How should Saints read the wars of the Old Testament, the Book of Mormon battle books, and the violent stretches of our own history?
They quote this
They that take the sword shall perish. Then Joshua, David, and Revelation.
King James Version
Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
NRSVUE
Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will die by the sword.”
How we read it
They that take the sword shall perish — Jesus stopping Peter in Gethsemane. It is not a repeal of Joshua, David, or Revelation. Alma 43: defense of families. 3 Nephi 11:29: contention is not of me. The Book of Mormon is not more violent than the Bible. It is more honest about when war is a duty and when it is a sin.
The Bible answers
A time of war, and a time of peace.
King James Version
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
NRSVUE
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
The Book of Mormon answers
Alma 43:45–47
They were doing that which they felt was the duty which they owed to their God — to defend their families.
Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a better cause, for they were not fighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church. … And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall defend your families even unto bloodshed.
3 Nephi 11:29
He that hath the spirit of contention is not of me.
For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.
Dead Sea Scrolls and related extra-biblical texts that illuminate the same pattern the Restoration restores.
The War Scroll (1QM)
For the battle is yours, and by the strength of your hand their corpses have been broken to pieces, that there might be no remnant.
Ancient Jews could imagine war as liturgy. Christians inherited both that language and the Savior’s sword-sheathing command. The Restoration keeps both: defense of family is permitted; the spirit of contention is of the devil; massacre is a crime.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church’s own essay states that Saints were often violently persecuted, that some members committed deplorable violence, and that Mountain Meadows was a deliberate massacre not ordered by Brigham Young but carried out by local militiamen and their Indian allies. Historical context of war hysteria and prior expulsions ‘does not excuse’ the crime. That sentence is the moral line. Scriptural war texts are read in the same spirit: describe honestly, imitate only what the Lord still commands, never baptize atrocity.
While historical context can help shed light on these acts of violence, it does not excuse them.
FAIR Latter-day Saints
FAIR Latter-day Saints
Critics who cannot forgive Joshua usually also cannot forgive Nephi, and then treat the New Testament as if it had no woes, no temple cleansing, and no Revelation. The consistent Christian reading is that vengeance belongs to God, that the state bears the sword, and that the disciple’s default is peace. The Restoration’s worst day does not define its doctrine any more than David’s worst day defines the Psalms.
A people can be both persecuted and, at a dark intersection, guilty. The essay already said so. The gospel still forbids the spirit of contention.
Be the first to tell us if this case is strong.
