Arthur Chris Eccel argues that "Great Spirit" and Alma's debate with Korihor about the existence of God represents anachronistic religious concepts in the Book of Mormon.

Date
2018
Type
Book
Source
Arthur Chris Eccel
Disaffected
Critic
Hearsay
Direct
Reference

Arthur Chris Eccel, Mormon Genesis (Hilo, Hawaii: GP Touchstone, 2018), 137-39

Scribe/Publisher
GP Touchstone
People
Arthur Chris Eccel
Audience
Reading Public
PDF
Transcription

The Great Spirit. It is not easy to know exactly what North American pre-Columbian beliefs were about deity prior to European missionary contact. The information is oral, and usually rather late, even at times, related by European colonists. Yet some concept of a Great Spirit seems to have existed among many. Some names or the Great Spirit, or its equivalent follows: 1) Sioux: “Wakan Tanka,” Great Mystery than organizes the spirits or deities, as every object was spirit, or “wakan;” 2) the Shoshone: “Tam Apo,” Our Father (although the religion involved various legendary spirits and ghost spirits); 3) Chickasaw: “Ababinili,” spirit of fire and manifest in fire and the sun, and giver of life, light, and warmth; 4) Many Algonquian speaking tribes of the Great Plains, such as Ojibwe: “Gitchi Manitou,” Great Spirit (translated as “God” in missionary translations of scripture), along with other spirits pictures above doorways; 5) Blackfoot: “Apistotoke,” Our Creator, a formless spirit (translated as “God” in Christian scriptures); Arapaho: “Chebbeniathan,” Spider-above, the creator-god; 6) Abenaki: “Gici Niwaskw,” Great Spirit; 7) Huron: “Ha-Wen-Neyu,” the creator god, rendered Great Spirit in English, but meaning “Great Voice” of “Great Ruler”; 8) Cheyenne: “Maheo,” Great One, creator, but figured in a pantheon including “Wihio” (spider trickster), “Nonoma” (spirit of thunder), “Mehne” & “Axxea” (water monsters) and other legendary beings; 9) Seminole: “Hisagita Misa” (Creek: “Hisagita-imisi”), Breth-maker, associated with the Milky Way. There are others. What they all have in common is that one being is central, although others may exist, and that the religions are shamanistic. It was convenient to tell inquiring Whites simply that they believed in the Great Spirit.

In new England, English-speakers would most have heard of the Great Spirit, including the BOM authors. It is not surprising then to discover that the general religion of the Lamanites, to the extent that the BOM treats it, was based on the existence of the Great Spirit. In Alma 18:2, the Lamanite king Lamoni says, “Behold, is not this the Great Spirit who doth send such great punishments upon this people, because of their murders?” Referring to his belief, “Ammon said: This is God. And Ammon said unto him again: Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things, which are in heaven and in the earth?” (Alma 18:28). The king replies in the affirmative.

In view of the fact that Nephite civilization is placed in an area almost perfectly contiguous with or adjacent to Mayan and Olmec culture, we might expect there to be some mention of the false gods, similar to the OT mention of Baal, Baal-Zebub, Bel, Moloc, Ashtoreth, Amon, Chemosh, Dagon, Tammuz and various other regional deities in competition with Jehovah (Yahweh). Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, we find no mention of any other deity in the entire BOM text (although there are occasional condemnations of idolatry). Historically, throughout this region, there were impressive representations of numerous deities, and elaborate rituals, in scores of cities and villages, even throughout the two Nephite Christian centuries.

God vs. Belief, and Unbelief. Just as we find the Great Spirit drawn from the New England perception of Native American religion, we find that the BOM authors are primarily concerned with atheism, a concept that was developed among the pre-Socratic philosophers, and scarcely evidenced in the Bible (Psalms 10:4; 14:1; 53:1). Reasoned disputations are totally absent. It was, however, a prevalent concern in 18th and 19th-century New England, in the context of the perceived conflict between science and religion. Ammoron writes in reply to an epistle received from Moroni, “And as concerning that God whom ye say we have rejected, behold, we know not such a being; neither do ye; but if it so be that there is such a thing, we know not but that he hath made us as well as you.” (Alma 54:21). There are a number of debates over the existence of God:

Behold, will ye believe in the day of your visitation—behold, when the Lord shall come, yea, even that great day when the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the elements shall melt with fervent heart, yea, in that great day when ye shall be brought to stand before the Lamb of God—then will ye say that there is no God? (Mormon 9:2)

And Amulek said unto him: yea, if it be according to the Spirit of the Lord, which is in me; for I shall say nothing which is contrary to the Spirit of the Lord. And Zeezrom said unto him: Behold, here are six onties of silver, and all these will I give thee if thou wilt deny the existence of a Supreme Being. (Alma 11:22)

And now Korhior said not Alma: If thou wilt show me a sign, that I may be convinced that there is a God, yea, show unto me that he hath power, and then will I be convinced of the truth of thy words.

But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator. (Alma 3:43-44)

Alma’s argument here is anachronistic. Verses in the Bible used in Christian theology to adduce the wonders of nature as evidence of the existence of God were composed by the Biblical authors to praise God, rather than as part of a reasoned argument against atheism (i.e, the vestigiae dei argument). Alma uses the marvels of nature in his disputation just as they have been used in Euro-Christian theology.

Apart from the Great Spirit, and atheism among at least some, the other gulf between the Lamanites and the Nephites is the traditions of their fathers, for the former had preserved a memory of the conflict between Nephi and Laman, and believed that Nephi used religion to cheat his eldest brother out of the rule that was rightly his, and had made off with group property, the Brass Plates, the sword and breastplate of Laban and Liahona. Ultimately, the bottom line is that all of Lamanite and Nephite religion derives from the religious culture of nineteenth-century New England. This includes the condemnation of idolatry, found in the Bible and sermons. There is no trace of the religions of the territory that they should have been in competition against for the hearts and minds of the indigenous populations such as the Mayas and Olmecs.

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