This short post will set up a concept I am currently studying as part of the "mantic versus sophic worldview" concept I have posted about recently.
Restoration happens through mantic revelation. The prophetic tradition is the essence of the mantic worldview. In other words, a prophet is called by means of heavenly messengers. This involves visions, prophecy, and powerful spiritual experiences.
By contrast, apostasy typically happens as a people drifts away from the mantic worldview and gradually embrace the sophic (intellectual) worldview. They de-emphasize Christ and His atonement and adopt a more materialist perspective, with a focus on wealth and status.
This is a central theme in the Book of Mormon, presented in various ways. One of these ways involves the concept of a 400 year cycle of decline, which is presented twice in the Nephite history. Recall that Mosiah-1 saved the Nephites from destruction (or at least those who would listen to him and follow him). They escaped the land of their first inheritance (Nephi-Lehi) and made their way to Zarahemla, where Mosiah became king. The second cycle ends with the complete destruction of the Nephites. The parallels between these two cycles are numerous and often subtle, but very interesting. There's a lot of material to cover on this subject, but I want to present one single common detail between the first Nephite cycle and the second.
320 years after Lehi left Jerusalem, one of his descendants wrote the following on the small plates:
And now I, Amaron, write the things whatsoever I write, which are few, in the book of my father. Behold, it came to pass that three hundred and twenty years had passed away, and the more wicked part of the Nephites were destroyed. (Omni 1:4-5)
Compare with these verses written about a much later time, when the people had grown very wicked:
48 And it came to pass that when three hundred and twenty years had passed away, Ammaron, being constrained by the Holy Ghost, did hide up the records which were sacred—yea, even all the sacred records which had been handed down from generation to generation, which were sacred—even until the three hundred and twentieth year from the coming of Christ. (4 Nephi 1)
What are we to make of this similarity between name of record-keeper, timing, and condition of the covenant people? Did Joseph Smith simply recycle plot points as he finished the dictation, as some critics might assume? Or is this a clue intended to point our mind to finding common themes and apply them to our own lives?
In a future post, I'll outline some additional details that cause me to believe the latter. Each of us is susceptible to allowing our own heavenly worldview to become corrupt and fixated on material wealth, forgetting God and the true purposes of His creation and His covenant. The Book of Mormon offers a powerful formula to help us step out of this cycle of chaos and embrace the way of life.