Divine Ministry - the First Gospel: Book of Mormon Commentary Volume 5

by Monte S. Nyman

A Book of Mormon Commentary may be measured by the content of Third Nephi. A study of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. President Ezra Taft Benson gave the following counsel to the members of the Book of Mormon is the instrument that God designed to “sweepthe earth as with a flood, to gather out [His] elect” (Moses 7:62). Thissacred volume of scripture needs to become more central in ourpreaching, our teaching, and our missionary work.At present, the Book of Mormon is studied in our Sunday School andseminary classes every fourth year. This four-year pattern, however, mustnot be followed by the Church members in their personal and familystudy. We need to read daily from the pages of the book that will get aman “nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”[History of the Church, 4:461]And when we are called upon to study or teach other scriptures, weneed to strengthen that undertaking by frequent reference to theadditional insights which the Book of Mormon may provide on thesubject. (See 1 Nephi 13:40; 2 Nephi 3:12.) [CR, October 1988, 3]Third Nephi, the account of Jesus’ ministry to the Nephites, especiallyprovides extensive additional insights to an understanding of theteachings of our resurrected Lord and Savior.Jesus ministered for three years among the people of Palestine asa mortal being. This will be referred to as his “mortal ministry” in thisDivine Ministry—The First Gospel Jesus Among the Nephites The writer of the Gospel of John made a similar “And there are alsomany other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, Isuppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.Amen” (John 21:25).Although there is a wide variance among scholars in the dating of the writing ofthe New Testament Gospels, the traditional dates of the four Gospels being written Mark A.D. 65–70.; Matthew A.D. 75–80; Luke A.D. 80–85; John A.D. 95–100.However, 1 Nephi 13:24 indicates the records were written much earlier than thetraditional dates, probably during and following Jesus’ ministry. The Nephite accountof his ministry, from which Mormon made his abridgment, was also made at the timeof the Nephite ministry (see 3 Nephi 26:7–8).The gospel is defined in 3 Nephi 27:13–22. We will discuss the definition giventhere in chapter 14 of this work.work. His ministry in the Americas following his resurrection inJerusalem will be referred to as his “divine ministry.” He ministeredfor just three days as a divine, resurrected being among the morerighteous of the Nephites who were spared from the destruction at thetime of his crucifixion. Although Mormon, the abridger of the recordstells us, “there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth partof the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people” (3 what is provided gives us a basis of understanding the fourNew Testament Gospels.As pointed out by President N. Eldon Tanner, “3 Nephi gives usadditional information in more detail than the four Gospels in theNew Testament, and preserves the doctrines, teachings, and compassionof the Lord. For this reason there are many who refer to ThirdNephi as the fifth Gospel” (CR, April 1975, 52). Acknowledging theinsight of those who call it the fifth Gospel, Third Nephi would moreaccurately be viewed as the first and foremost Gospel of Jesus Christ.Based upon the theories of the world it was written before the NewTestament Gospels,2 but more importantly, it defines and explains thegospel per se, as well as many other teachings of the Savior.In addition to defining the gospel,3Third Nephi interprets andclarifies many New Testament teachings, which further justifiesdesignating it as the first Gospel.

459 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2003

Reviews

[David Barney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Monte Nyman does a wonderful job digging deeper in 3 Nephi. He brings out points that better helped me to understand and give better meaning to 3 Nephi. I enjoyed the read.

[Ryan Daley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended series!!!