview between the Spirit and Nephi, in which He revealed Himself to the prophet (Articles of Faith, 38; 144-145)

[29] According to McConkie and Millet, the expression "Spirit of the Lord" is used some forty times in the Book of Mormon, and almost without exception it has reference to the Holy Ghost or to the Light of Christ. If indeed here in 1 Nephi 11:11 the Holy Ghost was Nephi's guide and teacher, this occasion is of tremendous significance, for it is the only scriptural occasion wherein the Holy Ghost makes a personal appearance to man. [Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1, p. 77]

[30] Bruce R. McConkie suggests that it may have been the pre-mortal Christ. “To gain a sound gospel understanding, the truth seeker must determine in each scriptural passage what is meant by such titles as Spirit, Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Lord, Spirit of God, Spirit of Truth. In many instances this is not difficult; in some cases, however, abbreviated scriptural accounts leave so much room for doubt that nothing short of direct revelation can identify precisely what is meant. We know, for instance, that the Spirit personage who appeared to the Brother of Jared was the Spirit Christ, for he so identified himself. (Ether 3) But when we read the account of the appearance of "the Spirit of the Lord" to Nephi (1 Nephi 11), we are left to our own interpretive powers to determine whether the messenger is the Spirit Christ or the Holy Ghost. Presumptively it is the Spirit Christ ministering to Nephi much as he did to the Brother of Jared, for such is in keeping with the principle of advocacy, intercession, and mediation, the principle that all personal appearances of Deity to man since the fall of Adam, excepting appearances of the Father and the Son together, have been appearances of Christ." ("Spirit of the Lord," Mormon Doctrine, p. 752; see alsoThe Mortal Messiah, Vol. 1, pp. 413-414).

[31] For the critical scholars out there, I chose not to use the name John, because the text does not support that.

[32] 1 Nephi 14

[33] If Nephi saw an apostle of Christ in vision, was this the present, figurative, or the future? The vision complicates the idea of space and time. If Nephi, who lived around 600 years before John saw the same vision at the same time as the apostle, then what does this teach us about time?

[34] Nephi does not specify that the man was a spirit in his vision. I think this statement strengthens the argument that the Spirit of the Lord that spoke to Nephi was either the Holy Ghost or pre-mortal Christ.

[35] 1 Nephi 11:14

[36] Mosiah 3:2; Mosiah 27:11 (This reference to an angel refers to the angel as “the angel of the Lord.” It seems that Mormon, or Alma, thought that this angel had a very specific role, and was a very specific angel (Abinadi? Jacob? Lehi?)); Alma 32:23; 3 Nephi 19:14.

[37] See section on “White robe” usage in the scriptures.

[38] 3 Nephi 8:20-23.

[39] 3 Nephi 11:8, 10. I understand that there is an argument that the people were not technically in darkness at the time Christ appeared to them at bountiful, because a year might have passed. However, the text does not place a spatial distance between the darkness and the people. As such, we can read that the people were in darkness at the time Christ appeared. For a discussion on both views see: https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/jerusalem-zarahemla-literary-and-historical-studies-book-mormon/when-did-jesus-visit ; and,  https://bookofmormonresearch.org/index/book_of_mormon_articles/timing-christs-appearance-nephites

[40] 3 Nephi 11:8.

[41] 3 Nephi 11:9. There are many times that Jesus spoke to the people, and so I am only including the first reference to it.

[42] 3 Nephi 11:13-14.

[43] 3 Nephi 11:22- 18:37.

[44] 3 Nephi 18:38-39.

[45] 3 Nephi 19:2-3.

[46] 3 Nephi 19:6-7.

[47] 3 Nephi 19:9.

[48] I need to work this connection out a little better.

[49] 3 Nephi 19:13-14.

[50] 3 Nephi 19:24.

[51] 3 Nephi 19:25/

[52] Remember, Lehis had a heavenly vision where he saw God sitting on his throne. Presumably this would be Christ, or Lord. However, if the God Lehi saw on the throne was the Father, then it is still possible that Lehi saw Christ as the one descending out of the midst of heaven. (1 Nephi 1:8-11). As such, Lehi should have been able to recognize Christ.

[53] Taken alone, this argument has no weight because it is ambiguous. Another logical reading is that the man was Christ, and that is what inspired Lehi to pray to the “Lord”,  because he  had just been in the presence of the Lord.

[54] 2 Nephi 31:4

[55] 2 Nephi 31:10

[56] For a more full discussion of the link between 2 Nephi 31-33 and Lehi’s/Nephi’s vision see 2nd Nephi: An Addendum to His vision