Talk:1 Ne 17:7-16

RobertC & all, Regarding this question:

v. 14: What does the Lord mean when he says “After ye have arrived in the promised land, ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God"? Doesn’t Nephi already know that?

As I see it this could easily have been a promise given to all of Lehi's family and not just Nephi. Further, even for Nephi, it may be that this promise was given to him before he left Jerusalem, before he knew God to the degree that he does learn to know him on his journey, e.g. in 1 Ne 11.--Matthew Faulconer 02:38, 16 Sep 2005 (CEST)

Yes, I think this says something about how Nephi's testimony grows during the journey to the promised land--growth that was perhaps crucial to his being able to teach his posterity in the promised land.

I'm not so sure about this promise being as appropriate for Laman and Lemuel. I don't think the experiences necessarily helped them draw closer to God. Also, the use of the term "know" might be used here in the Alma 32 sense of a belief that has been diligently nurtured and fed.

There's a C.S. Lewis quote along these lines that I like but can't find right now in The Great Divorce. He's talking about people who end up in hell who look back on their experiences in life and see how all their experiences contributed to their despair, misery and bad choices. Then he compares that with the people in heaven who also look back and see how all of their life experiences helped build their testimonies and helped them develop the strength to face later life challenges eventually leading them to heaven. Basically the stumbling blocks vs. stepping stones idea, but he puts it nicely....--RobertC 16:35, 18 Sep 2005 (CEST)