| Title | : | The Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0842527125 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780842527125 |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 524 |
| Publication | : | First published May 1, 2008 |
The Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon Reviews
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Amazing book. I took a class in law school from Welch when he first arrived. It was a business law class, corporations, I believe. Deadly dull. (Business law still is deadly dull to me. I guess that's one of the reasons i took up criminal defense years ago.) I also heard him lecture at a fireside in Redlands a few years ago. He's an excellent teacher. So, I picked this book up as soon as it was released, and I read it. I did not know it at the time, in spite of my legal education; but analysis of the Old Testament from a legal standpoint is a fairly new subject, compared to other forms of biblical inquiry. In any case, I loved this book. Since reading it, I've re-read the Old Testament and I find "my eyes opened." I'm viewing the text quite differently than i have before. If you pick this up for a read, I'd suggest you re-read the Book of Mormon passages he analyzes, and that you read the footnotes. Then jump into some of the Old Testament passages to which he refers. That makes for slow going, but I think the additional effort is worth it.
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This is clearly the most insightful book about the Book of Mormon I've ever read.
Some reviews say this is scholarly and not devotional. If you don't think properly understanding the Book of Mormon's context is important to worship, then yeah, I'd agree.
I'm not a lawyer but I absolutely loved this book.
The chapter on the Trial of Abinadi will knock that Maxwell Institute book on Abinadi out of the water in terms of insight.
John Welch is a giant. Look at what he's done:
1. Wrote this book.
2. Wrote a peer-reviewed book on the Sermon on the Mount as temple worship.
3. Wrote an article to the same effect, published in Christian Ethics.
4. Discovered chiasmus.
5. Wrote other legal treatises like Nephi's slaying of Laban and about how Gadianton Robbers was originally spelled Gaddianton Robbers in the original manuscript, and gedud is Hebrew for organized robber. -
This book caused me to consider the Book of Mormon in a new, more analytic way. Until now I had thought of it as a religious text. Now I see that it evidences ties to the Old Testament in much greater depth that I could have imagined. Here are a few notes that give a flavor of the book.
"Indeed, law and religion were much more closely aligned in the ancient world than they are in the modern state. In antiquity, God’s will was seen to reside in the judicial resolution of crucial issues. Thus the legal cases reported in the Book of Mormon, as in the Bible, are not just about crime and punishment in a secular sense. To the men and women who experienced those legal confrontations, those cases are all about the ultimate definitions of righteousness and wickedness, the open differentiation of truth from falsity, and the firm recognition of righteous authority as opposed to unjust imposition. Reading the scriptures in light of ancient laws, principles, practicalities, purposes, and sympathies enriches appreciation for issues and contexts out of which many of the plain messages of the prophetic Book of Mormon arose." (Page xii)
Chapter 5: The Case of Sherem
I had no idea that the accusations and counter accusations fit so neatly into the framework of the law of Moses. Next time that I read the last chapter of Jacob I will see it with different eyes.
Chapter 6: Trial of Abinadi
The first 5 pages of chapter 6 discuss who wrote this account and why. "Significantly, one of the main purposes of the book of Mosiah is to justify this major political change [from kingship to rule by judges]." (Page 142)
Chapter 7: Trial of Nehor
I, along with most people, tend to read the Book of Mormon as a religious book, and not consider the political events that formed the environment those people lived in. Bringing in the political side of their live makes it a lot clearer that they were involved in difficult decisions similar to what we face, and that making the decisions they made was probably just as difficult as it is for us to make good decisions.
Contents
Foreword and Personal Acknowledgements xi
Part I: Background Considerations
1. Entering the Ancient Legal World 3
2. Queries and Prospects 19
3. The Ideal of Righteous Judgment 57
4. Judicial Procedures in Biblical Times 77
Part II: Cases and Controversies 105
5. The Case of Sherem 107
6. The Trial of Abinadi 139
7. The Trial of Nehor 211
8. The Trial of Alma and Amulek 237
9. The Trial of Korihor 273
10. Comparing Sherem, Nehor, and Korihor 301
11. The Case of Paanchi 311
12. The Trial of Seantum 323
13. Judicial Punishments: Types and Rationales 335
Closing Statement 383
Appendix 1: Legal Proceedings in the Old Testament 391
Appendix 2: Legal Proceedings in the Book of Mormon 407
Bibliography 429
Citation Index 463
Subject Index 479 -
Simply one of the best books I have read about law or the Book of Mormon. Professor Welch begins by setting up the ancient background, especially law and procedure in Old Testament times. This first part of the book is enough to make the book worthwhile. But he then moves on to the Book of Mormon, examining all of the judicial cases in it. He examines them in detail and explains them in their ancient context.
I’ll mention just a few of the incredible previously-hidden details that increased my appreciation for the complexities in the Book of Mormon.
Welch explains that when Sherem brought his case against Jacob, his position was firmly based in the Law of Moses and may have been the accepted position in Jerusalem at the time of Jeremiah and Lehi. And their confrontation was more than just an argument; Jacob’s life was at stake, as was the entire “doctrine of Christ” that is found throughout the rest of the book.
Next, looking at Abinadi’s trial, we find that its details, procedures, and even little phrases that mean little to a modern reader are all consistent with what we know about Old Testament-era law and procedure. And think of this – Alma’s plea for Abinadi would have enraged Noah not just because he was insubordinate, but because he provided a second witness against Noah, as ancient law required to convict. There is also a fascinating section in the Abinadi chapter about the similarities between Abinadi’s prophesying and Pentecost. This is amazing stuff.
Alma’s trial of Nehor was significant in many ways that we don’t often realize. Welch starts with some background about the demographics of the Nephites. There were more Mulekites than Nephites, and it is likely that some Mulekites were asserting their rights to kingship based on descent from Mulek, especially after Mosiah abdicated in favor of judges. In this atmosphere, Alma is confronted with a very popular preacher who has murdered an old Nephite hero, Gideon. There was great potential for aggravating existing cultural and religious differences. This chapter has some very insightful guesses about Nehor’s possible defenses and explains the brilliance of Alma sentencing Nehor for enforcing priestcraft by the sword – it combined priestcraft and murder so that the priestcraft provided the mens rea (“guilty mind” or criminal intent) for the murder, thus making it a capital offense. He also discusses the aftermath of the verdict, as a precedent in how the system of judges worked and as a probable source of added political and religious animosity that may have contributed to civil war. Very valuable insights in this chapter.
When Alma and Amulek were reviled and imprisoned in Ammonihah, it turned out that the real trial was not of them, but of the city. While this chapter goes into great detail about the legal dimensions of all of Alma and Amulek’s confrontations with the people of Ammonihah, the most intriguing part is how the law of apostate cities from Deuteronomy 13:12-16 applied to Ammonihah – it was fulfilled quite fully.
The trial of Korihor was a more difficult case than I ever realized. The question was whether the law of Mosiah restrained Korihor’s scurrilous speech about religion and inciting of others to sin. And who had jurisdiction over this, anyway? There are a lot of wonderful details of law in this chapter, but the sum of it is that lying speech was still punishable under the law. More interesting, though, is the punishment. Korihor was a radical individualist who rejected his society’s standards, and his weapon was speech. His punishment? God deprived him of his speech and he was effectively cut off from society, having to go begging for food in another land. And if his confession and repentance had been genuine (see Alma 30:51-55), there probably would have been a different outcome.
There is much more to this book (it’s over 400 pages long), including appendices with the text of the judicial cases from the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon. It is thorough and very worth reading.
This book was one of those exceptional mind-expanding books. I will never look at the Book of Mormon the same again. There is more there than I ever imagined before. This is a must-read for Mormon lawyers and lovers of the Book of Mormon alike. -
Probably one of my favorite books. Profound insights, and thoroughly developed. Definitely a dense book as far as legal terms, discussion of Hebraic and modern law, but to be fair, the title and introduction give that away. But helped me both in my personal study of scriptures as well as an increased understanding and desire to learn Hebraic involvement in other scriptures. Very well done, and the author is one of my favorites to read due to his depth of knowledge and faith. I do not come from a legal background, and although the first section (understanding Hebrew and other law patterns) was a little tough to get through, it is well worth it, and develops a structure to understand the remaining chapters which have some valuable proposals to increase faith and knowledge. Highly recommend!
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Jack Welch provides another stunning insight into the complexity of the Book of Mormon. Eminently qualified as a law professor and expert in ancient law practices (the opening chapters demonstrate this thoroughly) to discuss the legal cases in the Book of Mormon, Welch demonstrates that all of these cases fit firmly in an ANE/Jewish legal system. In fact, this book cleared up a number of things about these various incidents that I always thought were a little weird, but that make a lot of sense in the context of Jewish legal proceedings. I'm not sure that I agree with all of his conclusions (I think Sherem was a native outsider, not an insider with a depth of understanding of the Jewish law, but I might be wrong) but this certainly was an eye-opening book, and another nail in the coffin of the critics, in my opinion. How young Joseph could dictate such incredibly complex and nuanced stories, and stories that fit nicely with what we know about ancient Jewish law, in one draft, orally, without notes, without inspiration or working from some original text is beyond me.
Another good insight came from the chapter analyzing the differences between the three Book of Mormon anti-Christs, Sherem, Nehor, and Korihor. For example, only one of them is actually labeled as an "anti-Christ" in the book! Too often these three get conflated, and Welch does a good job of highlighting that differences between them and their stories in the Book of Mormon.
One thing I would recommend though, for people reading this, is to read Appendix 1 before reading the book. The cases in biblical law that Welch puts there are great for setting the stage or the background, and I regret having read the appendix after I had finished the book. It would have helped a great deal, I think, to read the biblical accounts first, in conjunction with the opening portion of the book (the first part is titled "Background Considerations"). It would just have given a better depth of initial understanding before launching into the actual cases from the Book of Mormon itself. I also like that Appendix 1 is an amalgamation of other scholarly translations, mixed together and even rephrased to highlight the nuances of the legal cases. -
One of my biggest regrets about my time in law school is never taking a clase from Professor Welch. So instead, I bought his latest book.
Frankly, I hadn't even thought about this topic before I saw this book, which is an analysis of the "legal cases" appearing in the Book of Mormon (the trial of Abinidi, Alma and Amulek, Nehor, etc.) in light of what we know about the law of ancient Israel. I learned quite a bit, and gained a new perspective on some of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon.
The most important thing I learned, I think, is that we modern-day Christians generally don't understand "eye for an eye/tooth for a tooth" to mean what it actually meant to ancient Israel. That phrase was an instruction to judges in Israel to make sure that the punishments given for crimes were just and fit the nature of the crime that was committed. "Eye for an eye" was not intended to be a permit allowing the general body of Isrealites to mete out their own revenge for any perceived wrong committed against them. Professor Welch does a great job of establishing that the Isrealites were actually commanded to be a loving, caring people. -
I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in increasing their knowledge about the Book of Mormon. Although a lawyer would be naturally more familiar with the subject matter, Welch does a great job of explaining the legal concepts simply and in a way that a non-attorney would appreciate.
The first hundredish pages start off with an excellent primer on biblical and ancient law. Welch uses this as a foundation for his discussion of the legal cases in the Book of Mormon. The book closes with a discussion on legal punishments in the ancient word and how the Book of Mormon legal cases fit into that history.
Overall, this book was great. I thought I knew about the legal cases in the Book of Mormon, but this book taught me that I didn't even know some basic principles about these cases. -
This is certainly the source on this topic, a statement that shouldn't be diminished by the fact that there is no other work on the topic. Welch takes a lawyer's view of the Book of Mormon, appropriately dealing with law as it was understood in pre-exilic Israel (when that can be determined).
When the legal precedents can be traced to the scriptures, the case is the strongest. When the evidence comes from later interpretations of law, the correlations are more tenuous, but still instructive.
This isn't a light read and will appeal mostly to those who have a serious interest in the Book of Mormon (serious from an academic standpoint, not a religious one). -
John Welch is a brilliant lawyer, linguist, professor, etc. In this book, he analyzes the legal cases in the book of Mormon, and compares the legal system and laws to those of ancient Israel. Before he gets into the cases in the Book of Mormon, Welch explains the trials and statutes in the Old Testament to give context. He gives so much insight into a topic I have never really thought about. Even though he is a lawyer and super smart, the text was very readable.
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Paused for now. Will return in the future.
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Good information, but very boring.
