Today I’d like to talk about 2nd Nephi 12: 9-11 (LDS 2nd Nephi 28:7-8). I am working on my contemporary English version of the Book of Mormon, which I am calling “The Book of Mormon: Plain and Precious Truths”. Here is how I phrase those verses:
9 There will be many that will say “Life is short. Let’s enjoy it while we have it! In the end everything will turn out ok for us” 10 There will also be those who say “Enjoy life, but also listen to God. The Divine will excuse a little sinning, lying, and take advantage of your neighbor. There’s nothing wrong with this! 11 You can do this because life is short. If God finds us guilty we’ll get a slap on the wrist and then go to the Divine’s realm.”
Growing up I believed that these verses talked exclusively about how ridiculous the concept of grace is. It seemed to almost mock it because it implies people who are grace-minded believe they can knowingly take advantage of people and still be just fine.
However, I paid closer attention to verse 9 during this reading. Verse 9 compels us to acknowledge the gift that life is, and to trust that the Divine will treat us fairly. This is grace! I was surprised to find this verse articulate it so well.
After this I saw verses 10-11 in a new light. These verses also touch on grace, but the focus is on how you can take advantage of grace and use it as an excuse to treat people poorly.
I gave this entire chapter the heading of “Nephi Prophesies About Corrupt Churches In The Last Days”, which really sets the tone of what the chapter is discussing. I decided to give these verses the sub-heading of “Enjoying life with grace vs taking advantage of grace”.
Ultimately I believe that this is Joseph Smith’s tensions regarding Universal Reconciliation shining though, because this was one of the most common attacks on Universal Reconciliation at the time. With my original reading that I had of these verses seems silly and disjointed to me now. I love this reading so much more. I love breathing new life into the scriptures!