Joseph’s Reviews > The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ > Status Update

"There began to be a serious contention concerning who should have the judgment-seat among his brethren, who were the sons of Pahoran."

"Pacumeni was appointed, according to the voice of the people[...]in the stead of his brother Pahoran; and it was according to his right."

So for all the railing against monarchy, we have a system where rulership still passes via primogeniture, but with a symbolic election first?

"hey caused them to enter into a covenant that they would no more take up their weapons of war against the Nephites. And when they had entered into this covenant they sent them to dwell with the people of Ammon."

The people of Ammon don't count as Nephites, do they? I feel like you're setting yourself up for a problem here.

At some point Smith seems to have forgotten that it was Helaman narrating this, then switched back when he caught himself.

Do you notice that everyone's solution to every problem is "let's flee en masse into the wilderness?" I know the Israelites did that during the Exodus, but that was kind of a one-time thing. It's not something you do every time someone looks at you funny.

"And it came to pass that all they who loved the king, when they heard these words, came forth and pursued after the servants of the king."

DO any of them love the king? Most of them fled from him because he wanted to kill them for not going on a suicide mission. The former loyalists, meanwhile, have betrayed the king to join the rebels.

P.S.: Kinda sus that the king's guards chose that moment to kill him, eh?

(Because by the way we also just invented the term "Christian" at least 130 years too early.)

I notice that this takes for granted that "wanting a new king" and "being against the church and thus wicked" are synonymous without really justifying it.

Why does Amaliciah want to "destroy the church?" If the answer is "because they oppose him as king," why? In general, why did King Mosiah suddenly decide that monarchy was bad, after several centuries of the Nephites having kings who were mostly Christian?

WHAT IS WITH this book and variants of "Amalek?!"

It's not just that Alma knows about Jesus more than 70 years before he was born, he also knows exactly what Revelation will say about a century after Jesus' death, and the alternate interpretations of it that Augustine will write about it three centuries after that.

He does not, however, know which of those interpretations is correct.

I don't think this is how prophecy is supposed to work.

"Behold, you marvel why these things should be known so long beforehand."

No, I'm wondering why it was made known here but not in the Bible.

"Is it not as necessary that the plan of redemption should be made known unto this people as well as unto their children?"

But not the people back in the Old World, I guess.