What were Nephite Christians like?
Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2025 1:54 am
Assuming for the moment that they existed, is there any possible sensible way to imagine what being a Nephite Christian would have been like?
First of all, you’re cut off from western civilization from 600BC on. Plato wouldn’t exist for another 200 years. You’re being told vague things about a messiah for hundreds of years.
Then Jesus arrives, and kills a bunch of you with an earthquake. And lectures for a bit about the beatitudes.
You have no Old Testament. You have no New Testament. You don’t spring from the community of Hellenized Christians in the Roman Empire. You’re not part of the councils and theological debates about what Christ is, what sin is, what the priesthood is.
Instead, you’re listening to Kings give lectures about 18th century Christian theology.
All of this to say, how can anyone imagine what it was like to be a Christian Nephite? You might as well try imagining what it was like to be a Marxist Nephite, or a Whig Nephite. Or a MAGA Nephite.
First of all, you’re cut off from western civilization from 600BC on. Plato wouldn’t exist for another 200 years. You’re being told vague things about a messiah for hundreds of years.
Then Jesus arrives, and kills a bunch of you with an earthquake. And lectures for a bit about the beatitudes.
You have no Old Testament. You have no New Testament. You don’t spring from the community of Hellenized Christians in the Roman Empire. You’re not part of the councils and theological debates about what Christ is, what sin is, what the priesthood is.
Instead, you’re listening to Kings give lectures about 18th century Christian theology.
All of this to say, how can anyone imagine what it was like to be a Christian Nephite? You might as well try imagining what it was like to be a Marxist Nephite, or a Whig Nephite. Or a MAGA Nephite.
