Book of Mormon Commentary CofC - Odessa, Missouri Community ...

Book of Mormon Commentary
4 Nephi Chapter 1
THE CHURCH SPREADS OVER ALL THE LAND, VER. 1-21
4 Ne 1:1 And it came to pass that the thirty and fourth year passed away, and also the thirty and fifth,
and behold the disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ in all the lands round about.
This record was written by Nephi, the son of the disciple of Christ, and a great grandson of
Helaman, the general. This was A.D. 36, and "the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon
all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and
disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another" (3).
This period has been called the Golden Age of the Book of Mormon people. Nephi kept the
records for 110 years (21, 22); then he gave them to his son, Amos, who kept them for 84 years
(23; III N. 1:23). It seems that they produced very little historically for a period so rich in
historical and spiritual lore.
4 Ne 1:4 And they had all things common among them, therefore they were not rich and poor, bond and
free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift.
When the members of a community are bound together in Christian love, they will gladly share
with each other. Jesus said the second greatest of the commandments was "Love thy neighbor as
thyself" (Matt. 22:38). The problem arises when the Saints try to implement that love by an equal
sharing of goods and services. In Palestine this was tried as a common storehouse, but again the
guiding principals by which the society operated are lacking.
And all that believed :were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and
goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need'. (Acts 2:44, 45). In referring to this
group again, Luke, the author of Acts, adds, "Neither said any of them that aught of the things
which he possessed was his own, but they had all things common'. (Acts 4:32) .No other New
Testament writer mentions this system.
Philo, Pliny the Elder, and Josephus connect the system with the Essenes. Philo refers to them as
"voluntarily poor, ...with common purse, table, and wardrobe, deprecating marriage as threatening
unity."
Josephus implies that they sent offerings to the temple, but were excluded from the common court
since they refused regular priestly ministrations. ...He numbers them at 4,000. ...It is generally,
though not universally, agreed that the Qumran discoveries (Dead Sea Scrolls) relate to an Essene
settlement.
Ananias and Sapphira, who "sold a possession, and kept part of the price. ..of the land,” were
rebuked by Peter: "While it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in
thine own power?" (Acts 5:1-4). Nowhere in the scriptures do we find Jesus commanding his
disciples to divest themselves of all their possessions. The case of the "rich young ruler" is not
stated as a principle, but is a specific case in which a religious youth was inclined to let riches rob
him of eternal life. "Sell that thou hast" (Matt. 19:21) may have meant "all you possess,'. but might
mean only his surplus. Ananias "sold a possession”, but he may have had others. His sin was in
lying to God about the transaction. Nephi does not record any command by Jesus to sell all their
possessions and put all the money received into the common treasury. He simply relates the
situation as voluntarily entered into by the believers in Christ.