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3 Nephi 8 |
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3 Nephi 8:1 1 And now it came to pass that according to our record, and we know our record to be true, for behold, it was a just man who did keep the record—for he truly did many miracles in the name of Jesus; and there was not any man who could do a miracle in the name of Jesus save he were cleansed every whit from his iniquity— 3 Nephi 8:2 2 And now it came to pass, if there was no mistake made by this man in the reckoning of our time, the thirty and third year had passed away;
Mormon explicitly references Nephi as his source for this material. He has noted this before, in 3 Nephi 5-10. That previous record indicated that Nephi’s record was kept as a separate record from the rest of the plate tradition, and Mormon is deferring to that account. Here Mormon notes again that he follows this account. Mormon makes a new chapter here for the obvious reason that this is there is a new focus in his narrative. He has been giving us the preliminary history that sets up the arrival of the Atoning Messiah, and now the time for that arrival is here. As Mormon begins this chapter, he ties it to the person and the miracles that ended the last chapter. There is a continuation, and the continuation is one of righteousness. This righteous person continues, and the value of the gospel continues into this new era for the Nephites. There is a great contrast in the before and after pictures of Nephite society that will emerge. Mormon has painted a picture of a Nephite society that has been destroyed, and one that has forgotten its God. Nevertheless, all is not lost as there are some righteous who will survive. As Mormon gears up for the narrative of the arrival of the Messiah, there are two things that will occur, the destruction of the wicked and the blessing of the righteous. There must be some of both, and Mormon has brought both of those segments of society to the brink of this transforming event.
3 And the people began to look with great earnestness for the sign which had been given by the prophet Samuel, the Lamanite, yea, for the time that there should be darkness for the space of three days over the face of the land. 3 Nephi 8:4 4 And there began to be great doubtings and disputations among the people, notwithstanding so many signs had been given.
5 And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land.
1 Nephi 19:10-12 10 And the God of our fathers, who were led out of Egypt, out of bondage, and also were preserved in the wilderness by him, yea, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, yieldeth himself, according to the words of the angel, as a man, into the hands of wicked men, to be lifted up, according to the words of Zenock, and to be crucified, according to the words of Neum, and to be buried in a sepulchre, according to the words of Zenos, which he spake concerning the three days of darkness, which should be a sign given of his death unto those who should inhabit the isles of the sea, more especially given unto those who are of the house of Israel. 11 For thus spake the prophet: The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his voice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and others with the thunderings and the lightnings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up. 12 And all these things must surely come, saith the prophet Zenos. And the rocks of the earth must rend; and because of the groanings of the earth, many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God, to exclaim: The God of nature suffers. Since the specifics of the prophecy given by Zenos were fulfilled in the New World, but not in the Old, it would seem that Zenos’ prophecy was given understanding that his words would be carried to that New World where they would see their fulfillment. Geography and Geology: The arrival of the Atoning Messiah is presaged by incredible natural manifestations. There are two aspects of these events that are remarkable. The first is typological. The coming of the Messiah at the end of times is to be preceded by great destructions. These will include burnings according to the prophecies. In this appearance of the Messiah during the Meridian of time, these same destructive elements accompany him. For Mormon, the Atoning Messiah and the Triumphant Messiah are known to be the same person, and Mormon’s understanding of the Messiah is that his comings should by typologically parallel. The Messiah, being who he is, brings the elements of the final arrival even as he comes for a different purpose in his first coming. The second aspect is the very description of the physical events. The Book of Mormon is very explicit in the description of the physical events. These events may be examined for their correlation to the real world, and they find direct correspondence in a an explosive eruption of a volcano arising in a subduction zone, or the zone where two tectonic plates are colliding (Bart J. Kowallis. “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi.” BYU Studies. 37, no. 3, 1997-98, pp. 145. On the general topic of the 3 Nephi phenomena, see also Isaac B. Ball “Additional Internal Evidence for the Authenticity of the Book of Mormon.” Improvement Era, 1931, Vol. Xxxiv. May, 1931. No. 7). Mesoamerica is part of the “ring of fire” that marks one of the most active volcanic regions in the world, and Mesoamerica is particularly located at a subduction boundary. All of the geologic conditions to create a violently explosive volcano are present in Mesoamerica, and indeed that region has seen such explosions in the past. Indeed, Central America ranks as “the most productive volcanic region on earth.” (Bart J. Kowallis. “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi.” BYU Studies. 37, no. 3, 1997-98, pp. 147). An explosive eruption of Ilopango in El Salvador buried a Mayan village in an eruption typically given as approximately 260 AD. (http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/south_america/el_salvador/ilopango.html). However, the radiocarbon dating for the site provides various eruption times: “A table of the radiocarbon datings for that site [indicates] that the determinations for the date of eruption fall into two groups. There is an early group: A.D. 50, 30, 60. And there is a group of later dates: A.D. 340, 270, 300. 450, 550, 390... Originally, before the recent corrections were made to the data, they lumped all these dates together and came up with a composite date of A.D. 260.” (Loren K. Hansen. Email message to Eyring-L, Thu, 23 Jul 1998.) Dating of historical eruptions can be difficult, but we have at least this one example of an explosive eruption that may date to the time period described by the Book of Mormon, although this volcano is south of the Book of Mormon lands. Interestingly, however, this is bracketed by the historical eruption of the volcano Xitle in Central Mexico to the north of Book of Mormon lands, and covering a plausibly similar time period. (Esther Pasztory. Teotihuacan An Experiment in Living. University Of Oklahoma Press, Norman And London, 1997, p. 78). In addition to Xitle, the volcano Yololica erupted around the same time. (Esther Pasztory. Teotihuacan An Experiment in Living. University Of Oklahoma Press, Norman And London, 1997, p. 3). Even though we are unable to date these eruptions precisely, we are given the distinct impression that there is a flurry of serious volcanic activity in the region at the time the Book of Mormon describes these events. While we cannot place the specific volcano at present, the timing and described phenomena are completely consistent with the area.
Chronological: The difference in the Nephite calendar is manifest in the dating of this destruction. It comes in the fourth day of the first month. Regardless of the question of the year, the beginning of the year obviously has some difference. It would be interesting if the Nephite restructuring of the calendar also shifted the month for the new year so that the year began in the month of Jesus’ birth, held in LDS tradition to be April. The dating of the year of Jesus’ death has been the subject of a large amount of scholarly effort. Father Raymond Brown summarizes a tremendous amount of such work, and notes that there are two dates between which he is unable to choose: April 7, 30, or April 3, 33. (Raymond E. Brown. The Death of the Messiah. Doubleday, New York, 1998, 2:1375-6) Though Father Brown may not have access to a way to discriminate between the two dates based on Old World history, the Book of Mormon chronology would point us to the year 30, and therefore the more complete date of April 7, 30 (This is the date that is used for the crucifixion in the Book of Mormon Critical Text. FARMS 1987, 3:1324)
6 And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder.
The “tempest” suggests high winds. The combination of “storm” and “tempest” would typically indicate rain as well, but none is noted, and indeed the indication of “exceedingly dry wood” (3 Nephi 8:21) rather suggests the absence of rain. (Russell H. Ball. “An Hypothesis concerning the Three Days of Darkness among the Nephites.” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 1993, 2:1). Textual: Mormon gives Nephi as the source of this information. Even knowing that we have the record of an eyewitness, we must understand that the text is composed after the events, and after some accumulation of information. “The diversity of phenomena and locales mentioned in the account in 3 Nephi is considerable, indicating that the event probably affected a fairly large area and that the writer must have waited and accumulated information from around the land before making his record; it is unlikely that he witnessed all of the events himself.” (Bart J. Kowallis. “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi.” BYU Studies. 37, no. 3, 1997-98, pp. 142). Even as we see in the descriptions the accurate representation of an explosive volcanic eruption, we must remember that it is unlikely that all of these events took place in the same place, nor that the eruption itself took place in Bountiful. Nevertheless, the effects will be seen in that location. Several of these events deal with specific cities that were rather distant from each other, further supporting the idea that while we have a contemporary account, we also have an accumulated and post-event account.
7 And there were exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land.
“One of the earliest accounts of these types of volcanic lightning displays comes from Pliny the younger, who observed the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Pliny writes: “A fearful black cloud was rent by forked and quivering bursts of flame, and parted to reveal great tongues of fire, like flashes of lightning magnified in size.” (Bart J. Kowallis. “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi.” BYU Studies. 37, no. 3, 1997-98, pp. 155). Lightning in and of itself would not have been particular remarkable in Mesoamerica. What is being noted in the Book of Mormon is something quite apart from the normal. Nephi describes this particular lightning as “exceedingly sharp,” and “such as never had been known in all the land.” Neither Nephi nor anyone alive at that time would have seen such an explosive volcano, and there may not have been one described in the Nephite records, as these volcanoes may lie dormant for hundreds of years before erupting, and the Mount St. Helens proved.
8 And the city of Zarahemla did take fire.
9 And the city of Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof were drowned.
10 And the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah, that in the place of the city there became a great mountain.
“Rarely do volcanologist get to watch the birth, growth, and death of a volcano. Paricutin provided such an opportunity. The eruption that created Paricutin began in 1943 and continued to 1952. Most of the explosive activity was during the first year of the eruption when the cone grew to 1,100 feet (336 m). The cone continued to grow for another 8 years but added only another 290 feet (88 m). Effusive activity began on the second day and continued to the end of the eruption. Lava flows covered about 10 square miles (25 square km) and had a volume of about 0.3 cubic miles (1.4 cubic km). The rate of eruption declined steadily until the last 6 months of the eruption when violent explosions were frequent and violent.” (http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_paricutin.html) While even Paricutin was not an overnight phenomenon, it certainly is an accurate description of a volcano that grew up into a mountain. When we remember that Nephi is not describing the events of a single time period, it is easy to see how the final disposition of Moronihah would have been included as part of his set of original destructions. Literary: Verses 9 and 10 both describe literal events, but they are placed in deliberate parallel. In verse 9 we have a city that sinks under water, and in verse 10 land is “carried up” over a different city. Regardless of the event, the typology is to show the extremes of the destruction. Water and earth both destroy, and in cities are in places they should not be. In verse nine Moroni sinks down, in verse 10 a mountain rises up in the place of Moronihah. This same set with its reverse parallel imagery is found in 3 Nephi 9:4-5. Since this particular text had to have been written after the words of the Savior noted in chapter 9, Nephi appears to have selected these two descriptions from the Savior’s words, and moved them here as part of the catalogue of physical destruction. Geographic: The geographic location of the city of Moronihah is not determined in the Book of Mormon, but it is referenced along with cities of the land southward, and just prior to the discussion of then lands northward, so it would be logical that Moronihah is a city in the lands southward (John L. Sorenson. The Geography of the Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book. FARMS 1990, p. 307-8)
11 And there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward. 3 Nephi 8:12 12 But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward; for behold, the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth;
“Mormon and Moroni both lived and wrote after the catastrophic changes. They had no trouble identifying locations they personally knew in their lifetimes with places referred to by Alma or Helaman before the catastrophe. Nothing about the pre-crucifixion geography seems to have puzzled them. The volume itself says that the changes at the Savior's death were mainly to the surface. Bountiful was still in place, its temple still there, when the resurrected Savior appeared (3 Nephi 11:1). Zarahemla was rebuilt on the burned ruin of the former city (4 Nephi 1:8). The narrow pass was still in its key position during the final battles as it had been more than four centuries before. The River Sidon ran the same course, and Ramah/Cumorah, the landmark hill, presided unchanged over the annihilation of its second people. Thus the record itself gives no justification for supposing that the form or nature of the land changed in any essentials, despite the impressive destruction that signaled the Savior's death. Nor is there reliable evidence from the earth sciences to lead us to suppose major changes took place.” (John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1985], 45.) Geological: In addition to the thunderings and lightnings that have already been described, Nephi adds that this event was accompanied by “tempest and the whirlwinds.” In particular, these winds are said to be part of the cause of the great destruction. “Large explosive volcanic eruptions are often accompanied by violent winds and whirlwinds. The winds are caused by the movement of clouds of volcanic ash, either hugging the ground as hot, fast-moving, enormously destructive clouds called nuées ardentes, or as blast clouds, moving at even higher velocities. For example, during the eruption of Mount St. Helens, the explosion was “almost beyond comprehension, five hundred times greater than the twenty-kiloton atomic bomb that fell on Hiroshima” and the blast cloud is estimated to have moved at velocities of over three hundred miles per hour.” (Bart J. Kowallis. “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi.” BYU Studies. 37, no. 3, 1997-98, pp. 148). The massive and rapid movements of air certainly describe the tempests, particularly since these are tempests that are not associated with rain. The idea that there might be whirlwinds associated with a volcanic eruption is less well attested than the powerfully accelerated ash clouds, but they are nevertheless a “fairly common feature of many explosive volcanic eruptions.” (Bart J. Kowallis. “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi.” BYU Studies. 37, no. 3, 1997-98, pp. 152).
13 And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough.
Luke 3:4-5 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; The presence of the rough/smooth pairing suggests that this phrasing from Luke influenced the presence of the similar rough/smooth pairing in the Book of Mormon. However, Luke is giving us Isaiah here, and the different sources of the same passage account for the differences. Isaiah 40:3-4 3 ¶ The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: The connection between Luke and Isaiah is certainly obvious, as is the fact that Isaiah has no rough/smooth pairing. If there is a connection between the Book of Mormon text and the Biblical passage, the reference is to Luke, and would therefore be a reflection of Joseph Smith’s most ready reference to the New Testament rather than to the Old. For anyone well versed in the scriptures, however, the citation of the plates may have been sufficient to reference Isaiah, and therefore the more complete context. In this case, the fulfillment of the condition would be indicative that the first prophecy was also coming to pass, that this was a sign signaling the preparing of the way of the Lord. The connection to that prophecy should be obvious, and perhaps it was directly referenced on the plates. We have the reference through Luke because of Joseph’s greater familiarity with the New Testament.
14 And many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shaken till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate. 3 Nephi 8:15 15 And there were some cities which remained; but the damage thereof was exceedingly great, and there were many in them who were slain. 3 Nephi 8:16 16 And there were some who were carried away in the whirlwind; and whither they went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away.
17 And thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth.
Verse 17 forms the obvious parallel and ending frame. The basic information is repeated, including the “face of the whole earth became deformed,” and the specific causes: “because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth.” The obvious paralleling of not only the descriptions but the order of the descriptions suggests that this is not likely to have been a spontaneously written piece. The information inside these brackets also repeats other information that has already been entered. One difference in the information presented is that these verses emphasize the loss of life as much as the physical elements themselves. It is quite tempting to see this ordered section as some form of poetry, but if it was, there isn’t enough of the poetic structure remaining to note more than the opening and closing frames. Nevertheless, the frames themselves to suggest that this was a separate literary unit that was added into Nephi’s account. We may be certain that Nephi wrote his account some time after these events. The timing was sufficient that he was able to have a report of all of the destruction of the various cities and lands. It is even probable that he is merging multiple accounts into his own record as he received information from various parts of the land. The formal bracketing of this particular section, coupled with the basic repetition of information already given, suggests that this was a separate account that Nephi merged into his own text. We cannot tell if Nephi or some other person was the original author of the unit.
18 And behold, the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon all the face of the land.
Helaman 14:21-24 21 Yea, at the time that he shall yield up the ghost there shall be thunderings and lightnings for the space of many hours, and the earth shall shake and tremble; and the rocks which are upon the face of this earth, which are both above the earth and beneath, which ye know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is one solid mass, shall be broken up; 22 Yea, they shall be rent in twain, and shall ever after be found in seams and in cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above the earth and beneath. 23 And behold, there shall be great tempests, and there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great. 24 And many highways shall be broken up, and many cities shall become desolate. The paralleling to Samuel’s prophecy gives us not only the phrase “thunderings and lightnings” that is frequently repeated in 3 Nephi, but also the “seams and cracks” and the highways that are broken up. We do note that in addition to the highways, Samuel includes the “mountains made low.” The probability of reference to Isaiah 40 is even more probable in Samuel. Geological: It is not difficult to see this description in the seizures of the earth that accompany an explosive volcano. Certainly the force of the explosion and/or the accompanying earthquake would break up rocks, and open “seams and cracks” in the which the fragments would fall.
19 And it came to pass that when the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth did cease—for behold, they did last for about the space of three hours; and it was said by some that the time was greater; nevertheless, all these great and terrible things were done in about the space of three hours—and then behold, there was darkness upon the face of the land.
Geological: The number three shows up in the hours and in the days. In both cases, it would have been difficult if not impossible to determine the precise duration of either measure. There were no clocks for the hours, and the darkness precluded the division of day and night. The number three shows up here for symbolic reasons. Nevertheless, a three-hour duration of the thunderings and lightnings would be consistent with an explosive eruption.
20 And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could feel the vapor of darkness; 3 Nephi 8:21 21 And there could be no light, because of the darkness, neither candles, neither torches; neither could there be fire kindled with their fine and exceedingly dry wood, so that there could not be any light at all; 3 Nephi 8:22 22 And there was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land.
“I am going to tell the story of darkness. I am going to tell the story of the great darkness which appeared on this ground/area. I did not see it. People told me and so I know it. It was while they were asleep, in the night, that it was so dark on this earth, and they slept/lay for about three nights. And when they took flares and went up the hills and made signs, going with flares in the pitch blackness, they said: Can you see my flare? But the flares did not light up the place! So they said: No! This went on many times. And when they were sleepy and it would have been night they slept. And when it should have been light they woke and got up, and kept looking and looking and lit flares and went up the hills saying; Do you see my flare? And others said: Do you see? And they looked all around. But they didn’t see them.” (Bart J. Kowallis. “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi.” BYU Studies. 37, no. 3, 1997-98, pp. 137). The three days of darkness is the most obvious connection between the legendary tale and the Book of Mormon record. Each is related to the reality of the aftermath of the explosion and the ash that fills the air. Of course a difference is in the ability of the wood to be lit at all, though after three hundred years of legend, we can’t tell if the torches were lit, or were in the story to emphasize the darkness. In any case, the inability to light the wood indicates that there was a concentration of volcanic gases (carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide) that prevented ignition. 3 Nephi 10:13 suggests that there were those who died from suffocation, and the classical record of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius notes that Pliny the Younger’s uncle died of suffocation subsequent to the eruption (Russell H. Ball. “An Hypothesis concerning the Three Days of Darkness among the Nephites.” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 1993, 2:1). Verse 21 notes that they had “exceeding dry wood.” This is yet another indication that the tempest and storm were related to volcanic eruption rather than a tropical storm or hurricane. Each of those would be accompanied by rain, and the rain would have precluded the “dry wood,” let alone, the “exceeding.” (Bart J. Kowallis. “In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist’s View of the Great Destruction in 3 Nephi.” BYU Studies. 37, no. 3, 1997-98, pp. 153).
23 And it came to pass that it did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them.
24 And in one place they were heard to cry, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and then would our brethren have been spared, and they would not have been burned in that great city Zarahemla. 3 Nephi 8:25 25 And in another place they were heard to cry and mourn, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and had not killed and stoned the prophets, and cast them out; then would our mothers and our fair daughters, and our children have been spared, and not have been buried up in that great city Moronihah. And thus were the howlings of the people great and terrible.
And in one place they were heard to cry, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and then would our brethren have been spared, and they would not have been burned in that great city Zarahemla. And in another place they were heard to cry and mourn, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and had not killed and stoned the prophets, and cast them out; then would our mothers and our fair daughters, and our children have been spared, and not have been buried up in that great city Moronihah. While the second verse obviously parallels the first, it is also an expansion. The poetry is not in the exact repetition, but in expansion of the repeated pattern. Thus we have an additional line in the second verse that expands the reason that their repentance might have allowed this terrible day to be avoided. This theme is paralleled in the first words of the Savior to the people. It is quite probable that it was those words that spurred this connection, and the composition of this lamentation (see 3 Nephi 9:2). Historical: After the full account of this disaster, it is interesting to compare the Book of Mormon description to a known ancient description of a volcanic explosive eruption. An Egyptian stela from around 1500-1430 BC describes the volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini (Thera) near Crete. The following has been edited from the information prepared by John Gee: “The pertinent lines of the stele inscription are as follows: The gods [caused] the sky to come in a tempest of r[ain], with darkness in the western region and the sky being unleased without [cessation, louder than] the cries of the masses, more powerful than [. . .], [while the rain raged(?)] on the mountains louder than the noise of the cataract which is at Elephantine. Every house, every quarter that they reached [. . .] floating on the water like skiffs of papyrus opposite the royal residence for a period of [. . .] days, while a torch could not be lit in the Two Lands.11 The Parallels Book of Mormon account parallels this at several points: Loud Noises
The Egyptian text compares the noise of the tempest to the water plunging down the cataract at Elephantine, for the Egyptians a reference point for loud, constant noise. Modern equivalents would be to say that it was louder than the crowds at a soccer (or football) game and louder than Niagara Falls. Inability to Light Fires
The Book of Mormon has a more detailed description of the
palpable darkness, but both accounts mention the inability to light a fire. Several Days of Darkness
Unfortunately, the Tempest Stele breaks off at that point so we can neither determine how close the parallel is, nor compare the magnitude of the eruptions. (John Gee, “Another Note on the Three Days of Darkness.” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 6:2) Textual: There is no chapter break at this point in the 1830 edition. |
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by Brant Gardner. Copyright 2002 |
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